Conceal

23. Visitor (2)

"Now?" Wonho asked, a bit dumbfounded by the sudden and random request by his friend.

Jooheon, already at the kitchen door, nodded vigorously. He was still clutching his phone in case Kihyun had anything more to say, but it remained still in his hand. He wondered if Kihyun was still in the middle of his date.

"Why?" Wonho set down his cup gently. "I still want to know detective Chae Hyungwon's real intentions, what he wants with us, and who he really is." He looked disappointed that their conversation was disturbed in an odd way, and was reluctant to even move towards the living room.

Jooheon thought he sounded urgent enough. But seeing the look on Wonho's face, he realised that making this sound like an emergency wouldn't help him right now. He stepped into Wonho's shoes and thought it was quite rude of him to blurt out a sudden request like that, especially in the middle of a solemn conversation. Wonho finally had someone to talk to, someone to solve his problems with, and Jooheon didn't seem genuine enough.

Feeling guilty due to his lack of empathy, he walked away from the kitchen doorway and towards Wonho, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't think before saying that out loud. I know you're stressed and sensitive right now, and I am too. None of us wanted this to happen to us, so I will try my best to help you and Kihyun, alright? I promise we will continue our conversation after watching whatever Kihyun wanted to show us." The corners of Wonho's lips curled up, and his eyes turned warm and soft. "Kihyun was the one who told me to turn on the news. He sounded urgent in the text message, but he didn't elaborate."

Jooheon held up his phone so Wonho could see the message for himself, but he waved it away and started walking towards the living room. Jooheon smiled and followed him.

As soon as the TV was switched on, the monotonous voice of a news reporter filled the living room.

"...around 3 o'clock this afternoon, a corpse was found in the bank of Han river, Seoul. Two Chinese tourists spotted it while walking past. The corpse was identified to be Lee Minhyuk, age 26. It was estimated that Lee was murdered this morning at around 7:00am to 9:00am. The police force states that the victim was suffocated before being disposed into the river. The police will continue to investig..."

Jooheon had collapsed onto the couch the moment he heard Minhyuk's name, but Wonho waited for the segment to finish before turning the TV off.

Wonho scratched his head and his hair was a total mess by the time he finally turned around. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Nothing seemed appropriate right now. Besides, Jooheon was fully absorbed into his phone, his face inching closer and closer to the phone screen as his thumb swiped harshly across the glass surface.

Jooheon was trying, with his utmost effort, not to let the tears fall. His vision was blurred and his eyes stung so much he was convinced they had turned red. He felt a weird lump in his throat that told him he was about to choke or cough or whimper or all three at the same time, but he clamped his lips shut and refused to make any noise. He couldn't let his emotions escape, not because he was afraid of sadness overwhelming him, but because he fear his reactions once anger took over and swallowed him whole.

Each tap and swipe was done so harshly that Jooheon felt like his thumb was on fire. He wouldn't let himself believe that Minhyuk left without leaving some sort of message behind. It didn't have to be for him, and that was why he started looking through his social media instead of only on their private chats. But no matter where he went, all he could see were three words: last seen at, followed by some meaningless numbers.

When Jooheon finally rendered his phone useless and abandoned it on his lap, Wonho was sitting next to him, holding out a box of tissues and handing him a cup of warm water.

"I'm sorry," was all Wonho could say.

Jooheon took a sip of the warm water and shook his head. He wanted to tell Wonho that there was nothing to apologise for, but his throat felt dry even after the whole cup was drained. It was as if the flickering flame in his fiery heart had instantaneously dried up all the liquid he swallowed.

"Are you ok?" Jooheon heard Wonho ask. His voice sounded distant. All Jooheon could think of was what the breaking news meant to him, and, more importantly, his friends. As much as he wanted it, there was no time to drown in self-pity or sorrow. Because in order to prevent himself from having to deal with these agonising moments, he had to take action now.

"Yea, I'm fine." Jooheon said. He didn't even try to muster a smile. Trying to keep a neutral face was already too hard of a task.

Jooheon was thinking of a polite way to announce his leave when Wonho said, "It's getting late and you must be tired, I don't mind if you stay here for the night."

"No!" Jooheon replied, a bit too quickly and a bit too loudly. "I mean, I shouldn't bother you anymore. You are dealing with a lot right now."

Wonho ignored most of what Jooheon said. "No. I won't let you leave. Look at yourself. You are going through much more than what I'm dealing with. Please. I know how losing someone important feels like. You can't go out like this. You need to rest."

Jooheon felt his heart throb when Wonho said that. "I'm sorry...I have to go."

"Why?" Wonho tried looking Jooheon straight in the eye, but Jooheon looked away. "What do you have to do in this hour of the day? Listen to your hyung for once, and stay here, alright?"

"Please." Jooheon said quietly, and before thinking twice about what he was about to say, he opened his mouth. "Someone died, hyung. We have to...I have to do something about it. Or else this is never going to end." Once they started, they are never going to stop. Jooheon knew that Wonho and Kihyun were most likely the next targets in line, but he finally realised the words that came out of his mouth, and quickly went silent.

"What?" Wonho responded automatically. He stared at the black TV screen for a while, pondering about what Jooheon said. He searched and searched, but all he could find was darkness and a whole lot of confusion. "What do you mean? What are you going to do? Do you know who the culprit is?" Jooheon tried not to react to the word "culprit", but Wonho saw the look on Jooheon's face and stifled a gasp. "Don't tell me...you don't think that detective killed him, do you?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet." That was only part of the truth. He didn't know if Hyungwon did the actual dirty work, but he knew for sure that the organisation the detective was part of planned all of this.

Wonho cursed quietly, but his voice was so full of venom Jooheon could practically see the anger seeping through the older's teeth. "Then...what are you planning to do once I let you go?"

Jooheon looked at Wonho, and was surprised to see him looking between his legs at the floor with his hands covered over his face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just want to know what happened. And why it happened." Jooheon could sense that the tears are resurfacing. He couldn't waste anymore time. He never knew when they might strike again.

Wonho removed his hands so his mouth was uncovered. "But where exactly are you going? Do you know somewhere, someone, who can help you?" He sighed. "I don't know, you just sound so confident."

Jooheon knew he had to end the conversation soon. It was starting to touch on dangerous topics. "You've been the hyung among the three of us, including Kihyun, since the very beginning. Let the youngest do something for once, okay? Trust me this once."

Wonho lifted his head. There was a slight frown on his face. "So you do know something, don't you?" Instead of sounding accusing, his voice was tired, and it seemed like it could fade away any time.

All Jooheon could do was give Wonho an apologetic look and an encouraging smile before turning away. "I promise I will get back in contact as soon as possible."

Wonho didn't move until Jooheon was already at the door. He stood up and said, "I don't know what you are hiding from us, but I hope you will tell us after all this is over."

The door closed and Jooheon disappeared behind it. Wonho wasn't even sure if Jooheon heard what he had said.

On the other side of the door, Jooheon thought, I hope I get the chance to tell you in the future.