Super

06. mirage

Taeyong was bored.

He had been waiting in the empty room for a long time—he didn't know how long, there was no clock in the room. Just tall, white walls, the lack of furniture except a table and a chair. It looked like the kind of place you would lock a maniac into, and Taeyong wasn't too happy about that thought.

He had been sitting here ever since Baekhyun had told him to. Apparently, he was going to do a 'routine check' on the members' superpowers, though this hadn't been a part of their earlier routine. Taeyong had no idea how long it was supposed to take, but he figured it depended on the person's abilities. As he thought this, he realized with a jolt that he still didn't know about any of his teammates' powers, despite having spent a significant amount of time with them. He hadn't even been curious.

After the first few minutes, he had taken to counting down the seconds in his head, but had lost track after thirteen minutes. Taeyong wasn't really superstitious, but given the situation he was currently in, he couldn't help but feel as if it was at least a little worrying, stopping at unlucky number thirteen.

Which meant that he had probably been in here for at least half an hour, give or take. There was no complaint about comfort, but having nothing to do for so long, all the while waiting for a signal, made him antsy. This was probably why he had the courage to roll his eyes when the door finally opened.

And in stepped Taemin.

Taeyong's eyebrows jumped, and the annoyed lecture he'd carefully prepared disappeared as if flushed down a toilet bowl. He hadn't expected Taemin to walk in, and the only proper conversation he'd had with the blond was two weeks ago, when he had first been recruited.

Taemin set down a stack of papers on the table, and turned to Taeyong with a smile slightly more ruffled than his usual. His sleeves were rolled up, and his there was no tie around his neck—all of this Taeyong noticed with a dull, confused glance. The blond was lacking in his normal businesslike attire, and seemed, quite frankly, preoccupied. But the gaze that he greeted Taeyong with was all-seeing, scrutinizing in a way that made the blue-haired male want to cross his arms over his chest.

"Where's Baekhyun?" he asked, doing just that. He bit his tongue just after, realizing it made him seem like he didn't want to see Taemin, which was bad, because he was technically his boss.

"Baekhyun is busy tending to an injury," Taemin said smoothly, leaning his thighs against the edge of the lone table in the room and them resting his palms against it. Taeyong had chosen not to sit so he would be able to more empowering, but he still felt weak and unpracticed in front of the blond. "Lucas's session didn't quite go as planned. Therefore, I am here to fill in for the time being."

Taeyong, not knowing what else to do, nodded a bit awkwardly. It didn't seem to him that Taemin had the best social skills, though he didn't exactly seem like he tried for them. He found himself secretly regretting that it wasn't Baekhyun who had come instead (embarrassing), as it would have made the already tense atmosphere less tense.

Their dynamic was strange. Taeyong was usually good when it came to reading people, and though Taemin's persona was slightly mystifying, the relationship between him and Baekhyun was almost as clear as glass. Taemin was the slightly reclusive one, the one who came up with most of the stuff, but Baekhyun was the one who helped the members feel included, the one who professed these ideas in front of them. While Taemin was mostly elsewhere, showing only a dismissive sort of interest in the members, Baekhyun was the one who encouraged and taught them.

It wasn't good cop, bad cop, but their partnership was something along those lines. Taemin and Baekhyun had very obviously known each other for a long time. If he thought along the lines of family, Taeyong would consider Taemin the faraway, busy parent who tried to make up for it by showering his 'kids' with expensive stuff that he found cool. Baekhyun was the other parent, who actually looked after the metaphorical kids, and was secretly looking after Taemin as well.