Kofi thanks to: Flowersky
“All tasks have been assigned, so let’s head up for now.”
The man with the flame-patterned bandana pushed Cheongyeon’s back, signaling for them to board the Peira ship. Without a separate gangway for people, they used the same one for loading cargo. The steel gangway leading to the ship was as steep as Cheonghwa Mountain. After a long climb, they finally saw the deck of the ship, its floor also finished with solid steel.
Before fully taking in the ship, the first thing that caught his eye was the endlessly stretching horizon of the sea. The vast, unobstructed view was refreshingly new, a sight Cheongyeon had never experienced, without buildings or hills blocking the view. The Peira remained steadfast and horizontal atop the waving sea, not swaying like a rowboat. At this moment, it was clear why it was called a land floating on the sea.
The boxes of Cheonghwa Town’s chestnut liquor carried by trucks were moved to the underground storage by the porters. Among the people moving in perfect order, a cannon tower, surrounded by a no-entry chain, was visible. The weapon, designed to fire shells at enemies, had a rough exterior, and its protruding muzzle looked menacing as if it could launch a cannonball at any moment.
Turning around, Cheongyeon saw a distant dome. Was that the rumored greenhouse dome? However, security was so tight that people could not even get close to the dome. Even stretching his neck as much as he could, the obstructions between the central area and the dome made it difficult to see properly.
“Alright, now that there’s nothing but time left, take your time to explore.”
Seeing Cheongyeon bewildered, the interviewer seemed pleased.
“I haven’t introduced myself, have I? My name is Bang Cheon.”
The interviewer, who introduced himself, adjusted his wind-blown bandana.
“Yes, I’m Cheongyeon. What should I do?”
Cheongyeon greeted him back, even though he probably already knew.
“See that staircase over there?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
A staircase leading underground from the central deck was visible a few steps away. The iron door was opened and secured, but it seemed to be normally closed.
“Tbe mjc ub vbkc atfgf. Cr rbbc jr sbe ub vbkc, lo sbe xffq ublcu ifoa, sbe’ii rff mjylc 107. Ktja’r sbeg gbbw.”
Djcu Jtfbc qeiifv bea j xfs wjgxfv ‘107’ ogbw tlr qbmxfa. Jtfbcusfbc ofia ecmbwobgajyif klat Djcu Jtfbc’r revvfcis qbilaf jcv gfrqfmaoei agfjawfca, kjcalcu ab jrx jujlc ktja tlr ajrx kjr.
“Shit! Big trouble, Bang Cheon! A truck smashed a thousand bottles of chestnut liquor!”
Just then, someone shouted loudly from the direction of the gangway.
“Fuckk! It’s the drunkard from the liquor store, right?! That crazy bastard was driving drunk late last night!”
Bang Cheon, raising his voice to the point of vomiting blood, quickly ran in that direction.
“Ah! Cheongyeon-nim, just enjoy your meal and rest in your room. You don’t have to do anything in particular!”
Leaving Cheongyeon behind, Bangcheon disappeared from view without even giving a chance for Cheongyeon to stop him. Cheongyeon stood dumbfounded for a while, holding the key to cabin 107, then got pushed around by the busy crowd. The harsh stares from people wondering why he was just standing in the corridor made him instinctively head towards the staircase leading to the cabins.
After entering cabin 107, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.
He was just a cabin cleaner, yet the room assigned to him was too luxurious. Through the round cabin window, the blue sea was visible, with white bedding covering the bed in front.
To the left was a desk and chair, and further in, the bathroom door was open. The curtain booth divided the toilet and the shower area. Cheongyeon circled around cabin 107 anxiously like a puppy who needed to pee.
Just eat and rest? If he didn’t need to do anything specific, why was he even brought on board?
Far from being comfortable, Cheongyeon felt extremely uneasy. There were tales that on one island there were cannibals fattened humans before eating them; could Peira have such habits? Even if they practiced cannibalism on the ship, no one would stop them. But then, it wouldn’t make sense for there to always be many applicants for Peira’s recruitment. Cheongyeon dismissed these ridiculous thoughts.
Without anyone watching, he felt awkward and couldn’t comfortably lie down on the bed, so they just took out a chair from under the desk and sat down. Perhaps to prevent items from sliding off due to the ship’s movements, the bookshelf on the desk had partitions in front. Cheongyeon aimlessly looked at the books before picking up the most worn-out notebook. It looked like an ordinary notebook since there was nothing written on the cover.
Thinking of putting it back, he flipped it open on a whim and found it filled with an unknown language. The only recognizable part was the numbers written as dates. Flipping through the pages, the dates were sporadic, and below them, there were writings that seemed like a log of a voyage.
Suddenly, Cheongyeon’s hand twitched.
A very familiar drawing caught his eye in the middle of the pages. A flower with six perfectly symmetrical petals. It wasn’t difficult to find a flower with such characteristics. The flower wasn’t blue since it was drawn with black ink pen.
But Cheongyeon’s gaze was fixed on the words written below the drawing. The name of the flower was written in the common language of Cheonghwa Town and the continent.
[Boksu Flower]
***
At 2 p.m., the Peira ship departed later than expected due to the truck driver who had smashed a thousand bottles of chestnut liquor. Cheongyeon watched the departure from the round window of his cabin. The sound of the giant gong that rang twice startled him, and he had to clutch his racing heart. The voices of sailors unfastening the ship’s anchor could also be heard from somewhere.
As the ship slowly left the harbor, he felt a tingling sensation at his fingertips and toes. Was it because this was his first time leaving Cheonghwa Town by sea? It would have been a thrilling experience if he was a traveler embarking on his first journey, but in reality, he felt like a stowaway rat on the ship.
Cheongyeon cautiously opened the cabin door, saw a sailor with a aster tattoo on his neck passing by the corridor, and quickly shut it again.
‘Why aren’t they giving me any tasks?’
The unanswered question continued to multiply. It would take at least ten days to reach the continent, and he couldn’t just stay holed up in his cabin for that long. Cheongyeon kept staring out of the round window of the cabin. As they entered the open sea, the flocks of seagulls that occasionally appeared became significantly fewer. The ocean, which had been carrying the blue flowers, now rippled with the red sunset.
Not knowing where the dining hall was, Cheongyeon took out dried squid from his backpack. It was emergency food brought in case meals were not properly provided. He chewed on the evenly cut dried squid with his herb cutter.
‘Will I be able to return safely?’
Since leaving the land, he felt as if he were standing on a swaying bridge. Even on such a large ship, his body swayed when strong waves hit. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer from seasickness, which was his biggest worry. The sailors’ shouts were audible, but the sound of the ocean waves couldn’t penetrate the cabin, thanks to the ship’s sturdiness.
Cheongyeon chewed on the dried squid while crouching under the bed. At least he was fortunate to have a bathroom inside… He hugged his knees and buried his face in them. Closing his eyes, he felt like a powerless buoy floating in the sea.
Then, he reassured himself not to belittle himself. Ships could avoid the reefs because they had buoys, which were guides to the sea. That was how important the role of the buoy was.
“That bastard was right. I’m already tired of it.”
Whenever he did nothing and just stayed still, like now, Tae Muwon’s cold voice echoed in his ears. He really hadn’t visited the apothecary since then. While it was a relief he had lost interest, part of Cheongyeon felt an inexplicable emptiness.
Though Muwon wasn’t a good person and had tormented Cheongyeon, he saved his life and brought him much more than the 700 hwan worth of lobsters. Despite his whimsical nature and excluding the suspicion of him being part of the Hwa clan, he hadn’t treated Cheongyeon terribly.
Thump, Cheongyeon firmly hit his forehead on his knee to snap out of it.
Surely, Muwon was seeking the Hwa clan for nefarious purposes.
“Cheongyeon, even if I’m not around, you must brew the dried Boksu flower once a year.”
The Boksu flower arranged by his nanny had already been used up. From then on, he had to source the flower through contraband ships from the continent.
Cheongyeon took another piece of dried squid into his mouth and pulled out a folded piece of paper from the front pocket of his backpack. His hands, as always cautious, unfolded the old, frayed paper. The slightest mishandling could tear it at the folds.
The old and tattered paper contained a map of Nok, part of the continent. Drawn by hand, it was crude but the information was accurate. His nanny had made it easy for even a young Cheongyeon to understand.
Marked with an ‘X’ on the map was a flower shop located in Nok.
Pr: Sasa
Adventure!
Cheongyeon is so cute 🥺 I’m assuming he got put in Muwon’s room
Yo pensé igual
He really is adorable and I think maybe one of muwons rooms? Maybe one he hid in before they took over peira?
I feel bad when people say hurtful things to Cheongyeon! Damnit!
And now Cheongyeon is starting to feel an interest in Muwon atleast he’s noticing it now, Muwons been feeling it but denying it or saying it’s something else but he did treat Cheongyeon really well (for him) here and there.
I would say Muwon is the first to fall for the other and he gonna fall hard when it hits him.