Conceal

17. Separation

The worst of the flame had died out by the time Kihyun returned home. DC Chae was the past now. Kihyun never had to listen to his ridiculous statements ever again, and what he said didn't matter anymore. What mattered was Kihyun's own beliefs and perspective to this world.

Kihyun stood in front of his apartment door and realised both of his hands were occupied by bags. He could've kicked the door and waited for Shownu to open the door for him, but he bought a cake - in the box on of his hands were holding - and he didn't want to ruin the surprise by showing his boyfriend the clumsy side of him.

So he carefully slung the shopping bag over his shoulder and carefully transferred the cake from his right hand to his left, so he could fish the keys out of his right trousers pocket.

The keys rattled as Kihyun placed the correct one into the lock, and the key chains dangled, swinging peacefully in sync. There were only two decorations, one hamster and one bear, but both were crochets, and both of them were holding a heart. The sight of the cute cotton animals made Kihyun smile as he was transported back to the time when Shownu shyly gave him the keychains on their 2nd anniversary. Kihyun's smile widened even more when the lock clicked and he knew he was going to see his boyfriend on the other side of this door, all welcoming and surprised when Kihyun held up the cake...

The living room was empty, but Kihyun expected that. Shownu would be working in his study, waiting for him to return so they could eat dinner. As quietly as possible, Kihyun took off his shoes, set down his bags on the sofa, and placed the cake on the coffee table. Kihyun listened for any sounds from the deeper parts of the apartment, but there was only silence, which meant Shownu was probably too concentrated on his work to notice the arrival of his boyfriend.

Kihyun smiled to himself and tiptoed to the study, where he knocked at the closed door. He waited impatiently, planning to give his boyfriend an unexpected bear hug once the door opened, but the door stayed shut. So Kihyun rapped at the door again, imagining Shownu wearing his new headphones, oblivious of everything outside of his own little world. "Shownu hyung? I'm back! Let's eat dinner!"

But still there were no sounds. No thumping of footsteps coming towards the door, no clattering of keys on a keyboard, not even the shuffling of papers. Kihyun frowned as he reached for the cold door handle. It would be locked if Shownu was inside working. But the handle went all the way down when Kihyun pushed, and the lock clicked.

He swung the door open quickly, and scanned the room at twice the speed. There was no one inside. The chair was tucked in, the folders and documents neatly arranged and stacked on the desk, the pens in their respective pen holders, and the laptop cover closed. He walked towards the desk and placed a hand on the laptop. It was cold.

After triple checking the room, Kihyun returned to the corridor, opening doors as fast as his arms would let him and scanning the rooms repeatedly as if it was possible to overlook his huge boyfriend.

Soon there was only one place Kihyun haven't checked: the kitchen. At this point he could only hope that Shownu was giving him a surprise by hiding in the kitchen.

But the kitchen was the same.

Shownu wasn't home.

Kihyun stared at the dining table, where his dinner was waiting quietly to be eaten. There was only one set of utensils, one bowl of rice, and one serving for each kind of dish. Disappointment weighed down on his shoulders. He wondered where his boyfriend could be, and that Shownu wouldn't leave without notifying him. That was when he remembered the muted phone in pocket.

He took it out and, not bothering to unmute it, clicked into the chat with Shownu. There were 3 new messages.

Sorry, something urgent came up at work.