Youngbae really and truly enjoyed Daesung’s presence. Though the younger man could in no way actually communicate with him outside of hand gestures and facial expressions, Youngbae found himself thoroughly enjoying the man. He felt awful, of course, for Daesung who had been into this situation with previous knowledge of what he was getting into. Jiyong hadn’t told him exactly how the whole thing had actually happened, but then again they hadn’t really had any time to themselves since Jiyong’s return.

As the head diviner, Jiyong had many duties that needed to be fulfilled, especially around certain times of the year. In a week’s time, it would be the beginning of this oracle’s biggest celebrations, and it would also be when Seunghyun, the Pharaoh’s son, would arrive to get ready for his part. Jiyong had been gone for almost a year, and yet he had somehow managed to get back in time for the oracle’s biggest celebration, something that Youngbae would never chalk up to just pure chance or coincidence. Daesung was obviously the one that the Oracle had been speaking of, because otherwise there would have been no way that Osiris would have allowed Jiyong to come back.

Youngbae allows himself a couple of moments to feel bad for Jiyong and what he must have had to go through. He was lying on his cot in the tent that he and Jiyong had always shared, listening to Jiyong and Daesung’s steady breathing. The other two were most definitely asleep, and they probably needed the rest as it had been a rather full and nerve-wracking day for everyone involved. Youngbae wonders what it was like in the time that Daesung had come from, and how Jiyong had managed to survive there. Youngbae was certain that Jiyong must have gotten along fine, just because Jiyong was Jiyong and he had the gods on his side.

Youngbae lets out a deep sigh and repositions himself on his bed, only to pause as he hears Jiyong let out a soft whine. As blessed as Jiyong was, Youngbae couldn’t help but to remember how adamant Jiyong was that they not tell Daesung, or even Seunghyun, anything about the prophecy. Though it was standard procedure not to give out the details of the oracle to people outside of the upper echelon of diviners, it was fairly normal to at least let someone know that there had been a prophecy made about them. Unfortunately, it would probably take far more than just Youngbae to convince Jiyong that it would be much better to at least tell Daesung something.

***

It had been a week and Daesung couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone. He had fallen into the routine of waking up and following Youngbae down the path to the changing tent before meeting Jiyong for breakfast and then spending the day following Youngbae around. He had met so many new and interesting people, and though he couldn’t understand what they were saying or even most of the time what they were doing, he had come to enjoy every minute of it.

They were currently sitting at breakfast, and though Daesung was used to no one actually saying anything to him that he could understand (though he had learned a couple of words and phrases throughout the week, of which he was very proud), he still couldn’t help but to hope that maybe Jiyong would say more than just a sleepy and almost slurred ‘good morning’ when he sat down to eat.

This morning, just like every morning, Jiyong had been talking at a mile a minute since the moment that he sat down at the table. Youngbae was nodding along, his eyes trained dutifully on Jiyong’s face while he listened and ate. Daesung, however, could tell that Youngbae was only really half listening to whatever it was that Jiyong was yammering on about.

Daesung had learned rather quickly that the amount of knowledge that he had amassed while taking all of his Egyptology courses was not enough to actually prepare him for actual daily life in the time he had been so fascinated by. He had been fairly cut off from everyone and everything outside of the large oracle tent in which Youngbae, Jiyong, and a select number of assistants and servants lived and worked, and he knew enough to know that he was getting fairly special treatment in a society that was very conscious of rank.

He also knew that Jiyong and Youngbae were very busy people, and one of the things he had picked up over the week was that there was some type of big ceremony coming up, and that was why everything was so hectic; Jiyong had assured him the other day, in a rare fit of openly speaking to him, that the oracle site was almost never this busy. This made Daesung almost feel bad for being there. He was most definitely a burden on Youngbae, but he had to stop himself from thinking like that because he couldn’t help that he was here and he tried his absolute hardest to be as useful or out of the way as each situation called for.

Jiyong was always busy, in fact, the only time that Daesung actually saw the man was when they were at breakfast and if he happened to wake up when Jiyong walked through his room to get to his own. Jiyong and Youngbae shared a room in a small tent, and they had set up a cot for Daesung just outside the entrance to their room as there wasn’t near enough room in their small living quarters for another bed. Daesung’ was cut off from the other assistants who lived in the small tent by a partition, so in actuality he was sleeping in Youngbae and Jiyong’s entryway.

Daesung spent a good majority of his time smiling and nodding. He would sit and listen to Youngbae talk at length about something that he most definitely didn’t understand, and just nod and smile. The attendant girls seemed to find him to be forever amusing, so if Youngbae had something to do that he couldn’t drag Daesung too; Daesung would find himself sitting on a bench with the attendants cooing and fussing over him.

He was just trying to remember what he had learned about temple attendants and whether or not they could apply to this situation, when he realized that Jiyong was trying to get his attention. “I’m sorry, what?” He asks, and his voice is just a little raspy from lack of use and surprise.

Jiyong rolls his eyes and Daesung is surprised because he’s never seen Jiyong act so…childish. “I was telling you that today is an important day.” He pauses and Daesung notes how heavily accented Jiyong’s speech has become as compared to when Daesung originally met him. “The Pharaoh’s second son, Seunghyun, will be arriving today.” It was a simple proclamation, but there was something about the name that made Daesung’s skin tingle.

Jiyong knew that he was in trouble. He needed to think of a way to skillfully navigate his explanation so that he didn’t feel the sting of guilt for lying, and so that Daesung wouldn’t feel like he wasn’t explaining everything. As the main Oracle Interpreter, there were many rules that Jiyong had to follow, and at this time, he couldn’t interfere by telling the people directly involved, because it needed to unfold as…organically as was possible given the extenuating circumstances.

“You will need to stick very close to Youngbae, and follow everything that he does.” Jiyong says, deciding that it would probably be best to just ignore any long-winded explanations. Daesung nods and Jiyong flicks his eyes over to Youngbae briefly before returning his gaze to Daesung. “He will make sure that you don’t embarrass yourself or do anything rude.” Even as the words left his lips, Jiyong knew that they were mean. But unfortunately, he couldn’t help himself as he had become slightly annoyed with Daesung’s presence over the past week, even though he had spent little to no time with the man and he honestly couldn’t find anything at all about Daesung that could be considered more than just slightly frustrating (like the lack of language understanding).

Daesung takes in a sharp breath before looking down. “I’m sorry if I’ve been rude or embarrassing…” He says quietly, and Jiyong feels the guilt move through him, but he has to push it aside.

With a wave of his hand, Jiyong dismisses the topic. “We will be very busy today and for the next few weeks. Seunghyun can be very quick to anger, so it is best to be over prepared. Pay attention and keep out of the way, as you have been doing so far this week.” Jiyong hoped that that sounded like the vague compliment that he had meant it as, but he was pretty sure that he had failed; his grasp on Daesung’s language got weaker with every passing day, and that frustrated him almost as much as Daesung’s inability to speak their language frustrated him.

“Why did you bring me here?” Daesung asks suddenly, and Jiyong is caught off guard by the question, and so, apparently, is Daesung. “I can’t believe I haven’t asked…” he murmurs and Jiyong tries desperately to unscramble his brain before Daesung catches on to the fact that he is at a loss for words.

“Who said that I brought you here?” Jiyong responds, hoping that he sounds as affronted as he was trying to sound. It was difficult with his ever-thickening accent and the rather raid decay of his language skills. “Anyway,” He continues, brushing the topic aside with a dismissive gesture and hoping that Daesung doesn’t try to question him further. “You’ve to finish your breakfast.” Turning away from Daesung, he addresses Youngbae. “I want you to pay extra attention to the way that he acts today as I want to be certain that he doesn’t offend Seunghyun or give anything away.”

Youngbae nods and glances at Daesung, whose head was hung low so that his eyes were directed toward his plate. “Whatever you say…” Youngbae says on a sigh, turning his gaze back to Jiyong’s face, which snapped quickly from a look of slight anger or hurt into a bored look that the slight man tended to wear.

“Don’t forget what we’ve talked about, Youngbae.” Jiyong says, almost threateningly, before taking a long drink of water and one quick bite of his almost untouched food. He doesn’t say anything more before standing up and taking his leave from the table.

Youngbae takes a deep breath before finishing his meal; Jiyong was one of life’s many mysteries, and it was no wonder to him that the man had become the chief Oracle interpreter at such a young age. When he finishes his food, he looks up at Daesung with a small smile.

“Come, let’s start the day.” He says, though he knows that Daesung probably doesn’t understand him. He stands and Daesung follows suit, and soon they are out in the hot sun and on their way down to the Nile.

~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I apologize for how short this chapter is, but I wanted to put it up for y'all to read.