“You’re—“

 

“Who are you?” The man with sparkling eyes and upturned lips scanned down her body, lingering on her neck. Out of nowhere, he took hold of the crystal and snapped the necklace off her.

 

Jinju clutched the back of her neck and pleaded, “Please give that back.”

 

“Where’d you get a hold of this?” He disregarded her plea. “This is a precious gem that could fetch for a lot of coins.”

 

“Give it back,” she tried to reach for it but he kept it out of reach.

 

“I think I might just keep it.”

 

“Give it back, Chen.” She struggled to get it from him but after hearing his name leave her lips, he pinned her arms and legs to the bottom of the boat.

 

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?” he scrutinized her face. “I don’t remember ever spending a night with a girl who has a scar.” 

 

The scar he was referring to was one she received from the captain of the Floga. She remembers how painful it was when she first got it.

 

It was two days after she was first captured that the crew encountered a windstorm. The captain had ordered her to do something about it. Jinju refused, she had no experience in calming storms. All she knew how to do at the time was create a breeze to move a boat or fan flames. The captain was very angry with her and threatened to torture her. Jinju was not familiar with pain so she immediately agreed. But there were problems due to her inexperience. 

 

Instead of calming the storm, she made it worse and one gust was so strong it actually caused the tip of the mast to break off. The captain had been so livid that he pulled out his sword. Jinju dodged a bit too late and received a diagonal cut that went from the tip of her left eyebrow to just below her cheekbone. There was one other wound from that ordeal—one that trailed down from her left shoulder to her forearm. After he had cut her up so severely, the captain came to his senses and had Elioda tend to her wounds before she could die of blood loss.

 

“Even if I did bed you, I wouldn’t have told you my name. Who are you?” the man called Chen was still trying to figure her out.

 

“Do you bed that many women for you not to remember each one? It’s me, Jinju. And no, I’m not one of your conquests.”

 

“Jinju? I don’t know anyone by that name.”

 

“I guess it’s too much of a stretch to expect you to remember some girl you only knew for two months, five years ago.”

 

“Where from?”

 

“The island of Baram.”

 

Chen squinted his eyes and continued to study her, “Ju-Ju, is that you? You look different with short hair,” a genuine smile graced his face.

 

“Don’t call me that,” she said with a dead look in her eyes and a frown on her lips.

 

“Ah, wae~” 

 

“My name is Jinju not Ju-Ju.”

 

“Well, what brings you to Póthos Ju-Ju?”

 

The use of her given nickname escaped her notice once he reminded her of her situation. She scrambled to get him off and peeked from the boat’s edge to see what had happened with the footsteps she heard a few moments ago. Fortunately for her, there was no one in sight. They probably passed by, not knowing that she was hiding in the boat. It also helped that Chen had covered her by hovering on top. 

 

“What are you doing?” Chen copied her posture to see what she was looking at.

 

Jinju turned back to face him and said, “I’m hiding.”

 

“From what?”

 

“Pirates.”

 

“You know, there’s an easier way to reject their advances.”

 

She huffed in frustration. “Do you ever have anything other than dirty thoughts on your mind?”

 

“Of course, dirty things are only a tiny part of my thoughts. Besides, you are in Póthos and if that’s not what they want you for, then what do they want with you?”

 

“This!” she said as she snatched the crystal right out of his hand. Technically it was her gift that the captain desired, but Chen didn’t need to know that. The less people knew, the safer she’d be. 

 

“Hey!” he protested.

 

“It belongs to me. Now if you will excuse me...” She made a move to stand, but forgot that she was still quite weak and would have fallen over the side of the boat if Chen had not steadied her with his hands on her hips. 

 

“Woah there, you don’t look too good,” he commented on her pale complexion, “you shouldn’t move about so hastily.”

 

“I need to get away from here,” she told him with urgency.

 

“I got that. Where you going anyway? I can help you get there.”

 

“You will?” she asked him incredulously, one of her eyebrows slightly tilted up.

 

“Yah! Just because I’m who I am doesn’t mean I can’t help a lady in need,” he flashed her an easy-going smile.

 

“It’s because you’re a pirate that you don’t offer help.”

 

“Shhh, no one needs to know. Besides, you know I’m different from those others and it’s only right to help a friend.”

 

“Me, your friend?”

 

“Of course Ju-Ju.”

 

“I said don’t call me that!”

 

“Waeeee.”

 

~~~*~~~

 

After much arguing, Chen managed to convince Jinju that she should go see a healer before anything else. So at the moment, he was helping her walk with her arm over his shoulder. Before they set off, she made sure to cover her face with the thin scarf that Chen had tied around his waist. 

 

After a while of slow walking, Chen got bored and stopped. He placed an arm around her back and the other arm around the bend of her knees and lifted her up. 

 

“Yah! Put me down!”

 

“Just hold on Ju-Ju, I won’t drop you,” he assured her while gently squeezing her legs and back to bring her body closer.

 

“No! Put me—“ her sentence was cut short when he actually put her down and stood with his back to her. Jinju noticed that they were in a secluded part of the town and she saw a man standing in their way. 

 

“It seems the lady wants nothing to do with ye. Why don’t ye leave ‘er in me hands,” the man said with a gravely voice.

 

Chen started to back up with his left arm circling around back to keep Jinju close. “Sorry, but this one’s mine.”

 

“Why don’t we share ‘er,” the man was now leering at her, causing Jinju to pull the scarf tighter around her face and grab a hold of Chen. She couldn’t help but feel shivers running down her spine. 

 

“Sorry, but I don’t like to share.”

 

“What about I buy ‘er of ye, this ‘ere gem is worth three gold coins.” the man pulled out a clear crystal from his shirt pocket causing Jinju to give out a small gasp. The crystal looked just like hers with its tear shape, but unlike hers it was completely clear while hers sparkled with glitter dust.

 

“Sorry, but I’m not interested. Like I said, she’s mine,” there was a glint of irritation in Chen’s eyes.

 

Jinju could tell that something had changed in the other man’s expression before he pulled out a flintlock pistol. She felt Chen tense and reach for a dagger strapped onto his belt with the hand that was shielding her. It was only seconds later that the dagger was embedded in the man’s arm causing him to scream out and drop his pistol. Before he could pick it up, Chen had already reached him and put a fist to his head. Chen picked the pistol up while the man was disoriented and used the end of it to knock the man unconscious.

 

He then faced her and pointed the barrel in her direction. “Chen?” 

 

“Duck Ju-Ju,” he warned before firing the pistol and hitting the man standing a few feet behind Jinju. He threw the pistol on the ground and bent down to pull his dagger out of the man’s arm. He made sure to clean the blood off with the man’s shirt. Jinju also saw him take the crystal out of the man’s hand and inspect it before putting it in his pocket. “Come on Ju-Ju, we need to hurry out of here before some other guys try to buy you off of me,” he mocked her with a laugh.

 

“Stop that!”

 

“Are you going to cooperate with me this time?” 

 

“Fine,” Jinju grumbled before putting her arms around his neck. Chen laughed and hoisted her up. “Where are you taking me? Does the healer you’re taking me to, know what he’s doing?”

 

“Don’t worry Ju-Ju, if he wasn’t any good, the crew wouldn’t be trying to recruit him.”

 

“Crew? Do you mean EXO’s?”

 

“Yup, that’s the one.”

 

“Will Baekhyun be there?” the question hesitantly came out of .

 

Chen gave her a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. “Sorry to say but he’s busy going around the island. Are you looking for him? Is that why you’re in Póthos?”

 

Jinju vigorously shook her head no.

 

He gave her somewhat of a worried look before asking, “Don’t tell me you’re here to sell your body?”

 

“No!”

 

“Then why Póthos? You do know what this place is known for don’t you?”

 

“I just happened to pass by. I had no intention of joining a brothel. I was actually about to leave the area when I met you. Speaking of, why are you here?”

 

“The crew is staying in town for a few days to do...business.”

 

Jinju gave him a skeptical look, “And you’re not here for what Póthos is known for?” 

 

“Some of the crew are, but not me. You’re the first girl I’ve come across since we got here.” She squinted her eyes at him, but he just shot her an innocent smile. She didn’t believe him at all, especially remembering their conversation a while ago when he had asked her if she was one of the women he had bedded. “Come on Ju-Ju, don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth.” She just scoffed in reply. “Fine, believe what you want. We’re here anyway. I’m sure Lay will vouch for me.”

 

She turned her attention to a small hut situated at the bottom of a hill. She didn’t realize that during their banter they’ve actually ended up quite a ways from the town. As soon as they were in front of it, Chen knocked on the door with his right hand. For a brief moment, Jinju saw something sparkle on his ring finger. Before she could pay extra attention to it, the door opened. Standing in front of them was a man with squinted eyes and a heart-warming smile. She could practically feel warmth emanating from him.

 

“Chen, what brings you here?”

 

“Hey Lay, Ju-Ju here hasn’t been feeling well. Could you check her?”

 

“Sure, why don’t you set her down here,” the one called Lay closed the door and motioned Chen to set Jinju down on a wide wooden bench on the side of the hut. 

 

Lay opened his mouth about to say something when Chen interrupted, “Can you also tell her that I’ve been coming to visit you everyday so I don’t really have time for women.”

 

Jinju stopped examining Lay from her spot on the bench and turned toward Chen, “Unless you live with the guy he can’t be too sure where you are when you’re not around. Who knows, you could be elsewhere...more than likely, a brothel.”

 

“Ju-juuuu,” Chen’s whining was interrupted by Lay’s laughter causing the duo to turn their attention to him.  

 

When he finally calmed down he said, “This is really interesting.”

 

“What is?” Chen gave him a curious look.

 

“You,” Lay pointed to him, “this is the first time I see you this way. Could this lady be your lover?” He now turned his attention to Jinju trying to get a good look at her and said, “No need to worry m’lady, Chen here has been dutifully visiting me to convince me to join their crew. And he hasn’t been smelling of any type of perfume.”

 

Jinju slowly started flushing and adamantly shook her head. “You’ve got it all wrong. We’re not lovers.” She was shaking her head so much that she became light-headed and lost her balance. Before she could fall off the bench, Lay tried to steady her with a hand on her shoulder.

 

As soon as his hand made contact, Jinju felt a surge of energy penetrate through and eventually settle in the middle of her chest where the crystal was. It was strange that Jinju instantly felt better. Her light-headedness went away and the ache in her stomach from hunger was no longer as painful. 

 

Lay, on the other hand, felt energy leaving him. He gasped and immediately pulled his hand away. The smile was wiped off his face and replaced by curiosity, “Who are you?”