Wooyoung felt bad about pretending to be asleep, but he was just feeling so overwhelmed. He needed a mental break to sift through his thoughts.

He still couldn't fully believe that he was free from the aquarium and the scientists. After their last session with him, he had started to accept that he would be there forever.

Just their little toy to play with.

But them seeing San and being in his arms had been a feeling that he had been longing for since the day they said goodbye on the beach.

Wooyoung was so happy to be here, or, as happy as he could be. And seeing the way San wanted to protect him made his heart race in ways only the human had been able to achieve.

That high was quickly ruined by the thought of how far away he was from his home. That had to be the most distressing thing for him right now.

Mingi and Yunho had to know by now that something was wrong. Were they searching for him? Maybe they would try to visit the other pods and get some answers.

The only problem was that they would find none... All evidence of the attack had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and they were forbidden to go there due to the laws set in place by Mother Atargatis. She was the one who laid down all the rules for their kind, and they never disobeyed them.

Wooyoung started to tremble in the small, waterfilled container he was in. He was so thankful that the others were doing what they could for him, but to some extent this was worse than the aquarium. There was no way for him to stretch his limps or feel the water flowing around him. Using his magic to filter it helped a little, but it wasn't the same.

He would never tell San that he was uncomfortable though. After everything that had happened, he had already put San through enough hardships...

For now, he would do what he could to keep a smile on his face. It was the least he could do.

Wooyoung opened his eyes when he heard the others talking about different stores they wanted to go to. Their voices were soft enough that he couldn't pick up on exactly what they were saying, but he could hear how exhausted they were.

With a deep sigh, he flopped his tail around and stirred up the water around him.

Why did he have to be so useless right now?

And each hole in his tail made it even worse.

His body was weak and defenseless, which was something he wasn't used to feeling. Magic had always been available to him. Always...

"Woo?" San's gentle voice came from in front of him and Wooyoung looked up, startled by his appearance. "Sorry, I just... are you ok?" He walked forward slowly and sat down.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Wooyoung sat up and drew his tail in so that he could wrap his arms around it and rest his chin on his tail.

"Is there something you'd like to eat? We are going to order some food."

Wooyoung perked up at the thought of that. Human food was so amazing! "Pizza?" He asked, bouncing in place a little.

The wide smile he adored so much crossed San's face and the older reached out to ruffle his hair. "Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Some is already on its way."

"It's been so long!" Wooyoung sucked his lower lip into his mouth and felt his stomach rumble. "Oh! I want ice cream again!" His mind started to wander with all the different foods he wanted to eat again, and he let it, knowing it would be a good distraction for him.

San laughed and nodded. "We can make that happen. Is there anything that we should get you to eat regularly?"

The merman tilted his head to the side and quirked his lips. "I don't think so. I mean, I guess just fish."

"Alright, we can do that." San looked back out into the other room, then down at his hands. "I missed you so much, Youngie."

Wooyoung felt a weight on his chest and he shifted in place a little. "I missed you too. I spent so long trying to move on... but... I couldn't." He looked up at San and felt what human's called tears coming to his eyes again.

It made no sense that they made water with their bodies when they were out of water.

"Me neither. Nothing felt right." San whispered.

"I guess one good thing came out of me getting caught." Wooyoung tried to smile as he spoke, but instead the tears were set free and they rolled down his cheeks.

San immediately leaned forward and dragged his thumbs across the merman's skin. "It's ok, Baby. It's ok." His voice was soft and gentle, immediately calming Wooyoung down.

Their faces were a lot closer together now and Wooyoung took a moment to let his eyes drift over every inch of San's skin. It was just as perfect as he remembered.

Then he did something he had wanted to do for months now.

Wooyoung turned onto his side and placed his hands on the slanted wood to lift his body up so he could close the distance between them.

The second their lips met, San's hands moved from Wooyoung's cheeks to the back of his head and his shoulder to try and draw him in closer.

It felt like bubbles were bursting in Wooyoung's stomach as a pleasant heat flowed through him. A soft moan came from the back of his throat and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

San's fingers dug into his shoulder, expressing his feelings as well and Wooyoung couldn't help but smile into the kiss. Especially when their tongues twisted together.

Oh how he had missed kissing San.

At one point after they had said goodbye, he had almost brought kissing up to Mingi and Yunho to see what their thoughts on it would be. But if he did that, he'd have to explain how he found out about it. That would not have gone over well.

He knew they would like it though. He could feel how deep of a connection it created between the two of them.

Which drew his mind to other things.

Wooyoung pulled back from the kiss and rubbed his nose against San's. "You know what I can't wait for?"

San let out a shuddering sigh and his eye lids fluttered. "What?"

"To fall asleep in your arms again."

The human looked at him with such pure emotion that Wooyoung felt his cheeks growing warm. San leaned forward again and pressed their foreheads together before whispering, "I want that too. More than you could ever know."

"I wish I wasn't stuck in this... this... thing." Wooyoung motioned to container and stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

"I know. If we could do anything to change it, I would in a heartbeat." San gently rubbed the back of Wooyoung's head, softly teasing his hair with his slender fingers. "But you just need to heal up, and then..." San swallowed and looked down for a moment. "Then we can do whatever you'd like."

Wooyoung heard the human's hesitation, and he knew why. There was always going to be this shadow looming over them. They were from two different worlds, but that didn't mean they couldn't make the most of their time together now.

So instead of saying anything more, Wooyoung tilted his head once more to kiss his human. "I heal up as fast as I can."

"And I'll be here to help you as much as I can. Don't worry. I'll protect you, Woo. I promise."

A few minutes later, Yeosang walked in carrying a pizza box.

Wooyoung was so excited to see it, he ended up sloshing some of the water over the side of his container when he grabbed the side to lift himself up. "Oops."

"Don't worry about it." Jongho chuckled and knelt down to dry it up.

"San said you'd want pizza as soon as we started looking. I remember how much you liked it too." Yeosang chuckled while setting the box down on the bed. He placed a slice on a. Plate and handed it to Wooyoung, who immediately lifted the plate to his mouth and took a bite of the pizza.

"God this is so much better than anything we have back home." He moaned while chewing on it. "I didn't realize how much I missed this."

Wooyoung hummed and tried not to pay attention to the adoring looks he was receiving. He knew he was acting strange in their eyes, but he couldn't help it.

It was things like this that reminded him why he found the human world so fascinating.

But mostly it was San.

His human sat as close to him as possible all through the evening, and when night time came, Jongho helped move the bed right next to Wooyoung's container so the two of them could kind of sleep together.

The exhaustion of the day hit Wooyoung harder than he expected, and before he knew it, his head was slowly falling against the pillows surrounding him.

He fell asleep laying on his side with San's hand draped over the side of his 'new home', their finger intertwined right on the edge of the water.

"How could they let this happen?!"

"I d-don't know, Sir. They are still investigating." Hongjoong flinched and held his clipboard in front of his face when Seonghwa threw a book at the wall near his head. "S-Someone had inside access. They are planning on interviewing all the employees and-"

"I want every one of those idiots fired!" Seonghwa roared. "We need to get our people out there and search for him. I want him FOUND."

"I'm already on it, S-Sir." Hongjoong did his best to keep his voice straight. He had been on the receiving end of Seonghwa's rage one too many times, and he was not about to let it happen again if he could help it. "Once we get a lead then we can search for him."

Seonghwa stormed over to him and forced Hongjoong backward until he was pressed against a wall. His towering stature had Hongjoong wishing he could string and disappear. "When he gets here, he's going to wish he hadn't tried to defy me."

"Sir, please..."

"Make sure you get this done, Hongjoong. I will not let all my hard work go to waste. I will complete my family's mission. And you," Seonghwa grabbed Hongjoong's chin and tilted his head back, "You get to come along for the ride as long as you continue to be good and do what I ask."

Hongjoong shuddered and nodded. The chill that ran through him echoed his deepest desires.

"Don't. Fail me." Seonghwa released him and stormed out of the room.

When he caught his breath, Hongjoong pulled out his phone and called the aquarium once more. "Report." He said with a hard tone.

"We are still reviewing camera footage, trying to get the full story." The guard on the other end of the phone said. He sounded tired. "We can see the entire time of the incident, but whoever it was did a good job at disguising themselves."

"I need you to figure out who did this. We cannot waste any more time. We paid you good money for that asset, and you are about to lose everything. We will take away all your research, all your other assets, everything."

"I know. We are do-"

"Do. Better." Hongjoong hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose.

What a mess this was turning out to be...  And if things weren't solved quickly, Seonghwa was going to be livid.

So many years had been spent gathering all the information, data, gear, everything needed to contain the creatures that Seonghwa so dearly wished to possess. They were essential for his plan.

Hongjoong sighed and looked down at the phone in his hands. As much as he wished things could be different, he had brought this upon himself. With a sigh, he straightened his shirt, then walked out of the office.

It was only a matter of minutes before Seonghwa had him pinned against another wall and was biting and nipping at his neck in his attempt to get his frustrations out.

All just a part of his job.