The next day, Wooyoung and San were ready and at the cathedral on time to meet with Leonardo da Vinci. Just like last time, they scaled the stairs in reverent silence and made their long way up to the attic. This time when they knocked on the door, the shuffling of feet came to the wood. Moments later, Seonghwa - dressed in a white shirt today that was stained with coal and paint - opened the door for them. When he stared them down with his tall frame that got even taller with his staircase advantage, Wooyoung and San grinned their angelic smiles.

"You're here," Seonghwa noticed unnecessarily. By the time he finally motioned them in, another big rock dropped from Wooyoung's heart. He had feared the man might change his mind once more.

San went first and made sure his broad body forced the other man to step aside far enough that Wooyoung could slip through. Once he remembered his role, he stood straight and regal. Not that he could beat Seonghwa's natural stiffness, but he tried.

"Thank you for allowing us in."

For a moment, they just got impaled by the other man's chilly glares. Then, he spun on his heel to cross the attic cluttered with wooden racks, canvasses in various states of usage and so many oddly shaped medieval art instruments that Wooyoung couldn't name.

"Follow me."

Seonghwa directed them up the stairs to the upper area, where they could hear someone else clutter around. The two boys followed diligently. When Seonghwa wasn't looking, the two shared a triumphant smile.

Finally, things had worked out. Wooyoung was positive that he wouldn't have succeeded this time without San. They made a great team. Yongguk had no reason not to pair them up more often.

Another winding staircase led up to the upper floor. Seonghwa disappeared in front of them first while Wooyoung and San shuffled up to take a long look around.

The attic of the church was cluttered like any attic would be, only that this one was worth millions of euros. The canvas in the corner that had a dirty rag slung over it could become a national heritage. The apparatus to the left that reminded Wooyoung of fantastical steampunk universes could be the next big hit every museum wanted in their entrance hall.

Worth most of it all was the man who controlled the chaos. The living legend, Leonardo da Vinci. Even if his last name wasn't da Vinci yet and the Mona Lisa was long from being drawn.

His respect for historical figures, no matter the impression they left, restricted Wooyoung's tongue. With big eyes, he looked around while San and he lingered near the staircase. Without similar qualms, Seonghwa marched right ahead to join the side of the middle-aged man with wild brown hair and coal-stained hands, who worked on a sizeable piece of parchment as they intruded.

"I brought your visitors," Seonghwa announced stiffly. He retreated to the smaller and orderly desk in the corner to do whatever he worked on.

Leonardo beckoned the two idling bystanders over before Wooyoung got to figure out what all the wooden racks were for. So many crates stacked the room and most of them had other pieces of work on them, either drying or in progress still.

Wooyoung barely dared to look at the many sketches and pages filled with scribbles on the artist's desk. He felt as if intruding in on the man's creative progress; as if discovering things the world wasn't meant to see.

San stuck close to him as if picking up on his distress, but he didn't talk. His silence reminded Wooyoung that he had to keep up his pretence to succeed.

After a moment of Leonardo still working away as if the devil in person had given him his deadline, he had found his words again.

"Master Leonardo. I come to ask for your advice regarding matters of myth and legend. Or rather, science, in a more modern mindset."

Leonardo just grunted in response, but had yet to put his work away. Clueless about what was asked from him, Wooyoung continued.

"More exactly, I am researching immortality. Since you have ties to the arts of alchemy, I hoped that you could spare some information for me."

This time, Leonardo threw a glance at Wooyoung over his shoulder. His beard stubble regrew uneven after a bad shave. Eyes that were obsessed with art and creating flicked through the room as if he had trouble perceiving the actual world.

"Have you studied alchemy yet, boy?"

Wooyoung hesitantly shook his head. He was unsure which answer was the right one to pick here.

"Only scantly. I didn't have many opportunities to."

With a nod, Leonardo continued his scribbles. His hand moved calm and concentrated despite his messy mind.

"To understand how the body works and how it can become immortal, you first need to understand why the body ages. And which part it is that you need to channel different energy into sticking to your youth."

Wooyoung made mental notes even if he already felt like this would be a long discussion. He hoped he could remember everything, but if he wasn't, he could do half and half with San.

"You need to study the body and what makes up its very core. Women live longer than men; maybe they have something we lack that can cause immortality if supported wisely. An artist always has his eyes on the human body and knows its many secrets." Leonardo's hand flicked over the page, creating a jarringly big line that seemed to disagree with the rest of his painting. Expectant, Wooyoung nodded along. He didn't dare speak up, for he feared disrupting the man's flow.

"Only after you studied the human body, you can begin to understand alchemy. Whichever potion you create, it has no use if you address it wrongly. In a way, both are tedious tasks to learn. It might take you many years to get there. I myself haven't found an explanation for immortality yet."

Wooyoung subtly glanced at San. He had, but they didn't need to mention that.

"I believe many bodies aren't made for immortality, either. They are fragile and sick, and those who have started to age already are brandished by the decay they would carry for eternity if made immortal."

Right, San had also only aged until the peak of his health and then got stuck there. Or had he entered immortality by coincidence, right when he was in his early twenties? Wooyoung hadn't considered it yet, but maybe immortality was hereditary. Since immortals had trouble reproducing, it made sense why so few of them existed.

Wooyoung would have to suggest that theory to San later. Although he was worried whether San's infertility might be a sensitive topic.

"If we talk about immortality, we would usually want to assume the status of perfect health. Of balance and wisdom. Strong in mind and body. Now, what is the perfect body? A friend of mine introduced me to a concept of it recently."

As if hit by a storm, Leonardo shoved his coal artwork aside to grab for a small leather book. His fingers left dark stains on the pages as he flicked through it.

Before he could sink his pen down on it, however, he hesitated. He glanced out of the semicircle shaped window in front that cast the dust he had whirled into the air in dancing light.

"What time do we have, Seonghwa?"

"It's just after nine, master."

For a moment longer, Leonardo lost himself in the view of the doves outside the window as they picked on whatever delicacy they had found on the windowsill. Their white feathers shone brightly in the morning sun that threw long shadows over the tall buildings of Florence.

"Then there's still time."

Leonardo finally put down all of his utensils to turn to Wooyoung and San. Attentive, the two watched the man cross his arms over his tunic. The laces at the top and at his sleeves were undone.

"I'm willing to extend my help to you, but it comes at a price," Leonardo said. His stern voice had Wooyoung nod gravely. On the other side of the room, Seonghwa was occupied with his own paintings. One hand held his sleeve while the other one painted with slow, circular strokes of his brush.

"What is your price? I am willing to pay quite a lot since I'm passionate about this topic."

Not that Wooyoung had a ton of money on him. But he and San could figure it out and come back.

"I want to paint you. You will pay with the time I take to perfect you on paper. And for the image of your appearance."

When Wooyoung didn't reply because he was stunned into silence, Leonardo stalked closer. His fingers wrapped around Wooyoung's wrist to stretch his arm out at his side. With the spread of his fingers, he climbed them along Wooyoung's inner arm to his armpit. Then he did the same across his shoulders and down his torso. He calculated Wooyoung's measurements like a fashion designer and muttered them under his breath before he went to write them down.

"Me? Why me?"

"It's easier than going through the hassle of finding a different model. You're cheaper than many others as well."

Wooyoung glanced at San. If he were a painter, he would rather draw the gorgeous man with the sculpted features and the athletic body than the rather average person Wooyoung was. San was the living example of an immortal in the prime of his youth.

When San caught his gaze, he nodded reassuringly.

Wooyoung faced Leonardo again, who leaned against his table and scrutinised them. If he recognised their bond, he didn't comment on it.

Blissfully unbothered, Seonghwa drew in his corner. Wooyoung was dying to see what his art looked like and a vicious petty part in him wanted to know if it was horrendous just so he could mock the man for acting all high and mighty with nothing behind it. Not that adult Wooyoung would actually do that. He left those biting remarks in school.

"I would like to help your artistic process wherever I can. Will it be possible that my friend sticks around during that time?"

Leonardo shrugged and sketched in his book for a while. He had no trouble multitasking their conversation and his art.

"If he doesn't get bored. Seonghwa, choose yourself if you want to stay. If you want to use him as practice as well, you are welcome to."

Wooyoung had never stood model for a painter before, but the idea of Seonghwa drawing him made him more uncomfortable than Leonardo. Maybe because there was a judgment in Seonghwa's eyes where Leonardo's only carried dismissal.

"Right now?"

"Yes, I can make the time. If you want to eat first, get some food to eat on the side."

This time, San offered himself out of his own volition.

"I can get food," he suggested. In the dusty attic, his voice was muffled and more intimate. Leonardo's agreement was slower, as if he had to marvel at San's Italian first as well.

As someone born in Italy, Wooyoung was a huge sucker for the attractiveness that San's voice gave his native language.

"Then I will walk him through the steps he needs to regard while you are gone. Hurry. Once he is in the pose, I won't let him change it again."

San dashed off while Wooyoung wrung his hands. The atmosphere pressured him to do well for the messy artist even when the expectations weren't high.

"What is your name again?"

"Wooyoung. My friend is San."

"San as in Alessandro?"

Wooyoung hesitated. He was relatively sure that he had gathered the name before when he and San had met an acquaintance of the immortal.

"Yes."

Leonardo hummed and motioned Wooyoung to sit down on one of the not cluttered crates. He didn't comment on San's name anymore, but Wooyoung was left curious. At this time in Italy, the big families reigning the provinces carried all the might and influence of society. He knew of a historical figure, Alessandro de Medici, with that name. But that could impossibly hint at San, right? The de Medicis were a noble and dominant family; they wouldn't accept an outsider as their own.

When Wooyoung dug through his head for a while longer while Leonardo and Seonghwa prepared their equipment, his brows clouded together more. From what he remembered, Alessandro de Medici wasn't born yet, but he had died at 26. Maybe they had found a historical version of San who faked an untimely death to cut his ties with Italy for a while?

San returned with bread and fruit. As he set them down next to Wooyoung, he grinned at him.

Wooyoung didn't ask. But if he was right, then finding San's many personalities throughout history would become a children's play for Yongguk soon.

At the reminder that this meant they could meet earlier in Wooyoung's time, Wooyoung's heart quickened its beat. Soon. Soon his mission on immortality would be over and he could invite San formally.