Vin Jin turned the corner and stopped. Warren was leaning against the wall, gasping, covered in cuts. Sally had her arm around him, trying to keep him steady. The hallway around them was wrecked, the floor cracked where the guy had gone down.
Vin Jin moved toward them. "What happened?"
Warren pointed at the guy on the floor. "He attacked me while I was waiting for Sally and Jenny. He's out of his mind."
Vin Jin looked at the body, then at Jenny. "There's medical staff on board, right?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, there should be."
They got Warren moving and headed back toward the club. Sally kept her voice steady. "We need to tell the others too. It's not safe."
Warren and Vin Jin both agreed. They made their way back to the booth where the group had been sitting.
It was empty.
Vin Jin looked around the whole space. "Where did everyone go?"
Warren scanned the room. "You were with them last. Did anyone say anything before you left?"
Vin Jin shook his head.
Sally said, "Maybe they went back to the cabins."
Vin Jin said nothing, but his jaw was tight. Sujin wouldn't leave without telling him first. He knew that.
Jenny knew where the medical bay was, so she took Warren with her. Vin Jin and Sally went to check the cabins.
Every room was empty. They knocked and opened each one down the hall. Nothing. Vin Jin pulled out his phone and called Sujin. It rang out. He called again. Same result. He dragged his hand through his hair. "Tch! Where did she go? Why isn't she picking up?!"
Sally put her hand on his shoulder. "Should we call Baki-hyung and Seongji-hyung?"
They tried both. Neither picked up.
---
Baki was in the pool, arms stretched along the edge, eyes half-closed. His phone buzzed on the poolside tile. He reached for it and knocked it into the water. He fished it out immediately, but the screen was black and stayed that way. He looked at it for a second. "Tch. Bad luck for whoever that was." It didn't cross his mind that it might be the kids. If they needed him, they knew his room number.
Nearby, Seongji sat on a deck chair with Yenna in his lap, holding his phone toward her so she could watch a cartoon. His phone buzzed in his other hand. He reached to answer it.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
Yenna started crying. Seongji set the phone down face-up on the chair and focused on her, rocking her gently until she settled. By the time she was quiet again and he picked the phone back up, the screen was dark. Dead battery.
He looked at it and set it aside. He would charge it later.
---
Vin Jin stared at his phone. "Teacher's phone is off. Baki-hyung's too?"
"No answer," Sally confirmed.
Vin Jin pulled at his hair. "Is everyone in some kind of danger?!" He turned to Sally. "We have to find the others. And we left Warren and Jenny behind. We need to move."
They ran.
On the way back, Sally came around a corner fast and walked straight into someone. The impact stopped her cold. She looked up. The man was enormous, built like something that didn't belong in a normal hallway, with short, light-colored hair and a frame that seemed too large for the space around him. She recognized him from the breakfast buffet.
Vin Jin steadied her and looked up at the man. "Sorry. We're in a hurry."
The man said nothing. He stepped aside.
They kept moving, stopping passengers to ask for directions to the medical bay. After a few wrong turns they found it. Jenny was outside the door, waiting.
She looked at their faces. "What happened?"
Sally caught her breath. "Everyone's gone. We checked the cabins. No one's there and no one's answering their phones. We can't reach Baki-hyung or Seongji-hyung either."
Jenny's expression dropped. "All of them?"
"All of them."
Vin Jin pushed the door open and walked into the medical bay. It was empty. No Warren, no doctor, no sign anyone had been there recently. He turned around. "Where is he?"
Jenny went pale. "He was just inside. The doctor needed to dress his cuts so he sent me to wait out here. I swear he was in there."
Sally moved between them and faced Vin Jin. "She's in the same situation as us. Her friends are missing too. Calm down."
Vin Jin pressed his fingers to his forehead and breathed out slowly. "Okay. I understand." He looked at both of them. "From here on, nobody splits up. We stay together and we find the captain. We need an announcement made."
They found Captain Lee after searching two decks. Vin Jin laid it out clearly. Multiple people missing, no contact, empty cabins, medical bay abandoned.
Captain Lee listened and kept his voice calm. "We're in the middle of the ocean. No one can leave this ship. Your friends are on board. They may be lost or somewhere without signal. I'll have crew sweep every deck and make an announcement right away."
Vin Jin let out a slow breath. He looked at the floor. "Sujin. You better be okay."
The captain noted everyone's descriptions and walked away to get on the radio.
---
On another deck, Baki and Seongji walked into the ship's small movie theater with Yenna settled in Seongji's arms, already drowsy.
Baki rolled his neck and dropped into a seat. "Let's watch something."
Seongji sat beside him and looked over. "Can you check in with the kids? My phone is dead."
Baki reached into his pocket. "Mine too," he said, and put it back.