Wooyoung hoped seeing the sacred site of Atlantis was worth this. Like the yawning maw of a massive monster, the black sea greeted them with its nightmarish chill. The two divers carried no light, so they could see only the fishes and organisms close to the glowing shell. The rest of the canyon was plunged in unknown darkness.

Wooyoung never feared the water, but out here with San, he wondered for the first time if something was watching him from the shadows with cold, dead eyes.

Three things soothed him, though they stood in no comparison to the dreadful gloom of the sea.

First, they were close to the ocean floor. Wooyoung knew of the canyon encasing Atlantis, and he could see the jagged rocks that made up the ground below. At least from that direction, he didn't need to fear an attack.

The second part was their equipment. Out in the cold water, neither the pressure nor the frigid temperatures killed them through the extraordinary material of the suits. Their soft glow brightened just enough to see their path, and San had led Wooyoung's hand to the rope around his waist, making sure the scientist didn't drift off.

The last aspect was San, of course. The powerful movements of his legs brought them deeper into the open water and his form was elegant and swift, used to swimming such depths. They couldn't be that scary if he was out a lot, right?

Like deafening white noise, the general crackling sound of water masses hammered onto Wooyoung's head. Every wave and current made him glance around in paranoia and each time he was startled, since they were so deep. There was no light above. Only the shell and San's glowing body.

Wooyoung wasn't scared of the ocean, but this was the worst bonding experience ever.

Paranoid to see a big shadow fall above them any time, Wooyoung lugged along on San's rope. He carried a bucket of unknown contents in his arms. San had handed it to him and the water pressure carried it with them as if weightless.

Scared to be wasting his precious helmet air by rambling further, Wooyoung stared at the scattered bioluminescent fishes and reefs. Some tentacled mushroom waved funnily at him and Wooyoung tightened his hand on the rope.

For not trusting San earlier, he was suddenly Wooyoung's sole anchor.

Did he even use the rope when he was alone? Or did he spend his time swimming through the deep sea befriending morays?

Wooyoung shuddered that thought off. He already understood this man was terrifying and many times more astonishing than Wooyoung or Seungyoun could ever hope to be. Humbled by how easily he treated the team and his flirtations, Wooyoung bit his lip to keep calm as they swam further and further away from the safe shell.

Had San been scared, growing up with this role? Had he cried the first time he came out here?

Wasn't he lonely?

Wooyoung stared at San's back and the way his muscles moved with his every stroke. They were so different, yet they understood. After all, both of them were still human.

When San slowed, Wooyoung did the same, not one to make the same mistake twice. He hovered in the spot to squint his eyes at what San was pointing to this time.

On their descent into the depths by submarine, Wooyoung thought they found the deepest spot in the sea. Their technologies had been created for this exact depth and Atlantis had been hidden away successfully, as no one could reach them until the proper mechanic was developed.

Now, however, Wooyoung looked at a massive hole in the canyon. It was big as a church and though it wouldn't fit a whole Atlantis; it seemed to be a fresh path leading straight to the earth's core.

In apprehension, Wooyoung looked at San. They had come out so far, so diving wasn't that much more effort. Yet, the dark hole intimidated Wooyoung. He couldn't even see the other side. What expected them down there?

Worried, Wooyoung caught San's gaze and tugged at his rope in question. When San nodded, Wooyoung had no other choice. They were going down.

Feeling colder than before, though they dipped barely a few metres, Wooyoung was dragged once more. He cradled his bucket like a lifeline, praying once more he wasn't to be a sacrifice after all this.

However, San didn't bring them as deep as Wooyoung would have thought. They halted near the edge leading into the gaping abyss and Wooyoung planted his feet on the ground, just for the feeling of reassurance. When San beckoned at the bucket, Wooyoung readily handed it over. In silence, he watched how San pried the lid open and reached inside to retrieve one item.

It was a ball of weeds. Algae, perhaps, or some Atlantean speciality. When San thrust his feet off the edge to bring himself above the hole of nothingness, its weight dragged downward.

San dropped the ball into the hole, then the others followed. He was calm, purposeful in his movements, but Wooyoung sat puzzled.

Was this the sacred site? The weed some sort of sacrifice to their goddess? A measure to calm her or ask for fortune as surface religions did?

Another weed ball floated into the unmoving darkness to disappear somewhere in the passage. San emptied the bucket and peered into the chasm for a moment longer.

Was there anything down there? A holy statue? A place of birth and prosperity?

Or was San... feeding something?

Beyond confused but with his heart beating in his throat, Wooyoung hovered as San came back. No monster appeared from the depths, especially no moray. Though the irrational fear in him refused to believe this was a religious ritual. Something was going on here, and it wasn't like a temple or a church.

San handed Wooyoung the bucket once more. The pale boy clutched it to his chest, never leaving San or the hole out of his sight.

When the medium tilted his head in question and beckoned back at the shell, Wooyoung let go of a breath. He presumed San usually stayed longer, maybe even dived to visit the core of their sacred site, but he must have picked up on Wooyoung's distress. When the scientist readily grabbed San's rope, he took off without a glance back.

Wooyoung glimpsed over his shoulder often. But every time, the hole lay in silence until it disappeared into the dark.

Happy to get back inside the calming dome as soon as possible, Wooyoung hurried to help San propel them back. He brimmed with questions, but they would have to wait until he saw Seonghwa.

After all this, Wooyoung wanted nothing more than a hot bath and some delicious food prepared by Jongho. Maybe he could teach Splish Splash some tricks and take a day off tomorrow? This wasn't a lot to write about, but a lot to digest.

Thankfully, their return to the shell was quick. San's powerful arms drew them back in by the cord and the water rushed past Wooyoung to shove at him with translucent hands. Soon, they reached the hatch and San twisted it open to slip inside. Wooyoung drifted in with the current and slapped onto the rocks like a dead flounder as soon as he was safe.

Bleary eyes blinked at the ceiling through the sheen of his helmet.

Safety. Never would he have thought that a bubble on the ground of the ocean meant safety.

As Wooyoung lay there, heaving, the sound of San's laughter trickled onto his ears. He craned his head to see the man had emptied the bucket of leftover water and cast it aside for a refill. He had taken off his helmet and the skin-tight suit was opened at the top, offering a free view of that mouth-watering chest.

And God, Wooyoung was gay.

Rejuvenated by the view of tanned muscles that would be a joy to have above him as he got railed into tomorrow, Wooyoung sat up and took off his helmet. He ruffled through his sweaty hair, clammy on his skin.

San said something, still snickering that handsome, dimpled smile. When he remembered Wooyoung didn't speak his language, he picked his words anew, but he didn't give up.

The word for 'scared' had Wooyoung's ears perk up. He had heard it in related sentences often enough that he could figure it out. All dread forgotten, he got to his feet.

San met him in the middle as they squared up again. Wooyoung liked how this was their way to communicate, and how San followed along so easily.

It almost made this fun.

"Did you just say I was scared?" Wooyoung lowered his voice into a threatening grumble. He tilted up his chin to meet San's gaze head-on, not one to back down just for being smaller.

San, having learned the English equivalent of the word for the same reasons, grinned. He crooned something at Wooyoung, mocking in its meaning but hot in the way it crawled down Wooyoung's spine.

"I promise if I took you on a walk on top of a skyscraper you would be terrified," Wooyoung hissed. He considered taking San along with them just to triumph as the man gaped like a fish at the sky and every tree.

With the same smug smile, San indulged him. Some hair had slipped from his sectioned ponytail and hung into his face. It tickled against Wooyoung's forehead.

"Just because you are some weird fishy superhuman with no survival instinct, that doesn't mean I don't have my pride." Copying San's movements of earlier, Wooyoung reached to take hold of the zipper holding San's suit shut. He yanked it down, exposing more skin. Their eyes never parted, but Wooyoung caught the flashes of it from his peripherals, felt his fingers grazing over San's abs ever so subtly.

San lifted his brow at him in a challenge. The zipper reached down far enough to end just above his groin. Not that Wooyoung had been staring, but if he were to open it entirely, he might get a peek of something he had been thirsting for since he first laid eyes on San.

Wooyoung didn't know who of the two he was teasing when he stopped just below San's belly button. For a moment, his hand lingered and his quickened breath was hot against San's lips. Then he ripped away his fingers to peel the fabric off San's shoulders instead.

"You better watch your mouth. I'm going through a lot right now and your pretty tattoos won't save you if you make me angry," Wooyoung hissed as low as he could.

Yet, San could tell he wasn't serious. The smirk stayed painted on his lips.

Wooyoung was about to deliver the devastating finish (at least on his end) when his words stuttered in his throat. San had wrapped his arms around him to tug off the sleeves of his suit behind Wooyoung's back. Their chests, hips, everything crowded together and San's breath tickled Wooyoung's ear as both had to angle their heads away.

A furious blush raged over Wooyoung's cheeks. He gulped, staying still as a pillar because a single movement would give him the most painful erection of his lifetime. His unseeing eyes stared at the blue tattoos stretching over San's back and shoulders. More and more skin got revealed to his eyes and Wooyoung's throat was parched.

The low hum piercing Wooyoung's cotton candy trance had his head snap around. San bunched his suit around his waist, showing off an insulting amount of skin for their affiliation. Wooyoung was no prude, but Atlanteans made even him shy.

With his breath caught in his chest, Wooyoung felt San, not daring anything more. The body against his dwarfed him, both in broadness as well as in the humiliating area of their crotches. No friction sparked, just subtle pressure, as if San wished to remind him who was the bigger one.

Wooyoung gritted his jaw to keep himself from biting into that sculpted shoulder. He wanted to rake his nails over San's back, wanted to see him react.

But most of all, he wanted them to understand each other so they could communicate whatever the fuck type of courting dance they were doing here.

When San finally pulled back, Wooyoung gasped for air as if he had been drowning. He ignored San's chuckle as he triumphed once more. Agitated, Wooyoung stomped off to change back into his clothes.

He would outdo San as soon as he spoke enough of their language. That guy should watch out. Soon, he would beg Wooyoung to suck him off.

Devious in his plans, Wooyoung got dressed. They left the hatch together as if they hadn't just touched dicks through no more but thin diving suits in there, and no words of communication could draw a confession from their lips.

San brought Wooyoung home like the polite protector he was and they parted with a sunny smile and a glare, respectively.

On his way to bother Yeosang, Wooyoung spun his evil ploys.