Letters from the Void // ASTRO ✔

Chapter 44

"Think, Taehyung. Think. Where could they possibly hide your sister?" Taehyung mumbled to himself as he alighted the vehicle, sweeping the area around him for any possible clues. His head felt jammed, trying to piece together the clue they had received. When nothing came to mind, he turned to his acquaintances, hoping one of them might have figured something out. Moon Bin was the last one to alight the vehicle after turning off the engine. He rolled up his sleeves and put his hands to his hips, clearly showing that he was feeling hot.

"The air here is definitely different," Sanha let out an unhelpful comment, and the rest of them ignored him.

Taehyung narrowed his eyes, taking in every single layout of The Void. He had been in this area for quite a while to know every nook and cranny, so he tried to link the clue to his sister's possible whereabouts.

"The second part of the riddle wasn't literal," Areum commented. "The first part might not be too. It's not literally gold in water."

Jin Jin cocked his head a little to the left, when something struck him and he snapped his fingers. "Gold in water..." He let his sentence hang in the air to create some suspense. When he received a glare from Eunwoo for letting his silence linger for too long, he quickly finished his sentence. "Gold in water is a goldfish."

There was a silence before Sanha added, "Eh? It's that simple?"

"Think about it, I think that Lee Jinah girl is pretty smart but she's gotta have something simple for us to understand. It's something straightforward," Jin Jin offered.

"But she could've written it straight away. Her exact location without giving us riddles," Sanha scratched his head.

"Then that would mean her father's lackeys finding out about her plan, you idiot," Jin Jin rolled his eyes, as if disappointed that Sanha couldn't get the point. "They might've just dismiss it as one of her works. I've seen her opened book; it was full of riddles and poems. I think she wrote it all herself."

"It's pretty sad how she has all that talent but couldn't express it due to her father," Moon Bin suddenly said under his breath.

"What?" Eunwoo questioned.

"Nothing. Let's get going. We have someone to save. We need to know where this 'goldfish' is."

"Is it a pet store?" Areum said. "They sell goldfish don't they?"

Eunwoo turned to Taehyung, who was creasing his forehead. "You stayed here for long, do you recall any pet stores around here?"

Taehyung stuck out his lower lip, but he regretfully shook his head. "People here don't have the time to own pets. There used to be one in The Void, but ever since this area is left behind in all the technological developments, nobody even cared to own a pet anymore. I've seen the shop- or what's remaining of it. It's completely demolished, so I don't think there would be any space to hide Taehee. Plus, there are a lot of stray cats and dogs here. No need for pets." As if to illustrate his point, there was a distant bark which sent a chill down their spines.

"Okay, no pet stores. Any other ideas?" Areum looked around.

"Wait a minute," Moon Bin put up a hand, like a child wanting to grab the teacher's attention. All heads turn to him, waiting for him to speak his mind. "When Rocky and I-" he stopped for a split second at the mention of Rocky's name, but continued with a tightened throat, "-went here to find Taehyung, I remember vaguely a place with the word 'Goldfish' in it. I don't remember what building it is and where it is, though." He finished with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Goldfish..." Taehyung repeated the name in his head, racking his brains to find the missing link. "Ahhh..." He closed his eyes when the memory he wanted came to him one by one. "There's a Goldfish daycare here, but it is completely abandoned. A perfect hideout." He didn't say anything else, and motioned them to follow him. They obediently followed, on the way to save Kim Taehee.