Super

08. the grinch's dog

Kai stepped into the parking lot as stealthily as he could, only to find it completely empty.

He lowered his blades, confused, and Taeyong—who had been behind him—hit him over the head with the heel of his palm. "Keep your guard up," he said, and Kai almost rolled his eyes, remembering the exact sentence being spoken by Baekhyun in, oh, every single training session he had. Whether he liked it or not, Taeyong was definitely picking up habits from their impromptu mentor.

"It's empty," Kai muttered, looking down at his daggers, but raising them anyway. Taeyong gave him a stern look, and he breathed out through his nostrils. "Yeah, okay, okay. It seems empty and could actually be occupied."

"Good job," Taeyong whispered under his breath, and Kai huffed. Mark was next, and the man grinned sneakily, knowing that the two were more than enough to get under the blue-haired male's skin.

"Did you guys find anything?" Baekhyun's voice crackled in his earpiece, and Kai touched it with the pads of his index and middle finger.

"Nope, the parking lot seems to be empty," Taeyong answered, his artificially deepened voice sounding alien through the comm link. "Any luck with the bar?"

"As far as I can see, most people here either know nothing at all or are too hammered to speak," Baekhyun said, and Kai could hear a slight smile in his voice. "Taemin is closer to the target, so he may be offline for some time. Try not to disturb him too much."

"All right." Mark glanced at Taeyong after speaking, a fleeting look that reminded Kai of a child looking up to their teacher after doing something, a look filled with the need for approval and support. His heart softened, then fell back into hardness as he remembered that Taeyong was probably going to dismiss him anyway. "We're moving in, look around a bit."

The relationship between the people he worked with was very energetic. Kai almost felt like he was in a force field or a scientist watching highly potent chemicals react. All they needed to do was come into contact with each other. He usually didn't consider himself the most sensitive person, but he knew people. And he knew that this team was either going to be the most close-knit group of people he had ever known—family—or destined to doom.

"Anything requiring particular interest?" Baekhyun asked, and Mark pursed his lips. As Kai watched, Taeyong turned to Mark and gave him a slight nod, a gesture that took Kai by surprise. Taeyong turned away soon after, but Kai could see the way Mark's lips had pursed a little more, as if to smother a growing smile.

"There are tall shelves here," Taeyong said, stepping forward, and the two followed close behind. "They don't look like parking slots, though. I think we've entered a separate area entirely."

Kai looked around the dark place, lit by LEDs scattered sparsely over the high-roofed structure. Taeyong was right, the ceilings were too tall for it to be a parking lot. It seemed more like a basement for private parties, though the bar hadn't looked very expensive. Maybe it should have been obvious because of the fact that the entrance had been locked inside huge metal doors which were padlocked. Oh, well. They were inside now.

"They're not just shelves," Mark observed, in almost a musing tone, turning his gaze upward along the locker-like structures stacked side-to-side on the 'shelves'. "I think they're shipping containers."

"Full of what?" Taeyong muttered, moving forward to inspect the containers, making sure not to make contact with them.

"Drugs?" Kai shrugged.

Mark snorted; pun not intended.

Taeyong gave him a blank look. In his earpiece, Baekhyun chuckled. "I'm sure anything is possible, Kai, don't be shy of imagination." From anyone else's mouth, the words would have sounded like a taunt, but Baekhyun made them sound almost tender. "Keep looking. I'm advancing to the bedrooms."