The first night spent in the underwater city was something that Dongho was entirely unprepared for. The strange golden glow from the walls first faded down to a soft luminescence, which was when Yeri announced it was near time to sleep. She left him to the room he had been given, a small chamber with a single bed and armoire, saying that she would return come morning. He took the clothes he had been given and stripped out of his wetsuit, carefully hanging that out to dry fully as he had dreams of using it one day to try and make the return trip to the surface. Re-dressing in the shift and pants he was given, he marveled over the garments. They were the same odd green material that Yeri wore and he suspected that the cloth was made from seaweed. It was surprisingly soft and quite lightweight, practically flowing over his form like water.

Then the light in the walls began to fade more, a slow but steady decline of light that made him realize that the city was signalling bedtime. It frustrated him a bit, because he knew that he would have enjoyed seeing the city at night, but he wasn't about to go wandering and get lost! And so he resigned himself to going to bed and soon enough, he fell asleep, the walls having faded to near blackness. When he woke again, it was to a loud knocking on his door. He drew himself groggily out of bed, the walls now reflecting a dim light that he could see by, and moved to open the door.

And found himself looking at the stoic female speaker from the day before. Her naturally downturned lips lifted in a tiny smile as she greeted him, though he did notice that the smile did not reach her eyes. "Chaire," she said smoothly, the foreign word sounding like kai-ruh to Dongho's ears. But the tone was as a greeting so he bowed to her and bid her good morning.

Her eyes swept into the room behind him, lingering a moment on his hanging wetsuit, then she turned to beckon behind her. "This is my daughter, Irene," she introduced as a beautiful young woman came to stand beside her. "She will show you around the city this morning."

Dongho was pretty sure that was Yeri's job, but he wasn't about to argue with what appeared to be one of the most important people of the city. And so he bowed once again, took the bundle of clothing that Irene passed to him, and closed the door to get dressed. Once again the material was soft and breathable, though it was in dark shades of green today. He debated about what to do with his scuba gear, but finally decided that really, he couldn't walk around carrying it all and so he would have to trust that no one would bother it. He left it with a regretful sigh, though he did tuck his camera into a pocket of his new clothing.

When he reopened the door, feeling a bit self-conscious in the odd garments, he found that the stoic woman was no longer there. Irene lounged outside of his room, leaning against one of the pillars there and looking out over the city, but she turned when he stepped out and offered him a hesitant smile.

"Chiare," she said softly, her voice barely reaching his ears.

Dongho shook his head lightly. "I'm sorrry, can I ask what that means?" He did give her a bow in greeting, though, to which she nodded back to him.

Brushing her long blonde hair over her shoulder, she glanced at him before looking quickly away. Her own natural pout, so very much like her mother's, deepened as she gazed off toward the dome around them. "It's a greeting, our way of saying hello or goodbye or... anything of the sort. It's Greek, though, so I don't know why we still use it." Her frown deepened and she turned to him then, her dark eyes serious. "I need to be honest with you, Dongho. My mother wishes to use me to tie you to our family, therefore gaining more political advancement. But I'm not interested in you, so it is not going to happen."

Well that was blunt, he thought, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks as he simply bowed in acknowledgement. It wasn't that he had wanted her to be interested, but to be so soundly turned down was daunting nonetheless.<