Yesteryear

Off to Rome

Wooyoung had rested for a few days to get his mind off things. While Yongguk had dissected the information on immortality that Wooyoung had provided via Mingi and ran it through their databases, Wooyoung lazed around at home for a week. He checked in with his mom, cooked his favourite dish and watched the episodes of his show he had missed. On Wednesday, he met with Seungyoun to eat the last ice cream of that year together and take a walk in the park. Wooyoung told Seungyoun how he had experienced Babylon and everything about Suusaandar that he noticed.

"Dude," Seungyoun had said around barely swallowed laughter, "back then eating a plum sensually was him asking you to take him right against that tree." He chuckled into his vanilla ice cream.

Wooyoung had buried his face in his hands, full of regrets.

"I know, but I didn't want to be yet another man in his life that saw him only as a sex object."

Seungyoun had called him a pure-hearted idiot, and they had moved on. Prague's city was impressive, with its old houses and the golden and red trees that brightened the promenade. They had walked along the river and reminisced over Babylon together. Seungyoun was delighted to hear even the smallest details about the ancient pillars and the clothes the Babylonians wore that were so similar to his own.

In all their melancholy dreaminess about the trip, the two of them never forgot that it was far in the past now. Fallen and buried under the sand of two millennia.

After his walk with Seungyoun, Wooyoung had watched a documentary about Rome. He had been there once for a term paper on the gladiators and how modern media liked to paint them as criminals and prisoners when quite a lot of non-convicted men had viewed their career there to get rich and acquire glorious villas in the shire.

Wooyoung spoke Latin more fluently than English, so he didn't worry about getting his books out again. In European languages, he was well-versed, and Yongguk had promised him he wouldn't need to make excursions beyond the continent anymore.

When Wooyoung came in to work on Monday with a cake under his arm to share with his hard-working coworkers, the air was chilly. It smelled of winter, and Wooyoung predicted the whiplash his body would get from going to Rome in summer.

Seungyoun and Yongguk awaited him together in the conference room. They would go over Wooyoung's trail again and explain the connection to Rome. They had far more sources and knowledge on the ancient empire than on Babylon, so Wooyoung could delve into his work with even more concentration.

As soon as Seungyoun saw Wooyoung struggling to push open the door with his bag, the cake and a set of plates and forks in tow, he sprung up from his seat to help him. Relieved, Wooyoung handed him the plates and closed the door behind him.

"Good morning, everyone!" He chirped. Yongguk threw a crooked smile over his shoulder while he unwrapped the cake.

"Morning, sunshine. Thanks for the cake."

"It's chocolate and cookie, just how we like it," Wooyoung grinned. His triumph garnered him a hoot from Seungyoun. He finished putting the plates down and pulled a chair out for Wooyoung so they could sit together. Wooyoung's bag found a seat on the ground.

Seungyoun dug in and cut everyone a piece of the chocolaty paradise while Yongguk fumbled with his papers. While the other two started eating, their boss dramatically recited the job to Wooyoung.

"Our trail led us from Babylon to ancient Greece, but all knowledge of immortality is already retrieved from there and it belongs to myth and legend as well. Once more, we will send you on a trip to fetch more theories that slipped the eyes of historians so far. In Rome, in the year 294 BC, you will meet an individual named Yunho and hear out his and his master's theories on immortality. We have reason to believe that they tried to achieve immortality multiple times through more or less questionable methods." Yongguk nodded at his papers before he handed them over to Wooyoung and sipped his coffee. Seungyoun mumbled to himself how he would design the newest trend of togas for Wooyoung.