Letters from the Void // ASTRO ✔

Chapter 20

Rocky couldn't stay still when he watched the building from afar, biting his lips as he saw the guards standing near the entrance. He had placed the call, executing the plan as Moon Bin had instructed him. He studied the clock near the traffic light and noted that it was 9:00 a.m. How long did he have to hold on?

His eyes flickered to the entrance when he saw a girl, whom he had never seen before, but was well informed on who she was. Quietly, he crept along the wall surrounding the building of the pharmaceutical company. After making sure he was well-hidden, he just waited as the girl turned the corner and spotted him. He motioned for her to follow him, to make sure they weren't being spied on. When there was only the two of them in the alleyway, they crouched behind a trashcan just for extra measures.

"Go Areum, right? We got the message you left under the sink in the room both of you used to stay at. That's a very weird place to reach out to us," Rocky looked at the older girl, "But a genius move."

"I just wanted to help prove Taehyung innocent. When I was offered the chance to hunt him down at the Void, I knew it was an opportunity for me to help while still being trusted by Yoo Youngjae. Even though that means making Taehyung believed that I betrayed him," she looked down, the pain behind her eyes visible. "I guess it was just luck; I didn't know whether my message would be read by anyone. In fact, there could be a chance it could be washed away before anyone would come to the rescue."

"Don't worry, we will explain everything to him," he put out his hand, a commander on it. "But first, we have something to do."

He summoned the screen, and the both of them huddled side by side, focusing on the pop-up window. She placed the chip on an empty space just above the keyboard, a prompt popped up, asking what she wanted to do. She typed something quickly before she read the lines on the screen one by one. She entered the Web and looked for the correct website. "Got it." Another screen popped up and Rocky caught the words 'broadcasting live' on the screen. Below it was a scene in the room where the four of them were held captive.

"He's a genius but he's so full of himself. That's his weakness," Areum muttered, before typing something again. "Something is wrong with his head; he never felt guilty for what he did and thought that he was doing everyone a favour. If he wants to brag..." She typed something again, "Then let him show the whole world and let the people decide about what they think about it."

While Areum had her head down in the room, and while Youngjae was busying himself with his new captives, she had quietly placed the small camera on the trolley, angled so that everything can be viewed, including the operating table in the middle of the room and the captives who were being held up by their hands. It was a risky move, but she had made it out of the building safely. This was a plan she had constructed; while communicating with whoever had the same mission as her –which happened to be Moon Bin and Rocky who visited the Void- through a note pasted on the bottom of the sink. She had explained every layout, every plan to make sure it goes smoothly.

Through the video, they could see every evil deed Youngjae did. Him injecting some kind of liquid into Eunwoo –which had Rocky covering his mouth in shock-, him confessing clearly to what he just did to Haeun's parents –and Rocky's mother- and lastly, him beating down the heavy metal sphere on Eunwoo's arms. Rocky flinched as he saw his partner in the kitchen, whimpering pitifully before fainting. That was definitely a green light for him to set the plan in action.

He took control of the commander once again, with Areum looking on. They nodded to each other as he dialed the number Moon Bin gave him. There was one ring as the receiver at the other end picked up the call almost as quickly.

"Dispatch your team, NOW!" Rocky shouted to his commander.

There was a distant agreement as the receiver hung up the call. Both of them stood up; they saw that the team of police officers marched through the entrance, pushing back the guards who were unable to block the oncoming flood of police officers.

He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but his mind wandered back to the owner of the restaurant.

Did he make it?

***

When the beating came to an end, Eunwoo lost consciousness. All he saw was the sight of his bleeding arms and the evil face of Yoo Youngjae. His vision turned dark as his body fell limply to the floor; he swore he could hear Haeun calling his name but he couldn't respond. Why did he feel so sleepy? All he wanted to do was just forget about everything and close his eyes...

"You forgot one person," Moon Bin declared. "You call yourself a genius but you couldn't even lay out a plan properly."

"Oh really," Youngjae mocked him while wiping the blood off his hands. "I did?"

"That's why you don't go around betraying people, because one day you're going to find yourself being stabbed in the back," Moon Bin spat. "You're an idiot to think that you're going to get away with this. You just confessed to the whole country, you asshole."

An alarm thundered through the whole room as the door was broken down and a group of police officers, with some carrying guns and wearing bulletproof vests, flooded the room. The turn of events was happening so fast, Youngjae found himself forced down on the table with his hands cuffed behind his back. The guards standing in front of the door wanted to scramble to safety, but it seemed like they weren't programmed on how to run away. The three of them were brought down, and Haeun quickly went over to inspect her brother.

He shook his head, "Get Cha Eunwoo."

Haeun couldn't stop her tears from flowing as he cradled Eunwoo in her arms, asking him to wake up. Moon Bin lowered his ear to hear Eunwoo's breathing and slapped his fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse. He bit his lips when he couldn't find what he was looking for, afraid to look at Taehyung and Haeun. He tried to remain calm as possible, but she noticed that he was visibly panicking.

"Moon Bin," she said slowly. "Cha Eunwoo..."

Taehyung didn't stay beside him longer as he scrambled to get up and snatched the specimen tube quickly. When he couldn't find the label, he cursed before setting back the specimen tube onto the trolley. He saw Youngjae being escorted outside, but before he stepped outside, he ran to the man who was once his partner and the senior he once respected. He punched him, causing Youngjae's head to snap to the right. He was stopped by the police officers, preventing him from landing another punch.

"What is it? TELL ME YOU BASTARD!" he shouted as he was pulled back, but he felt a sob stuck at the back of his throat.

Youngjae smirked, before asking the police officers to take him away. "Aren't you a genius? Figure it out yourself."

"You're an animal," Taehyung added. "No, you're worse than one."

"Oh, I am?" Youngjae ran his tongue over his teeth.

A team of paramedics sped past him, bringing themselves to Haeun and Moon Bin. One of them went straight to Eunwoo, searching for his pulse as they tried to stop the bleeding of his arms. Haeun refused their offer to treat her, as she was only worried about Cha Eunwoo, who remained silent and unmoving. The paramedics wanted to take Eunwoo from her, but she refused before her brother came and put a hand on her arm, asking her to release her grip.

Moon Bin could feel his heartbeat increasing as the paramedics did their procedure once again.

Taehyung knew about his wound across his stomach, but right now all he felt was numbness.

Haeun gripped her sweatshirt tightly and looked at her shoes, the gift from him.

The three of them focused mainly on the paramedic, waiting for the outcome. The paramedic slowly looked at them one by one, before taking a deep breath. She shook her head gently.

Moon Bin let out a huge breath before shouting in frustration.

Taehyung closed his eyes and silently cursed at himself. It was his fault.

Haeun cried her heart out.

There was no pulse. Cha Eunwoo didn't make it. Cha Eunwoo was dead.