SHADOWS OF DECEIT

Chapter 9

It had been three days since Joshua's last encounter with Seokmin at the closed shop, and two weeks since he had first set foot in Shibuya. But instead of spending his rare day off relaxing, Joshua found himself sitting at his desk, laptop open, cursor blinking impatiently as he half-heartedly searched through hospitals in the area. He'd been telling himself for days that he needed to start looking into job openings, hospitals that would take him in as a doctor.

But that wasn't where his attention really was. The search results blurred in front of his eyes, his fingers idly scrolling, not registering the details. His other hand, however, was busy. It was almost unconscious, the way his pen had been moving across the page beside him, over and over, tracing the same name in looping, frustrated strokes.

Seokmin.

Joshua didn't even notice the repeated scribbling, his thoughts drifting back to the last few weeks. Why can't I get him out of my head?

His reverie was abruptly shattered by a voice breaking through the quiet.

"Hyung, who's Seokmin?"

Joshua's pen halted mid-stroke, his heart jumping in his chest. He looked up, startled, to see Samuel standing in the doorway, arms crossed, a curious but suspicious look on his face. Samuel raised an eyebrow, tilting his head toward the notepad where Joshua had unconsciously been scribbling the name.

Joshua's pulse quickened, the sensation of being caught red-handed creeping up his spine. He stared at the name for a moment, as if it didn't belong to him, as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who?" Joshua deflected, feigning confusion, as if Samuel hadn't just clearly read the name aloud.

"Don't play dumb, hyung. You've been writing it over and over." Samuel gestured toward the notepad. "Seokmin. Who is he?"

Joshua swallowed, trying to keep his cool. He set the pen down with a casualness that felt forced, leaning back in his chair. "I could ask you the same question," he shot back, his tone deliberately light. "How do you know it's someone important?"

Samuel's eyes narrowed, and he stepped into the room, grabbing the notepad and flipping it toward Joshua. "Because you've been obsessed enough to write his name like you're in high school, crushing on someone." He smirked, though there was a flicker of genuine concern beneath the teasing.

Joshua let out a short laugh, more nervous than amused. "Please. It's nothing like that."

Samuel leaned in, inspecting Joshua's face closely. "Then what is it?"

Joshua looked away, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to think of an explanation that didn't sound ridiculous. "Just... some guy I ran into. Twice, actually. Nothing important."

Samuel's eyebrows shot up, and a grin spread across his face. "Twice? And you're writing his name like that? Twice isn't 'nothing important,' hyung. Spill."

Joshua rolls his eyes, trying to deflect the conversation. "I've already given you the name, dumbass. What else do you want me to say?"

Samuel plops down on the couch, tilting his head as if trying to access the hidden corners of his memory. "Seokmin, Seokmin... hmm." He squints, digging through his mental archive until a certain face flashes in his mind. The one with a smile that could wipe out daylight, but Samuel quickly shakes it off. No way. It can't be him. That Seokmin doesn't go around playing like this, right? Nah.

"Many people know me, hyung," Samuel eventually says with a casual shrug, a mischievous grin forming on his face. "So yeah, I don't know... but," he adds, leaning in as if he's about to turn the conversation into something else.