Super

05. aeolus

"Are they torturing him in there?"

Baekhyun looked at Kai with amusement painted over his features, and the small frown that had slowly gathered into existence on his brow eased. "Do you hear any screams?"

"It could be, like, silent torture," Mark said thoughtfully, and next to him, Taeyong rolled his eyes. "Like emotional torture. Or maybe they gagged him."

Ten felt a little sick at the thought. "I think you would still be able to hear sounds. Or is the room soundproof?"

All of them turned to Baekhyun curiously, but he only shrugged. "They're professionals, they know what they're doing," he said dismissively, referring to Taemin and Lucas, who were in the room with the dealer Taeyong and Mark had captured earlier. Though 'capture' was a generous word for it. From what he had heard of their report, it sounded more like a lucky accident to him.

Mark opened his mouth.

"And no, they're not torturing him," Baekhyun said, as he noticed the black-haired boy getting up. "Geronimo is very mellow. I expect it will be pretty easy to make him talk."

Mark closed his mouth.

"Why are we even keeping him?" Ten asked, cocking his head to the side, like a bird. "There's been a lot on the news about that gang—the Forks or something." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I thought they were a rumor at first, with all of that impressive stuff they managed to pull off

Baekhyun's eyes flicked to him, and then away, giving the overall impression of a candle's flame in the wind. "It's just to smoke Gerry's superiors out of hiding," he said softly, but Ten's eyes narrowed at the tone of his voice. "You are progressing to bigger fish, which is great," he said suddenly, touching strands of his orange hair with his fingertips. "This week has been busy, and so far, you're doing an amazing job—" Mark blushed— "but we still have many things to take care of." He tapped a black folder lying on the table next to him. "I have assignments for all of you."

The others groaned, but Ten only pursed his lips. "Will we switch up this week, then?"

He had been partnered with Lucas, which had been a pain. Ten's artistic soul had collided headfirst with Lucas's martial one, and the collision had been quite painful. What was worse was that unlike him, Lucas preferred to keep his feelings to himself, leaving them no choice but to work together in rebellious lack of sync. Ten found it impossible to work in harmony with someone so different from him, which seemed hazardous, especially as partners had to watch out for each other.

Kai had fared much better, being partnered with Baekhyun. Out of the other six, Ten found him the most bearable and sensible. Taeyong was too crabby, Mark was too childish, Kai was too...well, ignorant, maybe. And Taemin—Ten shuddered at the thought of him. He didn't quite know what to make of him. All that he knew was that he was a philanthropist who didn't like to reveal his ways or thoughts. He was a figure shrouded in mystery.

Maybe he shouldn't have joined the project, but then, he kind of enjoyed it. It had been so long since he'd been a part of something that made him feel like someone.

Baekhyun's eyes cut to him, as if he had read his thoughts. "Yes," he said neutrally, in answer to his previous question. "But you shouldn't be too happy about that. The reason all of you were paired off was to build the team spirit—after all, we're all going to be working together, as seven, for later projects." He smiled. "And what better situations for bonding than life-and-death ones?"

"Yeah, it's not that easy," Taeyong muttered, and for once, Ten agreed with him. The blue-haired male was leaning against the wall in a slightly slouched posture, arms crossed over his chest defiantly.