Detecting Falsehood

32

Jungkook stands there in a slightly awkward silence, nervous. He knows that he cannot get this wrong. I'm not far away, hidden inside a shrub in my best friend's front garden, waiting for him to sort out where we will go to reveal that I'm alive and well. Where everything will be explained to everyone else.

Where we will finally understand what has happened to us, ourselves.

He knocks on the door, once, twice, thrice, and my heart skips a beat when it opens half a minute later to reveal someone I've seen as a platonic soulmate ever since we met, someone I haven't seen in what must be nearly a year now. What I see tugs at my heart painfully, because I never wanted or expected to have to see him in such a state.

He looks more like a skeleton than a person now, his face gaunt and pale with worry, his body seeming fragile and damaged. He's like a leaf in autumn, one that's paper thin and slowly crumbling into just the veins, vitality drained out and support completely gone. I hate seeing him like this, and I know that everyone else is going to be the same. Everyone in our friendship group will look like the world has taken away their will to live.

I don't know how I'll be able to handle this whole experience. But I don't have any other choice. I cannot put the people I love in danger, so I must make sure that I see them in a certain place, take certain precautions. Otherwise they could end up dead instead of just upset.

"Hey, Junghoon, what's up?" Jimin says tiredly, his voice sounding painful, his speech ever so slightly slurred with tiredness, his body slumping a little against the door frame, and pain lances through my heart once more at his lack of energy. He's normally so bright, so seeing all of the lights within him turned off comes as a massive shock.

Jungkook bites his lip, thinking of how to phrase what he needs to say. He knows what could happen if he gets this wrong.

He can't afford to get this wrong.

"Hi, hyung," he says, slightly nervously, "do you think you'd be willing to meet up with me some time soon? I wanna get everyone together, see if we can put our heads together one last time to try and find Tae hyung."

Jimin jolts at the sound of my name, and I think I see his eyes fill with tears. "We agreed that he was probably gone," he says softly, "two weeks ago. What makes you think we have a chance to find him? It's been months, Jeon. Literally months. I don't want to put my hopes up again just for them to come crashing back down."

"Hyung, please," Jungkook says pleadingly, for once actually letting his guard down and speaking as himself rather than as Junghoon, causing Jimin's eyes to widen in surprise at the sheer emotion hidden within the younger's voice. "I know they'll all listen to you, hence why I came to you. I really do think I've got a lead. Please. One more meeting, that's all I want. One."

Jimin sighs, his breath juddering ever so slightly, his chest rising and falling more than it probably should from this singular movement. "Fine. But I swear to all that is holy, you better not be fucking with us here. You already know we'll never forgive you."

Jungkook nods seriously. "I know. I understand. I just need you to trust me, just this once, if you can. I really do think he's alive. I can feel it. I'll meet you here tomorrow, with the others, but we won't be able to talk in here." Jimin frowns in confusion, a slightly suspicious glint entering his eyes for a moment. Which is fair, given what he's experienced over the last few months.

"Why not?"
"It's not safe," Jungkook explains calmly, the volume of his voice lowering slightly. "I don't want anyone to overhear us, that's all. I'll explain when we get to a more secure location. I know it's hard to believe but it really is important."

"And how do you expect me to persuade everyone to go along with this?" Jimin asks, just as quietly. Jungkook shrugs.
"I honestly don't know. I just need you to do it. Please, hyung. If it comes to it just tell them to meet you urgently here tomorrow, without mention of Tae. At noon. I need you to trust me. All of you. I'm relying on it, in fact."

Jimin smiles slightly, the expression wistful, and for a moment I see the ghost of his previously energetic personality. "I'll see what I can do," he says after a few seconds of consideration. "But I will expect an explanation."
"You'll get one."
"Good."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, unless I text you otherwise," Jungkook says awkwardly, raising a hand and then leaving a slightly confused Jimin behind. The moment the door shuts, I join him and follow him away from the house, going toward the hiding place we'll stay at for the night. His face is set with worry, his eyes unreadable, and for a moment I feel the urge to move closer and just give him a hug.

And then the moment goes away, and I'm left wondering where the feeling came from, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Why would I feel any sort of emotion for him? It just makes no sense. None at all.

Or does it?

"Well?" I ask expectantly, as he leads me down another secret tunnel. How many of these does he have, exactly? "What's the plan?" I add on when he glances over at me, raising an eyebrow. He shrugs, taking two pillows from some hidden alcove I didn't notice before. We sit on them, in the middle of this tunnel, facing each other.

"I'll bring them here," he says simply, calmly, "and you will be waiting here for them. It'll be a reunion of sorts. And then, once they know you're safe, we can deal with the whole 'how did you find him and what happened' stuff because I am not naive. I know that will come next. I get that they won't trust me, they'll be shocked, but it's better to have a hidden reaction. Safer."

"I agree. When did you even make this, anyway?" I ask curiously, looking around at the dirt walls. "Seriously, how did this even come to exist? And how long did it take to get it right?"

Jungkook chuckles slightly at my questions, a small smile on his face, which is lit up by the small torch in his hand. "Quite a while, I won't lie," he admits.
"What about the location feature on our phones? Won't your father use that to find us?" I press, and he shrugs.
"We left your phone at my section, and it'll have exploded by now," he says simply. "My phone? I have two. One was left with the section, and it has location and everything on it. The other is an old flip phone that he doesn't know exists. It's constantly on silent, and it has no internet connection features. Much safer."

"And that's how you'll have contact with Jimin if something goes wrong?" I check. He nods in confirmation, taking out a small flip phone from his pocket and passing it to me. I turn it over in my hands, flipping it open just because I can. "I won't lie, that is planning ahead," I admit to myself, impressed.

He nods again, leaning against the side of the tunnel. "Well, we've got about fifteen hours. Want to explain yourself, now?" he asks, tilting his head at me. I bite my lip, thinking about the pros and cons of this. Nobody is around. Nobody else can hear. But then again, my friends deserve to know.

Is it safer to say now, to only one person, or wait until I can explain it to everyone?

I don't know how Jungkook would react to this. I don't know if he'll blame me for his mother's death, claim that it's my escape that lead to her getting more ill. I don't know if he'd even believe me. But I have no other option right now.

He deserves honesty.

"So, hopefully once I explain this, things will start to make sense," I say nervously, shifting slightly in my place. "It is a little..confusing, even for me, so please say if nothing fits in. I know it'll sound fake. But it is true. I swear."

He nods uncertainly. "Okay," he says quietly, shifting as well so that he's sitting cross legged across from me, forearms on his knees and eyes looking directly into mine. "I will listen to you. You've trusted me. I have no choice but to do the same for you. But if you turn out to be lying to me, I will never forgive you. I hope you know that."

I manage a small smile. "Oh, I know. And I don't plan to lie. Not anymore. It's not gonna help either of us."

Jungkook mirrors the expression, his eyes almost looking sad in the harsh light of his torch. "So, Kim Taehyung, who are you really? And how did you know that my whole life has been a lie?"