Super

25. no bodies

"Are you sure this is the diner that guy asked you to come to?" Ten asked for the fifth time.

Lucas clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath before answering. "Yes," he said, pronouncing the syllable slowly and clearly. "I'm sure."

"Are you? Because we've been waiting here for ten minutes," Ten said. "And we were late by fifteen minutes. That makes almost half an hour."

"I'm sure Lucas knows what he's doing," Baekhyun said placatingly, though he was worried-it was obvious because of the tiny crease that always appeared in the middle of his brow when he was unsure, and there it was now. "A little patience goes a long way."

"So does a little skepticism. What if this is just a set-up?" Ten asked. "Or what if the guy's already left?"

"He hasn't," Lucas snapped. "I checked with the server."

The diner was located in an even more remote place than he had expected. He knew downtown like the back of his hand, but when it came to the outskirts, Lucas was out of his depth and he knew it.

However, it hadn't been hard to spot the diner, which stuck out like a sore thumb with its neon sign declaring 24/7 service, in sharp contrast with the depressingly dark surroundings. The interior wasn't any better, with no more than four tables in four cubicles, with simple benches on either side against the walls of the cubicles. All three had stuffed themselves into one bench, barely fitting. The floor hadn't been wiped since at least the morning, and one of the three tube lights was dark, one other fluctuating. It seemed to be in pretty bad shape.

"Hey," said a new, breathless voice, and Lucas looked up with an uncharacteristic amount of hope. It belonged to a tall, lanky man with round, wire-rim glasses and a nose that was red from rubbing. He sat down opposite the three, slinging off his bag and setting it on the bench next to him. "Sorry I'm late. I'd make up an excuse, but I just needed to check you guys out."

Ten's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Baekhyun, noticing the hostility emitting from his side of the table, smiled in a friendly manner and stuck out a hand. "It's no problem, we understand," he said. "I'm Baekhyun."

"Oh, I know," the guy said. Baekhyun's smile faltered. "I'm Jae."

Baekhyun blinked at him for a couple of times, and when he realized that he wasn't getting his handshake, lowered his hand slowly. Lucas guessed he wasn't used to knowing less than the person in front of him. "Nice to meet you."

Jae smiled briefly, before turning to Lucas with a cock of the head. "I'd ask you why you wanted to come here," he said, "but I guessed it was because of the Foursaken."

Ten raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"His knowledge about them was impressive," Jae said. "And he quoted articles related to them extensively."

"Well, if you're aware of how important this is for us, I hope you'll be able to provide us with solid information as fast as possible," Baekhyun said, seemingly recovered from the verbal attack he had suffered earlier. "We're sort of on a time crunch here, and can't waste too much time here. It's already late."

Jae cocked his head to the side, studying him for a short moment before smiling. His actions were clever and deliberate, which made Lucas frown. He hadn't expected the writer to turn out to be like this. He was clearly more knowledgeable than any of them had realized.

"Yes," Jae murmured, placing his hand on the table as he looked at Baekhyun musingly. "I wouldn't have agreed to meet if I hadn't wanted to share anything you might be interested in, but I have conditions." He lifted an index finger. "First, none of you can hide anything from me-I don't want to know your social security number or your date of birth, only the things that have even the smallest chance of being relevant to this, this investigation of yours."