That got her attention, her head whipping around to stare at Taeyong, a glint of triumph in his dark eyes at the reaction he'd managed to elicit from her.
She resisted the urge to smack that grin off his face, settling for narrowing her eyes.
"And I think he was right to worry about that." A knowing smirk began to grow on his lips, and she felt the urge to smack him increase, a constant itch at the back of her mind.
Not the best idea, she told herself. He was didn't seem to be stronger than her, having a thin frame hidden by the bulky coat he had donned, but she didn't want to underestimate someone who could be potentially dangerous. That, and the fact that neither Ten nor Johnny would particularly appreciate her smacking their friend.
"You're very similar to the old man." She glared at him, she could see the clear enjoyment in his eyes. He was amused, toying with her.
"You're interesting, Rina." Taeyong clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, rest his chin in his hand. "You seem to not be hiding much from any of us. You're innocent, having been thrown into a prison for merely just existing, and then you escaped with the people who brought your brother to safety. You seem so," He paused, searching for the right word. "Weak." He said.
The word rung in her head, bouncing around her skull, and she could feel her fingers tighten around the railing to the point where her knuckles felt numb.
"But are you really?" His voice had dropped to a whisper, yet the question still hung heavy in the air.
She finally turned to him, letting go of the railing as she faced him. He mirrored her, turning entirely so that the two of them stood face to face.
She tilted her head up slightly, jutting out her chin in defiance. He was accusing of her of being secretive, she was smart enough to read between the lines. Or rather, she thought as she narrowed her eyes at him, he was was trying to gauge at how much she knew about something, something he wanted to know.
She just needed to find out what it was.
He looked down at her, strands of his white hair being blown as the wind picked up pace.
Brace the storm.
"You're an NCT, aren't you?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. "At least, half an NCT. You're not even fully human. You're half robot, most of your senses enhanced."
She could feel her heart pounding as she widened her eyes, taking a brief step back. She swore in her head, the curse being the only thing heard over the ringing in her ears.
The triumph that had glittered in those dark orbs fizzled out slowly as he watched her reaction closely, a frown curving his lips downwards.
"Did you even want it?" He asked lowly. Now that was a question she knew how to respond to. She immediately shook her head, rather vigorously. She didn't ask for her nerves to be connected to computers for days on an end as they tried to do the impossible, to regenerate cells that couldn't, she didn't ask for wires to twine with her veins, she didn't ask for her vocal cords to be damaged when they couldn't get the right program.
She didn't ask to be turned into a robot, an NCT, a part of the Neo Culture Technology Project, a failure.
"I'm willing to help." He said. "And you can help me in return." A light smirk replaced the frown, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Youngho always told me that if you ever met me, we'd probably click right away, but you always preferred to stay in the Palace."
Oh, holy f-
Before she could complete the curse in her head, he continued. "Lucas and Mark told me about how you seem to have acted rather strangely with them." He tilted his head, arms over his chest. "Ten, bless his soul, seems to be rather attached to you, and refused to tell me just exactly what you are."
A smirk curved the chapped red lips upwards, a hard glint in his eyes. "But that is an answer in itself, don't you agree?" He asked.
She swallowed, her tongue darting out to wet her dry lips as she kept her gaze steady on him.
What do you want? She mouthed. Taeyong guessed the general direction of her question, the smirk fading.
"I have a proposal for you." He said, looking at her expectantly.
"I can help you get your voice back."
Silence.
Her eyes widened, her breath stuttering as she took a step back in surprise, before shaking her head.
He looked taken aback, furrowing his eyebrows. "You don't want your voice back?" He asked, confused.
You can't get it back. She scrawled on the forgotten notepad she had clutched in her hand. Whatever they did, they couldn't reverse it. If the makers couldn't heal me, you can't either.
"Is that so?" Taeyong arched an eyebrow. His tone was challenging, daring for her to put him to the test. "I have one of the best inventors on my side, Kim Rina." He said, and Rina could hear the pride bubbling under the pretense of explanation. "Yuta isn't utterly incompetent. One of the Bosses owns a hospital in the Capitol. I could take you there and have your throat fixed in an instant." He snapped his fingers for emphasis, leaning down to look at her. "I can even get you back your throne." He whispered, grinning.
She pushed him away with one finger on his shoulder, leaning back. He straightened up, running his fingers through his hair.
"Jaemin doesn't want to be King." Her body tensed at the sound of her little brother's name. She bit her lip, intrigued by the expression on Taeyong's face - an amalgamation of pity and sadness, which made her wonder what type of relation he had with the brown haired child she remembered.
"Johnny, obviously, doesn't want to either." He shrugged. "None of us want the King on the throne, and as someone who works in the King's Court," He gave her a pointed look. "I'd rather none of the other ministers sit on the throne either."
Which left one option: her. He wanted her to do it.
He wanted her to become queen.
But why?
He turned away. "I don't know much about you." He began. "None of us know you, and only a few of us trust you." He glanced at her. "But I'm willing to risk it."
She threw him a questioning look, and he sighed. "You weren't ever opposed to being the queen, were you?"
She briefly pondered it.
No, she never had been. Before her mother's death became the last push for her father to tip over the edge, straight into insanity, she could see herself helping her brother ruling the cities. Being the Queen didn't sound bad, until she learnt that she would have to become "perfect", she would have to become an NCT.
Chills ran down her spine as question struck her, jotting it down and passing it hesitantly to Taeyong.
Is Jaemin an NCT yet?
Taeyong looked briefly surprised, and then a pained expression crossed his previously stoic visage. "Not yet." He said lowly, crumpling the used paper in his fist. "But Hendery will force him to become King, because there is no one else left to. And then," His eyes were dark as he looked at her again. "The Kim Jaemin you know will be gone."
She bit her lip, gnawing at it with worry. He gestured for her to look to the horizon, perhaps in an attempt calm her. She complied, and for a few seconds that seemed to drag on for an eternity, she stood beside the taller, their contrasting hair fluttering in the wind as one.
She didn't know who Hendery was, she didn't know if any of the old ministers in the King's Court were still there, the kind ones who'd practically raised her. There was so many she didn't know, but the answers, and perhaps more questions, lay with the enigma of the man beside her and his little tight knit group.
If I'm the queen, she wrote steadily, glancing at Taeyong briefly before handing over the paper. Who will be my king?
His eyes widened fractionally, the corner of his lips quirking upwards. "You wouldn't need one, I think you're strong enough to rule without a King." He said, and she could sense the sincerity in his words, before a playful tone entered his voice. "But I suppose one was needed," His gaze suddenly turned sharp, fixated on her, making her feel like there was a blade to her throat, like she wasn't supposed to move, or she'd end up dead on the floor.
"I'd be your King."
Silence.
Her heart skipped a beat, whether from fear or something else, she couldn't tell. Her chest constricted until she finally forced herself to looked away, realising she'd been holding in a breath.
Her fingers felt numb as she struggled to uncap the pen, writing away her answer despite the weight of his gaze she felt on her.
Why would you help someone you don't even know you can't trust?
He let out a scoff. "Kim Rina, I work in the King's Court." He rolled his eyes. "I know snakes when I see one." His eyes looked her form up and down, and he continued. "You're have the potential, but you're a child. You know nothing of how to use your fangs or what they're even capable of."
She scowled at him, and he let out a soft laugh. "I'm going on a limb here, although I suppose that doesn't make me a very good leader," He said thoughtfully, the playfulness in this voice a stark contrast to the intimidating tone he'd been using previously.
A pause, before he said, "Do you know this quote, Rina? To be at the top-" She nodded, mouthing the remaining the words. "Is in our blood." He continued together, the syllables rolling off his tongue making up for lack thereof rolling off hers. Shivers went down her spine when she locked eyes with him. He smiled. " That sentence is a symbol of a Boss' power."
"To be at the top is in our blood, and it's in yours too. So be the queen they need you to be."
She stared at him for a long time, before she replied.
What's in it for you?
Taeyong laughed. "We rebuild the world the way we want to, then." He said, playing with edges of the paper absent mindedly. "I have no desire to sit on a throne and rule in the spotlight, but rather rule from the shadows." He arched an eyebrow at her, smirking. "That's what happens when you've had to live in hiding for most of your life."
I would just be a puppet.
Had she had her voice, she'd have danced around the question, playing to see what his intentions were, but paper and ink could run out, and every word was precious.
Her bluntness surprised him. Taeyong tilted his head, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Essentially, yes." He said, shrugging. "You get a say in things, but you know nothing about how the world has changed. You'd need us to help you," His cold gaze was on her, daring to her say otherwise, but she kept her expressions blank and body perfectly still. "You're clueless and uninformed, but that can be fixed. We're not enemies, Rina."
She licked her lips, watching as the sun slowly inched its way above the horizon, higher and higher into the lightening azure sky.
The moon was fading out of existence, a bright beacon that no longer existed as the sun emerged from behind a blanket of darkness and took the centre of the sky.
Her eyes followed the shadows that elongated in the presence of the bright star, everything illuminating as she basked in its rays. She glanced at Taeyong out of the corner of her eye, tanned skin glowing in the soft light.
He looked ethereal, unreal, unattainable. He looked like a leader, like royalty. She could never compare to that. She nothing more than a fleeting breeze, there one second and then invisible the next.
But she was free, no longer buried under cement.
And she could turn down the offer if she wanted to. She could run away from here, she could live in Neo City, she could be a normal person.
But he was right. She didn't know what was going on, she didn't know of her face would be plastered on papers across the streets, if guards were searching for her, if she could fit in. She didn't know anything.
But to make a decision like this? To accept help and to help people she didn't know?
Her heartbeat increased when she remembered Donghyuck. If she is was Queen, she could find him and make sure he was okay, maybe even release him from the time he had to serve as a guard.
She could keep Chittaphon safe, she could give Youngho a home - and if Jaemin wasn't King yet, she could prevent him from becoming an NCT. Thousands had died at the hands of the experiment, and just when they had thought they had got it right, they ruined her.
If they did the same to Jaemin, and if she knew that she had turned down the chance to save him, she'd hate herself. Was that what Youngho was working for?
There was so much she didn't know about these people, the small world within these walls, what went on with the King and in his Court, how palace life was. She didn't remember what Limitless looked like, and all she remembered about Neo City was tall buildings and bustling streets. Mad City was practically abandoned, not like the lunatic filled place she'd thought it would be, with drunkards staggering on the streets as killers sharpened their knives. And the Outside - she didn't even know what lay beyond those walls.
Taeyong was right. She was weak and clueless.
But at the same time, she wasn't. She'd survived countless attempts of people trying to touch her, kill her, destroy her out of anger of being thrown into prison for their crimes, but she had survived.
And she could change the world with the help of these people.
"It's a big decision," Taeyong said, keeping his eyes on her. "But there's a lot in it for you and for me. You'll become one of us, and you'll have a family. I won't deny that there is a lot of danger involved. You could get killed, and so could I. Nothing is invincible, whether human or robot."
"But we will try our best to keep you safe. The others may not all trust you, and it may take time before they do, but know that they will always protect you, and there will come a day when you'll be able to protect us too."
She turned to him, shallowly breathing, watching as his eyes raked over her whole form before locking gazes with her, and she felt something in her chest rear it's head - an ugly beast that snarled and roared, screaming to be let out of its confines of naivety and ignorance. She'd been surrounded by prison walls far too long, and now in the fresh morning air with dust flying around her and sunlight pouring on the two of them, she could let it experience freedom.
She could be free.
His eyes softened, and he reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from her face before his hand dropped to his side. He sighed, stepping back. He was scrutinising her, but there was nothing sharp or judgemental in his voice when he spoke. "You can make your decision later. It's a big one and I'd rather you not feel pressured-"
She cut him off by extending her hand.
He stared at it like it was a foreign object, raising his eyes to meet hers with a questioning look, realisation dawning upon him when she gave him a look.
"Are you sure?" He asked hesitatingly, and she nodded firmly.
A small smile wormed it's way onto his face, eyes turning into small crescents when she shook her hand.
She felt like she's signed an agreement with the devil, with fire dancing in her veins as his cold hand encircled her own. But she felt alright, and the icy determination she saw flickering in his brown orbs only further steeled her resolve.
She'd made a deal with devils and surrendered her heart, hoping she would find happiness in a world that was torn apart.
Deal.