Super

34. untimely summons

Mark whirled to face Taemin with rounded eyes. "What does that mean?"

The billionaire's face was grave. "It means that the normal ratio of kidnappings to found bodies is different," he answered. "That means that odds are that most of the recovered bodies are not the ones taken by the Foursaken."

"So...they're keeping the abducted people somewhere?" Mark asked. Taemin noticed that he looked troubled yet excited at the prospect of having some new information to deal with. He nodded, and Mark's already round eyes became even wider. "Where do you think they're keeping them?"

"Unfortunately, I have no idea," he replied. "The best we can do is follow up the leads Jae and his friend have provided us with, and hope one of them doesn't lead to a dead end. Perhaps, along the way, we'll pick up more clues."

"I know this is supposed to be, like, really bad news, but I'm kind of excited," the raven-haired boy said with a small sigh. There was a smile playing with the corners of his lips, wavering like he was fighting to keep it down. "Finally we get to do our jobs."

"And hope we don't get mortally wounded in the line of action," Taemin replied dryly. Mark's smile dropped somewhat, and upon noticing his look of discomfort, Taemin tried to look more confident. "At least we have a start, and on such an important case, too."

Mark's expression faltered, like he had thought of something. Taemin quirked an eyebrow, not looking at him directly so as not to make him nervous, but questioning his thoughts nonetheless. Mark opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, but stopped. The look on his face had degraded from excitement to apprehension, and Taemin almost asked him if he was worried, but thought better of it. He didn't want to seem intrusive, and he knew he was already walking the thin line between acquaintanceship and camaraderie with most of his assembled team.

"So, now what?" Mark asked instead, tone musing and distracted. He had his head down, and was thumbing the pages of the notebook absent-mindedly, as if he was still thinking about what had occurred to him a few seconds ago. "Do we, like, do more of this? Look into the case?"

"It's best if we wait for the others," Taemin said patiently. He himself was raging to go through the remaining evidence, but couldn't let the less professional aspects of his behavior leak through the seams of his stitched-together act. "They might have something important to contribute, and then, Lucas, Ten and Baekhyun were the ones who met the writers. It's possible they know something we don't."

"That's true," Mark muttered, frowning. Suddenly, he looked up from the book towards Taemin. "Should I go get them now?"

"No, it's better to let them unwind." Taemin shook his head. The major reason was that he needed time for himself, to go through the notebooks and make sure the evidence was...proper. He couldn't afford any slip-ups or revelations, especially at such a crucial time in the investigation. "Teams work better when they're not raging at the untimely summons."

"'Untimely summons'," Mark repeated, almost dreamily. "You sound so fancy, it's all like, eighteenth-century and Doctor Strange."

"Doctor Strange talks like that?" Taemin chuckled, though he was still troubled. "I wasn't aware."

"Sometimes, like in the movies," Mark said, then frowned, suddenly thoughtful. "Or actually, that might be because the others are so informal."

Taemin smiled slightly. His chest rose and fell as he inhaled and exhaled slowly. It was nice having someone younger around, more than he would have thought. Despite the almost ten-year gap between them, the age difference wasn't hard to gap.

"Mark," he murmured, in a voice so low and discomfited that the boy barely caught it at first. "Could you do me a favor? Don't tell the others about my past with Irene."