SHADOWS OF DECEIT

Chapter 14

It had been two grueling days since Samuel first sat down, trying to untangle the impossible threads of the past, his eyes glued to his computer screen as he stared at the images sprawled before him. 

He had them all laid out, a labyrinth of Yoon Jeonghan's photos, along with a smattering of information Samuel had gathered over the years. 

But the truth, the one Joshua so desperately needed, still eluded him.

Tracking the Shadows was nearly impossible; their digital footprints were spotless, their past erased or buried in vaults Samuel couldn't even reach. 

It was almost as if the Shadows didn't exist, not in any trackable sense. Each search led him nowhere, looping him back to dead ends that left him with nothing but frustration and a desk scattered with useless leads.

Samuel rubbed his temples, letting out a grunt of frustration as he watched the sunset from his window, casting a soft, burnt orange glow across the room. For two days now, he'd witnessed the same sun dip below the horizon, and each day his progress remained the same—stagnant.

Ever since he'd spotted the locket on Jeonghan's collar, all he could do was sift through the scattered memories he'd built with Joshua, especially the ones Joshua had opened up about only recently. 

There was that one faded photo from Joshua's childhood, the one where he clutched a necklace with a delicate, antler-shaped locket. The resemblance had been uncanny—Jeonghan's collar had displayed the exact same intricate design. 

But with nothing to go on, the connection was a hunch at best. Hong Joshua. Yoon Jeonghan. Two names that, on the surface, had nothing to do with each other.

Samuel rubbed his eyes, running a tired hand through his hair as he slouched back into his chair. How could he have been so oblivious these past two years? He remembered how he'd almost brushed off Jeonghan's significance entirely, never once considering him as a lead in the mystery of Joshua's past.

But now that Samuel couldn't shake the feeling, he felt himself sinking deeper into the inquiry. He didn't want to accept it, didn't want to believe Jeonghan could be the same person who once meant the world to Joshua. Yet here he was, stubbornly refusing to conclude anything until he could be absolutely certain.

And so, Samuel sat back down, his mind at war with itself, trying to piece together fragments of information that, for now, were maddeningly elusive.

Samuel was pulled from his swirling thoughts by the soft creak of his door opening. He turned, eyes narrowing in amusement, as Joshua peered inside, his expression cautiously curious, as if he was trying not to intrude. Samuel chuckled, breaking the tension with a teasing grin.

"Hyung," he called out in a playful tone. "Who are you trying to sneak past in my own apartment? Hide-and-seek isn't exactly your strong suit, you know."

Joshua's sheepish smile grew into something warmer as he stepped fully into the room, lifting a bag of takeout high. "Well, it looked like you'd fallen off the face of the earth the past few days. Ever since that night out, you haven't even left this apartment once, so I figured you might be starving for something that wasn't instant noodles," Joshua replied, setting the bags on the coffee table.

Samuel's lips quirked into a small smile as he leaned back, pretending to stretch but watching Joshua with amused eyes. "Yeah, well, I thought job-hunting was your one and only focus. Nice to see you've broadened your horizons to saving hopeless shut-ins."

Joshua let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head, casting a look at the computer screen, where the same image had stayed open for days now. "Honestly, Samuel, that photo's been sitting on your desktop for what feels like two months now—since my first night here in Shibuya, practically. I'm starting to think it's your new wallpaper," Joshua continued, throwing Samuel a mischievous glance. "Are you sure this arrogant-looking kid isn't actually your unrequited crush?"