"So... We're going to this sacred place of yours. Alone. Well, with each other. Seonghwa made it sound real ominous." Wooyoung peered up at San, trying to gauge a reaction. The medium was most unbothered, just stalking next to him with the stride of a hunter. His fit form and the sharpness of his gaze were unbefitting of a priest, but Wooyoung supposed any Atlantean had to ensure their survival in their limited surroundings. They put a high premium on health in their cooking and tending to their bodies. Especially their precious medium shouldn't die early of some unnecessary disease.

"Is it within the palace?"

They took the stairs down and strolled the halls the group was led in through. Earlier, Wooyoung had been unable to close his mouth in awe. Now his restless eyes flicked over the walls before they found back to San.

A small, petty part of Wooyoung disliked how much taller and broader the other was than him. It was unfair. Wooyoung would have an easier time pretending he didn't have the hots for the tattooed medium if he was an ugly small gremlin. Not to mention it made Wooyoung's abdomen feel funny with the dull tug of attraction. Because San could do him so well, make him so weak, but that wasn't what Wooyoung had signed up for. He wanted to take the lead and make men drool after him. The power dynamic tilted against his favour, as it had with Seungyoun.

Huffing, Wooyoung shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn't come here to think about that bastard. He hadn't looked at Wooyoung properly in months.

When they emerged from the main door to descend the stairs, Wooyoung grumbled to himself.

"So not in the palace."

He rambled, desperate to fill the void with something. Though he was stubborn to prove to San that he was no scaredy cat, the uneasy feeling in his gut had yet to lift. If something happened, what would he do? If the medium turned out to be a tyrannical cult leader and it was part of their culture to sacrifice the weakest visitor to their moray goddess, then what?

No one would hear (or understand) Wooyoung's scream.

Then again, they took him instead of Yeosang, so that couldn't be it.

Maybe they sacrificed the most handsome visitor to the moray goddess for her favour?

Or he was actually lucky and Seonghwa hooked him up with the hottest dude in the city so Wooyoung could get some quality flirting in. Now he just had to muster up the balls to make use of that time.

"I know how to say hello in your language," Wooyoung boasted before he remembered San knew. And neither did San understand him.

Feeling ignored anyway, Wooyoung jogged by the man's side when his quick stride didn't match Wooyoung's usual swagger.

Wooyoung pouted to himself as he figured out a way to communicate with him. There had to be a way to get his pretty, pouty lips moving. Another outright challenge? Wooyoung couldn't deny how the heat shot to his gut when the man leaned in to ask him if he was scared.

San directed their step straight into nowhere. They left the picturesque white houses and coral reefs climbing between them. A technological wonder, the shell spanned over them; the curve drawing nearer with every step. Would they leave it? Impossible. Wooyoung should be safe so long as he stayed in the same dome as everyone else. The Atlanteans had no way to leave this place, right?

The unwilling tug of Wooyoung's stomach further intensified. He peered at San from his peripherals, feeling nowhere as safe with him as Seonghwa would have suggested.

San said something in Atlantean and, of course, Wooyoung didn't understand. With a confused stare, he climbed behind San, past the boulders leading down to a hilly cliff. Wooyoung's instinct in rock climbing was to leave some space between people so they could find their path and wouldn't hurt another in case they slipped. Ever the marvel, San thought different. He was purposefully slow or waited until Wooyoung was close enough that their bodies almost squeezed against each other on their descent. Twice, Wooyoung apologised for their hands grabbing for the same ledge and touching. San's heat was electrifying, but Wooyoung flinched away both times, feeling his touch might stain the medium.

His exertion kept him from further babbling, and any other thought was wiped away by San's proximity.

Wooyoung got so into the sport that he missed the moment San abruptly stopped. He barrelled into him on his last hop between two rocks and an 'oof' stifled in those broad shoulders. When his hands came up to support himself, they found a lean waist that was ridiculously easy to grasp.

"Oh, sorry," Wooyoung mumbled when he pulled back. His fingers lingered, sliding off slowly before he found back to his manners and dropped his hands.

Research. Work. Not speaking the same language or the same customs.

San didn't seem bothered. He said something, and that twinkle was back in his eyes when Wooyoung just confusedly followed the point of his fingers.

A second hatch greeted them at the rocky cliff. They had reached the outskirts of Atlantis, and the towering net of the shell guarded them from the dark water beyond. This gate was smaller, only sized for a regular person to pass through, but that made it even more ominous since beyond awaited just the cruel depths that were countless times more threatening than something human-sized could bear.

Wooyoung shook his head before he realised the gesture.

"You want to go out there? Impossible. We will suffocate. Or our ribcages burst from the pressure. At least mine does. I don't know how weird your body is." He made the mistake of glimpsing down, wanting to be judgmental, but he only came up with how delicious the ridges of San's abs looked.

In a mutual misunderstanding, San set to climb further towards the door, but he halted when he noticed Wooyoung stayed rooted to the spot. The paleness of his cheeks was universal. He trusted this process less and less.

San said something, just one word. Asking Wooyoung to come.

"No. This is not happening," Wooyoung stuck to his resolution. Without a proper explanation of what was going on and reassurance that he wouldn't get ripped apart by sharks in a few minutes, he wouldn't go anywhere. This could wait until Seonghwa had time to accompany them. Or they sent Yeosang. What was Wooyoung even doing here?

A hand seized his wrist, tugging. Enough force lay behind it to hint at San's strength, but he didn't yank Wooyoung along. His finger pointed again, brows drawing into a frown because Wooyoung didn't understand.

As if bewitched, Wooyoung stumbled a step in his direction. He wanted to stick near the attractive man, wanted his smile to be pleased instead of his lips pursed.

"Are you sure about this? You know I'm different, right? You better have some tricks up your sleeve."

If San went out there on the regular, it had to be safe. Though the void outside suggested the opposite. Maybe San could fight a shark, but Wooyoung sure couldn't.

Another tug, but San wasn't compelling. Still, Wooyoung came along, though he should know better than following a vexing man out into the ocean.

Perhaps he was the stupid one. Maybe they had a submarine in that hatch. Though even then, trusting a stranger from a different reality to bring him out and back in safely in a surrounding as deadly as the ocean ground should ring more alarm bells.

But Wooyoung really liked how San's hand felt in his, its heat.

Hesitant, he accompanied San to the hatch. Maybe they wouldn't even leave and only needed to go into the airlock to see.

When they arrived, San dropped Wooyoung's hand and assured himself with a glance that he wouldn't run off. Tense, Wooyoung watched how San's powerful fingers wrapped around the brass wheel, turning it.

A deafening squeak sounded from the metal. San's arms bulged in effort and the planes of his back begged Wooyoung to rake his fingers over them. Once the door swung open, San dug his feet into the ground and held it for Wooyoung.

Together, they entered the airlock, and San closed the hatch behind them.

A trunk stood here, on the unassuming black beach. San beelined for it and opened it, tugging out a garment made of shiny white fabric that reminded Wooyoung of the shell and a matching helmet. He handed both of them to Wooyoung, digging out another.

Clueless, Wooyoung stared at the two items in his hands, and back to San. It took the man only a moment to understand, and he lowered his bundle back onto the trunk's lid.

Wooyoung didn't flinch back this time when San stepped in. His hands slipped under Wooyoung's shirt, pulling it up his stomach. A furious blush raged on the scientist's cheeks when he was undressed so nonchalantly.

Once the shirt was off and Wooyoung stood half bare with his ruffled red hair, the hint of a smile danced over San's lips. His hand fell to the waistband of Wooyoung's pants, not trailing, not teasing, but it brought the heat to his stomach all the same.

In a flight of panic, he seized San's wrist. The veiny hand stopped immediately, but its hovering seemed as teasing as the glint in his eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait. You want me to put this on, yes? I understand."

Wooyoung said it to uphold his last dignity, but he sounded squeaky like a balloon. Gone was flirtatious and coy him.

San leaned in, close enough that his chest brushed Wooyoung's naked shoulder and his long hair tickled at his waist.

"Are you scared?" This time, Wooyoung recognised the words. He squared his jaw, shoving San's hand off him. Without breaking eye contact, he dropped both hands to his pants, opening the button and yanking down the zipper. San's lips curled like those of a cat, but his lidded eyes never left Wooyoung's face. Even when Wooyoung shimmied from his pants and dropped them to the ground, San's steely resolution didn't waver.

Standing unabashed, Wooyoung stared back at him. His eyes wavered once when San lifted his own hands, tugging his top over his head in a movement so graceful that his hair didn't get tangled in it. Resisting became harder and Wooyoung gulped when San slipped out of his pants, leaving the two naked as day on the lonesome beach. Lazy eyes followed the movement of his throat.

They still lingered close enough to feel each other's breath. If Wooyoung took one step forward, they would stand dick to dick.

Wooyoung had no idea what they were doing; if this was as flirtatious to San as it was to him. He only knew that he loved the balance of their power, loved to be put in his place after challenging the other.

Soft fabric touched his chest before San stepped back from him. He nodded at the suit to tell Wooyoung to put it on and then turned away to get dressed. Out of revenge, Wooyoung snuck a peek at his backside before he faced away. Worth it.

After dressing in the garment that was as skin-tight as a diving suit, Wooyoung turned back around. He nervously pushed his hair back, not sure about this. The suit might be reinforced with the same material as the shell, but would it save him from being squished to death? It for sure couldn't save him from sharks; Seonghwa had established that already.

San was also dressed and the way his gear clung to his shoulders, waist, hips, anywhere, was sinful. He cradled his helmet under his arm, and the shape was alien enough to match Atlantis, but it seemed to be of as good quality as the plastic of the surface. It reminded Wooyoung of a winding sea shell.

Since Wooyoung was a polite thirsting boy, he didn't glance at San's bulge to make guesses about it when the man adjusted his collar. He secured Wooyoung's helmet for him, making sure it sat snug and safe. After putting on his own, he took Wooyoung's hand again, seeing it as the only means of communicating to follow that worked.

Stumbling behind him in his new shiny suit, Wooyoung accompanied him to the hatch. Even when San strapped sturdy ropes to their waists, he wasn't sure. The only thing that had him linger as the medium opened the hatch was the glint in San's eyes as he tested how far Wooyoung would go.

And if Wooyoung liked one thing, it was a challenge.

*****

This book has 27 chapters btw!