The ship sailed in the sea not far away but also not too close to the pier of the city of Gyeongju, the capital of the Kingdom “Silla”.

The sailors, in the early morning, began to wake up, some decided to prepare for their new journey into the unknown, at least they didn’t know, and some went to nap a little longer in the belly of the ship until the captains decided to wake up themselves. When the sun was already in the middle of the sky that was when the two awoke from strong banging on their door. The two woke up in a panic and hurried to the door stumbling on each other while a strong headache hit them. They bicker over who would open the door but one gave up to the other and went to sit by the large map of the seas.

"Yes?" Key's menacing voice was heard, all the sailors of the ship immediately went to do their work except for the one who stood in front of the pirate with a sleepy child in his arms.

"We found him sleeping behind the wine barrels," the sailor said.

"Did you search him?" Key asked. "Yes, just a bag with your wanted flyers and a bag with coins, Captain," the sailor finished. The boy was now fully awake trying to fight the big person that held him by his shirt. "Take his money, strip him and throw him into the sea, he will drown," Key said nonchalantly, then closing the door behind him. It certainly seemed like the man had no mind for anything so early in the morning. But the boy's voice stopped him, "Wait, wait, I can help you."

"What do you say? Put him in and get out of my sight." The sailor did as he said, he threw the boy on the floor of the room and slammed the door behind him. "Talk," Key looked at the boy who was in pain from the blow he received from the landing on the floor. "I Ummm." "I'm listening." "I can help with the theft, and I'm small," he mumbled, "and I run fast, and..."

But the captain was not satisfied with his words. "Get up," Key ordered. The other pirate who was in the room looked at them from his place by the table. The boy did as the captain said and got to his feet, straightening his clothes. "Turn around," the captain ordered. At first, the boy did not understand why he should turn but did so anyway out of fear. He felt uncomfortable.

He was slender, his legs were slim and somewhat feminine, his face was young and smooth. "Take off your shirt." The boy was startled after the captain's next order. "I..." he tried to say but the captain did not care what the boy had to say. "Do as I say, because if I find out you're actually a woman..." Bling-Bling looked at Key and realized where his partner was heading.

The boy did as he was told, feeling embarrassed from moment to moment, he released the ribbon that was holding his shirt, and took it off exposing his flat chest. Key walked towards his partner, they exchanged a few words and smiles appeared on their faces. "Please don’t me," the boy uttered. "We will not do it, calm down," Bling-Bling said. "But yes we have a job for you," Key added.

The boy quickly put his shirt, tied the ribbon back in place, and waited for what the captains had to say. "What is your name, kid?" "Tae-Taemin," he replied. "How old are you?" "Seventeen, I'll be eighteen soon," Taemin answered. "If you can stay on board you'll have to promise us something ..." "And if I do not agree?" Taemin asked, interrupting the pirate's remarks. "Say bye-bye to your life," Bling-Bling replied with a smile that made Taemin feel a little uncomfortable, hoping the pirate was joking.

"What is the condition?" "You'll have to do what we tell you to do. You have potential." "Like what?" "Steal, dress up, serve us, not ually of course," another sarcastic statement by Bling-Bling. "I’ll do anything, but I also have conditions." "And they are?" Bling-Bling got to his feet and went to stand in front of the window overlooking the horizon.

"Do not leave me behind and do not let me be ." "Believe me, boy," Key spoke, "it won’t happen. Now follow me, I'll give you something more comfortable to wear." Taemin followed the captain to a large box full of clothes. The captain took out boots, a shirt, loose pants, and a layer to put on top. "What about all the other clothes?" Taemin asked after seeing more colorful fabrics popping out of the box.

"They are not for now, when the time to wear them comes you will know," Key and Bling-Bling left Tae to dress in the work clothes he was given. They were rough but loose and big on him, especially the boots that were too big for his feet, but he did not complain.

Taemin was mostly given cleaning jobs. The captains also did not let him drink and touch the ship's steering wheel or enter the kitchen, they even asked sailors to show him where things were on the ship such as the weapons, the stored food, and where he would sleep. They even taught him to fight with a sword and were surprised by how quickly he learned to master the weapons. They were also surprised by his quick leg work, which made him avoid fist blows in hand-to-hand combat and his endurance. Basically, anything to do with fighting with or without weapons was fascinating when it came to the new member on their ship.

When his first mission day arrived he was sent with two other pirates to steal fruit from the market of a town located in the south of the Silla.

Taemin and the two pirates got some new clothes, the two got high-class people's clothes, funny hats resting on their heads over a hairstyle that gathered their hair in a cocoon, and Tae got some poor boy's clothes, which was a little unfair in his opinion. He got stinky clothes that were once white and now full of mud, his hair was messily picked up on his head by a ribbon. The captains told him to not cut his hair short. 

Key told him he would attract less attention because no one notices the poor people, nor care about them, which made Taemin feel useless with the character he was supposed to play. Tae learned that the names of the two who came with him are Ko Shinwon and Yoo Doojoon, Both were taller than him but not as threatening as he thought them to be.

Only one of them was a good actor, the other not so much. Taemin really didn’t need their help. "So," Doojoon said after getting off the ship, "we will start a fight and gather people around us while Tae will go and steal, and we must remember not to steal any money and gold from anyone, Key will kill us if we do." The trio shuddered at the thought of Key slashing having their throats one by one. With a big sack, the trio walked towards the city. The plan was clear, the two would make a scene and Tae would steal without anyone noticing.

The shortest of the two acted as if he was bumping into the other back, the other shouted, vry unconvincingly, "what do you think you are doing?" Which caused Taemin to roll his eyes and mentally hit himself in the head. He did his job, and according to the plan, people were actually gathered around the two pirates. Taemin took advantage and started to steal fruits from the stalls where the sellers focused more on the battle created than on their slowly stolen goods. At one point people came and even started betting on who would win the battle. These people, Taemin thought to himself, rolled his eyes for the thousandth time that day. Does no one notice how unconvincing the battle is? What kind of people are they?

When the young robber saw an empty clothing store, he went in quickly, stole a two-piece garment, wiped the mud from his face, and arranged his hair so that it would be collected neatly on his head. When he left the store with the dirty clothes thrown in the sack with the fruit and put the sack on his back, he walked along the market and saw a bunch of women around the stand of red and juicy apples. He walked towards the stand and looked at the apples from the side thinking how he would get some when he has no money, but he did not have to do anything because the lady in charge of the stand brought the attention of all the girls to him and they all got excited about the nice guy standing in front of them. 

They giggled and waved at him, "Young boy, come here," the stall owner said. Taemin walked towards her feeling uncomfortable from all the looks, but he did not show his discomfort keeping a straight face. "Choose one of your likings," she told him. The boy did the smartest trick he could think of, behaved cutely, and said he had no money. "I'm sorry Ajuma but I have no money," he shook his hands and was about to leave, but the lady said, "it's okay, for a handsome boy like you I'll give some for free," she winked at him. Tae felt two girls holding his hands and staring at him. "Thank you, it’s very nice of you, but I will feel bad," he said, knowing exactly what would happen next. The owner of the stall immediately gave him a cloth bag full of ten fresh red apples. "Take them, I insist." He took the little sack and sent a smile, which made more giggles be heard around him. "Thank you, Ajuma." He bowed a little, freed himself from the girls' hands, and walked from the stand, hearing the whispers in the distance.

Taemin hurriedly put the goods in his big sack which to his surprise did not make people look at him strangely, and went back to the battle between his two friends. But not before stopping at a watermelon stall, causing one to fall and the stall owner picking it up while stealing two without anyone noticing.

"Hey, you guys," Taemin shouted at the two who were still fighting in a strangely and blatantly unconvincing manner, making everyone frustrated with him, including the two pirates who got confused because they didn't recognize him. Taemin, looking like the son of the richest man in the area, said, "Abonim would not like that my two servants quarrel with each other and make such commotion, come on," he raised his voice, laughing so hard from the inside because the two suddenly realized it was him in the dark blue clothes that complimented his body, and his face was no longer dirty. "I have what Abonim asked for," he continued to make a grim face, the two immediately got up on the floor cleaning their clothes from the ashes, "yes sir," the shorter of the two said and bowed playing along, Shinwon did the same.

As the trio walked away from the market where there were no more people, Taemin began to laugh, "Your faces," he said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "Where did you get these clothes?" Doojoon asked him. "I stole them from an empty clothing store," the shorter boy replied. "Where are the clothes you wore before?" It was Shinwon's turn to ask. "In the sack," Taemin answered the other and opened the sack to show them the watermelons and apples resting on a dirty cloth.

"Wow," said the youngest. Shinwon was barely a year younger than Taemin. "We should get back on the ship before they notice that things have disappeared from their stands," Doojoon said. "You did not steal any jewelry, did you?" Taemin asked. "No, but it seems to me you'll be in trouble because of the clothes you stole." Tae just shrugged.

"I'll face it."

"If so then good luck, it was nice knowing you." the trio laughed.