The sun is hot on his skin but he enjoys it. Closing his eyes for a moment and inhaling the fresh air, listening to the waves of the sea before it gets interrupted by the voices of other passengers having their fun time beside him on the yacht. Familiar body shapes that would greet him whenever they pass by him, and the feeling of recognition sometimes makes him smile proudly, to know his achievements, to appreciate his place. It's nice. On other days, he might long to be in a place where he isn't recognized, to have his eyes roaming over the foreign crowd. He likes observing. It's what he usually does.
Opening his eyes again, he hears his phone ringing, a friendly face coming in view as he slides the answer button.
"Looking good as always"
He laughs, "Looking too formal as always"
"Still out there wasting time I see"
"Still out there enjoying my time" He corrects, "Which is a word you probably don't have in your dictionary"
"So I'm not fun?" He raises a brow.
"Hard to tell with that serious expression on your face" His voice lowers, "Call me when that persona fades. I'm not a huge fan"
A shake of the head is what he gets in return and his smile widens. "Actually, I was trying to get you to slip into your professional state for now"
"I'm always professional"
"Not when you leave your country in time of need. You seriously have a VIP rank that you're wasting"
He rolls his eyes, "A rank that I got before you" He reminds him, "I travel around to help people. I'm known for my researches across the world. That's professionalism"
"It's threatening the entire world, Zayn" He sighs deeply.
Zayn pauses, eyes glancing around for a couple of seconds, "You're already managing that. You have a full force that is capable of fixing the damage. Stopping these people isn't my thing. It was your field of study anyway"
"We are. But we're struggling. Things are getting out of hand lately, and you're the most qualified person I know that can help us"
"It'd require a lot of time for me to even register the info. Wasn't my field of study, Liam" He reminds him again.
"No. But I believe it can spark your interest" Liam smirks, "Besides, what do you possible have to do? Stop staring at all those naked bodies beside you and act like you care for once"
"I do care"
"Want me to send the data to you?"
Zayn inhales deeply, "What's the level we're talking about here?"
"Red. And think of it as another achievement to add to your list" Zayn presses his lips together, eyes leaving the screen again. "So?" Liam asks, "Shall we be waiting for your arrival, Dr. Malik?"
❌
The organization that Liam worked for was respected by the local government. Owning its own floating ship next to the research tower that Liam worked in. And Zayn never met any of them, but Liam would occasionally tell him about the 'super-humans' despite Zayn's disinterest in whatever they do. It wasn't his field.
And Zayn honestly didn't care. Liam told him that they're chasing the culprits, managing to capture a few living samples, and he asked Zayn once to help him in finding a cure since it was related to his field after all, but Zayn hated to be involved in a chasing game that might lead to his death, and it was a main reason for him to leave the country in the first place, even after receiving a request from higher authorities. Supernatural experiments wasn't his thing.
