Super

02. right now

"What kind of job?"

Ten was surprised at hearing his own voice. In all the time that he had spent with Lee Taemin, not a single syllable had been able to leave the depths of his throat. The man's presence was terrifying, and fascinating at the same time, and it was hard to think straight when facing him.

Taemin had approached him in his art gallery at around midnight, after it had been closed to visitors. Ten had been confused at first, and a little annoyed, because he liked to spend the dark hours after every show in the dark comfort of his gallery uninterrupted, alone except for the company of his paintings.

His irritation had quickly changed into shock when he realized that the person who had come up to him was none other than the CEO of Lee Industries, one of the biggest companies in the entire country. What the great Lee Taemin wanted to do with an unimportant artist like him, Ten had no idea, even after a few minutes of very one-sided conversation.

Taemin gazed at him thoughtfully, as if considering the best way to answer his question. After a few moments of awkward silence, he unfolded his arms and looked over at Ten mildly. "How do you feel about crime?"

"Crime?" Now, he was even more confused. Ten was pretty sure he hadn't done anything illegal in his life, except for the time he'd broken into a store when he was fourteen, but even then, he hadn't taken anything. Still, he tried to answer the question as correctly as possible, in case this was an interview. "I think it's a plague."

"It spreads, doesn't it?" Taemin asked. Ten stared at him, wondering if it was a follow-up question or merely a rhetorical one, when Taemin spoke again. "Would you like to get rid of it?"

"Would I like to what?"

Ten bit his tongue as soon as the question escaped him, blushing crimson. He hadn't meant to burst, but Taemin's question had been so surprisingly strange that his mind had reacted immediately. He usually considered himself to be a well-mannered person, who knew how to carry himself and behave with rich, powerful strangers, but Lee Taemin was something entirely different, both in presence and in speech. Every step of the conversation felt like he was close to stepping on a landmine.

But the millionaire only smiled. "I understand that this might be shocking for you, with a perfect stranger showing up out of nowhere at suspicious hours," he said, "but I am being perfectly literal. Would you like to fight crime, Ten?"

"Would I like to..." Ten trailed off, blinking at the man. A sudden, jarring thought hit him, and a spike of trepidation went through his chest. Is this about the...ability? He wanted to ask, but he didn't want to give it away in case Taemin didn't know about it. "I don't understand. How could I possibly do that?"

Taemin's eyes looked snakelike as they glinted under the weak light. "Invisibility, of course."

His suspicion, which had been growing slowly but steadily, skyrocketed. How did Taemin know where and when to find him? How did he know about his ability? And what could he possibly want from him?

"What do you mean by invisibility?" he asked carefully.

"Turning into something that cannot be seen," Taemin said. "I think you know that better than most people."

Ten took a careful step back, smoothing down the front of his shirt. The tête-à-tête had already been strange, but it had just taken an unacceptably bizarre turn. All he wanted at that moment was to escape, somehow, and maybe change his name and fly to Peru—though he had a feeling that the blond would find him anyway.

"The reason I'm here is to recruit you for a project," the man continued softly. "I'm assembling a group of humans who have abilities above the average, in order to eradicate crime in the city." He cocked his head slightly to the side, and regarded him with hooded, dark eyes. "I'm not asking you to join me immediately—all I ask of you is to accompany me so I can tell you more about this project. After you've seen all, you are free to make your decision."