Ocean's Descent ||| Woosan (Ateez)

29

Wooyoung felt bad about pretending to be asleep, but he was just feeling so overwhelmed. He needed a mental break to sift through his thoughts.

He still couldn't fully believe that he was free from the aquarium and the scientists. After their last session with him, he had started to accept that he would be there forever.

Just their little toy to play with.

But them seeing San and being in his arms had been a feeling that he had been longing for since the day they said goodbye on the beach.

Wooyoung was so happy to be here, or, as happy as he could be. And seeing the way San wanted to protect him made his heart race in ways only the human had been able to achieve.

That high was quickly ruined by the thought of how far away he was from his home. That had to be the most distressing thing for him right now.

Mingi and Yunho had to know by now that something was wrong. Were they searching for him? Maybe they would try to visit the other pods and get some answers.

The only problem was that they would find none... All evidence of the attack had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and they were forbidden to go there due to the laws set in place by Mother Atargatis. She was the one who laid down all the rules for their kind, and they never disobeyed them.

Wooyoung started to tremble in the small, waterfilled container he was in. He was so thankful that the others were doing what they could for him, but to some extent this was worse than the aquarium. There was no way for him to stretch his limps or feel the water flowing around him. Using his magic to filter it helped a little, but it wasn't the same.

He would never tell San that he was uncomfortable though. After everything that had happened, he had already put San through enough hardships...

For now, he would do what he could to keep a smile on his face. It was the least he could do.

Wooyoung opened his eyes when he heard the others talking about different stores they wanted to go to. Their voices were soft enough that he couldn't pick up on exactly what they were saying, but he could hear how exhausted they were.

With a deep sigh, he flopped his tail around and stirred up the water around him.

Why did he have to be so useless right now?

And each hole in his tail made it even worse.

His body was weak and defenseless, which was something he wasn't used to feeling. Magic had always been available to him. Always...

"Woo?" San's gentle voice came from in front of him and Wooyoung looked up, startled by his appearance. "Sorry, I just... are you ok?" He walked forward slowly and sat down.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Wooyoung sat up and drew his tail in so that he could wrap his arms around it and rest his chin on his tail.

"Is there something you'd like to eat? We are going to order some food."

Wooyoung perked up at the thought of that. Human food was so amazing! "Pizza?" He asked, bouncing in place a little.

The wide smile he adored so much crossed San's face and the older reached out to ruffle his hair. "Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Some is already on its way."

"It's been so long!" Wooyoung sucked his lower lip into his mouth and felt his stomach rumble. "Oh! I want ice cream again!" His mind started to wander with all the different foods he wanted to eat again, and he let it, knowing it would be a good distraction for him.

San laughed and nodded. "We can make that happen. Is there anything that we should get you to eat regularly?"

The merman tilted his head to the side and quirked his lips. "I don't think so. I mean, I guess just fish."