Two weeks after their two-month-stay celebration, Minseok looks up from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men when he hears Luhan’s strangled gasp.

“Luhan?”  Minseok calls, as he puts down the book and approaches Luhan by the bay window.

“Minseok,” Luhan says, voice a mere whisper.  “Look.”

“What is it?”  Minseok asks, but also stops dead in his tracks when he sees what Luhan is looking at.

“It’s Jongin.”  Luhan whispers.  Sure enough, it is Jongin.  The black haired boy is sitting on the bench across the street, watching the cars pass by.

“He looks as if he’s waiting for someone.”  Minseok says, voice also a mere whisper.  He puts a hand against the glass as if he would be able to touch his friend once again.

“Minseok, you do trust me… right?”  Luhan asks and Minseok faces him, wide-eyed in surprise.

“Of course I do.”  Minseok replies, confused.  How come Luhan thinks he doesn’t trust him?

“Then,” Luhan continues, eyes looking down.  “How come you won’t talk to me?”

“But I do talk to you.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”  Luhan replies, voice firm.  Minseok gives him a fond smile before turning back his attention to their friend outside.

“Sometimes,” Minseok replies after a few minutes of silence.  “Someone just has to keep his secrets to himself.”

“But then how come you tell him?”  Luhan asks, voice full of hurt.

“I don’t.  Talk to him, sure, but I never tell him anything.”  Minseok replies, sighing.  “I can’t risk our chances of getting out of here.”

“Then how come you won’t tell me?”

“Because I’m not yet ready.”  Minseok replies, but before Luhan can answer back, a figure approaches the lone person on the bench.  The two trapped friends watch, wide-eyed, as Jongin stands up and is engulfed in a hug from the newcomer.

“Who is that?”  Minseok asks.  Luhan shakes his head in return.

“I don’t—“ But before Luhan can finish his sentence, the man leans down to kiss Jongin, leaving the two stunned.  After the kiss, the man puts an arm around Jongin’s shoulders and leads him farther down the street—and outside of the window’s view.

To say that Minseok is stunned would be an understatement.  I don’t understand, how can that happen?  He spares a glance at his companion and sees that Luhan has gone pale, still staring at the outside of the window.

“Luhan.”  Minseok says, thinking of the proper words of comfort.  But before he can string together a sentence, Luhan walks away towards the kitchen, leaving Minseok to stare at the bench as if Jongin is still there.

~O~

He watches from the far end of the room as Luhan and Jongin talk with some of their friends, all the while holding hands and acting as if they have no care of the world.  A hand on his arm prompts him to look up to a pair of blue eyes that are full of regret.

“Minseok.”  Chanyeol says, taking a seat beside him and running a hand through his brown hair.  “I must say that I am very sorry for my cousin’s actions.”

“What do you mean?”  Minseok asks.  Chanyeol just sighs in frustration before replying:

“Jongin didn’t have the right to barge into your life like that, take advantage of you, and then leave you hanging.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”  Minseok replies.  “I didn’t realize it until it was too late.”

“You shouldn’t give up just like that.”  Chanyeol replies, stunned.  “Tell you what, I’ll go bring you some coffee and we can talk about how Jongin screwed both of our lives over.”

Minseok gives Chanyeol a small smile before he stands up and heads for the kitchen.  Although after a few steps, he faces Minseok once again.

“If it makes you feel any better, I told Jongin that he should be ashamed of himself for ruining everyone’s lives like that.”  He says before proceeding to the kitchen.

It doesn’t make Minseok feel better.

~O~

That night finds Minseok and Luhan lying side by side on the bed, staring at the ceiling and not really sleeping.

“Luhan, are you okay?”  Minseok asks, concerned.  The other has been purposely ignoring him the rest of the day, and it’s freaking him out.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”  Luhan replies.  Minseok isn’t convinced.

“Luhan, Jongin…” Minseok starts, but stops when Luhan turns his head to look at him.

“I’m sorry.”  Luhan says, eyes bright.  Minseok looks into his eyes, looking for anything that would tell him that Luhan’s not in his right mind but he finds nothing but regret.

“Sorry?  What for?”  Minseok asks, bewildered.

“Sorry that you had to be tricked like that.  That Jongin played you like that.  That I let him ruin us after everything that we’ve been through.”  Luhan replies, looking intently at the other’s eyes.

“Luhan, I don’t understand.”  Minseok whispers, confusion marring his features.

Luhan looks back at the ceiling before letting out an amused laugh before answering.  “Understand?  That’s funny because I didn’t understand it too, back then.”  He says before he turns his attention back to Minseok, still smiling.  “I thought we had something, Jongin and I, but I was wrong.”

“Luhan, I—“

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Minseok.  Bad choices, wrong words, wrong timing; name it and I’ve probably done it.  But I guess, this is my second chance.”  Luhan says before looking back at the ceiling, and Minseok follows suit.  “I meant it when I said that maybe getting locked in here is a blessing in disguise, that maybe this is our chance to start over.”

Minseok’s mind is reeling with this new information.  He continues to stare at the ceiling, trying to process as much as he can, when he feels as if someone’s looking at him.  He turns his head only to see that Luhan is looking at him.

“Minseok, do you really trust me?”  He asks, and Minseok is stunned.  This is the second time that he’s asked the other that question today.  “I know you have very little reason to, but I can do this.  I can get us out of here.  You’ll just have to listen and trust in me, okay?”

Minseok nods.

~O~

Summer before sophomore year, Luhan decided that it’s a good idea to spend an afternoon in a theme park.

“Luhan, I don’t think this is a good idea.”  Minseok says, eyeing the roller coaster.  “Aren’t you afraid of heights?”

“I have to face my fears.”  Luhan replies, frowning at him behind his drink.  “It’s what real men do.”

“Are you serious?”  Minseok replies, his frown getting deeper.

Luhan sighs before throwing his now empty cup in the trashcan.  “Minseok.”  He calls.

“What?”  Minseok replies, looking back at Luhan only to see him holding out a hand.

“Do you trust me?”  He asks, looking straight into his eyes.  Minseok doesn’t even have to think twice.

He takes his hand.

~O~

“It’s such a shame.”  Luhan says much later, when Minseok is already in the brink of sleep.  Luhan’s amused and fond voice pulls him back from dreamland.

“What is?”  Minseok asks, stifling a yawn.

“You had to go through that for nothing.”  Luhan replies and Minseok just looks at him as if he has grown two heads.  “Jongin played and betrayed you for nothing.”

“How come?  I think he achieved his goals just fine.”

“Because I never did love him.”  Luhan replies and Minseok almost punched him in the face for joking like that until he realized that he’s very serious.  “We were young and what I thought was love was apparently just admiration.  He was the new guy—the popular guy—and I interpreted my admiration for his skills as something else.”

“But you courted him!  You went through all that for nothing?”  Minseok asks, almost shouting.

“I told you, hormones and admiration.”  Luhan replies, giving the other a lazy smile.  “Even when we were already together, I never did love him.  As our relationship progressed, I just kept on finding excuses to not meet up or go on dates with him.  I thought that it would eventually pass, but it never did.  That’s when I realized that I screwed up big time.  Again.”

Minseok just stares at him, mouth open in shock.  Luhan rolls to his side to completely face Minseok before whispering, “And that is my dirty little secret.”

~O~

The day after Luhan’s confession was spent in silence.  The tension in the air is so thick; you can cut it with an axe.  Minseok did his normal housekeeping duties: cooking, washing the dishes, and washing the laundry.  Luhan was functional as a stick would be; he would do his chores but would look at the door every so often, expecting it to burst open with the man telling them that they’re free to go.

But it never happened.

The same goes for the next day.

And two days after.

On the third day, Luhan was already looking dejectedly at Minseok.  But there was also a hint of betrayal in his eyes as he realized that it wasn’t the correct secret.

“Maybe he’s just preparing things for our transport.”  Minseok says, not really meeting Luhan’s eyes.

That night, Minseok sits and stares at the moon as Luhan sleeps on the bed.

~O~

Six days after Luhan confessed, the door opens.

“Good afternoon to both of you.”  The man says with a proud smile on his face.  “Sorry for the delay, I had to make some arrangements.”

“W-what do you m-mean?”  Luhan stammered.

“I didn’t lock the door this time, did I?”  The man replies and sure enough, the door is wide open behind him.

“We’re really free to go?”  Minseok asks.

“Don’t you want to?  I can go lock it again.”  The man replies.

“NO!”  Luhan shouts.  “We’ll go.”

“Okay.  You’ll have to follow me though, the way out is confusing.”  The man replies and moves to go out before remembering to say something.  “Oh, you can take anything you want from the room.”

“No thanks, I don’t want a souvenir.”  Luhan replies, voice impatient.  Beside him, Minseok picks up Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.  “All set.”  He says, the book firmly in his grip.

“Follow me, then.”  The man says and they step out of the room before the man locks the door behind them.

~O~

To say that the way out is confusing would be an understatement.  It’s a freakin’ maze.

“It was designed in such a way that if ever someone does manage to escape from the room, he or she will still get lost on the way out.”  The man says, noticing the way Minseok and Luhan seem to keep on looking back.  “It’s actually hard to remember the right way.  I got lost a few times too.”

“How long have you been doing this?”  Minseok asks and Luhan looks at him as if saying, Even now?

“Long enough not to get lost.”  The man replies.  Minseok understands.

Minutes after their last conversation, the man stops in front of two doors.  He then turns around, facing his two soon-to-be-free captives with a smile.

“You’ll have to be separated from here on.  Both doors lead to separate tunnels; you’ll just have to follow them until you reach the opening.  One tunnel leads to the central market and the other leads to the entrance of the zoo.”  He instructs, holding out two sets of keys.

“So we’ve been near our homes all this time?”  Luhan asks, eyeing the keys carefully.  The man gives a curt nod in reply.

“But why do we have to be separated?”  Minseok asks but the man just smiles in return.  All of a sudden, it made sense to Minseok.

“This is still part of the lesson, isn’t it?”  He asks before reaching for one of the keys.

“You’re not only pretty, you’re also smart.”  The man says before giving the remaining key to Luhan.

“Minseok, you can’t possibly be agreeing to this.”  Luhan says, eyeing Minseok uncertainly.

“This is the only way we can get out.  Do you actually want to stay here forever?”  Minseok asks, exasperated.

“What?  No!”  Luhan denies.  “It’s just that… I don’t like this.”

“You think I do?”  Minseok replies before shaking his head.  “Luhan, do you trust me?”

“Minseok…”

“If you don’t, then that’s fine.  Just do what he says and I’ll get us out of here.”  Minseok replies, heading for the door on the left.

“What?  I do trust you, Minseok!”  Luhan replies, heading for the door on the right.  “I just really don’t like this at all.”

“It’s the only way out.”  Minseok replies.

“Wait.  When we get out, where do we meet?”  Luhan asks, his frantic eyes searching Minseok’s face.

“At the mall.  Meet me at the mall.”  Minseok replies and Luhan gives a curt nod in reply.

They open the doors and step in.

~O~

The man patiently waits in front of the two doors; he can hear footsteps disappearing quickly behind one of the doors while behind the other door, he hears nothing.  Suddenly, the second door opens to reveal the very person who opened it only a few seconds ago, prompting a warm smile from the man.

“I thought you already made a break for it.”  The man says, approaching the person.

“I told you to trust me, didn’t I?”  The person replies, also giving a slight smile.

“Come on, Minseok.”  The man says, extending a hand out to him.  “Let’s get you back upstairs.”