Both of us sailed away as I still kept my victorious smile. I stood straight on the bridge while Yoona steered the helm behind me, I couldn’t stop my ever-growing happiness. While the wind blew on my face and the waves crashed against the surface of my ship, I reminisced on the previous battles. Like how, somehow Tiffany brought a lot of extra members for her crew and it was twice the numbers I had on my crew; half of them, shot cannons while the other half attacked my ship.

 

Every battle was different, some of them were quite shameful yet some of them were even worth laughing at. And right now, this battle is something to be proud of. Before this, Tiffany had won 3 battles in-a-row; I can’t believe such a simple strategy defeated her. She was probably too arrogant.

 

“I forgot to say congratulations, Captain.” Yuri’s familiar voice struck my ears after I felt her presence behind me. I turned around, grinning widely.

 

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Yul.” I replied, patting her shoulder. “After this, you can just call me Taeyeon.” She widened her eyes, shaking her head.

 

“I simply can’t. It’s too—“

 

“C’mon, Yul. Just like the old days. I didn’t even ask you to call me that during our first day.” I smiled warmly.

 

“A-Alright…Taeyeon.” She replied, giving back a half-smile. 

 

“Sorry to break this tender moment but where should we set course to, Captain?” Yoona interrupted with a smile. I turned to her, chuckling a bit before replying back.

 

“Find the nearest island with as much resources as possible. We need to repair The Atlantic Compass.”

 

“Aye aye, Captain~” She answered and continued to steer the wheel.

 

~~~

 

            The rocks grinded against the bilge as we were approaching the shore of an uncharted island for the restoration of the ship and as the sun crossed the sky lower and lower, we needed to fix the ship before night time as it would troublesome to find resources in a unknown island in the dark. [Bilge = The bottom of a ship's body.]

 

I walked down the stairs from the bridge onto the main deck, meeting with Sooyoung. “What are your orders, captain?”

 

“Send 7 members into the forest and collect all the wood they can along with 2 other members to collect food. Tell the carpenters that they’ll only have 3 days to repair the ship before we set sail again.” She nodded as I continued to speak. “I’ll be going down to check the area with Yuri, when we come back I want a full status report.”

 

“Right away, Captain.” She agreed and walked to talk to the rest of the crew.

 

“C’mon, Yuri.” I called behind me before I went down the ladder and she followed right after. As soon as we both stepped on the sandy beach, Yuri heaved a long sigh.

 

“Being on a ship really makes you miss the earth on your feet.” I chuckled at her comment before we walked along the beach, scouting the area.

 

After about 10 minutes of scouting the beach, Yuri and I decided to enter the forest, looking around for any signs of other people or looters. “Wait.” I whispered, holding Yuri’s arm for both of us to stop for a second. “Do you hear that?” I whispered again as I heard a few branches breaking and a couple of murmurs.

 

“I hear sounds coming from both left and right.” Yuri mumbled, looking into both sides. “Which one should we inspect, Cap—Taeyeon?” I smiled at the little side back of the name before replying,

 

“You go left, I’ll go right. You have a weapon with you?”

 

“I have my sword. What about you?”

 

“I have my pistol.” I replied, pulling it out of my coat. “Okay, let’s go.” And with that word, we both briskly walked away from each of our spots and aimed for the sound.

 

(Yuri’s POV)

 

Once I made sure that I was going on the right track, I ran through the place, searching for the source of the sound as fast as possible.

 

And right then, I felt a gush of wind and saw a shadow pass by my right side. I quickly turned, inspecting the area. “Wha…” I mumbled, not finding anything.

 

“YAH!” A voice shouted before a heavy weight landed on my back, sending me to the ground. “Who are you!? What have you done to Captain Tiffany?!” A familiar voice asked.

 

“T-Tiffany?” I mumbled, turning my body and found Jessica sitting on top of me. “You!” I shouted with my reflexes kicking in, making me sit up and my forehead clashed with hers, sending me back to the ground. “Ow…”

 

“Ouch!” She squealed. “Ugh…so it’s you.” She mumbled. I was still lying there, keeping my eyes closed to ease the pain. “What have you done with Captain Tiffany?!” She shouted, regaining her composure once again.

 

“I…didn’t do anything.” I mumbled, rubbing my temples.

 

“Then where—“ A gunshot was fired, not far from here, making us both jump. “Tiffany!”

 

“Taeyeon!”

 

(Taeyeon’s POV)

 

Hearing the murmurs become louder, I walked as fast as possible, still making sure that I was silent. “…drop…kill…you.” Only fragments of each sentence were heard from my current position. “…lower…let…away…” My ears perked up to whom that voice belonged to.

 

Tiffany?

 

I approached faster, finally reaching the scene. I was surprised to see Tiffany in a state of being so helpless like this. She was held at gunpoint by another pirate. It seemed like she was carelessly walking around in the island without defense because she didn’t have a sheath or any gun holster on her.  “For the last time, drop the gun, good sir.” She demanded. I can’t believe she has the nerve of telling that when she’s completely harmless.

 

He snickered, not lowering the gun. “I’ve got you cornered, madam. Just hand over your riches and I’ll leave you alone.”

 

“I have nothing of value.”

 

“Handing that pretty necklace of yours is something I find of value.”

 

“Never. This was given to me by my mother. I won’t let scum like you even touch it!” She resisted, holding the locket in her hand, dearly.

 

“You little…” He loaded the gun, about to fire, making Tiffany shriek.

 

As a split-second decision, I let my reflexes win, aimed and fired at his head. He dropped dead on the ground after the blink of an eye. I ran out of the shadows, checking to see if there were still signs of living, still pointing the gun at him just in case. “T-Taeyeon?”

 

I turned to the crouching, powerless girl beside me, looking completely shocked. I was shocked myself; I just saved my greatest enemy’s life. “A-Are you okay?” I asked, trying to avoid the shocking topic.

 

She looked at me closer, as if she couldn’t believe it was me. “Yeah…Why did you—“

 

“Taeyeon!” Yuri called, coming out from where I did as well and behind her stood Jessica.

 

“Tiff!” Jessica exclaimed, coming to Tiffany’s aide. “What did you do to her?!” She demanded, helping Tiffany up.

 

“No, Sica, it’s okay…she was the one who saved me actually.” Tiffany stated, standing on her feet.  Once Yuri heard this, she turned to me, showing the same shocked expression Tiffany originally had. I shrugged as I looked at her with a clueless expression.

 

“Saved you?” Jessica mumbled in disbelief. All three of them turned to me, looking at me the same way, confused and shocked.

 

“Is this true?” Yuri asked, approaching me by only a few steps.

 

“I-I…” I couldn’t answer. I was confused myself. Once I saw him, about to pull the trigger, I just…couldn’t let it happen. My body just went for it, my mind was rushed and my heart raced with the thought of what’ll happen if I didn’t save her. 

 

I averted my gaze from the ground to them. They were just staring at me, waiting for an answer. “I-I’d rather not waste my time talking to you two. Let’s go, Yuri.” I quickly mumbled and walked back to the direction of the ship, leaving all of them dumbfounded.

 

~~~

 

            I leaned over at the back part of my ship, watching the waves from the shore crash against the hull and my crew starting to prep the wood for repairing the damage, while I was trapped in deep thoughts. I was lost in my own mind. I didn’t even know what to think, the fact that I actually saved her or the thought that I couldn’t imagine her dying before my eyes.

 

Sighing, I turned around and found Yuri on the opposite side, watching me with a concerned expression. We stared at each other, having a mental argument about what happened earlier before I tried walking away. “Taeyeon.” She called as I turned my back on her.

 

I sighed once more, looking over my shoulder and mumbled, “I don’t know either, Yuri.”

 

As I walked back to my room, I saw the orange glow spread over the ship and when I looked up, I found the sun setting. “Quartermaster!” I called as she was just across the deck.

 

Sooyoung ran over, wondering what I wanted. “Once it starts getting dark, tell the crew to halt operation until the break of dawn tomorrow. I’ll be in my quarters if anyone needs me.” She nodded before I walked past her, wanting to just lie down in bed.

 

“Oh, captain.”

 

I turned around, finding her looking at me a bit worried. “Yeah?”

 

“Did something happen?” I stared at her as the image of Tiffany crossed my mind. “…I…” My gaze averted to the floor as I shook my head. “Nothing.” And with that, I turned around and aimed for my sleeping quarters.

 

Am I going crazy? Have I finally lost control of myself after being on the sea for 7 years? Never have I saved an enemy’s life, especially someone like Tiffany Hwang. I don’t even know anymore.

 

I tossed myself on my bed, not caring if I still had my coat and shoes on. I just wanted to sleep everything off. I didn’t want to deal with anything right now or think of anything that was going to cause a major headache.

 

I turned to my other side, staring hard at the wall as I felt the drowsiness hit me.

 

And before I finally drifted off, an image flashed through my mind…the time when she won one of our battles before…she gave me a proud eye-smile. I don’t know why, but my lips tugged upwards a split second before I finally slept.

 

~~~

 

            I woke up, hearing the loud clutter outside. I guess they were starting reconstruction again. I dragged myself out of my bed, straightening out my clothes and rubbing my eyes before leaving the premises, checking the progress outside.

 

I saw Yuri on the bridge, looking out on everything like the First Mate she was and Sooyoung making sure everybody was doing their job. I puffed my cheeks, breathing in and out before walking out on the deck, making my way to the bridge with Yuri.

 

“Morning, Taeyeon.” Yuri said, not even glancing at me.

 

“Morning, Yuri. Time check please…” I mumbled, yawning.

 

“It’s 9 in the morning and patching up of The Atlantic Compass is progressing well.”

 

“Alright then.” I replied, standing beside her and joined the observation of the crew.

 

Awkward silence filled the atmosphere around us. I bit my lip, knowing that I must be driving Yuri crazy. She was more than my First Mate, she’s my best friend. Even before we first set sailed, we trained together. We learned how to handle a sword together—though she was always better than me. Our bond never disappeared even though I become Captain and she became my First Mate, we always stood beside each other.  And the fact that I’m hiding something from her must be really driving her insane. 

 

“…yesterday isn’t worth talking about.” I mumbled, taking a chance.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that you saving your greatest enemy’s life wasn’t something worth explaining.” She retorted, keeping her firm composure.

 

“I-It was a reflex!” I argued back.

 

“No…you’re keeping something from me and we both know it.” And with that final sentence, she started to walk away.

 

“E-Even I don’t know, Yuri!” I shouted, calling some members and Yuri’s attention. She turned to me, looking confused once more. I sighed, stepping closer and mumbled, “I’m just as confused as you so please don’t get mad at me right now.” We stared at each other, trying to understand each other.

 

After a few seconds, she finally lowered her defenses, heaving a sigh before replying, “Alright…I’m sorry. You just…haven’t hid anything from me for a while so I got paranoid.”

 

“I’m sorry too.” I said as we both stood up straight, looking at each other like we didn’t know what to do. We were staring at each other so hard that before we knew it, we started laughing for no reason. And it was a good thing too; it meant that we were okay already. No hard feelings.  “I really am sorry, Yuri.” I said once more, giving a small smile.

 

“It’s okay.” She grinned, patting my shoulder. “So really now, you have no idea what happened back there.” I groaned and shook my head. “Do you still hate her?”

 

As soon as that question hung in the air, it was the first time that I didn’t have an immediate answer. I had to picture her in my mind, recall her personality, voice and everything else. I looked at Yuri with nervous eyes, mumbling, “I’m not sure.” She stared at me in shock. “I-I don’t know…I tell myself no but when I remember what happened yesterday, I feel that I’m just lying to myself.” I explained, walking over to the railings and getting a good look of the morning beach. “Maybe I—“ I jumped in my place as I recognized a face hidden behind a tree from the forest not so far in the beach. Tiffany’s face to be exact…she didn’t have the usual teasing smirk on her face. It was more like…she was observing me in a calm manner.

 

“What? What happened?” Yuri asked, seeing me jump in my place.

 

“Look over there!” I pointed, turning to her.

 

“Where?” She hurriedly went beside me, looking at the way I pointed out.

 

“Right there…” But before I could point it out clearer, she was already gone.

 

“There’s nothing there.” Yuri mumbled, seeming to be disappointed.

 

“I…” When I tried looking again, she was clearly gone. Have I gone crazy? “Yuri.” I turned to her, grabbing her arm. “Let’s check on Tiffany’s ship. They must be somewhere here on the island if they were here yesterday. Maybe they’re fixing their ship here too.”

 

“Huh? You really want to scout them now? The next battle isn’t for another week. Scouting when they’re still in damaged status isn’t worth anything.”

 

“Just go with me.” I groaned and grabbed the nearest pistol before I dropped down to the beach.

 

~~~

 

            “Alright so what are doing here again…?” Yuri mumbled as we crept around their site. The trees were just enough cover for us to close enough but still be too far away to be seen. I don’t want a misunderstanding of attacking them.

 

“When I was pointing out something a while ago, I thought I saw Tiffany. So why not look at their ship as well?” I whispered, hiding behind a rock and started looking for her.

 

“Maybe you were just hallucinating…” She replied, hiding behind the tree beside me. “Yeah, maybe you were because you’re falling in love with her, aren’t you?” She teased, chuckling a bit. I rolled my eyes, hitting her leg lightly.

 

“I am not. The sound of her silly laugh just makes me wanna stuff a cannon ball in her—there she is!” I whispered loudly, seeing her walk around her ship on the main deck. I gripped the rock in front of me as I felt my heart tightening with her every step…I paid attention to her every movement and expression. I started feeling warmth in my chest as she leaned against her railing, pouting and puffing her cheeks, looking bored. “Has she…always been this adorable?” I mumbled, not turning away. When I heard no answer, I turned to her. “Yuri—what?” I asked, seeing as she was smirking. “What’s with that smirk?”

 

“Look at yourself, you were analyzing every bit of her and the moment you saw her, I swear, that huge smile on your face hasn’t disappeared.” She chuckled, standing up. “C’mon you lovebird, let’s go back to the ship.”

 

“I-I wasn’t analyzing her! I was observing her… so I could know her exact movements when we fight again—I wasn’t analyzing her!!” I argued. “And I wasn’t smiling, if I was smiling, I would’ve known because I actually own my mouth.”

 

“Sure~”

 

“I hate her! Yuri, you know I hate her! I hate Tiffany!” I continued to bicker as we made our way back to the ship.

 

“Uh-huh~” Yuri replied, not listening to what I was saying.

 

“Kwon Yuri!!”

 

~~~

 

            As Yuri and I stepped onto the ship, she never removed that smirk of hers while we kept arguing. “Wipe that smirk of your face. You’re starting to remind me of Tiffany.” I mumbled under my breath.

 

“Aye Aye, Captain Lovesick~” She teased again. “Of course I remind you of Tiffany, you think about her all the time so even a crab could remind you of her.” She whispered and started laughing.

 

I sighed and glared at her before stomping to my quarters.

 

I locked the door shut, not wanting Yuri to barge in and start singing love songs before sitting down behind my desk and groaning all the irritated feelings she piled up inside me. “In love? With Tiffany? Psh, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about anymore. Argh, If anyone is in love, it’s her. Why did they show up together yesterday anyway…? Whatever. I am so not in love with Tiffany Hwang. Never. Ever. I am and never will be in love with—“ I paused, remembering her eye smile, the moment fear struck in her eyes the moment a gun almost killed her, her giggles, her smiles, her voice, her pouts…

 

I glanced across the room, still in denial of what I just realized.

 

How could this happen? Ever since I’ve heard that somebody has the power to conquer the sea as equal as mine, she’s been my sworn enemy for 3 years. I’ve hated every single thing that was hers until this morning. I don’t know why or how or when did I fall in love with this girl but…

 

I stood up, pacing around my room.

 

Am I really?

 

I let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the wall, not knowing what to do anymore. “It can’t be…It can’t be…” I told myself. “No…No, Kim Taeyeon, No.” I groaned. “You’re just…confused. Yeah! You’re just confused. Don’t listen to Yuri or any of the signs, you’re perfectly fine. You’re not in love. No of course not, you’re not in love. It’s just another normal day, after you just defeated your number one enemy, Tiffany Hwang.” At the mention of her name my heart quickly thumped for a second. I moaned and hit the wall with my fist. “Ignore that. Ignore that, Taeyeon.” I mumbled.

 

~~~

 

As the clock struck 10pm, I walked to the galley, in which only my chef and Yuri was present. It seems like everybody else ate earlier.  “Hey Yul.” I greeted her as I walked to the counter where the chef placed my plate of food on before walking back to Yuri to sit with her. [galley = kitchen part of the ship.]

 

She turned to me with that same smirk. “Hello, friend.”

 

“I swear, if you keep smirking, I’m gonna make you walk the plank once we’re in the middle of this ocean.” I grumbled, putting my plate down and sitting in front of her. She chuckled before taking a bite of her hard bread and turned back to me.

 

“So after we repair The Atlantic Compass, where is our next course?”

 

“Hmm…Maybe we should check some of the northern islands, during this time, the vegetation on those islands are plentiful. We should stock up.”

 

“Good idea. I’m tired of bread and fish.” She groaned, taking a sip of her wine.

 

“That’s what you signed up for on this pirate life—“

 

“Captain?” Yoona’s voice entered the galley. And a few seconds later, she walked towards me. “Tiffany Hwang is calling for you, captain.” She mumbled, looking surprised.

 

I glanced at Yuri, making sure that she wasn’t smirking before I replied, “What? Now?” She nodded. “Where is she?”

 

“She’s on the beach. Sooyoung checked her, she has no weapons and a few of the members are patrolling the area to make sure that she has no back up.”

 

“O-Okay…” I wiped my mouth and stood up. “Tell her that I’ll be right there.”

 

“Aye aye, Cap’n.” She replied and got out of the galley.

 

Yuri finally released a laugh, turning to me. “Maybe she’s gonna confess to you~” She teased.

 

“Shut up. Be an adult, will you?” I groaned, hitting her by the back of her head before following Yoona.

 

I stepped out into the cold windy night, seeing as my crew replaced the torches that lit up the ship and the shore, illuminating the place. When I walked towards the ladder, I found Tiffany, being surrounded by my members, making sure that she wouldn’t do anything. My heart skipped a bit as soon as I saw her biting her lip, waiting for me.

 

I hurriedly went down the ladder and walked towards her. Once she saw me, she gave me a warm smile, mouthing the word, “Hi.” My heart started to beat faster.

 

“Hi.” I mouthed back with a grin. I couldn’t help myself. I was lost in my own mind. My mind went crazy over the loud and fast beats my heart gave, not letting me think clearly. I forgot all about who she is…I just knew that she’s Tiffany Hwang, a beautiful brilliant lady.  “Everyone can go back to the ship, she poses no threat.” I commanded my members and they lingered the place, still thinking that she will attack at any moment but after a while, they boarded back on the ship.

 

I turned back to Tiffany, starting the conversation by saying: “What are you doing here?”

 

“I…” She started, looking at the ground. “I couldn’t come up with the reason on why you saved me yesterday. And if you would, I would like to know the reason.” She mumbled, finally looking at me in the eyes. I looked away, feeling my heart beat even faster as my eyes met hers.

 

“Y-You’re still thinking about that? I’ve forgotten it already, actually.” I quickly thought of, not knowing what to say.

 

“Oh, I understand. Someone like you must have such short memory.” She snickered. I glared at her.

 

“It’s 10pm, do you really want to start? I swear I’ll load my cannon so fast before you can even say ‘Taengoo’” I mumbled, starting to get irritated.

 

“No, I’m sorry. It’s a reflex, I see something I can make fun of about you and I just go for it.” She sighed. “I came here for a totally different reason.” She stated, looking in my eyes again.

 

“What is that?” I replied, deciding to look in her eyes. I was completely lost in them in a matter of seconds…her eyes were just so…beautiful.

 

“…Thank you.” She whispered. “For saving me. Thank you for saving me.” She smiled. “Jessica got lost and I didn’t have any weapon, I didn’t even expect another pirate to be on this island.  If you weren’t there, I’d probably be…” She smiled while she looked down for a second before looking back at me. “Well, you wouldn’t have anyone to hate anymore.”

 

I returned the smile, replying with, “You’re welcome…” I said, sheepishly, not managing to keep my gaze on her anymore. She giggled, smiling at me. “What?”

 

“Why do you seem so tame? Usually, you’d be either…pointing your sword and gun at me or telling me to go away.”

 

I scratched my head, looking for an answer that won’t give anything that my heart is already saying. “Well…you’re saying thank you. And that isn’t something to be mad at. Being polite is the first thing to do.”

 

“Oh.” She cracked out an eye-smile, sending my heart jumping around my chest. “I never knew this side of you.”

 

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” I smiled.

 

“Same with me.” She replied. “I have to go now. See you on our next battle.” She said, starting to walk away.

 

“O-Okay. See you.”

 

I walked away as well, climbing aboard the ship and heading towards my sleeping quarters. As I closed the door and leaned against it, I smiled silently to myself, repeating every part of the conversation. I walked to the bed and kicked my shoes after placing my coat on the hook beside my bed.

 

I lied down on my bed, not letting go of the big smile I had plastered on my face.

 

With my heart beating faster; this huge smile; the butterflies in my stomach; the fact that I can’t stop thinking about her; and the fact that I saved her life…there’s no way that I was not in love with my number one enemy, Tiffany Hwang.