Requested by: Eld0rado

Characters: Kyungsoo [EXO] & Yejin [OC] 

Premise: A love story between Kyungsoo and noona--Yejin--on a luxurious cruise

Author: Admin K, DivinestSense

Hidden Treasure

“How much do you want to bet that if I went over there and asked her out, she would say yes?”

“Sure, but I’ll win.  She can’t say ‘yes’ if you never ask her and it’s no secret that you’re terrified of older women.”

Eyebrow twitching at the sound of glass breaking, Kyungsoo fought against the urge to get up and leave. His day had begun at the crack of dawn and not a moment of silence passed when working on a cruise ship.  At any hour of the day, people were out and about chatting up one another and losing a battle to motion sickness as they hurled over the side of the boat.  It was not as though he was forced to interact with the vacationers all of the time—thank god he was not on the wait staff—but just hearing them talk to each other was enough for him.  Plus, the added noise of his friends Jongin and Baekhyun only made him want to stab his ears out with the forks he had just cleaned.  

He and his friends had been searching for a decent paying job for what seemed forever.  All three of them were fresh out of university and ready to take on the world—or, well, some form of that.  He and Baekhyun were heading off to some type of graduate program or another in the fall and Jongin was now free to pursue his dancing career (his parents had made the tan boy promise to get a degree before he ventured off into the uncertain and unsteady career of dance).  

Kyungsoo had known the two since he was a kid and the three of them had gone through all stages of invincibility and awkwardness together.  Jongin was the childish one, Baekhyun was the sassy confident one and he was the strong, silent one.  Prior to the three of them splitting paths, they had decided to treat this break as their last hurrah in a way.  But because neither of their families supported them just wasting a few months eating and wandering around, they agreed to get a job at the same place.

And that lead them to where they were now, Golden Sails Cruise, a treasure-hunt themed cruise ship.  People of all ages with famous status would board the cruise ship and travel to different tropical islands that were rumored to harbor buried treasure.  It was a ridiculous notion to Kyungsoo (seriously, some of the passengers were well into their seventies and they were searching for buried treasure, how senile could they get?) but the pay was much better than working at a restaurant and Dumb and Dumber seemed to enjoy it.

So he wouldn’t complain.

In a sense, he could call himself lucky.  While Jongin and Baekhyun were hired to be waiters (on the premise of their good looks—Baekhyun was useless at serving other people) he had been hired to do random tasks that the managers needed to be done.  Yesterday he had cleaned tabled, this morning he had worked in the dish room and after his break ended, he was off to dust the pirate props around the boat.  With the exception of giving someone the occasion time check or direction, he had no reason to interact with the elites on board and for that he was grateful.

His distaste for them had nothing to do with the people themselves, but rather the fact that they were wasting time up on this stupidly themed floating thing.  From being CEOs of electronic companies to being the big names in the financial world, the men and women who wandered around the boat were the leaders of the nation’s economy.  Groaning as he stretched, Kyungsoo could not even begin to imagine the power they held in their hands, yet here they were, taking selcas with eye patches and playing with fake gold coins.

They could probably have real gold coins if they wanted.

The whole situation just rubbed him the wrong way.

Hearing the door to the kitchen open, Kyungsoo braced himself for the appearance of his loud companions.  Sure enough they joined him in his sanctuary—a small opening in between the giant staircase and the kitchen—Jongin on his left and Baekhyun on his right.

“Soo, tell Kim Kai over here that I could so ask a noona out and not get rejected," Baekhyun said as he flung an arm around him.  

“No, tell Baekhyun that it does not even matter what she would say—he would never have the guts to even ask her the question!”  

Head throbbing at the sound of them literally arguing over him, Kyungsoo blocked them out and watched the people pass.  It was now around noon and people were beginning to plan their activities for the day.  The boat would dock for a “treasure hunt” in the evening and all of the passengers would unload and dig for hidden gems, but until then they sat by the large pool on the top deck or ate and watched the boat move on the bottom deck, where he and his friends currently were.  

Person after person passed, each with smiles plastered on their faces.  It must have been nice, to be able to pay to go on this thing and sail around the world, only eating the finest foods at the heart’s whim and visiting the nicest tourist areas.  

He could only dream.

As he continued to observe, his attention was caught by a woman sitting at one of the food counters, eating by herself.  Unlike the others who dressed to impress the other strangers aboard by adorning themselves in jewels and the company of many, she sat alone, looking beautiful in a simple grey dress with a simple white hat.  

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun whined as he pulled on his arm like a child.  “Be on my side!”

Shaking his arm to rid himself of his friend’s clutches, Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.  “Baek, you’d never ask a noona out.”

He had seen her yesterday, when everyone was boarding the ship for the first time.  Unlike the others who traveled in pairs, she came alone but neither her gender nor her lack of company seemed to take away from her status.  Men and women alike would bow at her if they made eye contact and it was not until he stole a look at her name tag (everyone on this stupid ship was forced to wear one with his or her name and their position in the company they were representing) that it clicked.

Lee Yejin, the nation’s leading mind in engineering and mechanics.  

To say she was brilliant would be an understatement.  Her rise to fame was a widely publicized one and almost every Korean knew her story.  Growing up in a traditional household, Yejin was expected to be educated, but still maintain her gender role as a woman.  Against her parents’ wishes, she attended school abroad and upon her return, became Kia’s head mechanical engineer.  She was currently working for both Kia and the government all at the promising age of twenty eight.

It was amazing.

So sure enough, she was a part of the guest list,  When he had first heard her story and of her intellect, he never would have imagined that she would waste her time with nonsense like this, yet here she was not just attending the cruise, but enjoying it.  From morning to night yesterday, she had been smiling, moving form group to group, never staying with any party too long.  In the time he had spent observing her as he cleaned tables yesterday, he had expected to see something other than a social butterfly—to see some exhaustion or a crack in her facade.

That moment never came.

Even so, he could not believe that she was simply enjoying the trip—she was too intelligent to possibly amuse herself with something like this.  Others on this trip were greedy fools who were corrupted and cruel—the types that the others whispered about behind their backs—but she was a beautiful person, inside and out.  She had started a scholarship for women in science and engineering and spoke at schools for free, all with the hope of encouraging the nation’s youth to pursue not only higher education, but their passions as well.  

Her internal goodness only added to her external beauty.  With long, brown hair and pale, smooth skin, she was breath taking.  No make up was needed for her to take his breath away, she was just that naturally beautiful.  

But she was also a noona by five years and way out of his league as far as status went.

Hell, he picked coins up off the street sometimes.

“Fine, maybe I’d never ask, but what about you?”

Tearing his gaze from the beautiful brunette to the sly look of his friend, he felt his pulse quicken.  Had they noticed him staring at her?  Well, it could hardly be called staring, she just seemed to catch his attention.  If anything, it was her fault for—well—er—existing.  

“Yeah, tell us about Miss Lee Yejin, Kyungsoo," Jongin teased, teaming up with Baekhyun.  It was astounding, their ability to go from kids who broke things as they argued over petty things (he was willing to bet the manager was regretting hiring them now—they had broken over five plates.  Too bad they were on a cruise and there was no where they could go.) to partners in crime whose sole purpose was to make his life miserable.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Dude, you’ve been staring at her since yesterday.” 

When did Jongin become observant?  The guy was childish—innocent!  He even laughed at the English pronunciation of the planet Uranus!

“I just think her story is really interesting.”

“Bull," claimed Baekhyun.  “You know, you should go and speak to her.  There should be a moment of peace when the passengers exit the ship to go on the first treasure hunt—the manager said we could even get off the boat as well.”

Jongin added, “But only to carry around the rich people’s crap."

“True, but you could offer to carry her stuff.”  

Sighing, Kyungsoo glanced at his watch.  His break had ended two minutes ago—he had fake treasure chests to dust.  Unlike his pretty boy friends, he doubted the manager would be too kind to him if he was unproductive.

Standing up, he said, “I’ve got to go and work—something that you should consider doing as well—so let’s pick this conversation up again never.”

Walking away to the sounds of teases and complaints, Kyungsoo kept his eyes ahead of him as he passed Yejin, who was sipping a smoothie.  As he rounded the corner, he allowed himself a brief glance of the successful noona and in that moment, he could have sworn she was looking right back at him.

“Attention all Treasure Hunters!  We have reached our first destination.  Please help yourself to a complimentary digging equipment bag and follow the guides—they’ll take you to where X marks the spot.  If you need assistance carrying anything, do not hesitate to ask any of our crew, we’re here to make your experience the best it can be.”

Immediately, the crowd that was gathered on the lower deck roared to life.  Kyungsoo watched as slowly but surely, everyone unloaded the cruise and wandered onto land.  It was almost comical, the way they were dressed.  If he didn’t know any better, he would have assumed they were gong to a yacht party, not to an island to dig through the dirt and sand.  With their white outfits and poofy