It took only a few hours for Jongho to find something big enough to keep Wooyoung in. He bought a trough from a farmer just outside of town and brought it back to his condo to start filling with water.

After talking for about an hour or so, it was decided that Wooyoung would be safer there. Jongho had taken precautions to cover his face, but they weren't sure if San would be recognizable or not. Because of that, and because he refused to leave Wooyoung, San wanted to quit his job.

"That would be foolish." Yeosang said. "They would know right away if you had something to do with it. No, you need to keep going to work, at least for a little bit. We can come up with an excuse for you to quit in the meantime."

"I can't waste time with that!" San exclaimed. He stood up from where he had been sitting next to the tub and clenched his fists. "I have to be here for Wooyoung!"

Water sloshed behind him and San turned to see Wooyoung staring down at his hands. "It's not like I can go anywhere." He said softly.

San felt his chest tighten at the merman's words and knelt next to him. "That's not what I-"

"I know. But... If the ocean really is as far away as you say, it's going to be some time before I'm able to travel. And..." Wooyoung started to tremble a little. "We can't risk them hurting any of us. Please." He looked up with round eyes and reached out to take San's hand.

"Ok." San said immediately. "Ok. I'll go."

Yeosang placed a hand on his shoulder. "And you know I'll be here for him. I can afford to miss some classes. Ravn can get me any coursework I may need."

Wooyoung perked up at the name and looked around the bathroom as if Ravn would appear.

"Don't worry." Yeosang said quickly. "They won't see you, especially once we get you over to Jongho's. I don't think they'd say anything, but I'd rather not risk it."

"Thank you." Wooyoung squirmed in place a little and flicked his tail. The end of it slapped against the tiled floor with a heavy thud.

"Ok, so what? We move Wooyoung to Jongho's, let him heal up, and then leave?" San pursed his lips. "I don't like it."

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do?" Yeosang leaned against the door and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Is there anything that can speed up the healing process for you?" He looked over San's shoulder at Wooyoung.

The merman shook his head. "No. If I were home it would be different, but I'm too far away from the magic. I'm sorry to be such a burden."

"You're not." San shook his head and squeezed Wooyoung's hand. "We are going to figure this out, I promise."

With that decision in place, they waited for Jongho's text to work on moving Wooyoung. Yeosang grabbed his tail and draped it over his shoulder like he had seen Jongho do, while San cradled Wooyoung in his arms.

He would be lying if he said he didn't love the feeling, especially with the merman's arms wrapped around his neck and Wooyoung's nose pressed against his neck.

They worked quickly to get him in the back seat of the car. Thankfully Jongho didn't live that far away, only about twenty minutes, and he was ready and waiting when they pulled up.

"I've got it set up in my spare room." He grunted while getting a grip on Wooyoung's tail. "I don't know how we are supposed to filter it though."

"I can do that." Wooyoung lifted his head from San's shoulder. "It will take a little bit of magic, but I think I have enough strength to do that much."

"Are you sure?" San asked, tilting his head.

Wooyoung nodded. "It might drag things out a little longer, but it's the easiest thing I can think of."

"It'll do for now." Jongho said gently. "I tried to make it as comfortable for you as possible."

San was impressed when he saw the set up. Jongho had pushed everything against the walls and filled the trough partway with water. It looked like he might have also carved a large piece of wood into a slant so that Wooyoung had something to lay back against. There were even small pillows attached around the side so that Wooyoung had something soft for his head. "Jongho..."

"Don't mention it." The younger said with a slight blush. "It's not much..."

"It's perfect." Wooyoung said softly. He stayed still while they lowered him into the water, then let out a soft sigh when it started to soak into his skin.

The trough was definitely longer than the bathtub. Almost all of Wooyoung's tail could fit in it now, so he only had to keep some of it bent or leave the end of his tail hanging over the side.

Once he was settled Jongho placed the end of a hose in and went to his bathroom to turn on the water and fill it a little more. San followed and noticed that he had tapped a funnel over the faucet and had the small end of it fed into the other end of the hose, which he used duct tape to keep it together.

"You're pretty handy, aren't you?" San said with a crooked smile.

"I mean, sure, if you want to put it that way. I just do what I can to help with the solution with what I have available." Jongho rubbed the back of his neck and poked his head through the door to check the water level.

"Well it's incredible. Thank you." San hoped Jongho could feel the sincerity in his words because he didn't think he'd ever be able to think of something like this.

Jongho nodded a couple of times and looked away, trying to hide how red he was.

San didn't push things and went back to sit next to Wooyoung. "Can we get you anything else?" He asked.

The merman quirked his lips to the side and shook his head. "I don't think so. This water tastes funny though." He said, bringing a handful to his lips.

"Oh, there's no salt in it. Would that help you?" San looked over at Jongho, who quickly turned the water off and ran to his kitchen.

When he returned, he handed the container of salt to Wooyoung, who took it and poured a little on his hand to lick. His eyebrows shot up and he bounced in place a little. "How did you do this?! And why? I don't understand why you would separate it like this?"

Everyone in the room laughed for the first time that day and San reached out to ruffle Wooyoung's hair. "We have so much to teach you."

"Oh please! I'd love to know more since I'm here!" He looked up at San with big eyes, but then they grew dark and sad. "You... You don't have any way to get in contact with the ocean, do you?"

San felt his heart ache at the words and slowly shook his head. "It's so far away, I don't-"

"It's ok. It's just... They don't know where I am."

"They?" San whispered. Then he gasped when he realized what Wooyoung was talking about. "Oh god, you're family... I didn't even think..."

Wooyoung looked down and his lower lip wobbled a little. "I don't even know how long I've been away. I was supposed to be visiting other pods so the expected me to be gone... but if I don't come home, they will be so worried."

San looked at his friends to see if they had any ideas, but they both shook their heads. His gaze moved to looking out Jongho's window while his mind wandered when he saw a possible answer. "Youngie, you have a way to communicate with the sea animals, right?"

"Yes, through my magic for some. But it's... more of a feeling than actually talking. Why?"

"Do you think you could do it with a bird? A sea gull?" He pointed out the window at where some had gathered on the street to pick at the garbage there.

Wooyoung pushed himself up and craned his neck to look, then tilted his head. "Oh! We saw those at the beach! They come all the way out here?"

Yeosang snorted and crossed his arms. "They are basically pests that will appear anywhere they can find a reliable food source."

The merman turned to look at him with a questioning gaze. "Pests?"

An endearing smile crossed Yeosang's face and he waved his hand back and forth. "Never mind. But San, I think I get what you're saying. If you could commune with the sea gulls, maybe you could get one to take a message to your family?"

Wooyoung's mouth opened in shock and he looked out the window again. "You think? It could be worth a shot! I'd need a few things though... Do you have shells, squid ink, and seal skin?"

"Wh-What? Seal skin?" San leaned back a little, feeling slightly put-off at the question. "Youngie, why would you ask that?"

"Because it's what we use to leave messages for each other. We have a library full of seal skin scrolls, they are strong and durable." He said as if it wasn't the strangest sentence in the world.

San swallowed the forming lump in his throat and shook his head. "We... We don't hunt seals up here. They are are protected. We could get in big trouble for killing them."

"Really?" Wooyoung gasped. "That's incredible. I mean, it makes me happy to hear that because we have received reports from other pods that their numbers are decreasing, but you've stopped hunting them all together?"

"Well, no. Not everyone follows that rule unfortunately." Jongho sighed. "But they could be fined or go to jail if they are caught."

"What does that mean?"

San stood up. "We can explain later. If we find you something close to that, would it work?"

"I think so?" Wooyoung thought for a second, then looked down at his tail. "Back home..." He started, his voice so much softer now. "We use squid ink mixed with our scales to write with. Because of the magic within us, the ink never fades away in the water."

"I bet we can find some squid ink easily, and then maybe just some parchment?" Yeosang suggested. "And sea shells are easy too. But..." He paused. "You said scales?"

Wooyoung nodded. "I'll probably need to take two more to send them a message... but I don't know what else to do."

San could feel himself starting to shake with both fear and anger. He didn't want to see Wooyoung suffer anymore, especially now that he knew why the scientists kept taking his scales. How could they do that to such a beautiful, innocent creature?

They were monsters, all of them. 

"There's no saying it'll work either... but can we try? Please?" Wooyoung asked, looking at all three humans in the room in turn.

"Of course we can." San nodded. "We will do what we can. I promise."

"Thank you." Wooyoung said softly. Then he settled into the trough, laying against the slant and closed his eyes.

Everyone else took the dismissal, and honestly, San couldn't blame him for wanting to be alone. As much as he hated walking away from Wooyoung, he felt better knowing he was in a safe place.

He followed Yeosang and Jongho into the living room and immediately walked into Yeosang's open arms for a much needed hug.

"Are you ok?" The older asked, holding him tight.

"I don't know." San answered truthfully. "It's all so much..."

"I know." Yeosang shushed him gently. "We are going to figure it out though. Are you sure you're ok with him staying here?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't." Jongho said. "It'll be nice to have some company for once."

Yeosang gave a light chuckle and started to sway back and forth. The motion had always been comforting to San so it helped him calm down. "Well we will be here as much as we can, but I don't think we should change up our routine too much, at least for now. I'm sure they will hold investigations at work that you two will need to be prepared for. Depending on how far they want to take it they may even make you take lie detector tests, and I have no idea how you will trick that..."

"I don't want to worry about that until they confirm it." Jongho sighed. "We just need to be prepared for all sorts of questions. But I agree, if they decide to start watching us you guys shouldn't be coming over here all the time, even though that sounds amazing."

San lifted his head up just in time to see the longing look in Jongho's eyes as he glanced at Yeosang. He didn't miss the blush that came to Yeosang's cheeks either. It made him smile a little, which he hid by lowering his head once more to Yeosang's shoulder.

"Alright, well we have a game plan for now." Yeosang patted San's back a couple of times. "Let's do some research to get Wooyoung what he needs. Thankfully you two are off for the weekend now, although I'd be prepared to be called in at any time. And I think we all need to get some food in us so I'll start by pulling up a few menus and we can just order in, ok?"

"I'll pay." San said quickly, waving off any protests. "It's the least I can do. And I'll get you money for groceries too, Jongho."

The younger looked like he wanted to say something, but his shoulders slumped and he nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

San looked back at the bedroom and watched Wooyoung's eyes wander back and forth under his eyelids for several minutes. He had faith they would figure things out, and while part of him hoped that Wooyoung could get a message to his family, deep down he wished Wooyoung could stay with him forever...