The island Yongguk had pointed out to them was located southwest of their life pod. It was too far for PSH's scans to reach but he was confident that his compass would bring them close enough for him to be able to detect it. Hongjoong had no other choice but to trust him and thus, the four of them set out on their journey after breakfast. Hongjoong was already getting sick of eating fish but thankfully they could filter the salty water with the fabricator. He could live off of fish for a while as long as he at least didn’t have to die of dehydration on a fucking water planet.

Maybe he was being cranky because a full week had passed ever since they had stranded here but there had been no contact with anything around them yet.

PSH ran another health scan on Hongjoong before they entered the water. Wooyoung and San were already inside and playing with the harmless fishes. Hongjoong waited with his feet already dangling in the water. He had gotten used to the feeling of it constantly surrounding him by now. He wasn’t looking at PSH, but he did turn his head when the man gave a surprised hum.

"What is it? Don't tell me I'm infested with the eggs of some bastard fish."

PSH laughed, shaking his head quickly. "No, no, none of that. Your foreign bacteria count has reached statistically significant levels. No adverse effects detected. Be vigilant for symptoms. Have you noticed any unusual about your body?"

"I didn't even notice any foreign bacteria, so how should I?" Hongjoong retorted back full of sass, gritting his jaw at that piece of information. Bacteria were a normal thing to have, any human was constantly covered with them. Sure, he had no means of knowing what these alien bacteria in particular would do to his body, but so far they hadn’t detected any sort of illness that affected his human body.

He needed a break. Getting sick now of all times? Hell no.

"Once we've set up a base on that island I will go about researching it. I just need a lab to do so. Keep me updated." Hongjoong slipped into the water then and PSH followed without another word, carefully pulling the hatch shut behind them. They had taken the rest of their rations with them along with everything that was still valuable. They didn’t plan on returning to this place, so PSH and San got to carry the bags. Maybe they would be able to get the life pod later but for now, it would act as a signal transmitter between them and Yongguk only.

Hongjoong beckoned the two others closer with a wave of his hand before turning to PSH. The man simply nodded into the direction they were supposed to go to and they took off. Just like before, they naturally came together in two teams. PSH was leading the group with Hongjoong close by his side and Wooyoung and San following behind them.

As they were calmly crossing the Safe Shallows, Hongjoong kept counting the entrances to any caves he saw. He stopped after reaching twenty, losing track of where one ended and another began. How high was the possibility of Jongho being trapped somewhere in one of them? No, then the signal would have reached them more clearly. Maybe he was further north? Hongjoong suspected that there were caves literally everywhere around here.

PSH suddenly speaking up after merely ten minutes of silent swimming ripped Hongjoong out of his thoughts. The man had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole morning, even now he refrained from commenting on anything he scanned. Hongjoong didn't care. If he was malfunctioning they still had San to help them survive. Hongjoong just hadn't expected him to start talking suddenly and his comment was even more strange.

"Congratulations, survivor: you have exceeded your weekly exercise quotient by 500%. Data indicates that swimming was your favorite activity. Be sure to vary your routine for uniform muscle development." 

Hongjoong stared at him for a long minute. PSH did not look up, stubbornly swimming straight ahead but Hongjoong could see the little smirk playing around his lips. Hongjoong narrowed his eyes.

"Getting cocky now? I sure as hell hope this constant exercise makes me strong enough to fight you at the given time," he snarled, receiving a side-eye that was accompanied by the arch of one of PSH's thick eyebrows. 

"I would have no trouble whatsoever to beat you in a fight, Medi- Hongjoong. I hope you remember that if you ever choose to physically attack me."

"Hey, who allowed you to call me Hongjoong? Are you even programmed to do that?"

PSH merely nodded over towards San and Wooyoung. When Hongjoong turned to glare at them both of them smiled like little angels, San's bottomless dimples on display.

Traitors.

"If you do not feel comfortable with me doing that, then I can-"

Hongjoong waved off, watching the colorful fishes and plants beneath them pass in a blur. He wanted to put all of them under a microscope so badly. At least he would have interesting things to do while they were waiting for the rescue team to come to get them.

"Whatever, I don't care. But don't expect special treatment for that. I think androids giving each other names is just another sign of them pretending to be human. Humans do that. Not androids." He made sure to make the warning clear, not wanting the man to get too comfortable with him. 

"May I ask what exactly you despise about that fact? We are designed to be as human as possible after all. Humans created us like this. We did not choose this and are merely trying to fulfill the expectations laid upon us. Why do you personally struggle with our existence?" His voice sounded genuinely curious and Hongjoong immediately rolled his eyes at him.

"No personal questions. You just stay quiet and help if you deem yourself so human. Yes, we made you so yes, we give you orders like that. Suck it up."

As if he had to explain himself to a bunch of metal glued together. 

PSH fell silent again after that. He didn't try to joke with him again and Hongjoong was thankful for that, concentrating on swimming only.

They crossed over the Kelp Forest and then went further into the vast blue ocean. Behind the Kelp Forest, the water seemed less bathed in the murky green of the tall plants and rather got a more reef-like character. It was deep, no floor to be seen from their current position close to the water surface. It felt safer up here even if they had nowhere to go anyway.

There were also more mountains here, tall boulders and steep cliffs disrupting the water. They created deep clefts and even more caves as far as Hongjoong could guess. Again, there were so many new things to see. New fishes, new plants. And fortunately no Reaper Leviathans.

PSH was great at ruining his short moment of joy.

"628,59 meters left until the island. Detecting multiple unfamiliar leviathan lifeforms in a radius of 800 meters."

Hongjoong really needed a break.

San and Wooyoung closed up on them as they were crossing the eerie reef, keeping an attentive eye on their surroundings. Nobody was ready to encounter another monster like the Reaper if it was not absolutely necessary.

They were now close enough to the island that they could see it. It didn’t look too big but assessable. He figured it was hidden behind the clouds on most days. 

When his arms grew tired from swimming, Hongjoong allowed San to pull him along for a while so he could rest. San was not as big on trying to talk to Hongjoong as PSH was, so Hongjoong welcomed his closeness more. Wooyoung however was more of a troublemaker. 

After Hongjoong saw the physicist hug San close to his side for the fourth time he spoke up, once again hanging in San's grip. PSH was in front of them, confidently leading the way.

"Say... Are you sure you're not dating?" Hongjoong swallowed nervously when he noticed the glint in Wooyoung's eyes, quickly concentrating on checking on the deep and black canyon underneath them.

It felt horrible to swim here, so vulnerable. Nobody knew what was down there and nobody wanted to know.

"We're not. Just very close. Why? Is it weird to you?" Wooyoung spoke in a fast and excited manner, his high voice cracking here and there. Hongjoong suspected that the man had been waiting for him to finally question their relationship.

"I was just... thinking. It's strange, a human and an android. They are... well not human, you know?"

"So what? They have feelings just like we do, they think and understand. They're not inanimate objects." Wooyoung received a nuzzle from San against his shoulder for his heroic words, making Hongjoong scoff dryly.

"I get that, sure. But that is how they are programmed. It's artificial. I'm no psychologist but knowing what's inside of them and what would be supposed to be inside a human from a biologist's view- isn't it creeping you out?" Hongjoong exchanged a glance with San who was pouting by now, giving him the kicked puppy eyes. Hongjoong glared at him until he looked away, hurt.

"Not at all. Rather, I think that them deciding within their consciousness that is copied to be human makes it easy to understand them. We did build them like humans so yeah, sure, why not treat them as such? Normally I don't cut up my lovers to see what's inside of them anyway. Isn't it about liking people either way?" Wooyoung grinned at him sunnily, making Hongjoong nod in agreement hesitantly. He did have a point there.

"I suppose. If it doesn’t bother you that there are hundreds of the exact same kind, as they are manufactured..."

"Yeah, but not all of them know me and not all of them have had the influence of the exact same surroundings San has. So what if on earth there is one or ten more CS 19? They are on earth, have their own friends and work. And Sannie is here. It's the same, you know? Liking one specific person. If you like somebody who has twin you’re not automatically attracted to their twin too, right? Because they are different even if they are born with the same face."

San quipped up next to Hongjoong, his eyes fixed on Wooyoung as if he was the most precious of gems.

"Marry me."

Wooyoung had to laugh, gently patting San's head as he had no means of getting his masked face too close. San had however, immediately attacking the human with kisses. Hongjoong grimaced, deciding that this was enough socializing for a day. He had to think that over. Sure, the twin thing was true. But those were still humans, too. 

With a quick shake of his head, he kicked his feet to catch up to PSH again, coming to swim peacefully by his side. He could think about that later when he didn’t have to watch out for leviathans.

Soon enough the island was basically right in front of them. Hongjoong observed it growing closer and bigger above the water surface. It looked positively tropical, with palm trees and colorful plants and birds all over it. It would get hot there. But Hongjoong would prefer land under his feet over water any day.

Weirdly enough however, the island was floating. 

It was neither connected to the ground, nor was it part of one of the cliffs around them. No, it was floating with only water underneath it. Even when they dipped down a little lower to check that out there was nothing but water.

"My scans detect huge and ancient Floaters underneath. They keep the whole island afloat,” Seonghwa murmured with awe as they pushed through the surface of the water, going for the last few meters.

Hongjoong wanted to comment on that, wanted to ask about why they hadn’t died and let the island sink when he suddenly felt something touch his foot. At first, it felt like nothing more than a brush of fabric, a fish maybe but the shape was odd. He wanted to ignore it, only reaching to brush it off, when it did not leave. Maybe some plant had gotten stuck to him?

Hongjoong just turned his head to look down when it fully wrapped around his ankle like a rope and pulled.