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“I don’t get why you called me here. Unlike you, I’m busy.”
“Jeno” The older man simply chuckles as he leans his back on his leather armchair “This old stout has something for you”
“Dad” The red headed man says in a warning tone “I’m really not up for your shenanigans..”
“Come on, son!” Mr Lee pleads, “This is really easy this time. Why don’t you go out and have some fun instead of being cooped out in that boring office?”
Jeno crosses his arms as he shifts his stance “If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?”
“I’m old” Mr Lee reasons. “Plus, I think this would be a great experience for you!”
Jeno eyes his father carefully, “What more experience do I need?”
“Treasure hunting!” Mr Lee stands up, giving the red headed man a piece of paper. “An old colleague of mine is related to a very prominent family here. They’re descendants of Korea’s royal family and their youngest heir discovered a possible hidden treasure belonging to their family.”
“I work in the cryptology” Jeno says as he suspiciously eyes the contents of the paper. “I’m not like you”
“Son, you’re a great symbologist— even better than most of my grad students.” Mr Lee places his hand on his son’s shoulder “I’m a professor but at the same time I can go out and look at the world and appreciate its beauty. Now, I’m too old to do those things and I still enjoy looking back at those moments of my youth.”
Mr Lee continues, “I’m just suggesting for you to try exploring the world and if you still don’t like it, I won’t force you. You can go back to your job.”
“You did some crazy things and worried mom a lot” Jeno responds in a frustrated smile “it made her feel like you loved your job more than us”
Even without saying it directly, the older man could feel a slight bitterness in Jeno’s tone. “That might be so. I’m not going to excuse myself but I was thrilled to do it. I wanted to come home to you and tell you all of my adventures. But I guess I did worry your mom. I’m not such an ideal father.”
“It’s fine” Jeno puts on a defeated smile. “Now that you’re old, you’re stuck with mom in this old house.”
“And I’m thrilled by it” Mr Lee chuckles, patting Jeno again “so why don’t you think about it? This will be easy for you.”
Jeno stares back at the piece of paper in his hand. He grew up knowing his father’s business. His father taught him a lot of things— including studying symbology. Jeno wouldn’t deny it was fun. But he also remembers times when his father would be severely injured, making his mother cry most of the time out of worry. That’s when Jeno decided he would take the safer route and bury himself in deciphering historical texts and codes instead.
But there is still that curiosity building inside Jeno on how it feels to actually find hidden treasures himself.
“Do I go with a team?” The red headed man asks, slightly convinced.
Mr Lee hums in contemplation. “Not necessarily a team but the client will be sending us a historian in training. But all your expenses will be paid!”
Jeno raises a brow, not even interested in the last sentence “In training?”
“An old student of mine” There is a playful tone in Mr Lee’s voice “I’m sure you will like him. He’s a funny young fellow, unlike you.”
“Wait a damn minute” Jeno eyes his father, “why would a college student go?”
“Son” Mr Lee puts his hands on his widening hips “I said it’s fairly easy. You won’t even have to go outside Korea”
“Then why me?” The younger man questions, “can’t your other students do it too?”
“Lee Jeno, this client is very high profile and they are asking for our service” Mr Lee’s tone changes that even Jeno knows he shouldn’t complain anymore. “Remember, the treasures belong to Korea’s royal family. Whatever you find will be a national treasure.”
There is firmness in Mr. Lee’s voice “I won’t entrust it to anyone other than you.”
By the next morning, Jeno arrives at the seaport with the arranged historian trainee. “Might as well just call him History major” Jeno scoffs as he looks at the time. Their supposed rendezvous is in twelve minutes so Jeno finds himself sitting at a nearby café.
“Your partner will give you briefing once you’ve met. Don’t scare him, Jeno” he recalls his father saying. Jeno is aware of his intimidating looks but he wasn’t someone who would scowl at people for nothing. All of his co-workers in the cryptology and symbology are in a way like him anyways but his father would always remind him he doesn’t look “friendly.”
What does that even mean?
“Hi!”
Jeno looks up to see a blonde man smiling widely at him. He wasn’t sure at first if the man called out to him but judging from how this stranger is literally helping himself sit in front of Jeno, he assumes that the man is definitely talking to him. The stranger looked about Jeno’s age so he thinks this might have been his companion for the trip.
“I’m Jaemin” the blonde stranger holds out his hand “Na Jaemin”
“Jeno” he answers, accepting Jaemin’s hand.
Jaemin shakes their hand “Wow. I can’t believe it’s really you”
“Did we meet somewhere?” Jeno asks out of curiosity yet he never recalls seeing this man.
“No, no” Jaemin shakes his head as he chuckles awkwardly “It’s just that Professor Lee, your father, talks about you sometimes.”
Isn’t that inappropriate to do in lectures? Jeno questions himself. “So, Mr Na—“
“Jaemin” the blonde cuts off “Please just call me Jaemin”
“Okay” Jeno nods, unfamiliar with how to deal with the other’s friendliness “Jaemin, I was told you would brief me on what to do? I’ve read the papers and it seems that—“
“Jeno” Jaemin cuts him off once again “please don’t be so formal. We’re the same age”
Jeno purses his lips “Alright”
“Okay, so our client was given this paper as part of the will and testament from his grandparent’s” Jaemin hands Jeno a brown envelope containing a withered paper. “Our client believes that what’s written in there will lead to a treasure hidden by his ancestors”
“Believes?” Jeno remains sceptic.
“Our client’s family used to trade gold back in the day.” Jaemin explains “They travelled back and forth to the western islands gathering treasures to boost the Royal family’s wealth. So it’s no wonder if they hid their treasures in one of these islands because they travelled in ships a lot.”
Jeno looks at the paper “So what makes you believe that it’s on the island we’re going and not here?”
“Yes, please read it” Jaemin suggests.
to a Point, Behold the golden key lost in the Quiet Zephyr.
Blood of the Kindred, East is where the angels rest
Beyond, you shall find the stone.
Jaemin points at the second line “The Island we’re going is called the Eastern Seas. In there is where our client’s ancestors and family rests. They basically have their own family tombstone in there.”
“Then why would you need me? You know I’m a symbologist, right?”
“Yes” Jaemin nods “But the first part, I do not know. Plus, look at the unusual capitalization of letters”
“It does seem like a clue” Jeno agrees. But P B Q Z B K E B doesn’t make any sense yet.
“Then Lee Jeno,” Jaemin leans closer to the red head, “Will you come with me?”
It was a two-hour ride from the mainland to the Eastern Seas Island by a small ferry. Not a lot of mainlanders go to the said island so Jeno and Jaemin had a pretty easy accommodation.
Jaemin is a very chatty person and does not apply the concept of social distance. He would enjoy the sea breeze, liked to bask under the morning sun, and get excited at the sight of dolphins.
“Jeno, Jeno!” Jaemin says excitedly, dragging Jeno to the docking platform “Look, there’s a lot of souvenirs”
“Jaemin” Jeno smiles awkwardly seeing multiple eyes around them. This feels more like a vacation than a treasure hunt. “I feel like we’re being stared”
“We kinda stand out, don’t we?” Jaemin says merrily as he points at his blonde hair.
Indeed, there arent’s a lot of tourists and most locals have black or greying hair. Only Jeno and Jaemin possess the brightest hair colour among the people.
Jaemin drags Jeno once again, leading him into what seems like a parking lot “our client provided a car for us to use”
“That seems convenient” Jeno comments, letting the blonde man drag him.
They arrive into their client’s family cemetery after a four hour long ride, stopping at a local eatery for lunch and rests stops. They are welcomed to a large mausoleum with the royal family’s insignia carved into the concrete. Inside, they see a big concrete panel at the centre with a hollow cross carved through.
“So, where do we start?” Jeno asks, observing the place “There are a lot of stones here”
“I think it has something to do with that first line” Jaemin answers “to a Point, Behold the golden key lost in the Quiet Zephyr.”
“Point could mean an arrow” Jeno suggests “it could point to where the stone is”
“But I don’t see any arrow around here” Jaemin says as he starts to look around.
panel “Golden key… golden key—“ Jeno walks closer to the hollow cross, walking around the large concrete. He stops to look at the light casted through the hole “Wait”
“Did you find anything?” Jaemin asks, walking closer to Jeno.
“We’re being very literal” Jeno says as he holds Jaemin’s hand to lead him in front of the cross. “Jaemin, what time is it?”
“Umm, Jeno” Jaemin says shyly “I can’t see because you’re still holding my hand”
Flustered, Jeno quickly retracts his hand and clears his throat “Sorry”
“No, its fine” Jaemin chuckles “you can hold it again once I can look at the time.”
“No, thank you” Jeno murmurs.
“It’s four thirty now”
“Then it should be there soon” Jeno concludes.
Jaemin looks at the red head beside him “It?”
“Golden hour” Jeno explains, pointing at the window. He then points at the hollow cross “Once the sun sets in a few minutes, the golden rays of sunlight will pass through that hollow cross casting a golden-like arrow”
Jaemin widens his eyes at the movement of the light though the said hole. The casted light began to move upwards into the tombs. “Is that—“
“It should be” Jeno says, stepping closer to the tomb where the light stays. He knocks into the thin concrete that covers the enclosure “It seems empty inside. It shouldn’t echo if there’s something in there. Maybe if we could find a way to open it—“
Before Jeno could even finish, Jaemin breaks through the concrete using a candle stand. Jeno’s eyes widen at the sudden outburst, his mouth agape when Jaemin continues to hammer the tomb.
Jaemin inches into the tomb, grabbing a box. He smiles at Jeno’s still face “Sorry, no time”
“What would you do if there’s actually a body in there?” Jeno exclaims.
“We’ll just have to apologize to our client” Jaemin chuckles, scratching the back of his head “But hey, we got something!”
“Oh dear” Jeno shakes his head, slumping his body on the floor. He’s like a ticking time bomb.
“Hey Jeno, look” Jaemin crouches down in front of Jeno and hands him the open box. Inside is another piece of withered paper similar to the one they had earlier.
Blessed those who come Beyond the land,
Along the shores and Forest trees.
Yearn for the sound of Xylophone to Blissfully end this Quest
“Blissfully end this quest” Jaemin speaks “does that mean this is the last clue?”
“I’m not sure yet” Jeno responds, eyeing the words carefully “we don’t know what those capital letters are for”
“The first line must be congratulating us from coming from the mainland. It’s says Beyond the land.”
“It’s very literal but it’s a possibility” Jeno says “because we actually found this second clue”
When Jaemin decides to sit comfortably next to Jeno, Jeno finally gets the chance to get a proper good look at Jaemin. The heat from afternoon sun both makes them sweat that Jaemin looks like he’s shimmering. His long lashes effortlessly flutter as he concentrates on the paper and god, he smells like strawberries.
“So what do you think?” Jaemin asks, disrupting Jeno from his trance.
“Uh— what?” Jeno stutters.
Jaemin smiles and Jeno suddenly thinks Jaemin is so pretty against that afternoon glow “I said the second line could be that place near the cliff. It’s abandoned but our client’s family owns that piece of land. It used to be a docking area and it has lots of trees”
Jeno reads the second line once again,
Along the shores and Forest trees.
“Why do you know so much about this place?” Jeno asks.
“I study History and I’m especially interested with the Royal family.” Jaemin explains “I’m actually very helpful when it comes to geography plus I did plenty of research before coming here”
Jeno somehow feels bad for not even putting effort on this job. It was a spur of the moment decision but what can a symbologist do in treasure hunting?
“Then let’s try going there”
By the time they arrived at the said place, it was already dark. Jaemin led them to an old abandoned mansion with a forest behind and a cliff further up. Below the cliff is an old docking platform with damaged wooden piles as remnant of the old dock site.
“Along the shores and forest trees” Jaemin says “But what does ‘Yearn for the sound of Xylophone mean?’”
“Shh” Jeno looks around, carefully listening to his surroundings.
Jaemin remains quiet, enjoying the cold breeze and the calm ripples of the sea.
“Cicadas” Jeno finally blurts out “It’s cicadas. We have to looks somewhere where there are a lot of cicadas around”
“Then we should go up in the forest”
Both Jeno and Jaemin turn their flashlights on to survey the forest. As they walk further, Jeno feels Jaemin tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. “C-can I hold your hand for a bit?”
Maybe it’s because of the darkness or the fact that they are alone in a vast forest but Jaemin looks like he is legitimately frightened. So Jeno decides to hold the blonde’s cold, trembling hands.
“Your hand is so warm” Jaemin says softly, almost humming.
“Your hands are cold” Jeno replies with no malice in his tone, as if he enjoying being playful with Jaemin.
Jaemin perks up and whispers to the red head “Jeno, can you hear that?”
Before Jeno could even reply, Jaemin let go of his hand and ran towards where the cicadas are heard clearly “Jaemin, be careful—“
Jeno hears a scream in the darkness and runs to find Jaemin. He sees the blonde’s flashlight on the ground near a hole. “Jaemin?” Jeno calls out, directing his own light into the hole “Jaemin are you in there?”
He sees the blonde at the bottom of the hole, all wet. Jaemin calls out “Jeno? Is that you?”
“Jaemin, are you okay?” Jeno shouts.
“I— I think I sprained my ankle. I can’t move” Jaemin sobs “I’m scared down here”
“Fuck” Jeno curses, trying to find anything to help Jaemin but there is no avail. “Jaemin, what do you see?”
“Uh” Jaemin looks around “I— I think I’m in a cave of some sort. I can’t see anything on my right but on my left there’s a small opening towards the sea”
“Okay” Jeno breathes out “I’ll come down”.
Jeno enters the steep hole, carefully holding onto the tree roots around to support himself. About six meters down, Jeno finds himself in a wide opening. Unable to hold onto anything anymore, Jeno braces himself to the remaining three meter fall.
It’s fine, there’s sand and water down.
“Jeno, please be careful” Jaemin sobs.
“Yeah” Jeno smiles nervously before jumping down. He loses his balance but his body is cushioned by the sand and shallow water. He limply walks towards Jaemin, still feeling that after fall shock.
You really should work out after this.
“Are you okay?” Jeno cups the blonde’s sobbing face.
Without any second thought, Jaemin pulls Jeno into a tight embrace “I was so scared!”
Jeno awkwardly rubs Jaemin’s back, feeling the heat of Jaemin’s tears. It’s as if the cave made it possible for Jeno to hear his heart beating loudly “It’s going to be fine. I’m here”
Jeno supports Jaemin as they walk further into the cave away from the waters. There is a pile of mossy bricks, debris, and dry sand up ahead where they decide to rest.
Jaemin smiles dejectedly as Jeno tends to his injuries, making a makeshift cast from small debris and cloth.“I thought we’ll be able to finish the quest now”
“Don’t think about it” Jeno says with a firm tone in his voice “right now, we should make the most of what we have now”
“Jeno”
“Yes?” Jeno responds as he finishes patching Jaemin up.
“That’s such a nice name.” Jaemin finally smiles “I think it really suits you”
The red head sits next to Jaemin “Why would you say that?”
“If I’m not mistaken, it has Chinese characteristics which means ‘Emperor’ and ‘hard work’.” Jaemin ponders “a name befitting for a leader”
Jeno raises a brow suspiciously “Did my dad tell you that?”
Jaemin’s smile dissipates and he sighs dejectedly “Yes, he did. He always bragged about you whenever he can in class” He continues, “It made me curious about you”
“There’s nothing to be curious about me.” Jeno admits “I’m not as adventurous as you are”
“Because you’ve never been to one! Yes, it’s scary and risky. But it’s also fun!” The blonde looks at him straight into his eyes “I’m sure that’s why your dad wanted you to come”
Jeno chuckles softly “Like our situation now?”
“So you can laugh” Jaemin snickers “you’re cuter that way”
Jeno clears his throat and stands up looking flustered. He lets Jaemin sit and work on a fire as he gathers tree roots.
“Aren’t these wood debris fine?” Jaemin asks, successfully lighting a fire with small branches.
“No, there’s moisture. We can’t light a fire with those” Jeno explains as he puts the available roots he could find on Jaemin’s small fire “I think these will be enough to warm us up for the night”
“Okay” Jaemin says softly, inching closer to the fire to find warmth.
“You should remove your clothes” Jeno says, lifting his shirt. He then feels Jaemin’s eeys staring at him so Jeno averts his gaze “you might get hypothermia”
Jaemin obediently does but struggles to undo his pants. He bites his lips and looks at the red head “Jeno, I’m having trouble”
Finally understanding what Jaemin meant, Jeno comes close to the blonde and levels with him. “W-would you mind?”
Jaemin shyly shakes his head before putting his arms on Jeno’s shoulder, their face inches apart. Jeno could feel Jaemin’s breath as he slides down the blonde’s pants revealing his milky legs. Jeno gulps at the sight but suppresses himself. “I’m done—“
Jeno freezes when feels Jaemin’s lips against his own. It feels so soft and taste so sweet he couldn’t help but want more.
Ah, fuck it.
He brushes his hand along Jaemin’s blonde locks, pulling him to deepen their shared kiss. He pulls Jaemin’s chin down, trying to gain more access into the sweet orifice. The way Jaemin moans in his mouth makes Jeno want more of Jaemin heat, Jaemin’s touch, and Jaemin’s heart.
“Jeno, kiss me more” Jaemin says breathlessly as he greedily let’s his tongue dance against Jeno’s, exploring each other’s mouths like there is no tomorrow.
Jeno pulls Jaemin’s body in, taking the other’s warmth. He could feel Jaemin’s beating heart in rhythm with his own. He wanted this heat to last, he wanted their bodies to burn together like the fire.
“Jaemin” Jeno whispers, biting Jaemin’s lower lip.
“Mhmm” Jaemin moans, attempting to wrap his leg around Jeno’s waist “Yeah— ow!”
Jeno halts, realizing Jaemin is in real pain “oh god, are you okay?”
“M-my ankle” Jaemin sighs frustratingly.
“O-oh” Jeno replies awkwardly. He hastily stands up and gathers their wet clothes “I uh… better lay our clothes out first to dry faster.”
Jaemin purses his lips “okay”
“Can we sleep together?”
Jeno looks behind him to see a troubled Jaemin “What?”
“No— I mean” Jaemin stutters “like for body warmth”
“Come here” Jeno says. Even he is surprised at his change of attitude but after that make out with Jaemin, it would be weirder if he ignored him.
Jaemin comes closer to him, comfortably laying his head into Jeno’s arm. Jeno wraps his other arm around Jaemin’s waist, bringing them closer.
“Can I kiss you again?”
Jeno swears Jaemin could feel his heart beating. But with that pleasing eyes and luscious lips, Jeno couldn’t help but be tempted. He doesn’t respond but instead, he initiates the kiss this time.
Their kiss is chaste, form brief pecking to longer lip lock. They take their time lazily kissing, smiling in between as they playfully tease each other. Jeno could feel Jaemin’s eyelashes against his skin and it feels so comforting, so right. They continue to share sweet, innocent kisses as they are lulled into sleep.
“Jeno!”
Jeno is awoken by Jaemin’s voice from a distance.
“Jeno wake up!”
The red head groggily sits up, rubbing his eyes from the sudden brightness of the morning light. He stands up and walk towards the excited blonde “W-what?”
“Look!” Jaemin points at the wall near the cave’s mouth. Jeno notices the low tide and finally realizes the vastness of the cave. “Last night, we couldn’t see it because of the water was so high up”
Jeno blinks to look at the carved angular symbols carefully.
“Masonic Cipher” Jeno has seen this so many times in textbooks he cannot mistake this. “The code the Freemason’s used back in the day as a way to communicate secretly”
With a newfound hope, Jaemin asks “Can you decipher it?”
“It’s actually pretty easy” Jeno starts to take a branch to draw two three by three grids and two X’s below each one. He then fills each grid and corner with alphabets. “Because it’s so easy to decipher, this code wasn’t used for a long time. But because it can only be read in English, I think that’s the reason why our client’s ancestors were confident to use this”
Jeno finishes writing the translation and steps away for Jaemin to see.
A C A E S A R I N T O L A T I N
“A Caesar into Latin?” Jaemin reads “What does that mean?”
“Caesar…” Jeno hums.
“Is it Julius Caesar?” Jaemin ponders again, thinking of the Roman general he read in history books. “Is that another clue or a code?”
“Code…” Jeno repeats “Caesar… Jaemin that’s it!” Jeno exclaims almost excitedly it startles the blonde. He unconsciously hugs Jaemin as if a celebratory moment “It’s a Caesar Code! I knew there’s something on with those poems!”
He continues, “We have to take a look at those random capital letters”
“Really?” Jaemin mirrors Jeno’s excitement as he searches though his bag “Then here— oh”
“Oh” Jeno repeats, seeing the smudged letters. Of course, he and Jaemin got wet along with their bags so the papers would have been wet too! Jeno gives a frustrated sigh as he sits on the sand defeated.
They have come so close.
And now all their hard work is wiped out in an instant!
“Umm” Jaemin speaks softly as he levels with Jeno “I think I can still help”
Jeno raises his head to look at the hopeful blonde. He feels as if he could get lost in those soft brown orbs that it seems all his fatigue would be washed away by the sea. “How?” Jeno asks in almost a whisper.
“It’s not really out of ordinary but” Jaemin smiles and taps his temple “I have eidetic memory”
Jeno has never encountered one with eidetic memory before. Commonly known as photographic memory, a person can recall anything they hear, read, or see briefly after seeing them once.
“I’ve read those words so I can still recall everything clearly. Including the capital letters”
“Can you tell me each capital letters in order?”
Jaemin nods and starts to scribble the letters on the sand.
P B Q Z B K E B B B A F Y X B Q
“So, what are we going to do with these letters?” Jaemin asks “It doesn’t look like it’s readable”
“A Caesar into Latin” Jeno answers. “It’s a Caesar alphabet that we have to translate into Latin alphabet.” He continues to explain, “Instead of starting from ABC, Caesar alphabet starts from XYZ. So X means A, Y means B, C means Z, and D means A.”
Jeno writes his translation underneath Jaemin’s letters.
S E T C E N H E E E D I B A E T
“Jeno, I still can’t read it” Jaemin confesses, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Because we’re reading it wrong” Jeno starts to count the letters “It’s just a hunch but I have a strong feeling it’s that”
“What?”
“It still doesn’t make sense because we might need to use a Polybius Square” Jeno explains drawing a four by four grid next to their translation and putting each letter in their respective slots “Sixteen letters are perfect square of four so it would be ideal to use that”
S E T C
E N H E
E E D I
B A E T
“Now read from top left to bottom”
“S E E B E N E A T H D E C E I T” Jaemin reads aloud, shocked at the realization “See beneath deceit”
“Jaemin” Jeno looks at their surroundings, walking further into the cave where they rested “why would think there would be piles of bricks in a cave?”
Jaemin limps towards Jeno, looking at the red head grabbing one of the bricks. Jeno then cleans the moss, revealing a golden surface. “Oh my god”
When Jeno’s discovery of treasure with Jaemin turned out to be a success, he and his father are invited into a charity ball by their client. Jeno is not a fan of socializing but he intends to see Jaemin again after that event. He never even had the chance to ask for his contact or bid him a proper farewell apart from one stolen kiss as parting gift from the blonde.
“So this is Jeno, the one who found our family treasure” The host, whom Jeno found out was theier client, greets him and his father.
“I only helped, sir” Jeno says humbly “it was team work”
“No, no. My son wants to thank you personally” Their client says, calling an overly familiar blonde to come over their circle “I take it you’ve already met him though”
“You know, when Jaemin came back, he wouldn’t stop gushing over your son” Mr Na chuckles “instead of the treasure, he was more excited to tell me about Jeno. I think he got a different treasure than gold”
“My son is very straight laced” Mr Lee looks around the room, seeing the elite surrounded by grandeur. The ballroom shines as if encrusted by gold itself, “You approve of him for your heir?”
“Traditions are old, buddy!” Mr Na lightly slaps his old friend’s back “Why did you think I let Jaemin go on that adventure? I know my son and I will support whatever makes him happy— including his relationships”
Mr Lee looks at his son’s flushed face from a distance. Jaemin has his arms around Jeno, dragging him away from the hall “This generation sure is different. I’m sorry about my son’s behaviour”
“What are you talking about? I like Jeno for Jaemin” Mr Na laughs as he sips his champagne “Aren’t we cupids?”
“Jeno” Jaemin smiles as he interlaces their fingers “Let’s go on another adventure together”
Jeno looks at the brown orbs that seem to sparkle and he can’t help but fall even deeper. Jaemin is just so beautiful. Jeno leans in close, capturing the lips he long missed and Jaemin returns it with the same passion.
“I’d love to”