Wooyoung had a headache from the foreign alcohol in the morning, but that was easily resolved with Jongho's soup. As Wooyoung slurped it at the dinner table, he was sure the man had prepared it, knowing they would be lethargic.

Jongho himself was energetic despite the early hour. He hummed under his breath while he fed Splish Splash and the dishes passed his hands smoothly as he assembled them on the table. Last night, he had tried himself in some conversation with the group, but Wooyoung doubted he drank as much as them.

Neither had he puffy eyes from crying.

Now that clarity blessed him once more, the memory embarrassed Wooyoung. He barely knew San, and the little time they spent together was by far not enough to cry on each other's shoulders. His return with food had marginally improved Wooyoung's mood and soothed his distress, but sober him was mortified at the ordeal. He remembered hanging off San's arm to get handed over to Yongguk when it was time to go home.

"Seonghwa?" Wooyoung asked Jongho, seeking to find out whether he could bury beneath his blankets in embarrassment today, or whether the glamorous man prepared yet another adventure for them.

Jongho dried off his hands at the stove while he thought about it. When he lifted his hands to gesture, Wooyoung gladly guessed along.

"Something round. The shell? No, the marketplace? Palace?"

Helpless, Jongho shook his head, not finding the enlightenment he had been looking for. After a frustrated pout, his face lit up, and he beckoned at the tattoos climbing over his face. He mimicked cradling a baby in his arms and Splish Splash floated around him, interested in his weird dance. Her spindly tentacles drifted weightlessly behind her.

"Ah! The oracle! He will show us the oracle today?" Wooyoung pointed at his own face, showing he understood.

With a relieved grin, Jongho nodded. He was proud of Wooyoung's applause.

"I can't wait to see that."

He was also awake enough to remember Seonghwa mentioning San would be there for explanations. After last night, Wooyoung was embarrassed to look him in the eyes. Would San mind?

Ready to accept the consequences of his emotional fluctuations, Wooyoung got ready. One by one, the others filed in, and soon, Seonghwa arrived to take them along. He had Yunho and Mingi with him and Yeosang muttered a hello to them, most used to their company. Wooyoung thought it was adorable how Yeosang ducked between those two, intimidated by their auras.

"How did you like our festivities last night? Some of you learned our traditional song and dance; it made our elders really proud," Seonghwa greeted them as they all gathered at the table. Curious, since he had gone missing all night, Wooyoung peered between his friends. Kiko had a kiss mark on her neck and her hair was wild despite her best efforts. Across Petra's cheeks streaked leftovers of colour where she must have tried the paintings for herself.

Unbothered and ever so focused on his studies, Yongguk was the soberest of them all.

"We had so much fun last night. There was lots to learn and your people are so kind to strangers."

Wooyoung nodded along, pretending he too had to do with that when he couldn't be farther off. Though it was no lie. San was kind to him.

"I'm glad to hear that. I will teach you some more today. The princess' child was born yesterday and there is a ceremony at the oracle. She agreed to let you observe as the child's destiny is chosen."

Jongho commented something under his breath, and Seonghwa and Yeosang snickered.

"Right, not as if it will be any shock. But we had children of leader blood before that turned out to be most suited for a regular life, away from such responsibilities. We might get surprised." With a brilliant grin that made him shine like the pearls of the sea, Seonghwa beckoned at the door.

"Shall we?"

The oracle lay beyond the palace, tucked away into a garden of rocks and reefs. It blended into its surroundings and yet stood out with an aura so magical it seemed to make the air flicker.

Their slow procession took them past golden statues, and pillars covered in seashells and mushrooms. The pale limestone of Atlantis greeted them, creating a semiarid terrain specked by occasional bush-looking corals.

Growing from the earth were two pillars that cradled a massive round stone tablet. Runes were etched into it and an opening at the bottom showed a dark patch of the inner ring.

The round floor of the oracle was streaked by lines of blue, glowing in a similar hue to the shell. They centred around a pedestal with a round bowl in the middle.

Several people milled around the oracle when the foreigners arrived. Shxcay was there, as was Hongjoong. They were accompanied by a few guards and San, who stood near a woman with gorgeous, long black hair. She had shells and coral branches weaved into her braid and her arms cradled a pure white blanket that rocked her newborn.

The princess.

San glanced up first where he had been playing with the baby's hands. His eyes skimmed the arriving group and found Wooyoung.

Flushing a deep shade of red, Wooyoung snapped his gaze away. He had to apologise, but not yet. For now, jealousy dug through his stomach as he saw him with the princess. Was he the father, after all? Had his flirting been harmless and one-sided?

Wooyoung didn't dare finish that thought. He had been disappointed once. If he attached himself to yet another person emotionally unavailable, he might go mad.

Concentrating on the matter at hand, Wooyoung followed Seonghwa down the rocky path. Shxcay turned upon their arrival, and the others did as well. The chieftain lifted his hand in greeting.

"Seonghwa! And our foreign friends." By now, Wooyoung knew well which term they used for the group of scientists.

A chorus of hellos answered him, one more excited than the next. After assuring himself once more that they had fun during the festivities, they went to business talk. Wooyoung peeked at San, trying to gauge the mood of whether the man was indignant to have wasted his precious celebrative time with the crying scientist. San seemed most unbothered, his face a mask of confidence as he listened to the conversation.

Wooyoung had a great night even if he had missed out on the cultural education.

Once the back and forth ended, Wooyoung took his eyes off San before they would get stuck there. He studied the princess when Shxcay lent her his arm to take so she wouldn't trip while cradling her child.

"This is our princess, Tyruss. Her son was born yesterday, so he will receive his forthcoming today," Seonghwa explained with a beckon at the tiny squished face of the new person in her arms.

Wooyoung just about loved kids and would usually ask if it was okay to fool around with them, but the lingering fatigue in the princess' eyes had him waste no time. It was her firstborn, and she spent an exhausting period in labour. Wooyoung couldn't imagine Atlantis' medical equipment being more advanced than theirs.

"Show us, please," Yeosang asked, brimming with excitement.

Like a group of penguins, they shuffled to the side when Seonghwa dedicated their spot. They shouldn't be in the way, though the oracle seemed safe to use.

San and Tyruss remained at the bottom of the three mismatched steps leading up to the platform. The baby was crying, but Tyruss soothed him with gentle shushes.

Wooyoung fidgeted in his place. The scientists and Seonghwa stood to one side with their menacing guards, and the two leaders of this island and operation Atlantis were on their opposite. When Tyruss scaled the stairs with the help of San's hand, Hongjoong crossed his arms. The usual frown was etched into his features.

San helped the princess accustom the baby to the stand in the middle of the oracle. Though the thought crossed Wooyoung's mind that it really looked like a sacrificial orifice, he wisely kept his mouth shut. Seonghwa would be mortified by the time he explained that.

After tucking the squirming white bundle into the matching mould and making sure his feet were inside, the princess muttered a few words to soothe the sudden loss of touch. She stepped back down, still wobbly on her feet even when San stayed close to her side. They found their places next to Hongjoong and Shxcay and San met Wooyoung's eyes for the split of a second before both of them focused on the baby.

As the lines around the pedestal glowed once they acknowledged a new presence, Seonghwa ducked his head to illustrate in a hushed voice.

"Before Atlantis sunk, the stars told us our destiny. They knew when the newborns entered this world and what it meant to their life. Now that the stars are far, the oracle guides us based on our heritage and how many of a kind we currently have in our city."

He nodded his chin at San and the web of intricate tattoos covering his forehead.

"San is the only one of us with a spiritual connection to our goddess, but if he were no more, another would be assigned that task soon, since its place can never be empty. Warriors or farmers, on the other hand, we always have plentiful."

Now that everyone studied San in awe, Wooyoung indulged. For the celebrative occasion, the man wore all white and peeks of his muscular shoulders and tanned legs shone through. He strived in health and energy, making Wooyoung both jealous and feel woozy to be closer.

"Usually, the blood of leaders bears more leaders, but as I mentioned, that isn't always the case. Sometimes leaders come from simple folk, and sometimes princes become humble pottery makers," Seonghwa said with a proud smile.

An ominous grinding from stone on stone echoed through the area. The upper ring of the platform cradled by the two obelisks stood in place, but the inner obscured one had started spinning. Ancient and yet functional, it found the path of fate to decide who this child was. Many runes flashed past, too fast to recognise and too foreign for them to understand.

The baby had fallen silent, as doe-eyed and tense as the rest. It stared at the spinning oracle, at its glow, and it waited as if with bated breath what the result might be.

Round and round went the oracle until it finally slowed down. Images flashed past, and Wooyoung recognised them as the runes painted over their faces to signal their relevance in society. San's rune passed by smoothly, not one to be claimed for a long time.

When the oracle finally clicked into place, it didn't halt between two choices in contemplation.

Unyielding and proud of its choice, no matter the recipient, it stopped.

Wooyoung discreetly peeked at Hongjoong, comparing the runes on the faces of his family with that on the stone showing in the opening and glowing a flashing blue.

"A scholar," Seonghwa breathed with a happy little clap. "That's wonderful. He will learn a lot from our elders and study languages. Maybe after growing up, he will communicate with your people a lot."

Hongjoong climbed the steps to the oracle to retrieve the child. His sister looked exhausted, but satisfied with her son's role. In a city as limited as theirs, everyone pulled their weight. There was no demanding a certain importance.

Though confused, the baby seemed content to have it over with. He pulled on Shxcay's beard as they bid their farewells to the others and returned to the palace to have the royal rune-worker craft temporary ink for the child until it could be etched into his skin.

Seonghwa turned to the others with a grin. Though slow to catch up, they were impressed by the finality of the oracle's choice. It decided, and the people obeyed, for there was no competition.

"Marvellous! From what I saw, it never misses, as well. Everyone seems content with what they do," Yeosang commented.

"They grow up to be," Seonghwa confessed. "Yet, if they wish to be someone else, they can work on social relationships and find activities in their free time to stand out. This is to make it easier to find where they are needed."

So no third option for the throne yet. But who knew? They might always emerge elsewhere.

Wooyoung stretched his neck to watch the group retreat. San had parted from the rest and took off towards his moray. Impatient, Wooyoung thrummed his hands on his thighs.

"The Night of Pearls is coming up soon. Are you ready for another cultural marvel?" Seonghwa asked, and Yeosang waved it off.

"We always are. So long as we get to observe, we are more than happy."

They parted with some unnecessary long goodbyes, but Wooyoung zoomed off as soon as they got their free time. Glad he wasn't the one to be watched by two guards, he caught up with San in a light jog. His tap on that white-clad shoulder had him halt.

Curious, San studied him. Compared to yesterday, Wooyoung didn't look like a mess and he self-consciously smoothed down his clothes.

"Hi, I... I wanted to apologise. For crying on your shoulder. It was embarrassing." Though a great shoulder to cry on.

Wooyoung winced at San's frown, rubbing his nape.

"I understand if that made me look like a loser. About Seungyoun too, God. I-"

Instead of an answer, San took his hand. He cradled it to his chest, pressing it above his heart for Wooyoung to feel his warmth, the bulge of his muscles, the beat of his heart. He swallowed his words.

After a moment, San turned on his heel and left, as he had before.

Somehow, Wooyoung felt he wasn't mad. He understood in his way, and he needed no apology. Wooyoung was forgiven. He hadn't messed up anything.