Cheaters ✓

Hold Back

PRESENT

His mind seemed like a video player which had been hijacked by one particular video. And it was playing on loop. Every time it ended, only to restart again, Taehyung told himself he should have left Jimin's place five minutes earlier. Before Namjoon had uttered those words.

When Taehyung heard Namjoon blurt out the last part--we would have got married soon--he couldn't help but close the door and walk back to where Namjoon was sitting. This time he sat close to him, as if he was his buddy, making him a fresh drink and listening to him intently. But he was actually readying himself to interrogate Namjoon in the most casual manner possible.

Taehyung wasn't sure what he should question him about first. Namjoon had blurted out two important pieces of information. First, Yoongi and Namjoon had planned to get married. It sounded absurd. And second, Yoongi had been killed.

This came as a shock. Till then Taehyung thought he'd died of some disease. Something somewhere wasn't adding up. And one thing he had learnt from his favourite subject in school, mathematics, was that when a sum didn't add up, one should start solving it from the beginning again.

He had to confirm if Namjoon was talking about his Yoongi. Taehyung knew he was, but he still wanted to reconfirm. He took out his phone and showed Namjoon his picture. Namjoon immediately took the phone in his hand and, holding it close to his chest, repeated that he missed him.

Taehyung wanted to know the details, especially the timeline of their relationship. He wanted to believe he had met Namjoon before him. But then why had he lied to him that he was the only one after his marriage? Did he say that to everyone? Why would someone do that?

Taehyung wanted an answer but realized he wasn't brave enough emotionally to hear it. So he left Jimin's place abruptly after that.

The next morning, Taehyung left his house and went to the well-kept children's park within DFL Enclave, which also had a cemented jogging track.

Taehyung sat on one of the concrete benches along the track, watching the kids who huddled together on the grass. A drawing competition arranged by the resident welfare association was under way. A few residents were supervising it. One of the men waved at him, noticing him sitting alone. He had no idea who he was but he still waved at him with his left hand.

In his right he held his phone where Yoongi's Instagram profile was open. He was checking out his posts. In one picture, he was standing in a balcony, posing with a cigarette between his fingers. He was sure it wasn't DFL Enclave.

The caption read: 'Just because you hold it doesn't mean you smoke it.' That was a lie. Yoongi smoked. He knew that. And now he knew he lied as well. It was his vice.

In another picture, he was wearing a lumberjacket, his hands covering his face. The caption read: 'When you wear his lumberjacket, but don't want to look in the mirror.'

Taehyung concluded it belonged to Namjoon. And with that, images of them naked flashed through his mind. Them fucking. In the dirtiest of positions. His chauvinistic instincts suddenly came to the surface and made him envious of Namjoon. Taehyung took a deep breath and knew he had to distract his mind. He wrote Jimin a message.

A couple of hours later, as he had promised, they were shopping in Season's Mall. Jimin seemed excited, like he was out with the love of his life. Not that they had anything between them. Taehyung was only keeping a promise he'd made to him for what he had done for him. On the face of it, it was transactional.

But looking at Jimin, he understood he was taking away more from this. He concluded that he was hungry for attention. Not the kind he got because of his looks. The kind you got from someone who meant something to you. And this was where he was confused about him, because he had never led him on or made him feel like he was interested in him.

He worked in his company. He was helping him out and in return getting what he wanted. Simple.

Taehyung made himself comfortable on a chair as Jimin went inside a trial room to try on a few clothes he had selected. He had asked him a few times what he thought about a particular dress shirt. Taehyung didn't want to be rude and hence had suggested whatever he could. He had also held his arm a few times. He noticed, but had let it go.

His mind was somewhere else. Jungkook had told him that Yoongi died because of a disease. He had never crosschecked it. There was no need to. However, Yoongi had never mentioned he was suffering from an illness. Jungkook knew what the people in the colony had told him. And who had told them?

Daehyun was the only answer. Suddenly, it all made sense. If Sang Daehyun had a family and knew Yoongi was killed, he would never make it public, for it would involve the police.

Did Daehyun know the truth? He was lost in thought when Jimin came out wearing one of the outfits. He posed in front of him as if asking for his opinion. He gave him a thumbs-up without even registering how he looked. He flashed him a smile and went inside.

It was then that a horrific thought struck Taehyung. What if Sang Daehyun had killed Yoongi? The hair on the nape of his neck stood on end. And this 'death from a disease' was a cover up?

After dropping Jimin at his place and making some excuse to get out of the lunch plan, Taehyung went back to DFL Enclave. He parked his car outside the resident welfare association's office and went inside.

He found three to four people who were part of the committee and started making small talk. After a few minutes, he steered the conversation to Sang Daehyun.

He told the treasurer, the only one he was a bit familiar with, that Daehyun, the tenant who lived in flat number 627 of Wing C, owed him some money. He did this to get his address. The treasurer obliged and showed him the records. The permanent address mentioned was not the same as the one he had followed Daehyun to weeks ago. He noted the phone number down.

'But the tenant's name is Jung Hoseok. Not Sang Daehyun,' the treasurer said.

Taehyung realized that just like the address, Daehyun was registered under false surname. And chances were that even his phone number was fake. But alk these things conveyed that something was fishy.

Stepping out of the office after saving Daehyun's number in his phone, Taehyung contemplated an important question: Considering Daehyun could be the potential killer, should Taehyung expose himself and raise suspicion or should he hold back?

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