Conceal

3. Accused

Kihyun returned home after a normal day of work, took the usual route back to his apartment and collapsed onto his couch like he always did. It was just a normal day, until the moment he opened his bag after 5 minutes of sitting on the sofa. Everything stopped being normal from that moment onwards.

He touched the unfamiliar packet of white powder and lifted it out of the bag with a trembling hand. Before he even had time to truly acknowledge the identity of its contents, flashes of the news report he saw yesterday with his friends came flooding into his head. He almost shouted in horror, but gulped and almost choked instead. He threw it as far away as he possibly could with his shaking arm and took short rapid steps back towards the opposite side of the living room.

He didn't realize this was exactly where he wanted to be until he saw the home phone right next to him on the TV counter.

Kihyun's best friend Jooheon replied before the first "beep" ended.

"Hyung! What's up?"

Jooheon barely had enough time to finish his usual greeting before Kihyun spoke, voice stiff. "Someone placed drugs in my bag." He felt out of breath after that, as if those words carried all the air he had in him as it escaped his mouth.

Now all Kihyun had to do was wait, but it seemed like the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. He couldn't shake off the one thought that kept coming back: he was about to end up like Dawon, and if not, Jooheon's more-than-a-friend colleague Minhyuk.

After 15 minutes, Jooheon knocked at the door of Kihyun's apartment. Kihyun opened the door and attempted to look fine using the slightest curves of his lips. Jooheon gave his friend a long, firm look of concern before pulling Kihyun into a deep embrace.

Jooheon entered the apartment and went directly to the table, where the drugs were. He took the packet, opened the door to the storage room, and threw them inside. Maybe it was just Kihyun, but Jooheon seemed to hesitate for a while, staring inside the room and frowning as if he was doubtful of something. But then he closed the door gently and turned towards Kihyun, and it was like nothing ever happened. Both of them knew exactly what would happen if the drugs went inside the rubbish bin instead. Police would find them. They always did. No matter where you put it, as long as it wasn't by your side, someone will find out.

Together they walked to the living room. Jooheon took a seat on the couch while Kihyun made tea in the kitchen.

With two steaming cups of black tea in their hands, the friends were ready to talk.

There was no point taking an indirect route here. They had a problem, and there was only one way to solve it. Jooheon took a sip of tea and went straight to point with a grim expression, "Did you tell anybody else about this?"

Kihyun shook his head two times, but replied with a simple "no" after a few moments of silence, as if a vocal confirmation would make the situation sound less serious than it was.

"Good," Jooheon said, nodding, a frown forming on his face. "No matter what the situation is, we can't say anything to anyone. If we don't say anything, no one will know what happened. And if no one knows about this, nothing will ever happen to us. Understand?"

Kihyun fought the urge to look at the table, where the piece of incriminating evidence was lying just minutes ago. He couldn't believe something that he would normally only see on TV shows and movies had happened to him, in real life. In those stories, no one ever told the police, and he could finally empathize with those people. No one would believe what he had to say, what his side of the story was. Not with the concrete evidence right under their noses. He stared at his cup of tea instead, into the darkness of the bitter liquid, contemplating, but not really thinking at all.

He only looked up from his beverage when Jooheon gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Kihyun smiled gratefully.

Jooheon returned with a smile of his own, full of care and sincerity, but also one that was forced and unnatural, different from his usual carefree self. "Don't worry, some other big news will replace this case soon, and this will be forgotten in no time. We'll get through this together."

At the word "together", Kihyun was reminded of someone. "How about Wonho? Should we tell him?"

Wonho was Kihyun's second best friend, and together the three of them made an almost inseparable trio. They did everything together, and it was a rule to keep no secrets between them.

Jooheon hesitated to answer, and while Kihyun didn't want to accept the disheartening truth, he knew exactly what Jooheon was about to say. "I understand why you would want to tell him, but I don't think it's a good idea. At least, not right now. The-"

"Yes, I know." Kihyun interrupted, talking over his friend. He would rather say it himself than listening to it from others, as though it would make the reality sound less bitter. "The fewer the people who know about this, the easier it will be for us." Kihyun averted his gaze, attention shifting back to his tea again.

"We will tell him eventually, but not now when you are still taking it in," Jooheon reassured. Kihyun nodded at his tea, suddenly hoping he could just tell every single one of his friends and let them share his burden.

"What you need is rest," Jooheon said, touching Kihyun's arm gently. "I know you love your job, so don't let anything take that away from you."

Kihyun looked up and saw Jooheon's encouraging smile, suddenly really grateful for having a friend like this, who could care for him just like his boyfriend.

"I know I just told you not to tell Wonho, but you should call Shownu." Jooheon added, ignoring Kihyun's slight frown. "I know you don't want to bother him while he's working on a business trip, but he deserves to know, out of everyone else."

"But you know how he is, Jooheon." Kihyun rolled his eyes, trying to contain his blush by pretending he was annoyed, while in fact, his heart was already thumping against his chest at the thought of his hardworking boyfriend. "Once he knows what happened, he's going to set aside his work, buy the first flight back to Seoul, and probably buy me loads of ice cream and chocolate to cheer me up despite me being 25. And he's going to do all that even though that's most definitely going to cost him his job."

Jooheon watched his friend as he half-ranted, tea placed on the coffee table and forgotten to free up his hands just so he could gesticulate emotionally. Finally, Jooheon couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Don't laugh! It's not funny at all." Kihyun scolded half-heartedly, a small smile forming on his face anyway.

"Ok ok," Jooheon said. "But I still think you should give him a call. When he comes back he's going to be worried sick if you don't tell him first. And he's your boyfriend, Kihyun. He's supposed to help you in times like this. Stop thinking about others and be selfish for just this once. You need the warmth only a boyfriend can give you."

Kihyun was starting to feel blood rushing to his cheeks again, so he capitulated quickly before Jooheon could say anything cheesier. "Fine, I will call him tomorrow, ok? Just stop talking. It's embarrassing."

Jooheon grinned. "Great. Now, do you mind if I stay for dinner?"

Kihyun punched his friend's arm playfully, and Jooheon stuck his tongue out in reply. "I know you just want me to cook for you, but since you stayed with me this evening, I will do this favour just so I don't owe you anything."

"Whatever you say," Jooheon shrugged. "As long as I can taste Kihyun's amazing curry, I don't mind."

At that Kihyun and Jooheon laughed, momentarily forgetting everything that had happened just hours ago. They prepared and ate dinner together just like any normal hangout they would always have, and parted reluctantly at the door, unwilling to let each other go.

It was almost perfect, Kihyun would think. But later that night, when he was lying on his bed and staring at his ceiling, he couldn't stop that one thought from entering his brain. It just didn't felt right to him, leaving one friend behind. He couldn't stop thinking that one thing he could've done easily.

That he should've told Wonho too, right after he called Jooheon.