Wooyoung spent his morning searching for the kitchens. He had forgotten the Akkadian word for them and didn't want to embarrass himself by trying to explain with his body. Thus, he simply utilised his lack of a goal to wander the vaulted corridors and halted at some windows to enjoy the view. As always on this part of the earth, the weather was clear and warm. The sun's sweltering heat was bearable in the palace, that stored the night's coldness.

During his meandering, Wooyoung observed a procession in the field surrounding the palace. A long row of people with a gigantic umbrella made of palm leaves to protect the person in their midst from the sun migrated from the palace entrance down to the part of the river that flowed along the palace area. Judging by the deep bows the surrounding people dedicated to the colourful delegation, Wooyoung assumed King Nebuchadnezzar II was among them. He burnt with curiosity what the king was like as a person and if his success in Neo-Babylon had got to his head. History classes liked to leave out the less pretty facts, so Wooyoung was always intrigued to learn more.

He watched the group disappear around the corner of the gate leading down to the river before he picked up his walk again. After long hours of ghosting through the palace and lowering his eyes whenever he passed someone, his hungry stomach picked up on the scent of food wafting from somewhere. When he followed its angry grumbles, he soon found the kitchen. The kind cooks provided him with food after he had explained his situation. With two bowls in his hands, Wooyoung got sent off to eat.

Since he didn't want to be in the way, Wooyoung returned to his chambers to dine. There wasn't much to do in the palace during the day since he was nervous to get picked out as a stranger. He would have to reschedule his visit to the Hanging Gardens to the night; when he could be sure he was alone and not bothering anyone.

With nothing to read, Wooyoung spent his day sitting at the window with the sun in his face and watching over the miracle that Babylon was. He rarely got time to just savour the weather back in his time period. Work and his hobby of studying about work kept him busy. In the hours he could unwind in the ancient metropolis, his mind cleared of his stress. Despite the excitement and the rushing he experienced here, his visit was a holiday for him. How many people could say that they casually spent an afternoon gazing upon the Tower of Babel and the processions of people travelling up and down from it? Wooyoung would boast about that until the end of his days.

When the sun disappeared from his window to bless Babylon with its last productive rays, Wooyoung said bye to the cosy spot near the window. Warmed and full of energy, he muttered a goodbye to Berosus' hut he had observed every so often and bounced back to his feet.

It was dinnertime in the palace. Wooyoung was shy to go out just yet, afraid to get roped into a royal party that would end in an orgy. He waited patiently until fewer feet scurried over the tiled ground outside and he believed everyone to be busy eating. Once the palace's residents had finished their nightly activities and rolled into their beds, nobody would bother Wooyoung outside.

With his sandals crunching on the few sand grains in the corridors, Wooyoung snuck through the empty palace. He had seen a person cleaning the halls with a broom earlier, but the sand had come back in carried by the wind. Deserts would never bend to humans' will, not even 2500 years in the future. Wooyoung would have adored letting the Babylonians know.

Again, it took him a while to figure out the right paths to get to the gardens. After watching them come closer and disappear from the windows for a few exasperating minutes, he finally found the right set of stairs. Two guards stood at their bottom. They flanked the mighty staircase that was the only object in the entire tall room. Far up on the wall, an exit led outside to show the starry night.

Wooyoung walked past the guards as if he belonged there and they let him pass. With an inward sigh of relief, he dipped outside into the mild air of the evening.

The sky was still dark grey, not quite having settled into the night yet. Wooyoung was glad for it since just the light of the moon wouldn't have sufficed to present the entire enchanting flair of the gardens to him.

Lush greens surrounded the narrow winding path on the lowest step of the staircase-formed building. Small palm trees sagged under the weight of the fruit they bore. Their leaves brushed the pale pink petals of cedars. Wooyoung recognised almond trees, firs and nightshade. Cedars and olives and figs. Ripe pears and plums hung conveniently in the path of the visitors to be picked and sweeten lips with their rich taste.

Wooyoung hadn't even dared to step between the tall grasses yet. He stared at the waterfall, a smooth trail that came from the highest level to trickle down and feed the soil with precious nutrients. Its soothing noise in the night blessed Wooyoung's ears.

A set of stairs led from the lowest area down to the Euphrates and the pump system used to water the gardens. Wooyoung forewent it entirely to venture deeper. He didn't dare touch any of the plants. Despite them being familiar to him in the modern age, he feared disrupting their artistic wildness with a brush. He ducked respectfully under every branch and gently pushed stretching bushes aside from the path when he couldn't evade them.

Each story had a canopied open area within the stone. Built into the ground of the next story, it offered an open space and several stone benches for the beholder to sit on and relish in the gardens. Animal statues decorated the corridors like silent companions and marvelled at the gardens through the fluted columns.

Some bugs whizzed past Wooyoung's face. The gardens were lively with rustling, but Wooyoung saw no animals. Even in the wonder of nature amidst the desert, only smaller species could survive. He didn't doubt that the funny shadow he saw darting across the wall was a lizard.

With his eyes stuck to some vines that climbed from the story above to sneak down the walls and decorate them with the dots of their red flowers, Wooyoung advanced through the gardens. As he scaled the first set of stairs, he was awed by how different and yet similar the next level was.

The ground level had the tallest trees since it protected them against harsh winds and they could grow in peace. In return, the next level was dedicated to an abundance of flowers. Their wafting scents lured Wooyoung closer and soon, he knelt in front of one after the other to bury his face in their petals. Drunk on the euphoria all of his senses received, he cradled the feathers light flowers in his hands to study them full of devotion.

With the cicadas singing and the moon casting its pale light on him, Wooyoung felt as if he had stepped into a fairytale or got lost in Garden Eden. Wooyoung never wanted to leave, bewitched by the majestic wilderness of these gardens.

When he rose to his feet to stumble a few meters ahead and smell the next wild rose, he ran into a person. They had just appeared behind a plum tree and now danced aside when surprise overtook both of them.

Wooyoung glanced up to apologise and found himself faced with the moonlit figure of Suusaandar. Instantly, his muscles locked up in position. Frozen into a statue, Wooyoung prayed that the other man would overlook him somehow, but those dark eyes had already settled on Wooyoung's features. The slight air of superiority surrounding him didn't come from just the few centimetres of height he had over Wooyoung. Like a god, he carried himself with an air of mystery and nobleness that Wooyoung could never replicate.

"Excuse me, I didn't see you there," Suusaandar said, as if Wooyoung hadn't nearly flattened him to the ground like a cartoon character a moment ago.

Like a fish on land, Wooyoung's mouth moved around a lack of words. The man's voice was soft, softer than he had expected. It had lost its whiny tone from the past day that he used to appeal to the aristocrats. Instead, it carried a richness that tasted like honey on Wooyoung's lips. Suddenly, he was parched.

At the entire lack of a reply, Suusaandar tilted his head elegantly. His veils followed the movements like a brush of air.

"Are you alright?"

Wooyoung gasped dramatically as if he had just seen a ghost. The other man had leaned forward to study his face in the faint light, not quite daring to touch him and check for symptoms of sickness.

"I'm not a weird person!" Were the first words that burst out of Wooyoung's mouth. A second later, he inwardly kicked himself. The one time he talked to a gorgeous Babylonian man, he made it awkward.

The surprised chuckle that dropped from Suusaandar's lips had Wooyoung cringe. He felt like an inexperienced fool at the window of a much more mature woman whom he tried to woo.

"I know you aren't. You were with Mingi."

Wooyoung hung from his lips without registering a word the other man said. Like a lagging browser, his thoughts needed several seconds to pop up in his head.

So Suusaandar had noticed Wooyoung, too, if fleeting. He had keen eyes around the palace.

"Y-yes," Wooyoung stuttered. It was his turn to say something and to explain himself, but no words came to his lips. He only knew that Suusaandar looked divine under the moonlight that cradled his skin in pale hands.

"You look lost. Is it your first time in the gardens?"

While glad that the other man continued his concerned inquiries, Wooyoung was overwhelmed with his inability to word himself. His eyes helplessly trailed over Suusaandar's skirt he wore today. It matched his top and exposed most of his legs through high slits. Wooyoung's eyes stuck to the dainty ankle chains hugging his skin.

"Yes," Wooyoung said again. He was putty in everything Suusaandar asked him. As he tried hard to regain control of his senses, he stood up straighter. Relieved, the frown on the other man's features smoothed out.

Wooyoung cleared his throat and slapped his inner self one last time. This wasn't the first attractive person he talked to. The first enchanting Babylonian, maybe, but not an ultimate first. He could make this work.

"Do you like them?" Suusaandar's questions were easy and patient, as if he dealt with dumbfounded men all the time. When Wooyoung reminded himself that he probably did and he was the same type of drooling fool right now, he regained his wits. The ecstatic rush of endorphins left him as he focused entirely on Suusaandar.

"I do. From what I saw so far, they are my favourite place to go," Wooyoung replied with modesty. When Suusaandar leaned against the tree next to them with his body aching gracefully, Wooyoung's breath got stuck in his throat. His eyes inevitably dropped on Suusaandar's exposed stomach. Lean muscles rippled under the man's skin.

"Is that so?"

Wooyoung heard the smirk in Suusaandar's voice and he was weak for it. His knees were soft, and they were just talking.

"Is it... Is it safe to talk to you? I heard I might get in trouble for it," Wooyoung squeaked to distract from the sensual game the other man played. He felt stuffy in his clothes suddenly, once more jealous of Suusaandar's airy garments.

Instead of an answer, the other man stretched out his arm to pluck a plum from the tree. Graceful fingers lifted his veils to expose soft pouty lips that were stained with a gentle rose colour to appeal even more. Gulping, Wooyoung stared at them when they wrapped around the plum. Every second of them dragging over the fruit as he bit into it felt like an eternity to Wooyoung. He watched with more tension than a dad at his favourite football game. The sight was torture and bliss at the same time.

Through his lashes, Suusaandar watched Wooyoung as he bit a piece of the sweet plum off with a squelching noise. He saw how Wooyoung's throat bobbed, how he unconsciously clenched his hands to fists.

For a moment, he chewed and relished in the taste. He made it look like the most delicious fruit to exist in this world and Wooyoung didn't doubt him.

Once he had swallowed, Suusaandar nodded his head slowly.

"You're right, it's unsafe. Here, take this one. It's the perfect balance of ripeness."

The veils fell again to hide his smooth and youthful features from view. Before Wooyoung could register the newest development, he was alone in the Hanging Gardens. The only thing that remained of Suusaandar was the tingling feeling of shivers all over Wooyoung's skin and the plum in his hand that missed a bite.