The ground of the upper story was covered in colourful tiles that created regular patterns and images on the floor. The large round hall that spread into the many corridors Mingi had to pick from to get to his chambers was decorated by an elephant in bright blues and oranges welcoming them on the ground. Wooyoung idled around to marvel at it and the detail put into the artwork. Patient, Mingi allowed him to gawk with a smile.

"Hundreds of artists from the city were involved at the completion of this place. Every so often, the king invites the most popular ones in the city to do more artwork for him. That one is one of my favourites." Mingi's voice carried in the tall ceilings. It echoed in the surrounding emptiness. No other people crossed their paths on the way to the historian's working space.

"Please, show me more if you find the time. But first, let's put those tablets down." Wooyoung hurried to catch up with him. When Mingi grinned at him in appreciation, Wooyoung imitated the gesture.

They finally reached Mingi's personal chambers after many interruptions of Wooyoung's marvelling. Mingi called a vast area his own. He got two sizable rooms, one to sleep in and one cluttered with work. Through the open doors leading out to the balcony travelled a warm breeze. The view looked out over the Euphrates River, that slithered along the southern city wall like a vibrant snake of shining blue.

Mingi huffed and set his bag down on his desk. The wood ached under the added weight, but it held steady. It must have been an expensive investment to ease Mingi's research.

"I'll have to inform the king of your arrival, then I can provide you with a room to sleep in. You may accompany me if you want to see more of the palace," Mingi suggested with a beckon at the door. Wooyoung ripped his eyes from the children playing at the riverbank while their mothers did their laundry in the clear water. The idyllic picture soothed his jittery nerves.

They left Mingi's room together. Freed from the heavy bag, Mingi rolled his shoulder and flexed the muscles under his long arms; kudos to years of inscribing his scriptures in stone.

After climbing yet another set of stairs with no railing that dangerously raised them above the adjoining hall, they entered the main palace facilities. It was brighter, indicating the elevated level and lesser builds above. The sight from the towering windows was breathtaking. Wooyoung was helpless between his want to explore the entire scene painted on the floor and looking out over Babylon.

The lobby was filled with people. They milled about to converse with each other and disappear into the contiguous halls. Nobody bothered with the massive double doors right ahead that caught Wooyoung's attention. Flanked by heavily armoured guards, it likely led straight to king Nebuchadnezzar.

Wooyoung's pulse hammered in his throat when Mingi took him aside. Through Wooyoung's eyes flickering through the room, he tried to garner his focus.

"I'll be in and out within a moment. You just wait here and enjoy the sight!" Mingi said cheerfully. His hand patted Wooyoung's shoulder as he shared his sympathy over his overwhelmed expression.

Wooyoung just wanted to reply to him and promise to drink up all the new impressions in peace, when his eyes got stuck on a group of people to their left. They stood huddled to a piece of wall between two corridors so they wouldn't bother anyone. The part about them that attracted Wooyoung's gaze was the transparent veils of the person leaned against the open window. Orange mixed with bright purple to create a dance of colours in front of the clear blue sky.

Distracted by the pretty display, Wooyoung completely failed to answer.

"Oh, him? That's one of the king's concubines. His Majesty is obsessed with him."

Wooyoung hadn't even registered yet that the fluttering garments belonged to a man. Now that Mingi's words penetrated his ears, he peered beyond the airy veils to examine the person under them.

Wooyoung couldn't see all of him, but more than he had from any other Babylonian so far. And what he saw was so undeniably attractive that Wooyoung's feet instinctively shifted to point in his direction.

The man underneath the veils was smaller than the people surrounding him. Instead of in long curls, he wore his hair in a complicated updo that allowed some strands to whisper around his veiled face enticingly. Golden skin contrasted with raven hair and matched coal-rimmed eyes that reminded Wooyoung of a cat. He was sensual, his long lashes fluttering as he listened to the people talking to him. Wooyoung couldn't see through the orange veil with the golden rim attached over his ears and nose, but he didn't doubt that the man's lips were curled in a secretive smirk.

Beyond his face was a body carved by the gods in hours of delicate work. Broad shoulders covered in his veils exposed a slender waist. His abs were on full display and shiny with either sweat or oil in the bright sun that kissed his skin. Wide pants of the same airy material fluttered around his legs and bare feet. When he pushed a strand of hair behind his ear delicately, the golden hoops around his arms and ankles jingled.

Wooyoung couldn't take his eyes off him. Off the unconventional beauty that this man was. Off the way his body moved, as if in dance, when he hid his giggles about a compliment behind a coy hand.

It took Mingi to elbow him in the ribs gently for Wooyoung to snap out of it. The fluttering veils had burnt themselves into his inner eye as a constant memory.

"Better not stare too much at him. If somebody catches you, they might have your head for it."

Gulping, Wooyoung turned away from the man. His movements were those of a wooden doll, so abrupt and unattractive compared to the vision of beauty behind him. How was he supposed to stay here and not even take a peek? It felt unfair to Wooyoung.

Once Wooyoung had put his sweaty hands on the windowsill to dedicate his complete attention to the spread of Babylon below him, Mingi snickered again.

"Wait just a moment, I'll be right back." With that, his steps took off through the grand hall. Wooyoung was left to sweat and try to peek at the concubine from his peripherals until his eyes hurt.

Even when a sight of Babylon that he would probably never see again extended in front of Wooyoung to soak up, his mind was elsewhere. Whenever it provided him with little reminders of the man so nearby and yet to unattainable, his hands tightened around the stone under his fingers. He couldn't place the voices of the group, not knowing which belonged to the man. He only knew that his laugh was higher than expected and that it rang through the foyer like a bell's chime.

Mind all over the place, Wooyoung played nonchalant while all of his senses strained to pick up details about the concubine. Like a starved man, he leeched off anything he believed to come from the man's mouth. His brain didn't even recognise the language anymore, too far gone to concentrate.

When an unannounced hand clamped down on Wooyoung's shoulder, he shrieked. His flinch made Mingi giggle even when Wooyoung glared at him. For a moment, all blood had frozen in his veins, thinking Mingi was a guard who wanted to have his head for staring at the other man.

"Come on, you poor man, before you ravage him against the window."

With gentle pressure on Wooyoung's shoulder, Mingi led him away. Wooyoung didn't dare glance back, still spooked as they returned to the lower floor.

"We call him Suusaandar. When he came from the north, he didn't have a name in our language, so we gave him one. The king had never been as smitten with anyone but him." Knowing Wooyoung's internal struggle, Mingi soon picked the topic up again. Numb as if lightning had struck him, Wooyoung drifted behind him. Love at first sight had struck him hard this time. He blamed it on the free-spirited and straightforward sexuality of the Babylonians. While Wooyoung had seen nothing racy yet, he knew how chastity was a sin here. He had just adjusted to the culture, was all.

"He isn't from here?"

Mingi led Wooyoung back into his chambers and shook his head. As they sat down on the ground together to share some food that Mingi kept in his room for lunch, the man explained further.

"He was a traveller, just like you. He came here because he heard about the wonders of our city and wanted to see them for himself. A royal advisor took a liking to him and brought him here to parade him around as his newest trophy. Then, the king spotted Suusaandar and fell in love immediately. Ever since then, he lives a lavish life at the royal court. He has everyone at his feet, no matter who they are. You just proved that."

Wooyoung pouted at him when Mingi rose his drink in a teasing greeting. Still, he chewed on his grapes thoughtfully. Beauties like Suusaandar's were exotic in a way that no modern person could compete. The epoch they were in underlined Wooyoung's awe. Even so far in the past, there were people of outstanding charm.

"So he stays here because he wants to?" The lines between slavery and diplomacy could be thin, especially when it was about sexual intercourse in ancient Babylon.

"The king gives him everything he wishes for, and many suitors try to charm him with gifts and promises. Sometimes I feel Suusaandar gets more attention than His Majesty's kids. My offer for a royal meeting still stands. Suusaandar is the crown jewel of our nightly dinner orgies. Sometimes the king allows the visitors to share him."

Wooyoung schooled his face into a neutral expression. If he grimaced about aspects so trivial to the Babylonians, he would get frowned upon. The last thing he wanted to do was insult their culture with his distaste over sexual favours by a stranger during dinner for no return service. No matter the attractiveness of the person in question.

"Have you ever got a taste of him?" Wooyoung redirected the topic before his rejection could become impolite. When Mingi blushed faintly and attempted to duck his head into his shoulder, Wooyoung snickered dryly.

"He crawled between my legs under the table during dinner once. It was unforgettable. I yearned for him for weeks after that before a guard reminded me of my place. I doubt he even knows my name." Yet Mingi's prideful tone swelled in his chest. To distract himself from his boasting, he pulled a bowl close to indulge in the dried dates inside. Wooyoung chewed on one, too.

"Sounds like a good time."

"It was. Ah, before I forget it. The king asked me to travel to a nearby oasis for him tomorrow because they found an old scripture there that he needs me to decipher. I won't be around to show you my documents yet, but you are free to stay in the palace and roam as you wish. Just don't go behind closed doors."

Since the sun would set outside soon, Mingi should rather spend his time resting than bent over his materials today, too. Wooyoung nodded in understanding.

"Then I wish you a safe trip tomorrow. Will you leave before sunrise?"

Mingi nodded and pushed the bowl with the last date over to Wooyoung to snack. As he leaned back on his hands, the breeze ruffled his hair and brushed chin-long strands in his face. Mingi didn't bother to push them off since the playful wind flicked them wherever it wanted, anyway.

"Yes, but you will find food in the kitchens. Since I'm not with you, I advise you not to roam the city tomorrow, but we can visit the tower once I am back."

Oh, Wooyoung already knew exactly where he would go if lent free rain. His broad smirk alleviated the worried frown on Mingi's forehead.

"I will stay within these walls, understood."

They talked some more, just the casual small talk of new acquaintances. Mingi asked a few questions about Wooyoung's origin, and he dodged all the topics Mingi couldn't know about as Wooyoung informed him about his work.

When the sun bathed the desert in an orange glow that reminded Wooyoung of liquid fire, they parted and Wooyoung took over his own chambers opposite of Mingi's. They had a similar layout but lacked the cluttered items the other historian collected. Wooyoung found his bed comfortable and slept through the entire night near the open stars at the window next to his nest. The warmth of his sunburn pleasantly heated his body and didn't make him shiver even as the desert cooled so much that the plants outside the palace shrunk into themselves to protect their life force.

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Soo I'm starting work so my usual update times will be messed up. I will still update daily but depending on where in the world you guys are reading this, it might feel like longer ^^ I will try to find a new time soon when I can update consistently, until then please bear with it~