Letters from the Void // ASTRO ✔

Chapter 9

The week went by in a flash; it was finally Saturday and Haeun found herself bowing to the last customers of the day. She had successfully avoided Rocky by sticking only to the main area of the restaurant; she didn't even dare to come close to the kitchen. Moon Bin and Sanha didn't question her decision; instead they were happy to help her by delivering the food to the customers. She stuck with presenting the menus and cleaning up the tables once they left. Jin Jin seemed to loosen a bit with her, since she would occasionally obtain the bills from him, or when she was putting back the menus beside the cashier. Still, he didn't completely warm up to her.

"Hyung, I think we're out of tissues!" Sanha shouted from the back room.

"I'll go and buy them," Eunwoo offered and took off his apron. "Wait for me before going home. It's dangerous for you to walk alone," Eunwoo added while looking at Haeun. She only nodded, heat rising to her face.

"Oooh, what do we have here?" MJ put his arm around Eunwoo's neck. "Now that's a gentleman. Haeun, don't you think you're falling in love with Eunwoo? Moon Bin, you better step up your game- Ouch!" MJ released the headlock and rubbed his stomach at the part where Eunwoo pinched him.

Eunwoo stepped forward, embarrassed.

"Yah, Eunwoo, wait for me! I need to get something from the store, too!" MJ tailed Eunwoo.

"Don't mind whatever he said. That hyung likes to joke around," Moon Bin muttered.

Haeun nodded again, uncomfortable when she's being the centre of the attention. She patted her cheeks, hoping that they weren't red. Eunwoo had done nothing except confusing her. Is it right to fall for him? Her mind wandered back to the familiar yet foreign face scattered around the city, wondering whether she had any kind of relationship with the guy named Kim Taehyung. It would be possible, right? Since he was the one who made her into a cyborg. Half human, half robot.

"I think I'll be going home now," Jin Jin announced. He pressed some buttons on the cash register; the surface of the counter split into half and the cash register descended into the space, before the counter returned into one piece. Putting on his wireless headphones, he nodded slightly to Moon Bin and Haeun. Well, that's something new.

"Be careful on your way, hyung!" Sanha shouted, still at the back. She didn't even know what he's doing.

Jin Jin raised up his hand to press the button beside the door, but the door opened up even before he managed to do it. Haeun and Moon Bin looked directly at the front door, expecting MJ and Eunwoo to enter. It wasn't the two team members; instead five uninvited guests burst into the restaurant, with the first person in line pushing Jin Jin with his tattooed hand. Jin Jin staggered backwards, hitting his waist at the corner of a table.

"Park Jinwoo, it's nice meeting you here," he sneered, his breath reeking of alcohol. "Say, are you going to pay up, or not?"

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" Moon Bin stood up, leveling his eyes with the person with the tattooed hand. "You better get out before-" He reached out his hand and punched Moon Bin in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards. The guy roared with laughter as Moon Bin hit his head against a chair, collapsing with a faint thud.

"Moon Bin!" Haeun rushed to his side, wiping off the blood at the corner of his mouth with her sleeve. He closed his eyes in pain, and rubbed the back of his head where it hit the chair.

"If you don't want to get involved with this mess, then I suggest the rest of you to go out from here. We're only dealing with this guy," he announced, grabbing helpless Jin Jin by the collar. Jin Jin was dragged forward, his body unable to fight back. The tattooed guy and his four lackeys gathered to the side, as if giving way for them to go out.