"Seungyoun, I talked to Eden earlier."

The man looked up from whatever he was reading about on his tablet. As it seemed, it was some research data from his most recent project that he was memorising while a 3D model of some other creature was in the corner of the screen. At the sudden confession, his demeanour shifted, and his absent-minded position dropped. Hongjoong could see his fingers clench around the handle of his mug as his eyes widened with worry. Feeling bad, Hongjoong came over to sit down opposite of him. The man pulled his long legs under his chair, so Hongjoong would find enough place to settle.

"It's nothing bad. Eden is our superior and far from the main troublemakers in Alterra. He said that he wants to meet you and understands your problem very well. He will finish up at home and then come here to join us for a few weeks and talk things through with you. He considers letting you stay as part of the team under his special jurisdiction, but he wants to talk to you in person first. If you wish to, you can leave with him, too, of course."

With the brightest smile Hongjoong could muster, he refilled the man's mug. Seungyoun shut off the tablet to concentrate on Hongjoong.

"Can I trust him? Again, I know he's your friend, but-" Seungyoun fell quiet, his voice getting lost in a murmur. In the end, he bit his lip to shut himself up as his lashes fluttered downward.

Hongjoong would have reached for his hand, but he didn't want to make it even worse for the man. He looked so small and sunken in already. Instead, Hongjoong gently pushed his mug closer to him until Seungyoun took a careful sip. He blinked thankfully at Hongjoong.

"We trust him. If anybody in Alterra will stand up for you and defend you against the vultures, it's him. He wants to ensure that you return to regular life, and he knows how annoying my team can get if it doesn't get what it wants." Confident, Hongjoong hit his sweater paws against each other in a dull clap.

Seungyoun gave a sigh, but he also tried his best to smile. It was sincere even if it couldn't take the pain that had appeared at this news out of his eyes. He held on strongly anyway. Hongjoong could appreciate how well the man was able to regulate his fears.

"Alright, I will meet him. I hope you will be there together with me."

Hongjoong's smile broadened. He relaxed his posture and immediately apologised for kicking Seungyoun when he relaxed his legs slightly too much. The man laughed it off.

"Of course, I will! I will watch everything closely and jump right in if things escalate. We are on your side."

That had Seungyoun lift his cup in a toast before taking another sip. Alleviated about his cooperation, Hongjoong quickly dropped the topic to bring them back to easier grounds.

They remained sitting there and conversing with each other to hopefully lift the awkwardness that had overcome them after their nightly meeting that had ended in an unwanted kiss. Both of them managed to let go of their unsaid discomforts a bit finally, and when Yeosang found them a while later, it was to laughter and easy flowing jokes.

He looked the pair of them up and down with disbelieving eyes, but a smile curled around his lips anyway. After bringing them more coffee, he sat with them. Curious, both men diverted their attention to him. Seungyoun's last giggle seemed to be still sitting in the corners of the room, ready to be re-activated.

"I'm just coming down from the Weather Station. Tomorrow evening a big snowstorm is supposed to hit us. I came to tell you to remember to come home early. You're safe in the water, but we don't want you to get into trouble on your way back. I told Seonghwa, too."

Yeosang gave a clueless little thumbs-up that had Hongjoong chuckling at him. The need to ruffle the android's hair was great, but he resisted with all his might. Yeosang hated any fingers that didn't belong to Jongho in his hair.

"Alright, thanks. Where will you and Jongho be tomorrow?"

"We'll take the Prawn Suit over to Delta Island and explore the cave systems around there. Seungyoun, you will join Wooyoung and San again. They took a liking to you."

At that, Seungyoun's eyes started sparkling. He nodded enthusiastically before downing the rest of his coffee. Hongjoong just waited for him to start bouncing on the ceiling with their chaos duo as he always did when he had too much caffeine, sugar, or a big dose of their nonsense.

"Got it! We had so much fun last time; I will gladly go."

Hongjoong rose from the table first.

"Good, then I will relay that message to Yunho and Mingi. Get some rest and take care tomorrow." He patted Yeosang's shoulder casually before taking his leave. The two of them yelled a good night after him; then he was gone already.

-

Hongjoong gave a frustrated sigh as he put down his scanner. It found its place safely on the back of his belt and connected seamlessly to the magnets that held it there. He didn't bother to try to find another edge of Seungyoun's base that was damaged by leviathan traces. What he had seen was more than enough. Instead of further wasting his time, he turned to Seonghway, who was still busy staring in the distance. He had tried to get a scan of the thing lurking in the shadows but had been unsuccessful so far. Seungyouns's base mostly showed... scratches.

Scratches that reminded Hongjoong of the horrifying horn of the Ice Worm that was lurking in the ice ready to get its food for the day at any time.

"I have a question, Seonghwa. What do you think of Seungyoun?"

The android turned with a frown on his face, his eyes still watchful. The things they had heard from Seungyoun about the Shadow were less than pleasant, but Seonghwa was keen on getting a scan. He disliked holes in his perfect spreadsheet about the planet's many dangers.

"He is hiding things. Some of his stories don't add up." Seonghwa curiously turned his head when a movement in the distance caught his eyes. However, it disappeared again in the misty waters before they could make out its whole shape.

"Do you have an example? Yunho and Mingi adore him, and neither Wooyoung nor Jongho has any issues with him. He does seem to avoid you androids, though."

Seonghwa motioned Hongjoong to follow as they moved over to one of the cave walls. They kept close to the rocks and far from any vents as they made to circle the vast room. Some confused fishes encountered them on their way, but most dodged the pale light of their flashlights successfully. He could guess that Yunho and Mingi were somewhere in the distance, trying to figure out the vents. They had less dangerous effects on them than Hongjoong, so they had volunteered to collect a few samples.

"I never had a talk alone with him. It's hard to say how deep his fear of us is rooted since he never is around. However, since you asked for an example, I keep wondering how his base could be build to confuse my scans. There is little chance of him simply using the exact materials he needed to mess them up. It also doesn't seem like he did. Yet, I noticed neither his nor Yohan's vitals when I first came here."

That was true. Seungyoun had always been open with them, but only with the humans in their squad. Either he didn't care for the androids' questions, or he assumed they had none. He was quick in making sure he wasn't around one for too long, though. Hongjoong had noticed that, too.

"It might be a coincidence. Since we never talked, the question also never came up. It doesn't have to mean he is hiding things from us." Seonghwa flicked away some weird thing on the wall that could have been a parasite just as well as a plant.

Hongjoong was staring into the murky waters as if his life depended on it, but nothing was to be seen. The Sea Truck they had brought floated near the entrance lonely. Its big and flashy lights didn't reach far and only showed how further in the back, some canyons led even deeper into the caves.

"Maybe. But that's not what you think."

With a humorous smile, Seonghwa glanced at Hongjoong. His eyes were searching for a second; then they settled back to their peaceful and affectionate standard.

"It's not. I agree that he is not well-versed with androids and fearing our kind is a very natural condition to have. You had it, too." They exchanged expressions that were a sort of grimace and smile at the same time. Hongjoong was glad that they were able to joke about this matter.

"However, he doesn't show actual signs of fear. Not in what he says, and also not in his vitals. He just avoids us. That fact and also that he somehow knew how to avoid my scans makes me think that he actually knows more about androids than he cares to admit. But that doesn't have to mean anything. He isn't doing anything wrong."

Hongjoong racked his brain for information. There might have been a possibility of Seungyoun finding one of the modern drones that they had stationed on the planet and figuring out their insides with his genius. He wouldn't be the first person that Hongjoong encountered who tried to stay clear of anything that had metal on it and some lively blue colour scheme.

"It's weird given that we just appeared. He seemed too ready. But then again, he never had contact in ten years here. We also know that there were no other people around apart from the Degasi and us. It was only those two ships."

Seonghwa subtly caught Hongjoong's arm to slow him down. As he pointed downward, Hongjoong tried his best to squint hard into the dark depths beneath them. There was... something. Some black, massive shadow that was positively disinterested in bothering them. It just lazily swam its rounds, sometimes visible in the dark, and then disappearing again.

Uncomfortable, Hongjoong glanced from it back to Seonghwa. He waited until the man's eyes had lit up after finishing its scan and he gave a quick nod.

"Let's leave. I also want to check on the weather before we return."

"You go fetch Yunho and Mingi; I'll prepare the Sea Truck."

Seonghwa made sure that the leviathan below them was nowhere near as he dropped Hongjoong off at the submarine. The man already started the engines to follow Seonghwa slowly as the man went to fetch their two friends.

Hongjoong was glad that this trip hadn't ended in a disaster, but at the same time, he also found himself wondering about Seungyoun even more. Maybe he should seize the chance back at the outpost and make use of the man's infatuation with him. Maybe he would reply if it was Hongjoong asking.

As soon as everybody was back on their posts safe and sound, Seonghwa steered them back up. They would check the water above the Lilypad Islands and then see if they were needed to collect Jongho and Yeosang on their way back before spending the rest of the storm inside safe and sound.

When he and Seonghwa were alone later at the glass dome in front of the bridge, the android used the moment to press Hongjoong against it and kiss him sweetly.

"Don't let Seungyoun come near again. I'm not a jealous person, but I am a protection unit. And I will protect you even from unwanted kisses."

Hongjoong had giggled into his mouth, endeared before he had wrapped his arms around the man's nape seductively. His body had arched into Seonghwa's like two sheets of paper fitting together.

"I'm lucky. I will ask him about the android issue soon, promise."

They had lost themselves in each others warmth and kisses then, not caring too much for now. The upcoming storm could wait until later.