Hyungwon and Changkyun took the couch, or more accurately, were pushed toward the couch by Jooheon, who turned out to be a firm but generous host. He himself took a seat cross-legged on the floor, and Wonho hesitated before sitting down next to him with his knees drawn to his chest.
"So, how does freedom feel?" Jooheon joked, and Changkyun smiled.
"I thought you were supposed to get nicer after you started taking your medication," he replied, and Jooheon's eyebrow arched upward.
"I am being nice! Besides, it just makes me want to punch people a little bit less. I'm still the same asshole I always was."
"Good, good," Changkyun said, reassured. Hyungwon smiled a tiny bit.
"So did you guys want to get settled in or get straight to it?" Jooheon continued.
Changkyun looked over at Hyungwon, whose smile was fading all too quickly. He looked back at Jooheon. "Does he have to-"
"He's kind of in the middle of all this," Jooheon said bluntly. "If what Hyungwon told you told Wonho told me is true, then we don't have time to sugar coat the whole thing."
"Kihyun is dead," Hyungwon spoke up, and they all turned to stare at him. "He is. I know it."
Jooheon was quiet for a moment before he leaned back, exhaling loudly. "That's what Wonho told me. So I got Kihyun's mom's contact information, and I called her yesterday."
Wonho snapped his head toward Jooheon. "And? What did she say?"
Jooheon pursed his lips. "Nothing conclusive. She hasn't visited him, but she didn't do that anyway."
"Oh." Wonho sank down.
"But I tried to visit him," Jooheon went on, and Wonho sat up straight once more. "They wouldn't let me."
"Do visitors not have access to A-wing or something?" Wonho asked, frowning.
Jooheon shook his head, frowning. "That wasn't it. They said that he was no longer a patient there, that he'd left the program."
Changkyun swallowed and opened his mouth, but Wonho stood up abruptly and pulled Jooheon out of the room before Changkyun could ask him anything.
***
"What the hell was that for?" Jooheon asked, scowling at Wonho, who had shut the door to Jooheon's bedroom to keep their conversation private.
"Look, you can't say stuff like that in front of Hyungwon," Wonho said, giving Jooheon a look, who glared back.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because then he'll actually start thinking it's real," Wonho continued. "If we act like we believe it, then he's going to believe it even more. Just tell him that he's wrong, that Kihyun is having a good old time in A-wing. Honestly, it's probably true. The desk worker was probably mistaken. Or maybe Kihyun up and left the program without telling his mom. That's possible too. Basically anything is possible besides Kihyun being dead."
Jooheon just shook his head. "I can't believe you're telling me to lie to him."
"It's better for him," Wonho said, nodding to himself while scanning Jooheon's eyes. "We can't just perpetuate this delusion. You saw how he is. He's fragile, Jooheon."
"Who's fault is that?" Jooheon snarled, curling his lip at Wonho. "Getting all buddy-buddy with him and then leaving out of nowhere. Yeah, I heard about that."
Wonho frowned. "It wasn't like that. I had to go, okay? And Changkyun-"
"Is doing his best, but that's a lot of responsibility to place on him," Jooheon interrupted. "And Hyungwon is stronger than you give him credit for. I can see it. You've just blinded yourself to that part of him. So no, I'm not going to give him bullshit or lie to him."
"Why not?" Wonho asked, clenching his jaw but ignoring the jabs against himself.
"Because I think I believe him."
