Kris Wu wasn't particularly strong. Within his family of smugglers he was a bit of a black sheep because he was the only one who couldn't do anything amazing with his abilities alone. He couldn't force thoughts into other people's minds, he couldn't poison anyone through a simple touch, he couldn't break bones just by looking at them. He could fly, yes, but so could his family members because there were enough flying devices.
He was a child when he realized that he would have to use his brain like every other average citizen if he wanted to have success, so he tried to think of his intelligence as his major power. When he tried to imagine his future self, he figured that it wasn't really him who had to possess great powers. What he needed were people he could use who did.

When he used all the money he had to buy an old ship from one of his uncles, he knew that he just had to be smart about his crew. The first one he coerced into following him was Lay, his old friend he saved from bullies before. Lay wasn't really strong either but he could heal others and to Kris that was more essential than any aggressive powers.
The next one he got was his cousin Tao who could control time but who was known to be bratty and unreliable. Kris figured that Tao just never got a chance to prove himself and that he would eventually grow up. He knew him since young, so it was at least worth the try.

The next two persons he wasn't so sure about at first. Luhan and him used to attend the same school but that had never meant that they were friends. Luhan's family owned proper, legal businesses, his obviously got rich through dubious trade. He didn't think he would ever have any reason to ever even talk to him when Luhan suddenly approached him.
Kris had no idea what he was trying to escape from but it seemed quite urgent when Luhan begged him to take him and his servant in. He couldn't even offer much money, just their powers and loyalty.
It was pity that made him agree and at first he regretted it. He knew that Luhan's power was telekinesis and although that certainly was quite practical, did he not think that he actually needed it in an age of machines. His servant Xiumin meanwhile was incredibly strong but could only use his power as offense. He could freeze things but then he couldn't unfreeze them and often destroyed them while he was at it.

He didn't think the whole thing would work but when he tried to think of ways to make the best of the situation, he realized that power maybe wasn't everything after all. Luhan and Xiumin were relatively useless in the common sense, but Luhan was well-educated and Xiumin was foreign, things most ship crews usually disregarded.

What Kris originally had in mind was to smuggle goods but then he remembered the summer a few years ago he had spent on his uncle's ship. Back then he had specialized in dealing with Korean slaves. He went to their country, offered to smuggle them out and then sold them off elsewhere. It really was an easy deal because Korean Special Citizens, as they were called there, usually really were extremely desperate to get out. They blindly trusted anyone who gave them even the slightest hope and were generally easy to sell. To buyers outside Koreans were like rare animals, exactly because it was so hard to even get them out of their country in one piece.

Still, to Kris the whole business had just seemed like a hassle. Riots, suicides and slaves that didn't find a buyer were rather common and it was hard to find decent candidates because the ones who wanted to flee weren't automatically the ones who would bring decent profits. Many of them were malnourished or ill to begin with, others just were crazy or wanted by the police. It was hard to pick out any good ones.
But then he began to wonder whether the whole slave trading business maybe wasn't exactly the kind of thing his crew would be perfect for. Most ships hired strong, dull people and often didn't even have proper translators. But he now had people who seemed friendly and harmless, who not only knew two languages but also how to talk well.
Maybe it just was his fate to be smart and to try to make the best out of whatever he had.

He was of course worried that Xiumin in particular wouldn't agree but Xiumin just shrugged and said that it was Luhan's decision.
It was odd. Xiumin was a pretty agreeable fellow. He did what he was told and always tried his hardest, as if he was just a robot programmed to function.
Kris didn't really know what kind of compassion he was expecting but he himself probably wouldn't have felt comfortable to sell off people from his country. But Xiumin only actually seemed Korean when he spoke the language, as if it just was part of that program in his head. It was maybe because he had been in Luhan's family since young but it was still almost scary sometimes how little he seemed to care.

Exactly because Xiumin was so helpful though, Kris became a little reckless.
They occasionally got their slaves from the death row candidates Korea sold to save costs and make money. It was really a nice system. You could just go there, pick the ones you like and bid for them. Most of them were guaranteed to make a good prize in the end because they were usually strong and violent but with the horrendous charges the police charged for them, there barely was any profit left for the ones who sold them.
Whenever there was an auction Kris still went there of course, just to see if he could make a bargain.
It was in situations like those when Xiumin really prove to be a real asset. The police always published the complete personal and criminal record of every prisoner but always only in Korean. Even with translation software those records often didn't make full sense, so it was always good to have someone who could actually understand them. Whenever there was an auction it was Xiumin he took, never really wondering whether there might be a problem about it.

It was during one of the auctions when he was aimlessly walking along the rows of prisoners. They had recently sold a batch of slaves to the Killing Games, that ridiculous reality show about people with powers who killed each other until only one of them was left, so they didn't really need any of the brutal criminals. He was mostly looking at the common terrorists and thieves, every now and then asking Xiumin to translate some things for him. There was a particular type of person he was looking for.

He had the thought for a while now. Personally he didn't really care about nationality or gender. The only reason why he hadn't hired a woman yet was that they were largely powerless. And the foreigner on his ship really was a great help. Other ships only trusted their own but Kris' success obviously prove that his way wasn't wrong. So he began to think that it maybe would have been advantegeous to have a second Xiumin, possibly someone who looked decent, spoke Chinese and whose power was useful. They could plant him among the other slaves or just widen the search when they were looking for new people.
It was only a thought and he hadn't shared it yet with any of the others, so for now he just kept looking around to see if there was someone who fit his requirements.

Xiumin didn't know of course, so he put his focus on powers and the crimes the prisoners had committed.
"This one can stretch his skin," he said as he stopped in front of a thin bald guy and stared at the reader in his hands. "He suffocated a policeman to death by pulling the skin of his neck above the poor guy's head."
Kris looked at the guy who seemed to be drugged and snorted.
"Pity he's too late for the Games. That skill would bring good ratings," he said and moved on.
Xiumin followed behind.

"What about this one?" Kris asked and nodded his head in the direction of a young pitiful guy. He looked about right. Unremarkable, not particularly good-looking, obedient. Exactly the kind of person that wouldn't sell but that could perhaps make a decent subordinate.
Xiumin gave him a doubtful look but browsed the guy's file anyway.
"He can turn invisible," Xiumin finally said while standing a step behind Kris. He always knew his place, so he never actually stood right next to any of the Chinese members. Kris figured that he probably didn't even think of himself as equal to them but as Luhan's slave. Kris didn't meant for things to become that way but there also wasn't much he could have done about it.
"Oh," Xiumin suddenly said and pulled a face.
"What?" He looked at the reader despite knowing that it was no use to him. All he could read were the names if they had Chinese characters.
"Well, as I said, he can turn invisible," Xiumin explained and looked genuinely sick. "So that's what he did. And then he broke into a few houses of normal people and several women."
Kris shook his head as he walked on. There were always cases in which people who looked useless actually prove themselves to be exactly that. Although it probably was stupid of him to think that an inconspicuous guy among a crowd of criminals could be any good.

The next guy already had a small crowd around him. When Kris pushed past the others to take a look, he saw a guy who was arguing with a guard.
Kris understood some very basic Korean, so he figured that it was something about a name or something like that. The guy kept repeating what sounded like his name when the policeman grew tired of it, hit his head with a stick and ushered the spectators away.
"What was that about?" Kris asked.
They stood in front of the guy who seemed very much fed up with his situation and Xiumin looked almost amused. "He complained that all the Chinese keep laughing at him while saying something rude he doesn't understand."
"I thought he said his name," Kris frowned and looked at the file. "Piao Canlie."
It was then that the guy started an aggressive self-introduction Kris only understood in parts. His power was fire, he didn't kill anyone and he probably was crazy. Kris would have moved on right away if not for Xiumin who suddenly started to act weird.

Piao Canlie, or Park Chanyeol, didn't seem very bright because he misunderstood the Chinese buyers' mispronunciation of his name as an insult.
He was an arsonist but he hadn't killed anyone. Still, fire was always popular among customers looking for strong slaves. The makers of the Games probably would have paid a nice price for him.
Apart from that he looked quite all right, so if not as a fighter, he would have easily sold as a slave for some random ert. They could have easily hidden the arsonist part.
Still, no matter how much sense it made rationally, it didn't really explain Xiumin's extreme interest. Xiumin who usually just read the data and gave remarks on whether or not he thought a candidate would make any profits, actually seemed to care.

And it was maybe that's why that Kris suddenly became too rash. Xiumin finding an interest into someone probably meant something. He was pretty good in choosing useful people.
That Piao Canlie also did have a useful power and the fact that he didn't kill anyone with it probably meant that he was a good person. So maybe he didn't speak Chinese, there were two people who could help him learn the language.
It all really made sense and Kris thought, no he knew, that he was making the right decision.

At least until the moment he realized how much money he had just been spending on his new crew member, a dopey tall guy who was helplessly looking at Xiumin.

Ugh, I hope this wasn't too boring to read because it's like 60% recycled. This is mostly supposed to be another introductory chapter, that's why I reused to many paragraphs. But from now on the story is going to take another turn (or rather... the turn I didn't reach in Escape). :D