Super

46. shedding

Shao made to start up the stairs again, but found her path blocked by Baekhyun's arm. She scowled at him, clamping her hand around his wrist and trying to pull it away, but he was resistant. "Let me go, Baekhyun."

"No." Baekhyun sounded tired. He was tired. It had only been a few seconds since his discovery that he couldn't use his powers, and now apart from worrying about that, he had to worry about Taeyong, too. "I don't want to do this any more than you do, but we have to be cautious. It's either one of us that goes, or all of us."

He hadn't spoken expecting to convince her against going, and that was exactly what happened. Her scowl simply deepened, the scar on her cheek curving, and he winced as he felt her fingers dig into his arm. It would have been even worse if she had nails.

"You're a coward," she said instead.

Baekhyun pulled back, startled. He was used to hearing quips about the team's general incompetence from Shao, but never something as personal and direct as this. She meant what she said, he could tell—it was in her eyes, the way her lip curled, the undiminished force she was using to try and pry his arm away.

"Call me whatever you want." His grip on her tightened. Her words still hurt where she had hurled them at his heart, but he wasn't going to let that distract him from what he needed to do. "What do you think is going to happen when you go up the stairs? Do you think you'll really be able to help Taeyong? The only thing you'll do is slow him down, and that's going to endanger his life even more than it already is."

"I know I can help him."

"How?" he challenged, and she flinched, as if he'd hit her. By instinct, Baekhyun's grip on her loosened, and he looked at her guiltily. "Look, Shao—"

She shook her head and took a few steps backwards. Her face was shadowed, and she was avoiding his eyes, but he could tell that she was upset from the look on her face. Hell, he didn't even need to look at her to tell she was upset. They all were. "I'm sorry I called you a coward."

Baekhyun leaned against the handrail tiredly, and passed a hand over his face. He felt worn-down, and all the spiky emotions he had been feeling had smoothed over to weigh down his chest, anxiety and concern and despair feeling like rocks at the bottom of his lungs every time he took a breath. "Don't be," he said, and gave her a weary smile. "You're right. I am one."

Shao looked at him, conflicting emotions chasing each other across her face, but said nothing. It must have been visible in his expression that nothing she said would change his mind. Baekhyun turned away from her and pressed in the earpiece, speaking in a low voice: "Mark?"

Nothing.

"He doesn't have a codename, either?" Shao asked. Baekhyun turned halfway to look at her face, but worry for Mark was gnawing at his mind.

"We figured there was no point." Baekhyun shrugged, though it felt like he was pushing against a massive weight on his shoulders. "The Four already know about the two of you."

"Because of the note he got," she remembered. There was a frown on her face, like she thought something didn't add up, but Baekhyun didn't think much of it. Nothing had been adding up in the past few weeks. "The one on purple chart paper."

"Yes," Baekhyun affirmed. He glanced at the fitted metal brace around his forearm—what had Mark called it?—yes, the Bracelight. He knew the name had originally been Taemin's idea, but it sounded so Mark-like that he couldn't help but think of it that way. Mark. Somehow, Baekhyun felt even worse than before, but he knew he couldn't afford to be distracted by worry. Then he laughed dryly. "I'm crap at this job."

Shao, who had taken a seat on the floor against the opposing wall, glanced up in surprise. "What?"

He shook his head, already a fading smile on his face. "I think I should go upstairs," he said instead. "Check up on Taeyong."