Letters from the Void // ASTRO ✔

Chapter 12

It was a Sunday and it was a holiday for them; Eunwoo's restaurant, or 'ASTRO', always had a day off on Sunday. Moon Bin's call had come through Rocky's commander after that Saturday night, and he had wanted to watch Rocky do his martial arts training. So he did show up at Rocky's apartment, happy that he was just on time as Rocky walked through the door, clutching his taekwondo uniform and munching on a piece of bread as his breakfast. After the training, now they're making their way to a barbecue restaurant, eager to get their dose of barbecued meat after a week of work. The streets were crowded as usual; but instead of office attire people were dressed more casually and they're surrounded by their friends or families.

Moon Bin and Rocky were drowned by the throng of people, and they got lost a few times before they managed to point out the new restaurant, which just opened last week. It was in a different district, but they decided to give it a try since they wanted to try something new.

Both of them stood in front of the new restaurant, ready to enter the building. The interior of the restaurant was modern; overhead lights suspended in mid-air, while the choices of meat available on the menu rolled across the ceiling of the unit, decorating the otherwise white ceiling with words and numbers. Most people there were with their family, spending the weekend together before going back to school or work tomorrow. Two of them walked over to the table against the left wall, taking seats opposite each other. The area on the table, beside the grill, displayed a screen, which they could order from. Moon Bin tapped on the screen, activating it. It displayed the exact same menu as the one decorating the white ceiling, and it took them a while to agree to what they're going to have for lunch.

When the menu was sent, Moon Bin looked at Rocky, who was busy glancing at his wallet.

Moon Bin chuckled, "Are you worried you're going to have to pay? Don't worry, this lunch is on me."

Rocky was startled; he wasn't even looking at his money nor he was worried about paying. He was actually looking at the picture of him and Taehee, still wondering whether he was being delusional. "Hyung-" he straightened up, tucking his wallet into his bag on the chair beside him. "Do you think that it's possible for someone who's dead to come back alive, using a different name and completely losing their memories?" He laid his palms flat on the table.

"What is this friend talking about? Did you hit your head when you were fighting yesterday?" the older guy chortled, unable to capture Rocky's solemnity.

"Hyung, I'm not joking. I'm serious about it," Rocky balled his fists, his eyebrows creasing and his lips pressed into a thin line.

The older one was startled; he really thought he was joking. He cleared his throat, sat up straighter before tapping his fingers onto the table. "I guess it's possible..."

"How is it possible?" Rocky didn't miss a beat; he felt that he was just wasting time if he kept quiet.

"Have you ever heard of cyborgs? With even greater technology nowadays, converting a human into a half-robot would be possible. But, we can't bring someone back from the dead. That's impossible-" Moon Bin eyed Rocky, who was focusing fully on him, "Though if someone was badly injured; then a procedure can be done to make them be able to use their own body again, which I think it's completely possible. Well, as they say it's for reconstructive purposes. I'm not sure about losing their memories after the procedure, though." He pursed his lips, telling the young man opposite him that he was done talking.

"So she didn't die..." Rocky muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Moon Bin turned to look at the android delivering their drinks before focusing back on the guy opposite him. When Rocky waved him away, he took a sip from his drink before continuing, "How long have you learnt taekwondo for?" He changed the topic as he swirled the drink with the straw.