It’s been about a week since Chan had first awoken on ship. He was starting to get used to his daily life aboard the A.C.E ship. He learned that this was a small ship that had only three people managing it. There used to be six, but Chan never had the chance to ask what happened to the other three. Now there was five aboard the ship, including Chan and Byeongkwan. 

Because the crew was so small, everyone had multiple jobs. Chan learned that Donghun was not only the first mate, but also the ship’s navigator. Seyoon took care of the ship’s maintenance, and the supplies, and the treasury.

But the most surprising one is that Jun was not only the captain, but also the cook. And Jun was a fantastic cook.

Chan and Byeongkwan had enjoyed every meal on the ship since they got here. They never understood how the meals tasted so good, nor how the ship got such fresh produce. 

In fact, it was a little suspicious, so Chan tried asking around.

“Where does all the fruit come from?” Chan asked Donghun.

Donghun didn’t even turn to look at him as he continued to fix the rope ladder. “We stop at dock sometimes.” 

“How often?” Chan pressed. 

Donghun shrugged. “Often enough.”

It didn’t seem like Chan would get the answer he wanted so he went to Seyoon.

“Seyoon-hyung, where do we get such fresh food?” Chan asked.

“....I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that.” Seyoon replied. 

Hmmmm…. That was very suspicious to Chan. And to be honest, neither Chan nor Byeongkwan knew what kind of ship they were living on. 

It seemed sort of like a trading boat, or a merchant boat, but Chan wasn’t too sure. 

Chan finally decided to approach Jun. 

“Captain,” Chan began. “What kind of ship is this? What business are we into?”
Jun looked at Chan. “What kind of business? Well, you will learn soon enough.”

At first, Chan was excited to find out soon, but he learned all too quickly that you have to be careful what you wish for.

“Donghun, man the guns! Seyoon, I need you on deck!” Chan could hear Jun shouting over the constant cannon fire.

What was going on!? Chan thought. One moment, they were sailing peacefully. The next moment, everyone was in full combat mode and two ships were firing at each other.

Neither of the ships were large, so they met quickly in the middle. Chan could see a crew of at least 10-15 people on the opposing ship, all heavily armed. 

Before he knew it, the other ship was preparing ropes to swing across to their ship. 

“Chan, what are you doing?” Chan could hear Seyoon calling his name. 

“Take these!” Seyoon quickly pushed a shortsword and a pistol into Chan’s arms. He reached over and shoved a couple of bullets into Chan’s pants pocket. “Defend yourself!”

Whaaaatt?? Chan screamed in his head. But he had no other time to think, as unfamiliar men started to pour onto the ship’s deck. 

Chan had trained when he was younger how to conduct himself with weapons, but he was never any good at it. He quickly tucked the sword into his belt and held up the pistol with both hands. He shakily aimed at the other men and shot once, flinching at the impact. 

He managed to his one man in the shoulder, but he didn’t have time to celebrate. He fumbled to reload, but before he could, there were three men running towards him. 

Chan yelped and hustled the pistol into his belt loop before pulling out his shortsword. He ran to gain some distance from the three men but unfortunately he got cornered immediately.

The only thing between him and his assaulters was a small, unfamiliar sword. 

“Byeongkwan, help!” Chan yelled without thinking. 

“Did you call for me?” Byeongkwan suddenly appeared behind the three men. He quickly pierced through one on the men with a rapier. Byeongkwan took no time at all to stab another one straight into the eye, which was accompanied by an awful scream. He then stabbed the bleeding man again in the leg.

Byeongkwan faced the last assaulter and quickly and skillfully stabbed him in both shoulders and both thighs. The last stranger collapsed on the deck in pain.

“I’ll join Seyoon and hold them off.” Byeongkwan stated. “You stay here and try not to draw attention to yourself.”

“You’re supposed to be resting!” Chan reminded him. 

“And you’re supposed to be protected by me!” Byeongkwan retorted, before running off to join the front lines.

Chan sighed and took out his pistol once again. If he couldn’t do any good in the front, he can at least try to be support. Chan was too focused on reloading the gun to see someone sneak behind him.

Chan flinched when he felt metal press against his neck.

“Don’t move!” The man behind him ordered. “Tell me everything you know about this ship.”

Chan gasped against the dagger to his throat. “I don’t know much. I’m new!”

“Just tell me!” The man yelled impatiently. 

“Fine!” Chan breathed carefully. “The bedrooms are the first thing below deck. The kitchen is further down the hallway on the right. On the left we keep our supplies. I don’t know where we keep the valuables. I really don’t!”

Chan breathed a sigh of relief when the knife disappeared from his neck. The man stepped out from behind him to face Chan. “Hey, you look and sound kind of familiar. Where are you from?”

Chan looked the man in the eye and gasped. He recognized the stranger. The man was none other than a privateer that he had seen his uncle hire before. 

“I...I-” Before Chan could answer, there was a loud alarm that sounded like bells. 

“Darn it!” The privateer cursed. “Those fools couldn’t win a single battle against this puny pirate ship!”

Chan watched at the other man quickly retreated back to the other side of the boat, grabbed a tied rope and swing back across to his own ship. 

Chan collapsed onto his as the adrenaline began to wear off. He can’t believe he had just survived a battle like that. But wait… the privateer had mentioned something about….

A pirate ship!!