Chan stood nervously in the corner of the room as the other three sailors hovered over Byeongkwan.

Donghun had called Seyoon to get Jun, as he and Chan carried Byeongkwan to the nearest bed below deck. The three older sailors took turns examining the unconscious boy; taking pulse, monitoring breathing, looking for wounds. 

“Maybe it was the food he ate?” Seyoon suggested. 

“No,” Donghun replied. “That might explain him throwing up, but it doesn’t explain him passing out.”

“Maybe he bled too much?” Jun suggested. “He had a lot of dried blood on him when we found him.”

Donghun sighed. “I don’t know,....maybe?”

Medical knowledge was hard to come across, and not that many people were familiar with things other than the common cold and scurvy. 

“Well, all we know is that he is practically useless for now. We don’t even know how long he will be out.” Jun commented.

Oh no! Chan thought, if the captain finds us useless he will throw us overboard!

Chan knew that having medical knowledge would make him very useful, and might prevent him from being killed. But he also knew that revealing he had medical knowledge would make him very suspicious. But he had no choice, he had to do it for Byeongkwan.

“Wait!” Chan called out. “I know what’s wrong with him.”

“Please explain.” Jun promptly requested. 

Chan walked over to his unconscious friend. “He has a concussion.”

The other three looked at each other in confusion.

“It’s when you hit your head too hard, and you get bleeding internally. It hurts your brain and can cause a lot of problems like dizziness, vomiting and can even knock you out.” Chan explained. 

Donghun eyed him. “Can you prove he has this… concussion?”

Chan nodded. “Let me check his eyes. If his pupils are larger than normal, that’s a sure sign.”

He reached over and pulled back Byeongkwan’s eyelids slowly. Everyone leaned in, and sure enough, it was quite obvious that Byeonkwan’s pupils were larger than normal.

“Wow! Where did you learn all that?” Seyoon asked. 

Chan blushed. “In a book.”

Seyoon looked surprised. “You can read?!-”

He was cut off by Jun. 

“So is he going to be okay or not?” The captain asked. 

Chan nodded. “He will be okay. But he needs lots of sleep and lots of rest. No physical labor for a while either.” Chan added nervously. He didn’t think the captain would take kindly to the fact that Byeongkwan wouldn’t be able to work.

“Okay.” Jun said simply, to Chan's surprise. “Let him rest.”

Jun then turned to Chan. “But you…..follow me. Donghun too. Seyoon, you stay here with the blondie.”

Jun led Chan to the deck. It was dark outside already, but there were two lamps near the staircase that lit enough for the three of them to see.

Jun quickly unsheathed his sword from his belt and pointed it to Chan. 

Chan flinched as the sword was flung in his direction.

“Tell me the truth.” Jun seethed. “Or I will cut your head off right now, and make your friend wipe up the blood.”

Chan’s body turned cold at the threat.

“Who are you, and where did you come from?” Jun asked. “How do you have that knowledge?”

Chan knew he shouldn’t lie, but he also knew there was no way he could tell the truth.

Chan took a long moment to decide whether he should tell the truth or not. 

“My dad was a lord’s assistant.” He shakily replied. “He taught me how to read.”

Chan took a deep breath before continuing. “I lived near the docks my whole life, so when my dad was busy, I snuck out to meet with people there. That’s where I learned the sailor’s way.”

Chan paused for a second, “The medical stuff was a hobby of mine. I always thought I wanted to be someone who could be helpful to the people.”

Jun wasn’t sure if he could believe the other. But regardless of if Chan’s story was real or fake, it was obvious he had no bad intentions.

“How did you end up on the other ship?” Jun asked.

Chan let out a small smile as he recalled his memories. “Some of my childhood friends got together to form a crew. They asked for me to join and I couldn’t refuse.”

“Speaking of which,” Chan continued, “Do you happen to know what happen to my ship?”

There was a short silence.

“I’m sorry…” Jun eventually replied.

“What do you mean?” Chan countered.

Jun sighed. He didn’t really want to tell someone who just looked so happy thinking of his friends.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think they made it. We watched the ship sink from afar.”

Chan suddenly felt weak. The friends had he had spent years of happiness with, were now dead.

Jun put away his sword and walked over to Chan. Jun patted Chan on the shoulder. “I’m sorry. I truly am. Believe me when I say this, but I know how you feel.”

“You do?” Chan squeaked out, on the verge of tears.

“Yes.” Jun replied. “Donghun, Seyoon, and I lost our village in Choice years ago. We’ve been out here ever since. Come on, let’s go back and check on your friend.”

When Chan returned to room Byeongkwan was resting in, he was pleasantly surprised to see the other attentive and awake. Byeongkwan was sitting up in the bed, and he was striking up a happy conversation with Seyoon. Byeongkwan greeted Chan as he walked in.

“Chan!”

“Byeongkwan, you’re up!” Chan replied. “You have no idea how worried I was for you.”

Byeongkwan scratched his head sheepishly. “Sorry...but what happened to me?”

“You have a concussion.” Chan stated matter-of-factly. 

“...really?” Byeongkwan replied. “A concussion….” 

Chan knew that Byeonkwan has seen other people, mostly knights, end up with concussions. But the other has never had one himself.

“Just stay resting until you get better. You know there isn’t any other way for this to heal.” Chan reminded Byeongkwan.

“Alright, I will.”