Even if I used the best metaphors from the recesses of my vocabulary, Suho and Baekhyun wouldn’t understand the scale of this project. ‘Black Pearl’ was a landmark in the history of Asian photography, one of the major reasons being that it tied in cultural, geographical and social expansions of boundaries. Before this photograph Mr. Byun was just an artist. Once the ‘Black Pearl’ was released to the world, he became an infamous explorer and dreamer, an illusionist whose audience knew that his tricks were superficial and lacking any depth. They were satisfied with the fascination at the surface, but any justification from him or any attempt to rein them into his world made him a laughing stock. Mr. Byun’s magic didn’t seem real but perhaps, Mr. Byun didn’t want anyone to know that his magic was real.  Maybe that was why he hid the ‘Black Pearl’.

“Of course, the library,” Baekhyun exclaimed. He removed his jacket and rested it on the table surrounded by the reference section. Suho was already headed towards the librarian who meekly agreed to lead him towards the archives. Baekhyun and I watched as our friend gave his million-watt smile to the young lady and shattered whatever form of calm might have existed within her. 

“You just made her glad she took this boring job,” Baekhyun whispered to Suho, as he approached us with a fat bundle of newspapers cradled against his chest. He divided the bunch into three equal parts and handed one to each of us.

“Nothing before 1943,” Suho pointed out.

“Aye aye captain!” I grinned. The older librarian shushed us while her younger assistant simply gave us a sheepish smile.

“Will both of you stop dazzling the out of her,” Baekhyun chuckled when I gave her a playful wink. “She’ll die!” He muffled a laugh when she almost slipped off her chair.

“Hey, at least we’ll be allowed to stay here late,” I shrugged. Baekhyun shook his head and began shuffling through the papers. After half an hour, we managed to find ten newspapers with useful references.

“Tell me again why we’re not using his help,” Baekhyun jerked his thumb at Suho as we stood by the photocopier. I watched as the photo of his grandfather, an older version of him, slipped out of the machine and landed on the other clippings. The old man behind the desk stared at the photo and then at Baekhyun, who gave him an embarrassing smile before hanging his head low.

I paused in thought. “His father had been working on this for the longest time. Let’s not trouble the old man.” I turned around and upon finding Suho out of eavesdropping radius, whispered, “Plus, you have no idea how much Suho missed his father when he was young. Mr. Kim was always in the stud—”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Baekhyun cringed, raising one palm up. “No need to drag me into emotional blackmail.”

“That wasn’t emotional blackmail,” I quipped, but he narrowed his eyes at me and muttered something about ‘cunning bastard’.  I ignored him and waited for the last clipping to roll out.

“The last bread, fresh out of the oven!” I sorted through the papers and walked towards Suho, who was staring with furrowed eyebrows at an article from a 1956 edition. “What’s up?”

“This doesn’t match,” Suho murmured. Baekhyun joined us and leaned over the table, his elbows resting on his chair. “All the articles say the Caspian Sea but that’s not possible.”

I sneaked out a granola bar from my waistcoat and munched on it. “What do you mean?”

Suho took out the old man’s diary and began flipping through the pages with urgency. “I remember… seeing… a diary entry AHA! Here it is. This one.” He tapped on the page that had been horribly vandalized with incoherent words and figures.

“Even his handwriting is like yours,” I muttered. Baekhyun scowled and began skimming over the notes.

“Suho’s right,” he said after a few minutes. He glanced at the newspaper article and shook his head. A part of me was delighted to find his troubled expression shifting between the two pieces of information. This was Baekhyun when he was serious. This was Baekhyun when he meant business.

“The articles before the exploration clearly state that grandpa was headed for the Bermuda Triangle’s circumference. When the exploration crew returned they mentioned that they only managed to brush upon the Caspian Sea and due to lack of resources, had to turn back.” Baekhyun pointed at the diary. “But the entry here has a very well-organized --- okay not so well organized --- list of inventory and as far as this entry is concerned, these guys could have taken a world tour and still had enough to spare.”

“Maybe the crewmembers fell sick,” I half-heartedly suggested but Suho was already disagreeing.

“Dad never mentioned any disease or any sickness. Everyone was completely fine.” He turned to face Baekhyun and sighed. “You know what this means right?”

Baekhyun blinked at the diary and the article. He turned a page and murmured, “Give me some time.” Suho continued reading through more articles while I sat back and watched the two work.

“Would you like some coffee?” a soft voice echoed. I turned around and smiled at the librarian. I nodded towards the sign that read ‘No Refreshments’ but she shook her head and said, “Sometimes the college professors and students stay up late. I make coffee for them and… your friends look busy.”

“We never say no to coffee!” I said.

“I do,” Baekhyun said, his eyes still glued on the page. He looked up and gave the flustered girl a courteous smile. “I only drink tea.”

“You drank coffee at the café,” I murmured. He shot me a middle finger and continued reading. The librarian left after I asked for a mug of black coffee. “Jesus Baekhyun why do you have to be so snarky?”

“She would have continued to disturb us if I hadn’t made it clear we didn’t need her hospitality.” He paused and looked up at me. “And just so you know, Kyungsoo’s coffee is exceptional.”

“That,” Suho said, directing a pencil at him, “is the most agreeable thing you have said today.”

“I only choose the best,” I sighed and stretched my neck. “How much longer?”

My question was left hanging in the air, a dusty collection of old ink and butter paper. Before I could rest my head on the table, something heavy knocked on the surface. I straightened up with a start and found the object to be Baekhyun’s fist. Suho and I watched as his eyes widened in realization. “I found it,” he said. He looked at the diary again and in between almost-maniacal laughs, said, “That old fart—”

“He’s your grandfather---”

“Shut up Luhan, you have no idea what my grandfather was upto.” He looked at Suho and me and gave us a wide grin. “Grandpa did make it to the Caspian Sea but the preponed return was a farce.”

“Well then, where did he go?” Suho looked down at the newspaper infront of him and closed it. “Don’t tell me he lied again.”

“Yeah well,” Baekhyun lifted up the diary for us to see. “He did. That bastard.”

Suho and I leaned in to squint at what looked like a roughly drawn map, a bunch of squiggly lines and numbers. I nodded. “Don’t get it.”

“No, no, wait,” Suho said. “Latitudes and longitudes. And that’s a sea-route, right?”

Baekhyun nodded. “I think I know where he took that ship.”

My heart began dancing against my chest. “Wh-where?”

Baekhyun immediately took out an Atlas from his lap, the massive book that was hidden from our view the whole time. He opened a page that had been dog-eared and before I could complain, he drummed his fingers on the open page and sung, “At-lan-tic O-cean. That fuc—”

“Okay seriously stop cursing your old man, alright?” I snatched the book from him and stared at the faded blue reconstruction. No one said anything as my hands traced facts and information about the second-largest ocean in the world.

“Luhan?”

“Hmm?” I looked up to find Suho giving me a warm smile. Baekhyun’s frighteningly excited smile had disappeared and his fingers were tracing circles on the diary’s worn-out cover.

“That’s the most important piece of information,” he said. He glanced at Baekhyun who was staring at an article about JFK’s assassination. “Your grandfather was the only educated person onboard, it would have been easy to fool the crewmembers and have the whole ship tell what he wanted the world to know.”

“The Bermuda Triangle?” I said. “How does anyone return from the Bermuda Triangle?”

“They didn’t.” Baekhyun interrupted. He looked at us, his eyes weary but still hungry. “The first time he went, he must have done what he planned to do --- brush upon the tangent of the Western Atlantic Ocean. Whatever he saw stayed in his mind and when the ship returned, he conveniently told everyone that they had only touched the Caspian Sea. It’s pretty obvious that he returned to the ocean to find what he saw the first time, but he found nothing. Either that, or he hid it.”

“If he could lie to his own crew about the trip,” I said, “He probably lied his whole life to cover up this truth, whatever it was.”

“Is.” Baekhyun wagged his finger and said, “Don’t think that thing doesn’t exist anymore. It’s the Bermuda Triangle and if Grandpa risked a lifetime of fortune to hide something, then it couldn’t have been something that’s easily exploited.” He looked at Suho. “Are you sure your father didn’t find anything?”

Suho nodded. “I’m pretty sure my dad tried his best.”

“Well, whatever it was – okay is.”  I entwined my fingers together and heaved a sigh. “Whatever it is, it seems to have had some special connection with your grandfather. Too bad he’s dead---” A lightbulb flickered in my head. I raised my gaze upto Baekhyun who was waiting for me to finish. I simply smiled and turned to Suho, who seemed to have caught the drift and rested his hand on our friend’s shoulder. “Baekhyun, my friend.”

“I don’t like that look on your face Luhan, wipe that smile off your face.” Baekhyun slowly stood up and the two of us stood up with him. He glanced at Suho’s hand on his shoulder and the sympathetic gaze that did nothing to compensate for the sneaky grin. “What the hell are you two thinking?”

“College doesn’t open for another five weeks,” I said.

“Suho, we’re friends now aren’t we? What is going on?”

“I need a vacation anyway,” Suho added and laughed when Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows at him. Finally, he got it.

“ NO---” But I had already pounced on his back.

“We’re going on an adventure Baekhyun! We’re heading to the At-lan-tic O-cean!”

The three of us were officially banned from the reference section for the rest of the year.