Conceal

31. Arrest

Jooheon needed a secluded and quiet place to do what he needed to do, but of course things wouldn't be easy for him. He finally realised that nothing would go smoothly and successfully for him, so he wasn't even surprised when he got forced into a talk with Flame when he was driving on the empty night roads.

A car had stopped in front of him, and it was still a miracle to Jooheon how he was able to activate the brakes in time to prevent a fatal crash. He was driving way beyond the speed limit, going too fast for his own good, yet definitely too slow for his liking. He was so desperate to finish this, and now he was faced with yet another interruption. He wanted to scream in frustration.

Jooheon only complied because resisting would only use up the little energy and time he had left.

So he ended up in a random alley with Flame right in front of him. He was mildly surprised that no one else was behind the leader.

"What do you want?" Jooheon asked. He could barely make out Flame's silhouette in the pitch blackness they were in, and had to rely mostly on the other's voice to pinpoint his location. It didn't help that Flame was shuffling around randomly, as if deliberately playing around with Jooheon.

"I don't have time to deal with you. I have things to do." Jooheon added.

It was too dark to see anything, but Jooheon could feel the chilling smile on Flame's face right now. "I'm sure you do. But it's a shame if you'd just reverse all the things I've done, when nothing much have even happened yet, right?" Jooheon clenched his teeth and squeezed his hands into fists, but Flame caught him off guard and he almost jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. "Besides, I want to talk to you."

Jooheon spun around quickly and flung off Flame's hand. "I have nothing to say to you."

"But I have a lot I want to ask you." Jooheon wanted to leave right then, but he knew Flame would never let him go if he did. Nothing good would come out of running away, so he stayed put. "Like how you're planning to fix what I've done. I knew you wouldn't be able to stop me, but I'm interested to know what you're gonna do now."

Jooheon knew he was being mocked at, that Flame just wanted to provoke him. So he restrained himself and answered. "You used your connections and powers to make such a ridiculous arrest. I know you're doing this to my friends because I suffer more this way. And you succeeded. From this point on, no matter what I do, I will either lose my friends or continue to suffer as I drown in guilt." He paused, taking a deep breath to ease the lump in his throat and blinking rapidly to push back the tears that were starting to well up.

"I lost almost everything, but..." Jooheon realised at this point that he was talking more to himself than the person somewhere in his vicinity. He hoped it was someone else who would be listening to him, but he knew he had to say everything in his mind eventually. Because if those words didn't come out of him, they'll grow into a black hole and eat him up. "But you didn't take everything away from me. I'll use the one thing I have to get Kihyun out of jail. Which is money."

"Will you go to the police and tell them everything?"

Jooheon ignored that question. "Even if I try to do anything to you, you'll just find a way out of it, so I will end it all. After I save Kihyun, there will be no more relationships between me and you, or between me and...them. Everything started because of me. There wouldn't be any betrayals if it wasn't of me, being trapped in the middle."

Jooheon waited, but there was no response. There was only silence.

He looked around and realised, after spinning around in circles and squinting, that he was all alone in the alley.