𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 ☻ | NS.R

18 | Taxi!

He nodded back. “Let’s go”

“Let me see it” Hyerin let out as the two walked side by side out of the library.

“What?” Riki sounded.

The girl scoffed. “The tag, you idiot!”
He scoffed and then handed the item in his hand over to her, she immediately grabbed it, observing it carefully.

She raised an eyebrow. “Eternity Tools?”

It wasn’t exactly a tag, rather a piece of cardboard like paper that was usually attached to tools gotten from that specific store. Something like branding.

“It’s the name of a tool shop,” Riki explained, “I already found out where it is so we can go and check there for anything”

Hyerin nodded, slightly impressed. “It must be where the killer bought whatever weapon they used to kill them”

They made it onto the streets and walked to the nearest bus stop.

“Where exactly is it?” She questioned the boy as they continued to stroll.

“Number 15, Seo-Ril Avenue…” He answered straight away.

“Oh? That isn’t too far from here-” Hyerin turned her head, both still walking.

“...Pyogang” He finished his sentence, making her come to a stop.

“What?!” She spieled, “That’s a neighboring city!”

“Yeah, I obviously know that,” Riki rolled his eyes, “The killer must have chosen a place farther away on purpose”

“That’s like an hour bus drive!” Hyerin run her hands through her hair.

They both sighed and stood at the bus stop, probably even regretting their choices.

As they stood, more and more people came along, clearly making the two introverts uncomfortable.

“We could take this bus and stay with all these… people,” Hyerin began, “Or, we could take a taxi and get there even faster”

They stayed silent for not more than ten seconds before turning to each other.

“Taxi” They simultaneously nodded and agreed to use a cab to get all the way the Pyogang.

Wow, was that better.

They were then seated in the backseat of a taxi cab, haven given the driver the name of the store they had to go to.

“Pyogang is a really nice place to spend time with each other, you two seem like a lovely couple” The driver smiled, still keeping his eyes on the road before him.

Their faces dropped, what was it with everyone assuming they were a couple?

“No…” Hyerin dragged the word, “It’s not like that, we aren’t together”

The driver gasped. “My apologies, you really looked as if you were”

Hyerin then let out an awkward chuckle and they continued with their drive.

After about less than half an hour, they stopped right in front of the tool shop they had been looking.

“You pay” Riki jawed, immediately hopping out of the vehicle.

“Hey!” She yelled, but he already slammed the car door shut, “That boy”

She paid, thanked the driver and left as well.

Catching up to Riki who stood waiting for her in front of the shop, she spectated her surroundings.

The store was on the smaller side, it didn’t seem to be a big business.

They walked in, their eyes still roaming around everywhere.

There were a lot of tools and appliances decked out every corner of the store. The prices were also very affordable.

“Welcome to Eternity Tools, how may I help you?” A lady, who didn’t look too old, behind the counter greeted the customers as they walked in.

“Is there anything specific you’re looking for?” She asked, making the two to look at each other briefly, not knowing exactly what to say.

“Uh- we were wondering if anyone… suspicious came around here like three weeks ago,” Riki explained, “There’s a kill-”

Before he could finish that sentence, Hyerin nudged him, maybe a bit too hard.
He couldn’t just go around telling everyone that a murderer was loose in their town.

“Do you guys have something like a register here?” Hyerin inquired, deciding it would be best for her to do the talking, “Where the information of people who bought things would be in or something”

“Yeah, we do-” The cashier nodded, before stopping herself, “Wh- why do you ask, Are you guys from the police?”

“Uhm…” They turned to each other, no explanations coming to mind.

“We are not doing anything illegal! We- we’re following all the rules!” She panicked.

“No- no,” Hyerin flayed her hands, “Can we just see the register then… please?”

“A- alright” She agreed, reaching down for a book and passing it to the two, “But it doesn’t say the item a customer bought, if that’s what you’re looking for!”

Hyerin collected the book from her hands. “Thankyou”

“Flip to three weeks ago” Riki intoned.
The girl rolled her eyes. “I am aware of that”

Then, they began to search for any familiar names at all for some time.

Riki traced his finger down the log to make the process faster.

“Huh?” Hyerin softly gasped, “Did I read that wrong?”

Riki pursed his lips on seeing the name that she saw too.

He looked at her shaken state, it was obvious she couldn’t believe what she read.

“Excuse me?” She looked up at the cashier, “This name, right here”
The cashier nodded. “Wh- what about it?”

“Was it a girl? Do you know what she looked like?” Hyerin’s eyes shook vigorously.

“I… I don’t know, this was more than two weeks ago and we’ve had a lot of customers since then” The lady explained as Hyerin brushed her hands through her hair.

“She- she has short black hair? She’s a bit taller than me…?” Hyerin described Dabin, trying to make sure with the cashier if it was actually her.

After all, she did read her name there.
“Did she happen to have a mole under her eye?” The cashier questioned, making Hyerin gasp.

“Y- yes… yes, she did” Hyerin muttered, finally getting the explanation she needed.

They thanked her and left the shop, quickly getting another cab and heading back to their own town.

During the car drive, Hyerin was as quiet as ever… more quiet than usual.

Her eyes darted around everywhere, even though there was nothing to look at. Her lips quivered and she cracked her knuckles every other minute.

On the other hand, Riki didn’t know what to do.

Of course, he suspected her at first, but seeing her in person and knowing how much Hyerin trusted her, he did have somewhat of a change of mind.

But the records had proven everything.