Conceal

33. End

Wonho thought he was dreaming when Jooheon delivered the good news to him through the phone.

"Wait, what?" Wonho was taking a nap — he needed it, needed to let his mind rest even though his muscles were tense and urging him to do something — but he was wide awake now, and he sat up in his bed, pressing his impossibly closer to his ear. He had to make sure he wasn't just hearing things due to his sleepiness.

"It's even on the news, hyung!" Jooheon sounded ecstatic. "The police made a public statement and apologised for arresting the wrong person. Kihyun didn't do anything wrong, the police did. They were scrupulous in their investigation. A private investigator found more concrete evidence and cleared Kihyun's name."

Jooheon's elation was infectious. Wonho couldn't help but smile. He didn't even care to ask who the PI was and how he got involved. "I...I don't even know what to say...this is such great news."

"It is. Let's go celebrate later!"

"We have to! Where should we go?" Wonho was so excited he was already out of his bed.

"I'll think of something and tell you later."

"Ok." With that, Wonho hung up. He ran a hand across his face. Everything still seemed so surreal. The past few weeks had been nothing less than a disaster for him, but all of a sudden everything was back to normal just like that. All he needed was to sleep and wake up. For a second it sounded too good to be true, but it wasn't so unbelievable he would just dismiss the whole ordeal.

As he washed his face with cold water, Wonho kept in mind that Jooheon's strange behaviour was still a mystery. But after reading the news after the call, he realised he shouldn't be worrying anymore. Kihyun was finally proved innocent, there was no longer a fear of being caught. The real culprit admitted his crimes, there was finally an explanation to everything.

From this moment onwards, Wonho's life was back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. If Jooheon actually had bad intentions, things wouldn't end up this way. There was no point in over thinking.

After taking a shower a making a snack for himself, Wonho received a text from Jooheon.

Let's meet at the beach at 6:00pm. We'll watch the sunset and eat dinner at a restaurant nearby.

Kihyun-hyung will be there too.

Wonho couldn't help but sigh at the mention of Kihyun. Their relationship was tense to say the least. He didn't want to think about it, but the memory of visiting Kihyun in the prison two days ago was still fresh in his mind.

Wonho's palms were already sweaty, and he had just taken a seat 10 seconds ago. To say the truth, he'd rather not make this visit, not until things had settled down a bit. He knew how the conversation would go, which was why he wanted to avoid this as much as possible.

Yet he was sitting here, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Kihyun while thinking of a suitable thing to say. He would use this as a chance to clarify everything, to persuade Kihyun that those photos were fake. Besides, visiting Kihyun was the least he could do as a friend.

"If you're here to talk about that, then leave." That was the first thing Kihyun had said.

Even though Kihyun's voice sounded frigid and stony, Wonho could spot a hint of sadness in it. But who could blame him? He was forced to live alone in a claustrophobic cell — that was probably the only reason why he sat down in the first place. He needed his friends' support, but he had to doubt whether he really wanted it. Who could he lean on, after seeing those photos?