“Who the hell’s pounding on our poor door like that?” Hoon frowned, hearing a very loud banging on the door.

“Hey, we’re not deaf, you-” Kiseop stopped his sentence in the middle after opening the door and facing a very angry pirate. “Who the hell are you?”

“Who the hell are you?” he asked back. “Where’s Eli?”

“What’s all the- whoa, calm down, man…” Eli, who had just entered the room, tried to avoid the punches AJ was already throwing at him.

“What do you want?”

“Umm… let’s talk?”

“Talk? Now’s not a great time, if you haven’t noticed. Where’s Hyona? Who are these people? What’s all this supposed to mean?”

 “Eli, cut it off,” Soohyun’s leader-like voice could be heard. While AJ and Eli had been bickering, Hoon and Kiseop called the rest of the boys to the room.

“Why is it me again?” Eli whined. AJ, now utterly confused, let go of him.

“Why don’t we have a seat?” Soohyun suggested.

“Where’s Hyona?”

“Eli, go to your room and bring your little friend.”

“Your room? Why do you keep her in your room, you ert?”

“YAH, it’s not like I-”

“GO!” Soohyun cut it off  again and Eli obeyed.

“Now that we’ve gotten rid of him…” Dongho looked AJ over, “so, the captain’s son, huh?”

“What do you want?” AJ hissed.

“We want you to join us.”

“And why would I do that?”

“I don’t think you’re really fond of your father either. So?”

“I don't even know who you-” AJ wanted to say, but saw a glimpse of someone entering the room. “I’m in.” The lost boys and Dongho looked at each other, confused about how easy it was to get AJ to agree.

“Young Master!” Shinmi, who was the one AJ saw enter, exclaimed. She knew what the boys had been planning, but she did not expect AJ to pop up so suddenly. It felt weird seeing him there after she escaped from his father’s ship. She could not help but feel a bit guilty, even if there was no reason for that. She also noticed he was looking quite tired and blue. Had he been having a hard time? She did not know how he was at all since she had left.

AJ could not take his eyes off her. She’s here… and she’s okay. He was genuinely surprised. He felt so down when she left and now – there she was, standing in front of him. He could not leave now. He did not really know what he was doing or what he was going to do later, he did not care.

“Cool. You’ll stay in Eli’s room then.”

“What?!” both AJ and Eli, who was just returning with Hyona, shouted.

“I thought-“ Eli started saying something, but was interrupted.

“You came!” Hyona ran over to AJ and jumped on him.

“YAH! Keep yourself off  me! I see you’re perfectly fine, and here I was worried!” It was just like any other time when Hyona and AJ were fighting.

  “I was saying, I thought he was just gonna help us one time or so, he’s like… joining us full-time?” Eli frowned, watching Hyona and AJ. She’s finally smiling now, he thought.

“Got a problem?”

“Yeah, I don’t like you!”

“Then quit yourself!”

“I was here first!”

“So, how have you been?” It was evening already and AJ found the courage to approach Shinmi, who was quietly resting in the garden.

“Young Master!”

“Don’t call me that, you’re not my servant anymore…” Right, his eyes widened in realization, she’s actually not my servant anymore…

“B-but… I don’t think I could get used to calling Young Master anything else…”

“Fine. Suit yourself,” AJ smiled. It was actually cute, and she only addressed to him like that. He knew she respected authorities, so he could understand that she could feel uneasy.

“Does Young Master need anything?”

“Nope. I just wanted to see how you were doing, that’s all.”

“Me? Why?” she asked with a naïve look in her wide eyes.

“Well, umm… come on, you’re not a stranger to me, you know,” he didn’t feel like expressing how much he had missed her.

“Oh… I… I’ve been fine. Although I’m not used to this life yet… it’s fine though. So how is Young Master doing?”

“You know, same old…” he looked at her, experiencing a very familiar feeling in his stomach. “Same old over and over again.”