(pic for reference! Just imagine they're black :))

Did she want to die? She kept asking herself, over and over. She sat obediently in the car as proof that she wanted to live and didn’t make a fuss over being kidnapped. Ten had reversed the car out of the garage with ease. Ella had observed his skills—Ten, after shifting the gear in reverse, placed his hand on the back of her seat as he turned his head to look at the back after shifting into drive, he grabbed the hat that laid on his lap and held it in her direction.

“Here,”

Ella took the hat and toyed with it, not bothering to put it on. It was a cute hat really, it was black and denim-ripped.

“I’m a deviant. Why would I need to put it on?”

“Because unless you want the both of us to die tonight, I don’t see much option you have Miss Ella Lee,” Ten countered as he concentrated on the road before him. He was an experienced driver from what she could tell. He had his right hand in the 12 o’ clock position with his other arm on the armrest of the door.

Everything was happening too fast. One minute he acted like he wanted to kill her, and suddenly he didn’t. Ella kept silent. What more could she say other than “Okay”? She just knew from the prince-like way he carried himself that he could slit right now and would still drive the car as if he was in no rush to get to his destination. Ella shoved such deathly thoughts away and resorted to looking out the windows to pass time, wherever their destination was. Outside, the sun had began to set with the skyscrapers becoming a mirage of blood, a bruising purple, and an enamerous blue. On Ten’s side, there were the floating buses and trains whirring by, painting an array of lights—from a soft, baby blue to an angry and ripe sky and everything in between. A touch of electricity, yellow.

“So I suppose you would like to know what, why, when, and how,” Ten started, eyes still focused.

“About damn time,” Ella muttered. Ten casted her a side glance before continuing.

“Yes. I know your name is Ella Lee, and I know about how you buried your parents in the backyard. I know about how you sold your body for years until you took up car building and racing,”

So the bastard knew all along.

“The day you were supposed to die… your executioners were not from the government,” never would Ten imagine he would be talking to someone past their death date.

“I’m supposed to be d—”

“You’re not very bright for a car chick, huh” he tsked.

“Yes, again, you’re supposed to be dead. And I am—was—supposed to kill you,” his tone had a crack. It shook as he said the last two words. It wasn’t fair. Suddenly, the sky seemed richer in warmth of various hues of orange, yellow, but mostly, red. She could feel her heartbeats in her ears. She was in danger, she had to be. She could roll out the car and suffer severe road rash and die a slow death, or she could have it end so quickly by his hand. She just didn’t know how powerful he was. She could feel her heartbeat beating in her ears and rested her thumb on the seatbelt latch just in case.

“But because I am the government everyone does not see, I decide who lives and who dies. Deviants and NCTzens all know I exist. They will never know me by my name or my face my shadow. Only you will have that opportunity, Miss Ella Lee,” the hot colors were no longer inside the car. They were on her cheeks.

She opened to speak, but it came out as a gasp for air to rise above the crashing waves the ocean below the highway contained. Perhaps the road wasn’t such a bad place to die after all. Someone could always run her over, or maybe even Ten. It was strange though, no one seemed to be in the lane that Ten was in.

“Why… why me?” Ella grew the courage to look at him. No response.

She began to repeat herself again, “Why—”

“You’re connected to a larger problem, Ella.”

“Somebody wants you dead. But I’m sure you already knew that thanks to that loud mouth of a Xiǎo dì,” he said simply.

“And it’s not even me,” he muttered quietly.

The sky fluctuated once more—now a baby pink with an explosion of fire coursing through the sky’s canvas.

Ella looked at him knowingly, “That still doesn’t answer my question,”

“Yes it does,” he retorted.

Ella opened to speak to only be beaten by Ten but countered him quickly as she talked over him.

“If someone wants me dead, then aren’t they doing the government a favor?”

“That’s not how it works,” Ten sighed.

“Then tell me how does it work?”

“The government is the only one allowed to carry out executions. Someone who wants you dead and trying to play the role of SM is a no-no. Happy?” He felt annoyed by her constant staring. His collar was beginning to grow hot, but he wouldn’t show her that.

Ella ignored his question, “Where are we going?” Ten raised a brow, “To answer more of your questions,” He casually made a slight turn of the wheel that made it look like he was purposefully going to crash the car. However, all that happened was a large BOOM and the sound of air forcing the car onto an invisible road towards the beach.

“Woah woah woah. WHY are we FLOATING??!” Ella leaned back in her seat as far as possible, gripping the center console and armrest as she did so. This completely defied the law of physics and gravity. Whatever was beneath them was solid, though, as if they were driving on a road. How was this possible?

Ten only smiled, “You said you wanted answers, and I’m telling you them one by one,”

Ella felt herself become lightheaded and closed her eyes and pressed her head to the center of her forehead to relieve some pressure.

“Don’t you know this is a 911 Turbo S!? This is a really nice car Ten-“ and suddenly, the car was in park and the sound of the ocean waves were in distance. Ella opened one eye to view her surroundings. Black rocks were by Ten’s side of the car while the rest of the beach on her side with a dip from the highway.

“Quick, put the hat on,” Ten said as he fiddled with the car’s controls before turning the engine entirely off. He had set perimeters up that further disguised the car and Ella and himself. She grumbled about putting the hat on, Ten not noticing she had finally put it on and stepped out of the car.

“It is beautiful out here,” she commented, wanting to kill the awkward silence that was upon them once again.

“It’s very rare for such a sky to be so vibrant in so many different colors,” he kicked the sand forward as he walked.

“Do you ever wonder why there is an ‘us’ versus an ‘other’?” Ten asked, looking up to the sky.

“I’m a deviant. Of course I do,” Ella scoffed. She really had no idea where he was going with this.

He ignored her, “Why there are the slums versus our society? Why I can do things no one else can, including you?”

“I thought that was already established when I said you were crazy for trying to crash the car,”

“Well, do you just ever wonder wonder, why? Why is it that we live in a world where difference is looked down upon, yet the government uses it?”

Her brows furrowed, “What?”

“Us Governors, Miss Ella Lee, were once deviants too. Trained nearly to death to promote equality for all as some sort of sick punishment. So tell me, why?”

Ella was silent. She had no answer. Although she agreed and noticed the hypocrisy too, she came up short for an answer.

They walked quietly towards the end of the beach, each looking out towards the ocean what what seemed like eternity until Ten muttered, “I miss my friends.” There was no way he could have possibly meant s at base.

“You have friends?” Ella blurted, not meaning to sound condescending.

“Yes, I have friends,” he glared, turning back to face the ocean. The wind delicately brisked through Ella’s hair while they said nothing again. Ten must’ve been a man of few words. Though, the guilt rippled through Ella and she apologized, “Sorry for bruising your ego…”

Ten only sarcastically chuckled, “Sure. Let’s go. I want to show you something else,”

Just earlier in the day, Ten was like the devil, mocking all the things she did it seemed/ Now, he was a human, someone present in this world who had questions and differences unlike the city of WayV. He had friends too, whoever they were.

“Where are we going?” Ella asked as she buckled herself in, cringing at the sand that managed to make its way inside the car.

“China,”

She looked at him as if he had grown three heads, “This car can take us to China? The specs on this car are 206 miles per hour Ten. We are a good—at least 500 miles away,”

Ten reclined the back of his seat for the ride, “It’s just an hour and a half with the bubble. What you saw today was the real world. That sunset doesn’t exist in WayV’s world. SM created an alternate world dimension, so to speak, that allows us to travel in the real world. Chenle just so happened to manipulate a few things to create a bubble of our own to be undetected which is why I told you to put the hat on. The bubble doesn’t recognize you because you’re not in the database,”

How much was real and how much was fake? Ella only nodded. Asking any more questions related to what she saw would certainly confuse her more but she just had to ask, “Why… why does SM want me dead?” Ten had only pressed the start bu