oo8

Trouble

Hei wasn’t quite able to come to a set conclusion about Yuxuan except for the fact that she was very, very quiet. Even her tone was barely audible when she spoke, and when she wasn’t asked to talk, it was almost as if she’d faded somewhere else.

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, was much more talkative. More so than normal, too—he hadn’t exactly been someone with many words (he wasn’t shy like Yuxuan, either), though seeing Baekhyun for the first time in a while must’ve changed that, because he was chatting good-naturedly about what he and everyone in the crew he had been in contact with had been up to in the past little while. He took all the information about Jinqiong, Hell’s Gate, the gem and Byun Junsu surprisingly well, and Hei couldn’t tell if it was because he had been with Baekhyun for so long that it no longer surprised him or if Luhan had already mentioned it in his message and he had some time of mental preparation.

Jongdae joined them a couple minutes in. Jinqiong wasn’t there, and when he was asked about it briefly, he said (just as briefly) that she was asleep because she still felt hungover. Kyungsoo being Kyungsoo looked curious but didn’t press, and the topic moved from Luhan to where Junmyeon was, which Jongdae wanted to know. He was supposed to meet them at Himaeri—it wasn’t surprising, really, given the whole situation involved Jongdae heavily—there was no way Junmyeon wouldn’t come.

She found herself sitting next to Yuxuan a couple of minutes later as the other four talked. Having then taken a closer look at the other girl, there were some features that resembled Luhan, even if it was only slightly. Her features were soft like her brother, delicate. More or less the complete opposite from Jinqiong, who had sharp features, a sharp tongue, and somehow, an equally sharp way of talking.

“Hey,” she started, glancing at Yuxuan, and she looked towards Hei, slightly surprised. She tried to smile. “I’m Song Hei.”

“Luhan has told me a lot about you,” she replied. She had an accent, perhaps more prominent than her brother and Yixing. “I’m Lu Yuxuan.”

Swinging her legs onto the bed, she propped her chin in her hands to look directly at Yuxuan. “He hasn’t gotten the chance to tell us more about you,” she prompted. “He said that you’re a healer? How old are you?”

Looking slightly overwhelmed by the questions, Yuxuan blinked, frowning slightly for a couple of seconds, before nodding. “Almost nineteen.”

It was her turn to be surprised. “That’s really young.”

She shrugged. “I...guess.”

A little while of more smalltalk and Hei had gotten out of Yuxuan that her brother had rescued her from where she had been stationed by the Lu family—she was technically too young to be leaving Xiyuan, but there weren’t many healers in any of the families so it was considered a rare gift, and they weren’t about to waste it. Very briefly she mentioned Kyungsoo, but Hei didn’t nearly get enough information about it to figure out where they’d met, how they met and when they met. Before they could say anything more, Luhan turned from where he was sitting, saying something to his sister in Chinese. She replied back—Hei understood a couple of words—before Luhan was looking at Baekhyun again. “We can probably ask if Minhyuk has… something extra for them to sleep on,” he said. “I mean, if we have enough blankets, no one’s going to die from sleeping on a couple of layers of that on the ground for two days or so. Kyungsoo, you should probably go to Jongdae’s cabin. Yuxuan, you can take the bed.”

She looked at her brother with wide eyes. “Gege, it’s fine—”

“That’s okay,” Luhan broke in. “Seriously. I’m used to sleeping on harder mattresses anyway. As long as no one steps on it, there should be no problem.”

“I think I know what I’ll be doing,” Baekhyun mock whispered. Hei couldn’t remember the last time she heard someone whisper so loudly.

“I’ll skin you.”

Jongdae rolled his eyes at both of them. “So it’s all set?” he asked. “Kyungsoo, you should probably take your stuff over. Then you can meet Jinqiong. Our lovely alcoholic.”

“Alcoholic?” Yuxuan echoed. Luhan barely managed to translate for her before he burst out laughing.

***

Jinqiong heard Kyungsoo and Jongdae before they even opened the door, though she kept still in the darkness, staring at the blank, black wall still. It was less than a couple of seconds later when the door to the cabin was pushed open, a bit of light flooding into the once-dark room, and she squeezed her eyes shut the moment both of them entered, even though they most likely couldn’t see her.

Jinqiong wasn’t sure why faking sleeping was her first response, but she wasn’t looking to meeting anyone new at that moment (or ever, really, introductions just made her uncomfortable and she was pretty sure her being uncomfortable made the other person also uncomfortable). Especially after everything—the thought of having to introduce herself, act fake-civil all the while hating every moment of it just made it worse. Getting Baekhyun’s help meant that inevitably, there’d be more than just the five of them in the crew, but the whole crew sounded painfully overwhelming, and it felt like the less people she had to face, the better.

To her surprise, Jongdae’s voice, barely a whisper, murmured, “I think she’s still asleep. You can put your stuff down and we’ll either go to the deck or back to Baekhyun’s cabin. I’ll wake her up later.”

Genuinely not expected Jongdae to say something remotely so considerate (especially since she’d brushed him off the last time he tried doing the same thing), Jinqiong made the mistake of acting on impulse and turning towards them. Kyungsoo stepped back first, obviously a bit surprised, and Jongdae blinked, eyes wide, obviously have expected her to have still been asleep.

It took Jinqiong a second to realize what she’d done, and hoping to save herself, she blurted loudly, “I wasn’t asleep anyway. Stay in here if you want, I’ll go to the deck.”

“That’s fine,” Kyungsoo replied, having gathered his bearings again. Without wasting another second, he held out a hand, surprisingly quick. “I’m Do Kyungsoo. Nice to meet you.”

Jinqiong, still sitting on the bed, figured that even if she desperately wanted to skip introductions, there was no opting out of it at such a terrible time. She scrambled into a standing position, took his hand, shook it quickly and then dropped it. If Kyungsoo was offended, he didn’t say a thing. “Song Jinqiong,” she told him. “You guys can… settle in. I’m going to the deck for some fresh air. I’ve been cramped in here for too long.”

She nearly bolted out of the room.

***

It was Luhan that found her sitting on the deck, and by then, the sun had nearly set. Jinqiong wasn’t tired, though there was a numbing sense that it all seemed so pointless that was sinking in the more she stared at the endless sea, stretching out for miles and miles around. Why did it matter if Byun Junsu caught her? Why did it matter if he got the gem? Watching all of them reunite and actually be happy about it when she felt nothing but uncomfortable—it made her feel more out of place than she had before, which really was saying something.

Jinqiong didn’t know how long she planned on staying on the deck and how long she’d stayed in the first place—it might’ve been much longer, because at least the place was empty and no one was trying to talk to her, which was better than anywhere below deck—but then someone sat down beside her.

She wasn’t exactly too surprised that her absence after a couple hours had finally been detected, but it was Luhan, which was slightly surprising. Jinqiong hadn’t talked to him the last time she’d been explaining the gem’s properties to him, and she wasn’t sure how he’d react considering she’d nearly gotten all of them kicked off the ship.

“Hey,” he finally said. “I’ve been thinking a bit about what you said about the gem, and I think I could start… well, we were going to start today, but it’s already late. Since the gem can’t go too far from your reach, I was thinking about a couple of hours or whatever you can spare per day so I can figure out what to do with the gem. If all goes well, I can try to conceal its magic so that Byun Junsu can’t follow it wherever you go, which will make things easier for all of us.”

Jinqiong blinked. “You can do that?”

Luhan shrugged. “I don’t know until I try,” he replied. “It’s always that way with spells. I create them and then hope they work and don’t backfire.”

She eyed him. “Have they backfired before?”

“Not badly…?”

For the first time that day, she found herself smiling slightly. Before she could say more, Luhan started, “Also, he’s probably going to skin me if he hears this, but I’m sorry for Baekhyun’s behaviour. For most of the things he says.”

And then it was back, the brief splash of happiness swallowed by the reality of the situation. Glancing back towards the ocean, she shook her head. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Baekhyun’s just overprotective,” Luhan continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “I don’t think it’s you, necessarily, that he’s holding a grudge against. It’s her family. Your family, more precisely, and he’s never been keen on dragging her into danger since...well, since a long time ago. Don’t take it too personally.”

He seems to take it pretty personally, she wanted to say, but held it back. Luhan was already being much nicer than everyone else had been despite everything, and, Jinqiong reminded herself, he wasn’t Jongdae. “Thanks,” she told him instead.

“He’s also an sometimes,” Luhan continued. “And a . And I don’t understand how he can take care of a crew but still be so incapable of taking care of himself. I know you probably don’t even want to get along with him—honestly, who would with that personality—but he’s not half as bad when you get to know him. Hei puts up with him. She decided to put up with him for her whole life.”

“I commend Hei.”

Luhan snorted. “I do too. Anyway, think about it. And try not to take what he says to you to heart. I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll sort out the gem then. Try not to drink more alcohol.”

“No promises,” she called after Luhan, and then he’d disappeared below deck again with a slight wave. After a slight moment of hesitation, Jinqiong headed for her cabin too.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae had already finished constructing Kyungsoo’s makeshift bed when Jinqiong got back, and they’d somehow acquired so many blankets from Minhyuk that it actually looked comfortable, stacked like a mattress. Kyungsoo had laid the rest of his stuff neatly, the bag sitting next to the bed. They were talking quietly when Jinqiong entered, both falling silent as the door creaked. She stood awkwardly at the frame, realizing just what the addition of another person to the cabin meant—it would, really, be impossible to sleep if they were still up, and on top of that, waking up too—it all was terribly inconvenient. Jongdae and her always ended up in an argument, sure, but at least she never felt stressed about disturbing him if he were asleep. Kyungsoo was another story.

“Are you going to sleep?” Jongdae asked.

Jinqiong shrugged, pushing the door shut behind her. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I’ve been resting for the whole day and the headache’s gone away.”

That wasn’t a lie, even if she still didn’t feel great. She wasn’t sure if Jongdae was able to tell whether or not she was tired, but after a moment’s of indecision, he nodded at Kyungsoo. “I’m going to rest now too,” he said. “It’s been a long day, and Baekhyun mentioned that if the winds keep up, we’ll be arriving in a day and a half. We should probably get ready for that.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I will too. My back is sore from all that packing.” He turned to look at Jinqiong. “I don’t mind the lantern, and I’m sure Jongdae doesn’t either—”

“I can rest,” she interrupted hastily, secretly thankful because she still felt tired despite attempting to sleep the whole day. “It’s fine.”

Kyungsoo eyed her. “Are you sure?”

Jinqiong snuck another glance at Jongdae. He didn’t meet her gaze, seemingly preoccupied with rearranging the covers, so she nodded at Kyungsoo instead and reached for the night. “Let’s just all rest,” she replied. “Goodnight.”

***

Hei woke up much earlier the next morning, like she normally did, which was a relief because it meant that she wasn’t sick like Baekhyun had suspected. She didn’t feel tired anymore, nor dizzy, and for a while, she lay awake on the bed staring at the ceiling with the familiar rocki