Chapter Text
Taehyun's bored out of his mind.
It's been hours of this; stuck in a 2004 model Hyundai Accent with a co-worker who isn't really just his co-worker, cramped in the front passenger seat because he lost at rock-paper-scissors, and he's genuinely bored out of his mind. Taehyun's not meant to sit still for more than twenty minutes, let alone three hours. He needs to be moving: running, walking, even just a few stretches to ease the tenseness around his shoulders.
"Fuck," he all but moans into the silence of the car, letting his word blend into a loud sigh at the end. "How much longer 'till we can call it for the day, you think?"
His wristwatch shows the hand on two. Their informant said that the guy usually leaves the casino around this time, so Taehyun hopes it's sooner rather than later (this is why he usually doesn't do stakeouts).
"We'll stay for another hour or so, and call for the relief team if he doesn't come out by then," Kai—no, Frost says. Then, he leans back and adjusts his chair to have more legroom. He's squeezing then relaxing his body as he speaks, a little grunt in his words. "This is bad for my back."
Taehyun agrees with a hum, eyes still on the casino's door. "I can hear my spine screaming."
"I just wish all this would lead to something. I get that they don't want to make a scene with all the civilians inside, but it would be easier to catch him while he's cooped up there."
Frost has a point; Taehyun wondered about the same thing when he got the notice for the stakeout this morning. They are in this mess because the guy they're trying to catch is forging bills with his quirk. Also, most likely due to that quirk, his official records are inaccurate. No real address, no known employment, basically a big whole lot of nothing on his name. Taehyun isn't even sure his name is real—Kwon Jin, who Taehyun privately nicknamed as 'Mr Fake-ass.' It suits him.
So, yeah, Kai—no, they are on the clock—Frost has a point. But their boss also has one, Taehyun can admit that.
"Your quirk is a bad match for confined spaces and you know it," Taehyun says, instead of repeating their boss’ words from the meeting exactly. "And we don't know how many allies he has inside. We can't fight them all without also putting the bystanders at risk."
Frost raises his right arm with his hand forming a thumbs down. "Bo hoo," he says, immaturely.
Taehyun returns the thumbs down, pushing the other's hand away in the process. This is why he keeps slipping up with names when it comes to Frost; they aren't exactly typical co-workers. Taehyun does not succumb to this childish competitiveness with the others.
The door to the casino is still only occupied by the buff security guy by the time both of them settle down. Taehyun feels more tired, if it's even possible with how little he'd done today. He risks a glance at Frost to see what shape he's in and is promptly surprised when their eyes meet.
"You doing anything after?" Frost asks, still with the eye contact. His white hair covers half of his face from this angle.
Taehyun looks back to the door. "Eat something, probably." A warm bowl of soup sounds nice right now. "Might hit the gym for a quick exercise too, I dunno. You?"
"Straight to home."
"We still have to do paperwork after this," Taehyun supplies helpfully. Or just to dampen the other's plans, he's not sure why. Being caged in this car might be getting to him beyond his boredom.
"Do you want me to die? Be honest," Frost says, in a voice that demands anything but honesty. Then, he's suddenly holding a small icicle, raising his hand so that it sits between his lips. He starts chewing on the icicle, the maniac.
One glance at his watch tells Taehyun that only seven minutes have passed since he last checked it.
Despite all of his training screaming at his head to not do what he's about to do, Taehyun throws himself out of the car. He almost slams the door in annoyance but his stealth instincts kick in at the last second, instead carefully closing it.
The window at his side starts rolling down immediately. "What are you doing? Get back inside before they notice you!” Frost whisper-yells.
Taehyun leans forward, resting his elbows on the window ledge. "I need the move." He quickly scans the area. "It'll be okay, I'll just go to the bodega next door and not be suspicious."
He thinks that's enough to convince Frost and gets ready to cross the street. It's not like their car is visible to the security guy; he'd have to leave his station for that.
If he were a more disciplined hero, he wouldn't take his sweet time walking what couldn't be more than four meters to the bodega in question. However, if he really were a more disciplined hero, he wouldn't leave the car in the first place so he does take his sweet time, stretching his arms over his head as he walks into the shop. There's nothing he wants to buy, all the packaged food looking disgusting on top of his already heavy body so he opts for a cold grape juice. Two grape juices, actually.
As he steps outside, he hears the growing chatter from the next door. Hiding his body behind the shelves filled with chips, Taehyun tries to get a look at the situation. He's sure Kai's vision is clearer from across the street, looking directly at the door with darkened windows.
He puts the juice boxes inside his pockets after seeing their guy exit the casino. He hopes to god Kai understands what he's about to do and starts walking toward the casino.
Be normal. Be normal. Benormalbenormalbenormal—
"Hey man! How you been?" Taehyun yells to the otherwise empty street, running up like he's trying to reach someone. Mr Fake-ass is a couple of steps in front of him, still unsuspicious. Taehyun runs past him, times himself and just as the guy is about to turn the corner, he turns back with a ready stance.
"Wha—"
"Alright, this is the end of the road for you."
Fake-ass Kwon's eyes go wide, hand reaching for something on his belt. A gun. Their intel didn't specify a weaponry but it doesn't take a genius to figure out a guy in the forging business might be carrying a gun of some sort. Taehyun is prepared; he's ready to take on the guy.
They are away from the casino, so no risk of alerting the insiders unless they make a loud mess. Kai saw him trap the guy in the alley, Taehyun's almost sure of it, so he has backup while Kwon does not. Any bullet will be stopped by his quirk, no doubt. He just has to be quick enough to see where it will land. Just one thing to take care of, then he's free.
"Who are you, what—what are you doing? I'm not gonna get mugged by you, you punk," Kwon says breathlessly. He still hasn't drawn his gun.
That's okay by Taehyun. "I'm Power Up, nice to meet you. I'm not gonna mug you, but you're coming with me to the police station," Taehyun says calmly. "We need to talk."
"A hero?" Kwon looks at him, still on edge. Then, his eyes focus on something behind Taehyun. "As if."
Why do they always have to run? It's not like Taehyun can't keep up.
The fact that Kwon's running toward the security guy is a problem though. Where is Kai?
His civilian clothes leave much to be desired, the casual sweatsuit he threw on slowing him down compared to his hero suit. He's glad to wear his normal shoes, though. He's not far behind thanks to them. Kwon's just out of his reach, Taehyun's so close to stopping him by his collar as he starts screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Hyung! Code Red, Heroes! Let the others—"
Taehyun finally catches him, not by his collar but by his face. He has him in a headlock in an instant.
"What's the point of having codes if you're just gonna announce its meaning anyway, jesus," Taehyun complains, annoyed at his plan going sideways. He needs to find a way to stop the security guy while also restraining Mr Fake-ass with something. This is why he doesn't like stakeouts. It should be the police here with their handcuffs. Where the fuck is Kai?
Before he can approach the security guy with Kwon still in his grip, the temperature around lowers considerably. Taehyun lets out a breathy laugh, the show off.
Kai's ice covers the security guy from head to toe, even his mouth so they don't have another code disaster at their hands. Taehyun walks over to the ice zone, ignores the indignant noises coming from Kwon, and turns his body to Kai walking toward them.
"Did you call for the police?"
Kai nods, looking at Kwon at his knees. Taehyun still has a death grip on him.
"Hey," Taehyun calls out. "He might have a gun," he says, chin pointing to their forger.
"No shit he has a gun." Kai's voice is indifferent but he still restrains Kwon from the hip down with his ice. Taehyun lets the man go, trusting the ice jail.
Before he can pat him down, the worst case scenario happens. In a flash, Kwon takes out his gun and points it to himself, right at the chest.
"Whoa—"
"What—"
"Shut up! I'm not going to jail again." Kwon's fingers tighten over the trigger. "I'm not."
Kai's ice is fast. It's fast but it's not fast enough to stop a point blank shot. Fuck.
Taehyun raises his hands in surrender, taking half a step back. "Okay man, okay. Let's take a breath." He motions for Kai to step back too, eyes darting between them. This isn't going to end in death.
"I said shut up! This is all your fault, you heroes—"
"So what? You're gonna kill yourself over it?" Kai says. "You broke the law; we're just doing our jobs."
"Kai," Taehyun bleats, trying to shut him up. What is he thinking? "Kwon, we'll shut up, okay? But you don't really wanna die, do you? Drop the gun, man, c'mon."
Kwon looks between them, confused. Which only works to confuse Taehyun in return because why would he be—is he smirking? He's definitely smirking.
"I'm not gonna kill myself," is the last thing he says before pulling the trigger.
Taehyun was right, Kai's ice is not that fast.
"Fuck." That was directly to his heart, where does this get off pulling dramatic stunts like this? Taehyun takes his hoodie off, causing the insides of his pockets to fall off, and steps in to put pressure as Kai's busy moving the ice in chunks to free Kwon.
The guy's shirt has a burnt hole, blood oozing from it. Taehyun's pathetic first aid isn't really doing anything. Is that a normal amount of blood? Should there be more? Less?
"Kai, keep the pressure," Taehyun says, lowering Kwon's now free body on the concrete and getting up. "I'm gonna radio in for an ambulance."
He takes one last look at them. Kai is focused on Kwon.
If they were wearing their hero costumes, they would have an earpiece on for this. If they had a better plan… If Taehyun catched the guy in the alley instead of letting him roam free, they wouldn't be in this fuckery. He got cocky, and now a person is dying over it.
Squeezing his jaw, Taehyun reaches for the radio in the car. "This is Pro Hero Power Up. We need an ambulance—"
Crash.
Taehyun looks back to find Kwon up and healthy with a crazed look in his eyes, cackling over Kai's body. Kai is lying on top of the trash cans, unmoving.
Jesus Fuck.
Taehyun drops the radio. He's running before he has a second to think about it. His muscles tighten up, building together and getting bigger. He needs to get to Kai and check him.
A flash of light hits his feet. Taehyun yells in pain, using his quirk to cover the hit place with more flesh. It still burns.
"Where do you think you're going? Power Up, come here! You wanted a fight!"
Kwon is coming towards him, hands out and up. Isn't he supposed to have a forgery quirk? How the hell does he have laser shooting hands?
Taehyun looks at Kai, lying still.
There is no time to think about what is supposed to be.
Laser quirk, okay. He works better in close combat, but he needs to keep Kwon busy enough so that the police can get here with their quirk-nullifying handcuffs. Okay.
He escapes another one of those lasers at the last second, throwing himself to the left. His shoulder feels loose from the impact. A dislocation maybe.
Think Power Up, think.
"So your health records are fake too!" Taehyun yells as he keeps moving. It's always harder to hit a moving target. "What, did you want to blindside us?"
Another shot, right at his head. Once again, Taehyun ducks it at the last second. His shoulder is definitely dislocated.
"This isn't about you. This isn't even about me, Power Up," Kwon says. Despite his determined focus on slaying Taehyun, he sounds far off.
His gunshot wound isn't bleeding anymore. His movements don't seem affected by it either. Okay, so it was a fake-out. Taehyun doesn't know how or why, not yet, but this means he doesn't have to worry about a gun coming his way in the middle of all the other things as well.
Now, lasers.
Taehyun jumps forward and hides behind the white van parked beside the casino. He needs to think.
Lasers. So far, Taehyun's only seen Kwon shoot lasers from his palms. It works like a concentrated heat gun, if the burnt on his toes is anything to go by, which means Taehyun needs something to equalize the heat.
After a blinding light, the van's alarms go off. Jesus, can he get a second?
He needs to go back, somehow reach Kai and get him to wake up. His ice can trap Kwon again and this time Taehyun's going to make sure that the guy can't escape. No more tricks.
He jumps on top of the van, the car tumbles underneath him. Kwon's right in front of him. His eyes glint.
Taehyun's going to end him.
Using his knees as support, Taehyun launches at Kwon with a yell only to use him as a stepping stone to get to the building behind him. A front attack could be lethal but Taehyun can act faster than Kwon can turn his palms around.
The brick he's holding onto hurts his fingertips and he'll need a painkiller prescription for his feet, maybe a couple of artificial tears for his eyes as well because getting exposed to lasers' brightness definitely dried them out, but Taehyun can do this. For real this time.
His blood is pumping through his veins, heavier on his legs, and then his arms. He gets bigger and bigger, closer and closer, and then finally, his hand reaches out to catch his prey. He has Kwon down, squashed between the concrete and his own body.
Without giving him a chance to recover, Taehyun twists Kwon's arms behind him and turns his palms to face him. He can't use his lasers without hurting himself too.
"Why you—"
Taehyun hears sirens. "Shut up; sit still."
He's too far away from Kai to reach him. He could try moving, pulling Kwon with him but his trust in his dislocated shoulder is weak. Kwon's already searching for that moment of weakness, Taehyun's not going to give him that.
His eyes catch the pebbles near his shoes.
Internally apologizing, Taehyun leans on Kwon with all his body weight and uses his newly free hand to throw a pebble at Kai. One more, then two. Kai starts stirring. Taehyun throws the biggest one he can find this time.
"Ouch," Kai says, holding his chest. He looks around with half open eyes, confusion all over his face. Taehyun smiles at him.
"Morning Sunshine." Taehyun waits for him to find his eyes. "A little help?"
It takes approximately a ten second delay for Kai to get up to speed. He's not even down from the trash cans before he holds out his hand and uses his quirk. Taehyun watches as big chunks of ice form all over the road and surround Kwon from all fronts. Taehyun twists his wrists around, this time holding them up so that he can't melt his way out of it.
He still doesn't let go of him, not fully, but it's a big relief to not have to use all of his strength on a guy with laser hands.
Kwon keeps talking, going on about how it's all their fault but Taehyun doesn't dignify him with answers this time. He wants to help Kai up. He wants to check him for a concussion, and maybe sit by his side if he ends up needing a hospital trip.
"Where's the back up?" Kai says as he slides down the can. He looks down on his hands in disgust.
"Getting closer, by the sounds of it." That reminds Taehyun of Kwon's back up, head turning back to make sure the security guy’s still where he's supposed to be. He is. Good. He looks back at Kai. "How are you feeling?"
Kai takes a few more steps and lets himself fall across Taehyun. He has his hand out, making ice drop inside Kwon's palms and watching them melt. "Like I'm in an MRI machine."
"Anything else?" Taehyun asks as a police car enters the street. Right behind it, there is an ambulance.
Kai freezes Kwon's hands fully this time, then sharply turns his gaze to Taehyun. "We'll see, I guess." He struggles through a breath, Taehyun can see how painful it is for him to breath, and smiles while letting his teeth show. "C'mon, let's finish this."
He'll be okay.
"Let's," Taehyun says, getting up to greet the police officers coming his way.
They hand Kwon off to them, keeping close in case he tries something again. It's not until Kwon's wrists are covered with the metal cuffs that Taehyun lets out a breath, finally feeling like it's done. The police take the security guy next. There is another team coming, a couple more patrol cars lining up in the street. Taehyun is taken away by the paramedics before he can ask why but the answer comes to him when one of the cars opens up to reveal a heavily armed team.
Taehyun doubts anyone stayed inside while hell was breaking on the outside but he hopes they were reckless in their escape and left loads of bread crumbs for them to follow.
Sitting at the back of the ambulance, Taehyun lets go of his quirk to see the damage. The paramedic is unfazed as he reaches for bandages behind him and starts applying a burn salve on his toes. He mentions his shoulder in the middle of it, which gets more reaction, but really, he's fine. It's Kai that they should worry about.
"You're good to go Power Up. Apply that cream every couple hours and avoid contact with water for the next three days," a different paramedic says after they fix his shoulder. "Do not over exert your shoulder for at least a week."
Taehyun nods, trying to get away quickly. He still has stuff to do.
"In case of any change—"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll go to the emergency room, got it. Where's K—Pro Hero Frost?"
The paramedic sighs, pointing to somewhere in the back. Taehyun practically runs there, despite the stinging pain coming from his foot.
"Hi," Taehyun says to the first person in a uniform he sees. "Frost, is he here? How is he?" He shifts in his place to get a look inside the ambulance.
"We're taking him to the hospital to get some tests done. He might have a concussion. He mentioned being unconscious for a while?"
It takes a second for Taehyun to understand that the last part was a question. "Yes, about five minutes? He woke up after I threw pebbles at him." He juggles around his memory to see if he's missing anything. "Oh, he was also having a hard time breathing. Probably broken a few ribs, right?"
The paramedic hums. "Like I said, we're taking him to the hospital to learn more."
"Can I come?"
"Yes—"
Taehyun cuts in after he hears what he wants. "Okay, wait just a sec’ I need to say something to the leading officer." He turns his body to the other side, already stepping away. "Just a sec’, okay? I'll be right back."
He finds the officer, informs him of the situation and tells him to send someone to the hospital for the details. He's back to the ambulance before the guy can get a word in. The doors close behind him instantly, and then they are off.
Taehyun looks at Kai lying in the bed, awake but not acknowledging him.
This is why they broke up in the first place.
On a normal day, Taehyun likes having Yeonjun around. He's a super amazing hero who often gets misunderstood by the public, but Taehyun knows his heart is always in the right place. His dad jokes become tolerable after a while too, though Taehyun would never admit that out loud even with a gun to his head.
"Heard you guys messed up big time," Yeonjun says before he even enters the room. He closes the door behind him and puts his hands on his waist, a condescending look on his face. Like he said, on a normal day Taehyun likes Yeonjun. This is not a normal day.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Taehyun turns away as he speaks, not willing to admit defeat just yet. "We caught the guy, yeah?"
"More like the guy caught you. Look at Kai." The scratching of the chair Yeonjun carries fills the room. "Hi Kai," he says, sitting down across from the bed.
Kai only grunts in reply. He shouldn't be in much pain, the nurses made sure of that. Taehyun can still imagine the soreness from having to lie still for hours, on top of sitting still inside a car for hours at that. He does not envy Kai right now.
Leaning back in his chair as if to prove the mobility he has, Taehyun calls for Yeonjun's attention. "Did the boss man send you? Bet he wants to chew us out."
Yeonjun blinks, a smirk slowly forming on his mouth. "Nah, it's not that bad. I was just worried after watching the news. Someone recorded your whole fight," he says, making sure to show his disdain at the last part.
Taehyun seriously doubts any major news outlets showed all of that footage with how much blood Kwon was covered in. With a raised eyebrow, he says, "The whole thing?"
"The parts that matter. You're the talk of the town right now; people are congratulating you on your quick thinking."
If Taehyun feels a little lighter at that, it's nobody's business but his.
"What about me?" Kai's voice is rough, probably from not speaking for a while. Despite Taehyun being with him almost every step of the way, they haven't talked much. The most Taehyun heard from him today was about their joint confusion at having to fight a laser quirk.
Instead of relaying the information he has like he did with Taehyun, Yeonjun picks up his phone and tells them to wait. "See for yourselves," he says as he hands his phone to Kai.
Taehyun leans forward to see. Kai speeds through the posts too fast for Taehyun to actually be able to read them all but one thing is clear: they are making fun of Kai.
"Ugh," Kai pushes the phone back to Yeonjun's hands. "I've become a meme."
"There are some funny ones in it, though!" Yeonjun says good-naturedly. "And most posts are from your supporters, I wouldn't worry."
"It can't be worse than the time I froze the whole studio because of a spider," Kai says.
Remembering that moment makes Taehyun chuckle. It was right after his debut, in his first major media interview after he got some traction as an up and coming hero with a rare quirk. If not for the unfortunate incident, the whole thing was very sweet and good publicity—Kai was clearly PR trained and the morning show's hosts had good questions. All that everyone remembers from it was Kai suddenly freezing the whole set, though. Unfortunate, indeed.
"They are here, by the way, I forgot to mention," Yeonjun says, his demeanor suddenly serious. His gaze darts between them, landing on Taehyun. "I don't know when you plan to leave but don't use the front door unless you wanna get swamped by the media."
"Kai's stuck here for at least a day. They are waiting on a guy with a speed-healing quirk," Taehyun says instead of an actual answer.
Yeonjun's eyes narrow in a way that makes Taehyun want to hide. "How bad is it?"
"Broke two ribs, and my left wrist is messed up. Some bruising from the fall too but nothing bad. I should be okay in a couple of days," Kai lists in a monotone.
Remembering the start of their hospital visit, Taehyun cuts in. "They also suspected mild concussion but the scans didn't show anything. They are waiting on it, that's why he's stuck in bed." Kai makes a sound of protest at that but Taehyun isn't having it. "You did faint."
"You try getting thrown off by the guy you thought were dying."
"I did," Taehyun stresses. "Why do you think it took me that long to capture him?"
Kai scoffs. "Whatever."
Taehyun has the urge to stick out his tongue at him but something on Yeonjun's face makes him stop. He doesn't like that knowing look. It's not like there is anything to know.
The next time Kai speaks, his tone is void of his previous annoyance. "Speaking of," he starts, clearly waiting for Yeonjun to pay attention to him. "What was up with the false quirk records? I thought the national health system was impenetrable."
Taehyun would like to know about that too. He looks at Yeonjun with curiosity.
"Fuck if I know," Yeonjun sighs out. "There's gonna be a meeting about it tonight. It sounds like you guys are not gonna be in it, but I'll let you know."
"It probably has something to do with that gun," Taehyun voices out his suspicion. He's been thinking about it since it happened, and now that he's had a chance to cool off and talk with the police officers, he knows that the gun is somehow involved. Heart injuries make people die, not cause them to go berserk with a powerful quirk. "I don't know what that was but it wasn't a normal gun. He looked like he knew what he was doing too, he goaded us."
"Yeah, 'Not gonna kill myself,' sure," Kai says. "He planned to use that thing all along."
"I think so too."
"Alright, I'll relay that at the meeting. It sounds like some black market stuff to me, but we'll see." Yeonjun says and slaps his own knees like an old man. He gets up promptly. This is the first time Taehyun notices that he's in his civilian clothes. It makes sense though: it's not even noon yet and if Taehyun's memory serves him right, Yeonjun should be off today.
In a mocking tone, Kai says, "You know where to find us."
Yeonjun grins. "I do!" He's by the door now, hand on the handle. "I'll let Taehyun take care of you now. Glad to see you guys okay."
"He's not—"
"I'm not—"
It's futile; Yeonjun's gone as quick as he came.
They don't look at each other after that, they don't even acknowledge each other. Taehyun has no idea what is going on inside Kai's head right now, but he's busy reconsidering Yeonjun's place in his life. Taehyun decides he doesn't like him that much after all.
After cumulative minutes of silence that burns Taehyun's skin, Kai decides to talk. "Did you have to tell him 'bout the concussion? Now they'll be all over me at the agency."
Yeah, as they should. Taehyun doesn't say that though. Instead, he lands on a less showing remark. "You can get back at me the next time I end up in a hospital."
Hero work is dangerous, facing the dangers of the unbound superhuman society is literally the whole reason it even exists, but despite the inherent risks, it's not often that they end up seriously injured. Mostly because they learn early to minimize damage, both on themselves and on the surroundings, but also because of the quirks like the guy they're waiting on has—there are more than one ways to be a hero. Kai might be fine now, not feeling any pain, but that doesn't change the fact that how scary it was to see him lying down for several minutes.
Anything could have happened, and some of it did happen.
"I'll sneak the media inside your room, give them a good scoop," Kai says, heart definitely not in it.
"As long as you're not in the bed next to me that's fine by me."
They don't talk again until the specialist comes in. After that, there really isn't anything left for Taehyun to do. So, screw you, Yeonjun. There isn't anything to take care of.
joy @no02_slayer
okay but #justice4frost my man was just feeling a bit dizzy
01:47 PM March 16
75 Comments 32 Retweets 168 Likes
Taehyun leaves the hospital when he finds out Kai's sisters are on their way. It's a great relief to wake up in his own bed, body all lax instead of that small hospital chair with two people Taehyun wants to avoid the most. He even has a smile on his lips as he wakes, he checked in the mirror.
His living room gets all the morning sun, brighter and warmer than the rest of the house. Taehyun starts his coffee machine and sits by the window to soak under all that warmth, picking up his phone to see what's in store for the day.
Not that the day has really started, only people up and alive right now are high schoolers and the rest of the pitiful public workers, plus pro heroes who were unfortunate enough to land a morning shift. Taehyun is one of them.
He's mostly okay with morning shifts, especially on warm spring days like this one. March has just arrived and through his past experiences with the unreliable Seoul weather, Taehyun knows that the hot sun on his nape as he stretches in the balcony isn't going to last long. He still basks in it regardless. It's good to get what he can, to make the most of it. Even the birds are starting to get with the new season.
Taehyun leaves out the stale bread from two days ago on the balcony floor for the pigeon to eat and goes to his room to dress up. He missed his costume in the last two days, the feel of the soft fabric around his calves and the mobility it gives him despite not being that different from his usual get up. Like a personal trainer, Yeonjun used to say when Taehyun first showed him his early costume sketches. Taehyun begrudgingly agrees; he does look more like a personal trainer who has a thing for showing off his build than a pro hero.
It's not a bad thing, per se. If anything, it makes him more approachable for the public. Most hero costumes are a blend of quirk practicality and aesthetics, things like stretchy fabrics, zippers in unconventional places for easy access, and combat boots that have more engineering on them than Taehyun is comfortable tackling with. Then there is the aesthetics side that makes Taehyun's trainer alter ego with showing off tendencies a pretty run-up-the-mill thing—more cleavage than necessary and harmonious colors acting so much like a brand that anytime someone sees purple and yellow together they think of a certain hero with a mind-control quirk. Compared to others, Taehyun's skin tight suit with the letter P+ across his chest is basic.
Basic, but approachable as seen from the amount of vendors that stop and chat with him on his way to the agency. It's close to nine now; the city is finally ready for the day.
Taehyun picks up a protein drink from the same place he always does and gives the cashier his most charming smile when she compliments him on a job well done for the other day. He isn’t the biggest on fan-service—he's a hero, not an idol—but he still thinks it's important to interact with the public genuinely. Power Up is a public commodity, he has to give back in some ways.
"Mornin' Dashing," he says as he enters the agency. Dashing is on her way out from the looks of it, must be the end of her shift.
She looks up, her hair sparkling at the ends from her quirk. "Ah, Power Up. Morning. It's good to see you back."
Taehyun's smile twitches. "I was only gone for a day." If Dashing catches the subtle hostility in his voice, she doesn't let it show.
"How 'bout your partner, then?" She looks behind him, getting on her toes. "Some stakeout, huh?"
"Frost and I did what we could under the circumstances," is Taehyun's bureaucratic response. And because he can actually see the slight worry under her words, he adds, "He should be back tomorrow."
"Glad to hear," she says with a grin. She doesn't forget to pat him on the arm as she walks away, telling him to take it easy.
Taehyun thinks everyone is focusing on the wrong part of the incident; instead of being hell-bent on teasing him and Frost, all of them should get to figuring out what was up with that gun Kwon used.
"Power Up," His boss's harsh voice cuts through Taehyun's internal complaints. He's just outside his office door, clearly waiting on Taehyun.
"Boss, hi," Taehyun says, quickly walking up the steps in two at a time.
Opening the door, his boss lets out a sigh. "I told you to not call me that."
Taehyun simply grins, taking the chair across from the desk and waits for his boss to catch up. His Pro Hero name sounds almost as bad as 'boss' but Taehyun's not going to be the one to tell him that. Karma—really, what was he thinking? The word's tagline is pure hatred, "karma is a bitch.' Though it does sound cool, the idea is solid, too. Like, 'no matter who you are or where you are, I will find you for I'm justice' or something like that—Taehyun would have to dig a bit deeper if he wants to validate that.
Karma sits down on his big chair, he's a big dude—broad shoulders and over one ninety, and narrows his eyes on Taehyun. If Taehyun didn't have the two years of exposure he has to that look, he'd cower. He still kind of wants to anyway.
"It can't be that bad," Taehyun says, trying to be lighthearted.
His boss hums, reaching for a stack of papers on his right. He turns the pages around and pushes them toward Taehyun, his index finger tapping on the first line repeatedly. It's Kwon Jin's health records.
Actually, it's everything they have on the guy: health records, quirk history, an incomplete family tree—a lot more than what they had when arranging the stakeout.
"So he talked?" Taehyun asks as he takes the pages on his lap, reading through them.
"Barely. The security guy cut a deal," his boss says, irritated. "He wasn't the only one to do so."
Taehyun thinks of the team at the scene. There is definitely a report of the proceedings here. "So," Taehyun tries again. "How bad?" If they were able to catch the people inside the casino they should either have a clearer picture or some clues to progress their investigation.
The boss gives him the whole run down in that distant voice of his, clean and a 100% no bullshit. Despite the police apprehending some of the people inside the casino, most of them were already off the scene when they got in. Four people, along with the security guy cut a deal in exchange for the minimum punishment and Kwon was only awake enough to ask for a lawyer before he lost consciousness completely. His injuries are not lethal, his boss reassures him, but it seems there is something else wrong with his immune system.
"Doctors are not sure what's causing it, but they said it’s like his body is fighting with itself."
Taehyun searches for the most recent health records he has in his hands. As he reads through the page, some puzzles in his mind start to solve themselves. "He no longer has laser hands, right? Bet he even feels sore from them," he says, unwillingly getting excited.
His boss nods, looking at Taehyun like he's trying to size him up. It makes Taehyun sit up straighter, biting his excitement down.
"You still haven't turned your report in; that officer you talked to at the hospital didn't write down anything useful," his boss says, "didn't make sense at all."
Taehyun leans back in his chair. "What do you wanna know? I cornered him in a nearby alley because he was supposed to have a non-combative quirk and shit went down sideways quickly. He threatened to kill himself by saying he's not going to kill himself, and the next thing I know Frost is down and I'm trying to dodge getting burned by crazy powerful lasers."
"That." His boss points to him incredulously. "That still doesn't make any sense."
"Dunno what you want me to do, boss," Taehyun says, shrugging for good measure. "That's what happened. Didn't Jagger tell you all of this in yesterday's meeting? He said he would." Yeonjun might be bad at remembering birthdays and making it in time to their occasional meet ups, but he rarely forgets to do what he promises.
With a click of his tongue, his boss says, "That would mean the gun used by Kwon gave him the laser hands. That's not possible."
"What's impossible in the face of super humans, boss?"
Quirks has been around for some time now, long enough that society has changed for it and not long enough that it stopped being something to marvel at. Public opinion on the limits of quirks are pretty split, but Taehyun is of the opinion that anything is possible at this point. He grew up reading about people who were able to regenerate their missing limbs, shared a class with a girl who had the power to reverse time for the objects she touched, and his boss, the very same man who tells him it's impossible to transfer a quirk with a gun can shape-shift into whatever he wants to. They are the living proof that nothing is impossible, not really.
"Quirks are engraved in our DNA, a person's whole being depends on what type of quirk they have. If simply transferring and changing quirks were possible people wouldn't struggle with the one they were born with." The boss man sounds a lot like he's trying to make himself believe what he's saying. That was almost verbatim from Taehyun's old biology coursebook.
"That's probably why Kwon's unconscious right now," Taehyun insists. "You said it was as though his body was on a war with itself, that's the foreign quirk in his body fucking with his system."
"Like a virus."
"Exactly! K—Frost thinks so, too. That gun is the answer to our questions."
His boss takes his excitement as what it is, an itch to scratch. Taehyun's sure of it, because in the two years Taehyun spent trying to carve himself a place in the agency, his boss watched him be the quick-to-action hero he knows he is.
"Then we need proof. If it really is possible, the heroes would need to be prepared for it," his boss says, already thinking ahead. "Quirk records would mean near nothing, any fight would be a big blind dive."
Taehyun has neither reassurments nor any bigger catastrophic visions to add, so he says nothing.
"Frost is coming back tomorrow, correct?"
Taehyun nods, feeling uneasy that everyone seems to see him as the go to guy for Frost related things. Even their boss.
"See me together first thing tomorrow morning. I'll make some calls in the meantime and see if this gun was involved in anything else." His hand is already closing around the desk phone, no doubt dialing for his assistant.
"You're partnering us together again?" Taehyun can't help but ask. That last mission was supposed to be a one time thing, a desperate last moment call because their usual partners were busy with a rescue that needed their specific quirks. Kai and Taehyun… they don't usually partner up. "I thought you said our quirks were too different to work together."
His boss seems taken aback by his words. He's holding the phone between his head and his shoulder, looking at Taehyun with his eyebrows furrowed. "When did I say that?"
"You—when he first started working here. It hasn't even been two months since then; don't tell me that old age is getting to you, boss."
Okay, so, note to future-self: don't be ageist against your boss if you don't want to get hit with a Karma plushie.
The last Taehyun hears before he quickly runs away from the room is his boss saying, "We'll talk about it more tomorrow. Let your partner know."
Taehyun doesn't bang his head against the office wall, but it's a near thing. Frost is not his partner and neither is Kai.
Fuck his life, like really. And fuck Kai, too, for coming back to work at his agency. People should stick with the decisions they make. Karma's agency has never been in Kai's radar ever since they were expected to choose one in their student days. What gives him the right to change his priorities and fuck up Taehyun's routine office life in the process?
He can hear the sounds his steps make as he walks toward his office, trying to tap his way out of a rage episode.
It's not like he hates Kai, no, that would be too simple. That would be normal, an ice cold gossip you hear from one of your coworkers when you want to fill in the silence after running into them at the office coffee station—just a passing comment about two mutual friends who you've heard broke up. Taehyun and Kai's relationship is less like that and more like an atomic bomb you wait on telling people about because you're scared of their reaction, all the while everyone already knows about it and are just trying their best to find the balance between that well-meaning worry and friendly teasing on how you managed to fuck up this bad. Their relationship is that, a metaphorical atomic bomb that Taehyun is sure everyone already knows he's carrying right in his back pocket.
Like an idiot.
Maybe he should move away, find a different agency. Or he could come up with a believable enough reason to not work the case, instead delegating his primary duties to another hero who can work well with Kai's ice quirk. Do they even have someone like that? Kai works best with wide areas of incidents and rescue cases, but his ice does come handy when there is a need for restraining as proven by their latest partner-up.
Partner-up, yikes.
Taehyun bangs his head against the wall this time. He's in the privacy of his own office—actually calling it an office is generous, it's more like a cubicle inside an office which he shares with four other people. Bottom of the barrel, only a year of pro heroing under his belt. His intern days here, unfortunately, do not count.
"Are you okay?" his cubical neighbor says, sticking his head out to check Taehyun.
Taehyun gives him a forced smile and pulls out his chair, sitting down with a heavy thud. He needs to get started on that incident report now that he's back, but a foreign object on his desk steals his attention. A lunch box, with a note on it.
Thank you for taking care of our brother <3
That's definitely Lea's writing, Taehyun received enough notes from Kai's older sister throughout the years to recognize that. This means his absence from the hospital didn't go unnoticed. It also means that Lea, or Hiyyih because Taehyun has no idea which one of them is actually behind this, took the time to stop by the agency, go through their overly skeptic security/postman, and made sure that Taehyun started his day with a homemade meal.
He opens the lunch box just to see what's inside, and absolutely does not carefully put away the note.
Huh, they also took the time out to make his favorite kind of pasta.
Taehyun wants to go back in time and make himself the sole victim of those laser hands. He's sure whatever getting crisped to a human-nugget by those lasers feels like, it can't be worse than what he's going through right now.
An atomic bomb.
"They are already expecting you. Hit the road as soon as you can, and—" His boss stops himself, lifting his face to look at both of them. "And make sure that you come back with a lead."
Easier said than done, Taehyun wants to say, mood sour from the unwanted plan that has been laid out in front of him. A plan that he has no say in despite being one of the main participants of it.
Taehyun leaves the room first, getting up as soon as he can get away with it. Kai is right behind him anyway. He closes the door behind him with one last goodbye to the boss man and that's as long as that friendly smile stays on his lips. When he turns to Taehyun, it's with practiced indifference, his face devoid of all emotions.
It pisses Taehyun off, that he can turn it off like that.
As they step outside, Kai checks his phone for something. "We still have fifteen minutes 'till the police car picks us up," he says, looking around as though he's waiting for the said car to appear early. "What should we do with the time?"
"Fifteen minutes will pass by in a blink."
Taehyun brushes off the stone before he sits down on the large marble pots by the entrance. He arranges his body to face away from Kai on purpose, this way they won't be face to face and Taehyun can take advantage of the shadow Kai's body provides. It's almost noon, the sun is high up.
"Fine by me," Kai says and sits on the pot across from Taehyun. There goes his shadow.
Logically, Taehyun knows Kai didn't sit down knowing that he'd also take away his only solace at the moment. Obviously he knows that; he hasn't gone crazy yet. Still, something is off with today. He could feel it from the first moment he woke up: a dread that runs deep, cementing his feet to the ground. It's similar to the urge he feels whenever he discovers yet another moldy corner in his bathroom, or finds some kind of bread recipe that he can't quite get it to rise right. He needs to stay here, stand his ground, and fight/solve whatever is in front of him.
The stakeout was different because they both knew it was a one time thing. It made sense to get along, to act like normal co-workers but this is an open investigation with basically no clues apart from another similar incident some time ago. They're partnered for the unforeseeable future and they're after a cold trail, Taehyun doesn't like their chances of getting along this time.
He lasts two, maybe three minutes before he's opening his mouth to say the first thing that comes to his mind.
"Switch places with me," Taehyun says, like that's the core of the issue they have at hand right now.
Kai tilts his head. "What?"
Taehyun points to the sky, at the same time saying, "The sun is in my eye, you took your shadow too—I can't—switch places with me."
"No." To put salt to his wound, Kai even crosses his legs, settling into his place nicely. "That doesn't even make sense."
"It doesn't have to make sense to you; it makes sense to me."
"You don't even like staying still. How about you wait under the signboard instead of pestering me?"
Taehyun shrugs his shoulders unwillingly. "I don't want to."
"Not my problem," is the answer he gets, which, yeah, fair.
"I'm about to make it your problem," Taehyun mutters under his breath. He gets up anyway, no more willing to let the sun melt him away.
He thinks about his options, thoroughly, and decides on the worst (the best) one. Seeing Kai's stone cold facade breaking momentarily by pure shock makes it worth it—Taehyun's pride can take sitting next to him if it bothers him this much.
After a second, Kai says, "What are you doing?" He even slides further away from Taehyun as much as he can with the minimum space they have. "Sit somewhere else."
Taehyun stretches his legs out and mansplains to the moon and the back. "I don't think I will."
He thinks this will get Kai to rise to the bait, that it will get a reaction out of him but instead, Kai sighs and checks his phone for the clock once again. Fucker. He deserves to get memed. Taehyun hopes he never gets taken seriously and that everyone from a hundred years from now on will still remember that studio freeze embarrassment of his. His biggest wish is for Pro Hero Frost to go down in history as the most—
"When's the last time you've seen Volume?" Kai asks suddenly.
"You can call him by his name, nobody else is here," Taehyun says instead of 'it's just us here,' because that sounds too much even to his ears alone.
"Fine. When's the last time you talked to Beomgyu?"
Taehyun shrugs again, not sure where Kai's going with this. "He called two weeks ago, about some alumni meeting. I told him I'd think about it but we couldn't talk much." He steals a glance at Kai. "Why?"
Kai mumbles something like 'me too,' before going quiet all of a sudden. Taehyun really can't make up what's going on inside his brain, can't see how their current situation has anything to do with Beomgyu—they're about to be picked up by the police to go to an agency in a nearby province. It doesn't make sense.
Except, the agency they're going to belongs to Guitar Hero, Beomgyu's boss.
"Oh."
"So he doesn't know?" Kai questions. "I didn't tell him either."
Taehyun doesn't have to think too much about what Kai's referring to, it's easy to see.
Beomgyu doesn't know that they broke up. The last he saw them they were still together, basically living together with the amount of times Kai stayed the night in Taehyun's apartment. Their relationship was at its prime, the last time three of them met up before Beomgyu moved away after getting an offer from a hero with a quirk compatible with his.
"What are we gonna do?"
"What do you wanna do?" Kai asks back because he can't ever take responsibility for anything.
"Fuck, I don't know. He'll expect us to be…" The words fly away from Taehyun as his eyes find Kai's. They are sitting close, too close, why are they even waiting next to each other in the first place? Taehyun needs to get away from here. "… not like this. He'll see that something is off."
Despite Kai's easy agreement, Taehyun doesn't feel satisfied. He closes his legs, fixing his posture. Feeling resolved, he repeats Kai's words at him. "What do you want to do?" He tries for nonchalance which is a bad idea because Taehyun and nonchalance has never seen eye to eye. His whole deal is being intense.
"I don't think it will come up directly. We will be on the job after all; he can't corner us just because something feels off," he says the last part like Taehyun did, like the word itself is infectious.
Taehyun nods along. "Okay, so we push through. Act like there is nothing to know."
"That's our best option."
"Okay by me," Taehyun says, and because they're in it right now, he adds, "maybe he'll think we're fighting or something."
That seems to do something to Kai, cause a change. He's not sure what changes for him exactly, but Taehyun sees Kai get closer and can't do anything in time to stop it. His hand goes up intrinsically, acting as a barrier between their impossibly close bodies but he doesn't dare touch Kai's chest. It betrays him by twitching anyway. Taehyun can feel Kai's warm breath on his face.
"Fighting, right," Kai says in the space between their faces. Then, as quickly as he came, he's gone. He gets up, hands in his pockets and facing away from Taehyun like he isn't even there. “Like he’d buy that.”
A police car pulls up as Taehyun comes to his senses, and really, that's the first good thing to happen to him today. As they slide inside using different doors—Taehyun at least manages to call shotgun before him thankfully—he lets out a wish to the vast, wise universe which he knows is listening in, laughing at him while at it, that it's not the last good thing to happen today.
The ride to the Guitar Hero's agency goes well, all things considered.
Taehyun can tell the police officer responsible for their transfer is a decent guy, he'd even go as far as calling him friendly. The way he keeps his speech centered around the case, sharing the police's take on the things and not making a fuss even though he very much notices how Taehyun and Kai go out of their way to not talk with each other.
Not to be confused with the way they talk at each other, because they do that extensively. Taehyun has no idea how they are supposed to make Beomgyu believe there is nothing wrong with them. He can only hope to be under the hero's patrolling schedule's mercy—it's not like they called him specifically ahead of time to let him know they're on their way, maybe Beomgyu won't be even at the agency today.
"We're here," Officer Lee says, turning off the engine.
As the number 4 of the country, Guitar Hero has a rather humble agency. They are not too far away from the city center, so the neighborhood is new and nice, shiny in a way that lets the others know exactly how expensive the rents are around here and the agency building sits right in the middle of the street. Yet it's humble: a four story building resembling a school dorm, just the right amount of cracks in the faded yellow paint job. Above the entrance, there is a sign in bold letters: Music Agency, and the smaller font under it reads, Let It Save You.
The word cheesy comes to Taehyun's mind as he enters the building but he keeps that thought to himself, instead letting his focus drift to the welcoming committee they run into.
Okay, maybe not so much a committee but welcoming nonetheless, two of the Guitar Hero's infamous sidekicks greet them with wide grins on their faces.
One of them, Ant Lady, pushes her chair back to shake their hands. "Karma's debutantes! We've been waiting for you, nice to make your acquaintances," she says in a much more excited manner than Taehyun was expecting.
"Debutante," Taehyun whispers to himself in wonder, not really liking the implications. Then, in order to save face, acts first to greet Green as well before they can catch him off guard one more time.
Green, in turn, is much more reserved than his partner. He simply starts leading them to a room down the hallway after they are done with the pleasantries. It's a typical office room with fluorescent lights above them meant to blind the occupants of the room, or to keep them from falling asleep on the job. Taehyun can never tell.
"Isn't there supposed to be another officer from the local station too?" Officer Lee says as they settle in. "I was told there would be."
"Ah." Lady Ant scratches the back of her head; it's the first sign of her humanness since they've met. "Officer Jiyong was supposed to be here with us but she got called out for a bank robbery earlier. Priorities, I'm sure you understand."
Kai speaks for what feels like the first time since their journey here, even though logically Taehyun knows he returned the enthusiastic welcome from earlier. He looks at their seniors warily. "Shouldn't you be there? We could help too—"
"—No, no, they've got it under control," she interrupts Kai's worries away with the wave of her hand. "Hero Volume's on the job, you see, it's his time to catch some spotlight. They should be about done anyway."
The sigh Taehyun lets out is entirely involuntary, same with his shoulders relaxing considerably. He wasn't even aware of how tense his muscles were.
Kai looks at him because of the movement and another first-like feeling washes over Taehyun. He's sure their faces are mirroring each other: relief.
"Shall we start then?" Green says, handing a folder to Kai who's sitting in the middle. He then continues talking without waiting for a response. "A month ago Lady Ant and I were patrolling when we stumbled upon a kidnapping in progress. We were alerted of the incident by the victim's screams," his voice feels so commending that Taehyun muses whether controlling chlorophyll really is his quirk. It would make sense for him to have a sound-related thing. "She turned out to be the daughter of a CEO, as you can see in the file in front of you."
Taehyun pushes himself forward in his chair with his feet, distantly noting the slight ache on his toe from the burn scar, and leans left as much as he can without actually getting into Kai's personal space. He still gets a stare for it.
The file on the victim, or Song Victoria Jimin—wow, that's a rich person's name—has every information they need. Combined with the kidnappers' statements, there is no doubt that ransom from Jimin's father was their aim. Her school, her driver's pick up hours, and even where she likes to shop is listed here.
Officer Lee lets out a low whistle. "Through work right here." He rubs at his barely there beard. "If only they used their work ethic for something good."
"If only," Lady Ant indulges the police officer, smirking at him. "They didn't account for us, though. We took them down, no problem."
Before Taehyun can risk a close contact, Kai turns the page, showing the details of the said take down.
"They tried to blow you up?" Taehyun can't hide his shock, at the same time strategizing about how he would deal with such a quirk if he were in their place. Lady Ant can shrink her body to be as small as an ant, and Green needs to be surrounded by chlorophyll to control it so he can't imagine that it was a good match of quirks. His muscle quirk wouldn't be much help either; there is a limit to the amount of damage his body can take, a considerably lesser limit if there is fire involved. Kai's ice would be a good match, depending on the range of the blasts.
Lady Ant laughs. "They certainly tried! One of them could emit explosive gas from his pours and the other used his hands to create fire, rubbing them together like—like—Green, what do you call them again?"
"Flint. The other one could use his hands to create fire like a flint."
That changes things, makes it easier. Taehyun reads down the page to see if he's on the right road of thinking and smiles to himself when he sees that he is. "Deal with them separately," he says, not looking up from the page.
"That's what we did, yes, and apprehended them while waiting for the police to show up," Green says. He reaches across the desk to open a specific page in the folder Kai's holding. It reveals a series of crime scene photos, all showing different angles of an empty medication cup. "This is the part that actually concerns you. Somehow, the one with the gas quirk managed to escape on their way to the station, reportedly using the heat from his body to melt the chains on the door."
"Pause," Kai says before he can continue. "How did he use his quirk with quirk-nullifying cuffs?"
"Old equipment," Lady Ant admits ashamedly.
Kai nods, but by the sight of him biting inside his cheeks Taehyun knows he's holding back. "And the heat quirk?"
"At the time, we assumed it was one related quirk; you know how some people have layers to their quirks? Like the number 9 hero, she can both control bullets and make them out of the iron inside her body." Lady Ant waits for a recognition in their faces as if there is any way they don't know how Sniper's powers work, the number 9 hero in all of the country.
Taehyun nods vehemently regardless.
"It could work, in a way. Some gases require certain heat levels to actually be, and if that villain's quirk was related to all types of gases instead of just one type of it…" Officer Lee starts theorizing, stops, and looks up at them with a shy smile after realizing the attention on him. "There are some insanely versatile quirks out there. I'm just saying it's possible."
Green and Lady Ant both agree with a hum.
"We thought so too, at the time. Then Pro Hero Karma called," she says, her grin back on her face. "We always thought it was weird that the guy would only try to use one type of attack on us while having such a versatile quirk." At the word versatile, her gaze drifts toward officer Lee. Taehyun probably wasn't meant to notice the predatory lust in it.
Through a cough to get his bearings together, Taehyun says, "So this cup." He taps his finger against the photos. "Did you see him take whatever was inside of it? Did he seem any different after taking it? Any traces left for the lab?"
"Slow down, kid, we agreed to answer your questions already."
When Taehyun makes an offended face at being called a kid—fuck you Kai, there is nothing to snort about—Green interjects.
"What my partner is trying to say is that, we have time. Let's go one at a time."
Once again, Taehyun ponders over the truth about the hero's quirk, becoming more convinced about his sound-related quirk theory by the second because hearing those words does calm him down. He listens to Green talk with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in his chair to get away from the real offender, snort-monster Kai.
Turns out, the empty medication cup was just that, an empty cup with basically no traces left on it to properly do an examination on its contents. He gets another negative answer on his question about noticing anything different about the guy after taking the medication, but at least they know for sure that he did take a pill right before they jumped into action. That moment, a villain taking the time to swallow a pill right before a show-down, was memorable for both of them which is the whole reason why they are even aware that the empty cup exists.
A whole bunch of nothing, with one silver lining. Taehyun’s now even more certain that his previously discussed theory with his boss holds real weight. The methods might be different, a gun and a medication don't usually go hand in hand unless one is being used for the treatment of the other, but both require some sort of bodily contact. Blood, Taehyun would bet.
"If he took the pill right before their fight, it tracks that its effects wouldn't be evident until after he's apprehended," Taehyun says, looking over the pages to see a more certain timeline than the sidekicks' a month old memory can provide him with.
"Before the pill is digested, he has one quirk, which gets him cornered after separating from his partner. We're thinking, what, a special medicine that gives you a new quirk?" Kai questions. "And it's the perfect quirk to get him out of what basically is a metal box."
"He had to know the quirk he was gonna get; it's too much of a risk otherwise. Just like Kwon," Taehyun says, his attention is still on the incident reports. "Which means either they have options or it's order based."
"Laser. That's what your guy's extra quirk was, right?" Lady Ant asks.
"Yes. He used the heat of them to blast me away."
Ignoring Kai's anecdote, Taehyun calls for the others' attention after finally finding what he was searching for. Or rather, after not being able to find it anywhere in the case file. "There is no record of you catching the guy."
"That's because we didn't," Green says, visibly frustrated. "He hasn't resurfaced since then and his partner said that they were paid to work together. It was their first time meeting as well."
First time meeting and they have highly compatible quirks. Taehyun smells conspiracy. A big, evil, conspiracy.
"But that would mean—"
Whatever officer Lee was about to say gets interrupted when someone opens the door with a loud whoosh and with even a bigger voice saying Taehyun and Kai's names.
"Guys, you're here! I can't believe I had to learn about it from our receptionist, what the hell? Call me next time," Beomgyu says—or yells, Taehyun really can't tell— and steps further into the office. He throws his arms around both of them from behind, trapping them in a one sided hug.
Taehyun's chair moves with the hug, causing his head to hit Kai's shoulder. He's too shocked; literally trapped. Kai is stiff like a brick under his head and Taehyun has never hated his friend's tactile nature but as it turns out, there is a first time for everything. Taehyun hates this, hates that he's close enough to smell the synthetic fabric of Kai's costume.
"Beomgyu, hi," Kai breathes out.
Beomgyu lets them go after giving them one last squeeze and plops down on the chair next to Taehyun. All the eyes are in him naturally, as are Taehyun's. He looks worse for wear, his costume covered in grime and what looks like dried up blood around his neck. His normally honey brown hair is darkened at the roots with what Taehyun guesses to be sweat.
Lady Ant is the first to speak. "You caught the guy?"
Beomgyu turns to her with a big smile, throwing his arm over Taehyun's shoulder at the same time. "Whatcha think? Of course I did."
Despite worrying about his own clothes' condition, Taehyun stays right where he is. It's been a while since they've last seen each other and he misses Beomgyu, they used to meet up all the time before he moved away. It takes almost an hour and a half with a car, a totally doable distance but it's rare that either of them have that much time to spare back to back on top of the time a possible outing would take. Plus, the last couple of months have been weird for Taehyun. He doesn't really go out with people these days, not counting Yeonjun but that's a given with how persistent that guy is when he puts his mind into something.
Determined to not look at Kai, he listens to the conversation happening around him. For a bunch of pro heroes plus one nice police officer, they get distracted pretty easily: the run down of Beomgyu's most recent job turns into a non-detailed explanation about what they are doing here by the officer Lee, which then somehow turns into Beomgyu talking reminiscing about their high school days. What on earth?
Taehyun jumps back from when a wave of cold washes over his back. It takes him a second to realize the cause is the ice menace next to him.
"Do not finish that story," Kai says in his most threatening tone i.e., he sounds like a petulant child. He doesn't really pull off the intimidating vibe unless there is a life-or-death situation involved.
"Aw," Beomgyu coos, but doesn't continue with the story of the day he met Kai. It's not his most embarrassing story, it just contains one too many spilled drinks in Taehyun's opinion. "Not very hero-y of you, if you ask me. Where's your bleeding heart that wouldn't harm a mere ant—no offense, Lady Ant—and would go and beyond for some good laugh?"
Sometimes, Taehyun has a hard time keeping up with Beomgyu. He's always too fast, too loud, and has more energy than Taehyun on a good day. A look on the faces around him tells him he's not the only one.
Ever the politest, Taehyun decides that he is after this much proof, officer Lee inquires a moment later, "Do you all know each other from high school?"
It's clearly directed toward the three of them, but Taehyun is not touching that with a ten feet long stick. Kai, too, is strangely quiet despite his earlier threat. That only leaves Beomgyu.
With an enthusiastic nod, Beomgyu says, "These two were my favorite juniors back in high school. The favorite duo of a lot of people actually." His gaze goes between them, a curious look in it. "Anyhow—" He's suddenly up on his feet, making a show of checking out the clock on the wall. "Isn't it time for a lunch break? You guys can continue this after some refueling."
Taehyun has a bad feeling about this, a feeling that only intensifies when Beomgyu insists on the three of them going out for lunch together. He could break out of Beomgyu's hold on his arm if he wanted, could run away faster than their eyes could catch if he pumped up muscles around his legs but somehow that doesn't seem like the solution Taehyun is looking for. Too telling for his taste.
His rich neighborhood observation holds up as they walk around the block under Beomgyu's lead. Taehyun notes how many restaurants and cafés are filled with white-collars and how many of them seem to be sneaking a little mid-day drinking along with their food. Some of them notice three heroes fully costumed up as well. It mustn't alert any of their danger senses because aside from one overly excited middle schooler none of them give them a second glance. Beomgyu ruffles the middle schooler's hair before they leave him behind, turning a corner at the lights.
"Be ready for your taste buds to feast," Beomgyu says as he dazzles his hands around the air, clearly showcasing the inconspicuous diner in comparison to its counterparts. "This place has the best bibimbap you'll ever eat."
He laughs at the same time as Kai when Beomgyu makes prayer hands and sends his sorry to his mother in a whisper.
Taehyun does not look at Kai.
As they go through the motions—finding a comfortable place to sit, decide on what to eat, and wave down a waiter who Beomgyu knows by name—the uneasiness low in Taehyun's stomach slowly simmers down. If he ignores the humid air of the air-con hitting his naked skin, courtesy of his costume, he can even forget about the reason they're having this abrupt lunch outing. He's simply catching up with a dear friend.
And if he's a little grateful for the circular table that lets all of them sit across each other, it's nobody's business but his.
"But man, I don't even know what to say, it's a little fucked up that you guys didn't tell me that you were coming down here. Really! I would have let the others deal with the bank robber if I knew," Beomgyu finally says what he's been circling around the conversation for the last five minutes. Taehyun appreciates this new improvement; a younger Beomgyu wouldn't be this gracious.
Buying himself some more time with a bigger bite than necessary, Taehyun thinks about what to say before he can blurt out anything he can regret. "We didn't really have time to hit you up. Our boss," saying the mutual possessiveness feels weird on his tongue. "He only told us this morning, then we were already on our way."
"Yeah, Karma's not really the one to let you relax." Kai shifts in his chair. "Honest man, we had no other choice. The investigation is a big headache too."
Beomgyu's face does a sympathetic scowl at the last part. "Anything you could share? Maybe I heard some things."
He shares a look with Kai, unintentionally, and Taehyun jumps into a summary when he gets a nod from him. If the case keeps turning sideways like it has been so far, it's only a matter of time before all heroes will be briefed and on the look out for it anyway, and technically, no one told them to be hush-hush about it.
Watching Beomgyu's eyes go bigger and bigger with every new detail of the case validates something inside Taehyun. With all that's been going on he almost forgot how crazy that some ordinary villain can surprise them with a new quirk out of nowhere. He argued against the concept being impossible in front of his boss but even with that stance, the fact that something so deeply engraved in a person's biology could be transferred and possibly be created in demand blows his mind. All of it is crazy.
"Yeah, no, I would not sit on that kind of info," Beomgyu says and takes a big sip from his water, his philtrum shining from the wetness. Then, almost as if he's realizing his presence for the first moment, he tilts his head to fully face Kai. "What's the situation with your injuries? A hospital trip is a bad omen."
Maybe he's affected by the worry in Beomgyu's voice, or there is some lingering frustration from the day of their fight, or—the point is, Taehyun's full attention ends up on Kai. It's ridiculous of him to check him for any indication of his injuries, a broken rib will hardly show with a standing figure in the middle of drinking his soup, but he can't help the way his eyes soak Kai in.
Kai shifts in chair again, this time even pushing himself back to put some distance between his abdomen and the table. His voice is soft as he speaks, stilted. "They cleared me, didn't they? I have a check up at the end of the week but I don't really feel any—no, I feel fine."
It's an annoying reminder but Taehyun can easily see how much of Kai's words were him embellishing the truth, if not outright lying, just by the determined little nod he gives at the end of his speech. It's also another annoying habit of Taehyun's, that he lets out a soulless laugh and pins Kai down with a harsh stare. "Sure," he says, all without meaning to.
Despite his low tone, his comment doesn't go unnoticed by Kai. "I am fine. What, you're living in my body now?"
"No thanks; I'll pass," Taehyun retorts back.
"Then don't talk about things you don't know. That guy's healing quirk is working just fine, so I am fine."
He should let it go, they're one word away from their cover being blown up. He really shouldn't say anything further. "Then come up with a better word than 'fine.' You keep repeating it like a parrot, how am I supposed to believe you—"
"Are you guys fighting?" Beomgyu's sudden remark shuts Taehyun up.
At least it's nice to know he's not the only one feeling ashamed.
Taehyun breathes out, imagining his negative emotions flowing away with it, and in a voice that leaves no room for argument, says, "No." And then, because he can get away with it right now, he points his thumb in Kai's direction. "You know how this guy is, always working through his pain. It's a simple disagreement, as always. We're not fighting."
"I just don't see how we could disagree about something that only I can tell," Kai says. Taehyun's sure their thinking aligns here, too; Kai only stretches the moment because he can get away with it.
Beomgyu looks unconvinced, though. That's a problem, a problem that they planned ahead to avoid.
Another exhale. "Yeah, yeah, heard it all before. You're fine, we're not fighting, end of discussion."
"Glad to agree," is Kai's rather cold response. Seriously, is he even trying to be convincing?
There isn't anything for Taehyun to do without making the situation even more suspicious, so through sheer will alone he tries to pick up a safe conversation. Some more about the case, some totally unrelated social-life events, and anything that will stop Beomgyu's attentive eyes from staying on them for too long. He has the distant urge to scratch at his neck, or pick at his nails under the scrutiny.
The clock finally takes mercy on him after what feels like the world's longest lunch break and they decide to go back to the agency. He leaves Beomgyu and Kai in the register after a losing battle with Beomgyu over who's paying, and makes a turn for the bathroom. Of course Beomgyu would insist on paying, always doting on them as his underclassmen.
When he comes back, he finds the pair at the entrance of the diner. They are in the middle of a whispered discussion in which he does not eavesdrop despite his curious nature. They were always the closest pair out of the three of them.
Instead, to make his presence known, he takes louder steps than necessary and even calls for Beomgyu, thanking him for taking care of the bill. Beomgyu's big smile, paired with the peace sign he holds up almost makes up for the last thirty minutes of torture they called ‘catching up.’
Once again, Taehyun does not look at Kai and definitely does not notice the blush on his ears. No, he absolutely doesn't notice anything about Kai. None at all.
Annie @hero_crochet_lady
Shame on you guys for not using my customizable order option to its fullest potential, you only want the tired classics 👎🏼 So have some of my two favorite new comers:
[a photo of two hand-sized plushies: one is the pro hero Power Up with an additional red cape and the other is of the pro hero Frost, holding a crocheted piece of ice in his hand. They have the biggest grins on their face and are holding hands.]
06:57 PM March 19
75 Comments 142 Retweets 1.6k Likes
Annie @hero_crochet_lady
And yes they are holding hands because I heard that they used to be classmates and I think that's Neat. You can buy them now from my website or DM me here 🌸🌸🌸
06:57 PM March 19
12 Comments 39 Retweets 236 Likes