Tidal-Bore

2. Into the Depths

With blazing red hair and his fashionably yellow trolley rolling behind him across the concrete, Wooyoung arrived in front of the institute. He was dressed in his casual clothes, combining a street racer style leather jacket with ripped jeans. The sun reflected off his round sunglasses when he peered over his tall nose to find Yeosang.

A group of researchers had assembled outside. A total of five would go down into the water, and the other three chattered in excitement while Yeosang had found his spot as the responsible team leader a few steps away. He waited next to the entrance with his eyes glued to his phone and his luggage by his side. A brown book bag was slung across his shoulder and his nerdy glasses perched on his face to keep slipping. When he noticed Wooyoung's flashy appearance from his peripherals, he slipped his phone into his pocket. His greeting smile resembled a tortured grimace.

"Good morning," Wooyoung sang at him when he threw an arm around Yeosang in greeting. Stiff, the man patted his back.

"Morning... Mister Weasley. You are aware this is a business trip, yes? Couldn't you resist the urge?"

"Come on, this isn't Weasley red. The Weasleys are gingers. This is Ariel red. I'm totally on point." He gave Yeosang a once-over. "More than you. What is this, Indiana Jones if he were a virgin?"

Yeosang flushed almost as scarlet as Wooyoung's hair.

"Hey!"

High-pitched laughter echoed through the yard of their institute. Ruffled in his pride, Yeosang adjusted his glasses and pushed his hair back to assume a perfect polished work look. As far as the standards on land went.

"I understand you are going through a lot, but we wouldn't want to insult their culture upon first meeting. This is a diplomatic mission and studying their culture is such a rare opportunity," Yeosang appealed to the studied genius in Wooyoung.

With a sigh, Wooyoung bent to grab onto Yeosang's luggage to drag both of them behind him.

Their private bus just rounded the corner to pick them up.

"Yeosang. Unless they have actual Ariel down there, no one saw that movie. As far as we know, they don't even have electricity. You can relax."

The people of Atlantis weren't uncivilised savages. Indigenous, in their way, and reliant on the technologies that kept their kin alive for thousands of years. But advanced enough to withstand the ocean through thousands of years. They wouldn't mind red hair and a biker jacket.

Yeosang grumbled as he trailed behind Wooyoung to the bus. The others followed and Wooyoung got a chance to greet them after they all had piled into the vehicle. He practised his best smiles, though he could tell they had dulled by the pity in their eyes.

Yongguk was the eldest of them, and the one who had worked for the institute the longest. He specialised in history and trailing its traces through time. Though he was a little boring and introverted, Wooyoung never deemed him anything but capable in his field.

Kiko was from Japan, and she had a professor's degree in marine biology. Her eyes sparkled when she ranted about deep-sea creatures and how alien they were to anything known to the upper surface.

Petra was their volunteer from Germany. She had joined the team only recently, but she made some spectacular findings about the technology Atlantis used on the bottom of the sea to sustain themselves. Since their contact person in Atlantis asked for her to come along since she left a positive impression with her eager learning, she was overjoyed to accompany her seniors.

As a group, the chattering pile was merry in their excitement. They were the first ones to receive a formal invitation, and their boss had been over the moon to send them out. They were to be polite and friendly, but also to seek answers to all hidden truths. So long as they succeeded, more exchanges could happen and some of the Atlanteans could come to visit them.