Treasure for All

3. Breakfast on the Deck

The breeze blew gently as the early morning sun was rising in the horizon. Although the ship had an invisible, pressurized shield around it, you could still feel some wind when the HALA was in flight mode. This allowed the crew to be able to breathe normally in high altitudes, and it was turned off when they were sailing on the sea.

Wooyoung carried a bowl of cereal, an orange, and a silver spoon to the ladder attached to the crow's nest, Dinah had been up there since 6:55 that morning, and he knew she must've been starving by now.

"Dinah?" he called to her.

"Hi, cutie," a voice behind him giggled, causing him to jump a little. "Sorry."

Turning around, Wooyoung found his girlfriend half hanging on to the ladder. She leaned backwards to make herself upside down and Spider-man kissed him.

"I brought you breakfast," he smiled as he handed her the bowl, fruit, and silver spoon. "Orange and cereal. No milk."

"Thank you," Dinah sighed as she climbed down the ladder. "I'm starving."

The two sat on the wooden floor of the ship and Dinah began to eat her meal. Dinah had always eaten her cereal dry. She wasn't lactose intolerant, but for some reason her stomach could never hold down milk no matter what kind it was. Every type from two percent to almond milk that she had tried since she was born; it always ended up being barfed up. Wooyoung found this out when they were in middle school. She had accidentally spilled her soda during lunch. When he offered her his milk carton, she had to tell him she couldn't drink milk due to her sensitive stomach. Ever since then, he was extra cautious in what food was given to her.

"How's the weather?" he asked.

Dinah made eye contact with him. "Are you making a joke or being serious?"

Wooyoung shrugged. "Both."

"All jokes aside, it's nice for now. Just have a raincoat on when we arrive."

The two continued talking while Dinah cleaned her bowl. Wooyoung's English, along with the rest of the crew's, had been improving since each member had met their significant others. Yunho and Jongho had also learning as well, but Wooyoung still struggled. He had known Dinah for a few years before they became a couple, yet he couldn't seem to form good sentences no matter how hard he tried. An English dictionary was housed in his pocket to help him out when needed. Mingi was another crew-member who couldn't speak English well, but he did his best. However, his girlfriend Taeran was Korean native as Dahae was, so she never had to use English around him, even though both girls were good English speakers. San was pretty fluent in English. He often claimed he only spoke a little bit, but Celestia always said that he knows more than he lets on. This was confirmed when some of the crew eavesdropped on him talking to his unborn child one afternoon. A humble man, he was.

Dinah, on the other hand, learned Korean pretty quickly and was able to speak to her boyfriend with no issue. Wooyoung envied her talent, but he wasn't about to give up trying his best to learn English.

"Hey, you two," Jongho called to them as he was coming up from below deck. "Hongjoong is calling us for a morning meeting."

"We'll be right there," Dinah called back. She scooped up her now empty bowl and glass as she stood. She then turned to Wooyoung. "I'll meet you in the board room in a minute."

...

Hongjoong flipped over the corkboard to the white dry-erase board as Yunho turned on the projector hanging from the ceiling. The rest of the crew made themselves comfortable as they entered the captain's large office. Celestia eased herself into one of the chairs, San standing behind it as he rested his hands on her shoulders. Mingi sat in the other chair with Taeran standing next to him. The other girls either sat on the floor or stood, while the rest of ATEEZ stood on leaned against the wall.

"Good morning, everyone," Hongjoong said after gathering his thoughts. "I hope everyone had a good night's sleep. As you all know by now, we are headed to London to meet a friend of my father's, Dr. Joseph Steinbeck." He pressed a button in his hand, and an image of a middle-aged man with graying hair and glasses in a lab coat appeared. His hands were covered in purple latex gloves while he held up what looked like an old statue.

"Like Celestia," the captain continued, "he's an archaeologist based in London." He kept pressing the button on the device to show the next slides, images of the scientists working or presenting artifacts he had discovered. "Over the last thirty years or so, he's made headlines on his findings and now preserves them in one of the history museums near his lab."

"What are we going to see him for?" Yeosang asked.

"He contacted me last night, asking for us to drop by. He found something on one of his most recent findings and wants to help him out."

"What did he find?" Taeran chimed in.

"He didn't say."

An alarm went off. It came from Dinah's pocket.

"Dinah, we did we say about phones during meetings?"

"Sorry, captain," Dinah apologized as she check her phone. "But I'm in charge of the crow's nest, and we're about to hit water soon."

The center of gravity seemed to shift after she said that.

"How soon?" Hongjoong asked.

"Five minutes."

"Alright, I'll make this quick." The captain's tone of voice changed. "When we get to London, stay together, as usual. We are staying an extra day for a short vacation time, but we still need to be back on the ship at 8:30 in the evening. Now, when we get to his house, you can look at the artifact collection, but don't touch anything. They're his findings he's donating to other museums at a later date. Understand?"

The crew nodded.

"Alright, prepare for arrival."