They had managed to transport Wooyoung back to the life pod in one piece by making him grab onto San to his left and Seonghwa to his right. Both of the androids had no difficulties pulling Wooyoung’s limp form along, and Kim was right behind them, his face dipped into the water to keep an eye on their surroundings. Wooyoung felt the strain on his arms while holding on, and his elevated sigh when Lifepod 5 finally came into view was felt by everybody.

They had been tense, swimming over the sandy dunes in constant expectation of being ambushed by the Reaper Leviathan. Now that they had finally arrived safely just as the sun dipped into the ocean, bathing it in an orange glow, everybody finally calmed down again.

Wooyoung was pushed against San while Seonghwa dove to open the hatch for them. Kim followed right up, and Wooyoung was left alone with San, who held the two of them above the water with gentle kicks of his feet. He was careful not to jostle Wooyoung’s legs too much, and Wooyoung appreciated the kindness.

"How do you feel, Wooyoungie? Does it hurt badly?" San was pouting while he was talking, his lips looking oh so kissable and his expressive eyes gentle. Wooyoung reached out with his fingers that he had looped around the man’s neck, brushing San's wet hair back. San gave an appreciative hum, giggling when Wooyoung also tapped the tip of his nose.

"I'm alright. Thank you for taking such good care of me."

Wooyoung was horribly soft for San and it wasn’t surprising. They had spent a lot of time together working on projects together; it was only natural for Wooyoung to fall for him. San was adorable and such a good friend at any time, and he had actually been the first one to tell Wooyoung about his feelings. Wooyoung had yet to accept them, but he could imagine it vividly. Dating this android would fill his heart with happiness.

Hence it was all the more confusing for him as to why Kim reacted to them the way he did. Wooyoung could only guess what his reasons were. Maybe he’d had some traumatic childhood memories. Perhaps he preferred the people around him to be fully human. However, that didn’t explain his hatred towards their similarities to humanity. It was no bad thing; they worked together with actual humans so well. And still, it was evident that they were androids, so what was his problem?

"Hey, Sannie."

The android hummed, having just nuzzled against Wooyoung’s cheek in an attempt to distract him from the pain. Wooyoung pressed a soft kiss against his cheek before the android pulled back, smiling brightly at him. Wooyoung finally poked his dimples, making San’s face lit up further.

"Objectively speaking... Seonghwa is attractive, no? Like for human standards."

San suspiciously narrowed his eyes at him, possessively pulling him in a bit closer. His jealousy was apparent, and Wooyoung was quick to laugh it off, peppering gentle kisses over San’s face to stop him from sulking.

"I'm not talking about me, stupid. Kim, do you think he would be attracted to Seonghwa? If he was human?" He wondered, squinting down into the water to make sure that they weren’t coming back yet. He needed to keep his evil plans to himself for now.

"Hmm. I guess so, yes. But Doctor Kim hasn’t properly look at me once today. I don't think he’s aware of Seonghwa. But sure, I could imagine them together." San shrugged it off, making Wooyoung give another deep hum.

He didn’t know Team Leader Kim well enough to know what his relationship with his designated robot was like. However, he was hell-bent on making the man see that androids were not half as bad as he thought them to be. And what could possibly work better to make him understand that than having him fall for one of the people he despised so much? It was the perfect plan.

"I see you becoming devious again." San gave a low chuckle, brushing Wooyoung’s dark hair back in a mirror of his earlier gesture. Wooyoung watched the sunset dance on San’s fair skin, not understanding how anybody could not appreciate him.

"You don’t like the way Doctor Kim treats you, right? And from what I’ve seen from Seonghwa, it bothers him too." Wooyoung's eyes were shining, his mouth moving quickly. He pretended not to notice how San's eyes dropped to observe his lips intensely, carrying on. San gave a distracted nod.

"So what about we make him see his mistakes? We don't have to be all aggressive towards him about it, but we can make sure he knows there's nothing unnatural about us! Just so he will treat you nicely, what do you think?"

San grinned at him, nuzzling once again.

"I like that idea. So we’re just going to be ourselves and make sure not to hold back in front of Kim? I can do that. But who knows, he might still not fall for Seonghwa."

"Yeah, but he might try to see androids in a different light. I don't care if he marries Seonghwa in the end or maybe the android who is actually assigned to him. Or maybe nobody at all. I just want him to verbally agree with me that you are no bad person just because you have blue eyes."

San laughed again, pressing Wooyoung closer against his muscular body when the shift in the water announced somebody's presence.

"There are a few other things that make me not entirely human, but sure, let's try. I love indulging in your evil little ploys."

Wooyoung nodded at him with a cheeky grin, turning to look at Seonghwa then who had just pushed through the surface. He threw his hair back, his sharp eyes quickly focusing on them.

"Alright, here we go. Medico Kim will pull you up."

Both of them nodded, dipping down to enter the life pod from beneath. Kim helped Wooyoung up into the relatively small space. He ignored the androids as he smoothly reached over to the compartment to get Wooyoung a healthy protein bar to snack on. San carefully stepped between them, getting comfortable behind Wooyoung so the human could lean into his chest and not strain his injuries.

Seonghwa took a seat further away from them, looking out the windows over to the darkening ocean towards the Aurora. His sudden announcement came at the same time as San's, both speaking in one voice.

"Warning. Local radiation readings suggest the Aurora's drive core has reached critical state.
Quantum detonation will occur within 2 hours."

Wooyoung gently patted San's leg, knowing that he didn’t appreciate being used as a speaker like that. He sneaked a peek at Kim, who looked defensive all over again, his face set into a scowl as he looked back and forth between Seonghwa and San.

Thankfully, he didn’t comment on it, though. Wooyoung had feared he would try to throw the androids out of the life pod somewhen. He felt too weak to fight Kim right now, his legs still throbbing while the flesh mended itself back together.

"We’re safe over here, right?" Kim checked again with Seonghwa, and the android nodded, not speaking anymore after having received a glare for that right now.

It was not even Seonghwa’s fault; the announcements just got voiced out by his throat. He didn’t choose to do so. Wooyoung wanted to hit Kim for the injustice he put the unfortunate android through. Seonghwa was literally used to being in a locker all day, not talking to anybody and only ever alone. It was not like they could shut him off. Maybe they should put Kim in a locker for once and see if he was still rude afterwards.

Wooyoung childishly stuck his tongue out at Kim when he wasn't looking. He felt San's laughter vibrate in his chest.

"We should try to get some rest. PSH, I want you to do more scans of the area. Go off as far as you deem necessary, but don’t put yourself in danger. San... Could you wake us as soon as the explosion starts?" Kim looked exhausted. While Wooyoung was still functioning on the energy blast, their encounter with the Reaper Leviathan had given them, now that Kim mentioned it, he felt all of it coming back to him.

Waking up on a foreign planet, meeting that monster, getting injured, finding the Aurora, coming back here, meeting those two... It had been a tiring day, and Wooyoung understood the need to rest too well.

"Affirmative. I will return before the explosion starts in case of an emergency." Seonghwa swiftly slipped out into the water again, pulling the hatch shut securely behind him. Maybe Wooyoung hated Kim just a bit more for sending the man out at night. He did know the androids had feelings, right?

"Rest assured, Medico Kim. I'll make sure to keep an eye on our surroundings." San gently pulled Wooyoung to lay down at his side, snuggled up against his android comfortably. Kim didn't look at them, already having turned his face towards the wall.

"Let's just switch to Hongjoong now. I will spend enough time with you people on this godforsaken planet; I do not need the constant reminders of who I am,” he grumbled sleepily, and Wooyoung smirked at San.

Oh, they would so relay that information to Seonghwa.

San merely smiled back and hummed to Hongjoong affirmatively before he cuddled up against Wooyoung. His body was warm and quickly lulled Wooyoung to sleep.

-

They had slept for more than two hours. Wooyoung felt well-rested when he woke up, blindly reaching for San behind him. The man grabbed his flailing hand with a chuckle immediately, caressing his fingers tenderly.

"Announcement incoming. Emergency: A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core."

Hongjoong shifted across the room, blearily blinking up at them. Wooyoung noticed his eyes quickly searching the room for Seonghwa, not finding the man. Hongjoong was up in seconds then, scaling the ladder up to the pod and climbing out to watch the spectacle. Wooyoung and San quickly followed, the announcement still ongoing while San helped a sluggish Wooyoung to climb up.

"The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2..."

They settled down together right at the same moment when Seonghwa's head popped out of the water beneath them, checking on them fleetingly before focusing back on the Aurora. Wooyoung looked from San and his mismatched counting back to the Aurora, the numbers fading in his ears.

And then the ship exploded.

A powerful blast came first. It traveled from the ship right over the surface of the water, making it ripple and their life pod swayed minutes after when it reached them. It was followed by fire, the hull exploding first, and sending metal flying. Smaller and fewer explosions followed over the ship, everything catching fire and making dark smoke pollute the bright blue sky.

They watched until not much else happened. Sometimes more bits of metal broke off, other times something collapsed. Wooyoung felt constricted, oddly apathetic to the happenings even when that was his ship, his workplace, and there might have people died just now that he had known for years. It might’ve been because of the shock, Wooyoung didn’t know.

"We'll need radiation suits for the two of you. And some good old fire extinguishers.", San commented quietly, watching Seonghwa, who was just climbing up to them on the side of the pod. He was dripping wet, his black hair hanging across his face in some single strands, but he still looked alright.

Wooyoung was glad. He never wanted to set foot in those waters willingly again and spending a night in there? No fucking way.

"When can we go?" It was Hongjoong speaking, his eyes wide with horror and pity. Wooyoung was pretty sure he saw tears shimmering on his cheeks, be it of sadness or devastation over the ship exploding - who knew. Wooyoung also noticed Seonghwa reaching out for the man in an attempt to comfort him. Wooyoung caught his hands in their movement, gently shaking his head at him when Seonghwa looked at him confusedly.

They needed time.

"As soon as we get the suits. Maybe today. I'd rather have it be tomorrow though. Woo will have healed until then."

Hongjoong nodded grimly, gesturing for Seonghwa to follow him, before jumping into the water.