Chan awoke rather early. The sun hadn't even risen, and Byeongkwan was still deep asleep. Chan crawled out of bed silently, so he wouldn’t wake up his roommate, and left the room. He grabbed the lit lantern attached to the outside of his room and make his way to the deck.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed Jun standing outside by himself. Jun was leaning against the edge of the boat and looking out into the darkness. Not only was it dark, but also foggy. There was nothing really to see.

Chan approached Jun slowly. 

“You’re up.” Chan commented when he reached within earshot.

“Yes.” Jun replied. His tone made him sound really tired and distracted.

“How’s Donghun?” Chan asked. He remembered that Donghun had stayed in the captain’s quarters overnight.

Jun nodded. “He’s sleeping soundly.”

Chan noticed that Jun was shirtless. He chose not to comment on it but instead just stared at the captain’s . There were a lot of scars all over, decorating the toned muscles of the pirate. It didn’t seem like Jun had an easy life.

“Tell me about your village.” Chan asked out of curiosity. All Chan knew was that the three older pirates had lost their home years ago.

There was a thick and heavy silence before Jun started to speak.

“Donghun, Seyoon, and I were fishermens’ kids. We worked together, played together, learned together. Our dads would take us out fishing whenever they could.”

Jun sighed deeply. 

“I lived with my mom and two sisters at home. We had a simple house by the dock. It was nothing much. But it was comfortable, and peaceful.”

Jun reached into his pocket and pulled out a small locket. It was old and rusty. Chan couldn’t make out what was inside, but he let Jun continue his story.

“Just like the rest of the country though, things slowly started going downhill. Produce stopped coming in to the markets, traders stopped showing up in our village. Thankfully we had fish to eat, but our money supply dwindled. Yet the taxes were raised. We made complaints to the lord of the area, but we never got a response. Then one day, our village was attacked.”

Chan stood silently as he watched Jun caress the locket between his fingers.

“That day, Donghun, Seyoon, and I went out on a sailing expedition by ourselves. We didn’t return until the next day. We found everything burned to the ground.”

“Captain…” Chan whispered in sympathy.

Jun continued. “Our families were dead and we were left alone. We vowed to find out who destroyed our village. By a of luck, we found out the perpetrators were privateers. Pirates that hired by none other than the governors!” 

Jun shook his head sadly, “The noblemen couldn’t handle the country’s population with the resources on hand, so they planned to wipe out all the unprofitable and unhappy villages.”

Chan was shocked. He couldn’t believe the nobles of that area would do such a thing. He knew many of them were bad people, but to resort to massacring innocent people was on a whole different level.

“We wanted to get revenge on those privateers, so we set sail.” Jun finished.

“I’m so sorry.” Chan apologized.

Jun smiled sorrowfully. “No need. It’s a common story in this country.”

“But still…” Chan continued. 

Jun turned to look at Chan. “You’re a good person, Chan. But be careful; the world is not a nice place. If you’re too good, you will be taken advantage of.”

Jun frowned. Technically, they were already taking advantage of Chan. 

Chan looked regretful. “I’ll go check on Donghun’s wound.” Chan eventually replied. He trudged away towards the captain’s quarters, leaving Jun alone.

Jun sighed. He waited until the other was out of hearing range.

“I’m sorry, Chan. But I have no choice but to drag you into this.”