Super

17. say the name

"I really don't see the point in this," Taeyong muttered.

"Maybe you should get your eyesight checked."

He whipped around to glare at the person who had just quipped back. Shao was sitting as comfortably as possible in the shotgun seat of the Corolla, feet kicked up on the dashboard and the stick of a lollipop hanging from her mouth. The lollipop itself had been sucked to nothingness a long time ago, but the stick remained. Taeyong wondered if she was trying to taste the plastic now.

"Maybe you should shut up," he said as menacingly as he could, rolling his eyes and looking back out of the window. "Let me concentrate."

"We've been here for almost an hour," she said, obviously exhausted, though her words sounded warbled because of the lollipop stick in her mouth. "How much longer do you need to concentrate?"

"You aren't allowed to ask questions," he said.

"Why?"

"Strike two."

"Okay, jeez," she muttered, closing her eyes and sighing. "If I stay quiet for a few minutes, will you be nicer to me?"

"Strike three. And you're out."

"You're so boring."

"Doesn't matter." He gave her another glare. "And take your feet off the dash."

"It's not your car."

"It's bad manners," Taeyong said without thinking, then sighed slowly as he realized what he had just said. Years of looking after Jaemin had made sentences like this a habit, but he was usually able to control himself. He guessed it was one of the many side-effects of having to babysit near-grown-ups.

"Oh, is it?" Shao grinned, sitting up and pulling her feet back to the floor. "Is this better, mom?"

"Shut up."

She laughed. The tiny stick fell out of her mouth into her lap, and Taeyong grimaced. "You're funny," she said. "Not because of what you say, but because of the way you say it. Like winding up a wind-up toy."

He stayed silent, staring out of the window at the bar across the road. She sighed, and fell into an unwilling silence.

Lucas and Kai had been in The Mayfly for at least an hour, and it pained Taeyong that he had no idea what was happening in there. They were wearing comms, but all that had come from them for a solid hour was nothing but static that droned on and on like an old teacher. Except for the bits of 'yes' and 'no' answers in between, they hadn't said anything, and Taemin hadn't asked.

This wasn't the first time he was sitting in a car, waiting for something to happen, but it was the first time he was doing it with Shao. And he was immensely regretful that he had agreed—there was no one else in the car, which meant he had to deal with her all alone.

He had made a promise to Baekhyun, yes, but promises were made to be broken.

"Did they say anything yet?" she asked suddenly, breaking him out of his brooding.

"Why would you do that?" he asked, genuinely irritated. "I was just beginning to pretend you weren't there."

She rolled her eyes. "Any word?"

"No," he said grudgingly, and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes.

With a small huff, she crossed her arms over her nonexistent chest and stared out the windshield. Taeyong knew she had been here many times before, and even though he didn't want to, he couldn't help but be curious about what she was thinking. No one could be that carefree after having a near-death experience with supervillains.