With blazing red hair and his fashionably yellow trolley rolling behind him across the concrete, Wooyoung arrived in front of the institute. He was dressed in his casual clothes, combining a street racer style leather jacket with ripped jeans. The sun reflected off his round sunglasses when he peered over his tall nose to find Yeosang.

A group of researchers had assembled outside. A total of five would go down into the water, and the other three chattered in excitement while Yeosang had found his spot as the responsible team leader a few steps away. He waited next to the entrance with his eyes glued to his phone and his luggage by his side. A brown book bag was slung across his shoulder and his nerdy glasses perched on his face to keep slipping. When he noticed Wooyoung's flashy appearance from his peripherals, he slipped his phone into his pocket. His greeting smile resembled a tortured grimace.

"Good morning," Wooyoung sang at him when he threw an arm around Yeosang in greeting. Stiff, the man patted his back.

"Morning... Mister Weasley. You are aware this is a business trip, yes? Couldn't you resist the urge?"

"Come on, this isn't Weasley red. The Weasleys are gingers. This is Ariel red. I'm totally on point." He gave Yeosang a once-over. "More than you. What is this, Indiana Jones if he were a virgin?"

Yeosang flushed almost as scarlet as Wooyoung's hair.

"Hey!"

High-pitched laughter echoed through the yard of their institute. Ruffled in his pride, Yeosang adjusted his glasses and pushed his hair back to assume a perfect polished work look. As far as the standards on land went.

"I understand you are going through a lot, but we wouldn't want to insult their culture upon first meeting. This is a diplomatic mission and studying their culture is such a rare opportunity," Yeosang appealed to the studied genius in Wooyoung.

With a sigh, Wooyoung bent to grab onto Yeosang's luggage to drag both of them behind him.

Their private bus just rounded the corner to pick them up.

"Yeosang. Unless they have actual Ariel down there, no one saw that movie. As far as we know, they don't even have electricity. You can relax."

The people of Atlantis weren't uncivilised savages. Indigenous, in their way, and reliant on the technologies that kept their kin alive for thousands of years. But advanced enough to withstand the ocean through thousands of years. They wouldn't mind red hair and a biker jacket.

Yeosang grumbled as he trailed behind Wooyoung to the bus. The others followed and Wooyoung got a chance to greet them after they all had piled into the vehicle. He practised his best smiles, though he could tell they had dulled by the pity in their eyes.

Yongguk was the eldest of them, and the one who had worked for the institute the longest. He specialised in history and trailing its traces through time. Though he was a little boring and introverted, Wooyoung never deemed him anything but capable in his field.

Kiko was from Japan, and she had a professor's degree in marine biology. Her eyes sparkled when she ranted about deep-sea creatures and how alien they were to anything known to the upper surface.

Petra was their volunteer from Germany. She had joined the team only recently, but she made some spectacular findings about the technology Atlantis used on the bottom of the sea to sustain themselves. Since their contact person in Atlantis asked for her to come along since she left a positive impression with her eager learning, she was overjoyed to accompany her seniors.

As a group, the chattering pile was merry in their excitement. They were the first ones to receive a formal invitation, and their boss had been over the moon to send them out. They were to be polite and friendly, but also to seek answers to all hidden truths. So long as they succeeded, more exchanges could happen and some of the Atlanteans could come to visit them.

At the core, however, Yeosang was the spokesperson and face of their group. He was quick to remind the lively bunch of their task and nodded at Yongguk, who stayed quiet with his bag in his lap.

"Cool hair," Kiko grinned at Wooyoung when the first rush died down and they relaxed into their seats.

Wooyoung twirled a strand through his fingers.

"It's said to be sensual as a hair colour. What do you think?" He waggled his brows at her, free in his playful flirtations now that he didn't have to feel bad about Seungyoun awaiting him at home.

Kiko scoffed at him, not one to fall for his antics.

"Looking to seduce the fish?"

"Weasley," Yeosang muttered under his breath.

Petra laughed politely. She looked out of the window while they rushed down to the ocean. From time to time, when she thought no one was looking, she stole swift glances at Yongguk. In utter nonchalance and with the yearning of one born in the wrong time, the man glanced toward the approaching band of blue on the horizon.

Wooyoung had been on his fair share of maritime explorations. Atlantis was their institute's magnum opus and though his field didn't have to do with checking water levels and listening for signals from the bottom of the ocean, he always liked to volunteer. The ocean and its creatures were a marvel to him, so the people living in its heart struck him with awe like no other.

Atlantis had been discovered before he had joined the institute. The mythical city at the bottom of the ocean always struck people with interest, so they dedicated their search to it. After countless submarines and drones bumping into the most obscure creatures in the deep sea, they found it. The island sunken to the darkest depths outside Middle America's coasts. At first, the sonar scans had picked up on buildings only. The more they recreated the sunken city in a 3D program, the more they discovered those houses weren't crumbling ruins but striving homes for living people.

The next drone had captured some pictures of people and from then on, the institute had worked day and night to establish a relationship and assure the dwellers of the depths that they were no enemy.

Now that they received an official invitation to come and spend a few weeks down there to explore, their big break-through was imminent. Wooyoung already saw the book-length report coming.

The way down to the beach was filled with light-hearted chattering, but the nervosity of the depths clung to their flickering eyes. Wooyoung's uncle had been right in his assumption that joining this exploration would distract him from anything related to Seungyoun. Now that he had sharks and oxygen to worry about, he felt better already. At least those didn't trample on his heart.

The bus rolled to a stop at the harbour and the five of them piled out onto the docks. Yeosang left his trolley to Wooyoung as he sought the person who would bring them to the depths, in one piece, preferably.

Yongguk and Wooyoung stood to the side and gaped in silence at the endless spread of the ocean while the girls pondered what type of food might be served so deep in the ocean.

Seafood was a good bet.

"You claustrophobic?" Wooyoung made small talk while the harbour master readied the submarine that was almost as delightfully yellow as Wooyoung's luggage. Yeosang trailed behind the man like a lost puppy, wanting to help but having no expertise to do so. Like a good best friend, Wooyoung snickered about the goofy sight.

Yongguk shrugged his bony shoulders.

"The ocean makes for a most suitable grave. If we can't promise safe passage to the depths, we aren't made to explore them."

"Wise words." Wooyoung ran his hand through his fiery hair. The ocean breeze played with it, and he ingrained the feeling in his head, knowing he wouldn't experience it for a while now.

Soon, the submarine was ready, and the water sloshed up its barnacle-covered sides. One by one, they squeezed inside the round hatch to pile into the modest room. They had some space, but with six people, the air became stuffy quickly.

Peeping scans and lights flicked to life under the captain's fingers. He instructed Yeosang how to close the hatch and - glasses almost falling off his face - their magnificent leader locked them inside. Petra and Kiko squeezed into a corner to be out of the way while the others locked the luggage in the safety closets so it wouldn't hit them in case a current ripped them along.

The tiny round window at the front of the submarine peeked out into the shallow water. Its hue was bright so close to the surface, and small animals and insects drifted past the curious vehicle.
Yeosang read the coordinates to their captain. After one more check of the fuel, the safety, the oxygen, the man glanced over his shoulder at the expectant research team.

"We're going down," he announced when everyone looked ready. A moment later, the heavy machine around them whirred to life. It dipped down, angling its snout towards the unfathomable depths. Only blackness awaited them down there.

Wooyoung got comfortable since the next few hours wouldn't be much more than sinking. He checked his phone, unsurprised to have no reception here. Since Seungyoun needed his things gone because his 'friend' was coming over, Wooyoung had asked his mom to take care of that. She was about the only person left on earth with some patience for Seungyoun's shenanigans, and he respected her enough not to give her a hard time while she was there.

Wooyoung hoped Seungyoun's umbrella broke today, or he stepped on a Lego. He deserved some pain to lighten his stony heart.

Yeosang perched by Wooyoung's side, stiff with his excitement. While Wooyoung scrolled through his past contracts and considered hitting up one of his past drunken one night stands after some party, the other researcher awaited their arrival as if it were in ten minutes.

Not that Wooyoung wasn't interested in Atlantis, but this was still work. And he was too emotionally distraught to concentrate on work while he didn't have to.

He should make Seungyoun jealous, even if he didn't care to make the man take him back. They had been together for long enough that seeing Wooyoung move on so fast would hurt and Wooyoung wanted to be petty.

Humming to himself in his devious plans, Wooyoung slipped his phone back into his pocket. His revenge would have to wait until he returned from Atlantis, since Seungyoun wouldn't know otherwise.

Unless...

Wooyoung glanced at Yeosang, the closest thing to a best friend he had despite their work affiliation. Yeosang had been there when Seungyoun and Wooyoung got together and Wooyoung had been swooning for him all day, and he was here now that things broke apart.

But no, he made a horrible stand-in. Besides being the far too obvious choice for a pretense.

While Kiko and Petra rambled about Atlantis and about how old it had to be based on ancient Roman history, Wooyoung fabricated his plan of revenge.

As they sunk deeper and deeper into the cold ocean, only darkness greeted them outside the pale light of the submarine's headlights. No big fish dared venture close enough and the smaller ones fled at the metal monster drew near. The constant peeping measuring their location and depth lulled Wooyoung into a sense of safety.

Though the bottom of the sea was a dark, terrifying place not made for humans, he was confident in their success. After all, the Atlanteans were people like them, living in the ocean as they lived on mountains. They had lots to teach to the surface dwellers.

Wooyoung wondered if asshole fiancés that broke up through cheating were actually punished with death down there.

He supposed he would find out soon. In a few hours, the city would appear on their scans. In the meantime, he would relax and take his mind off Seungyoun.