The chat Sehun wants to have has to wait a few days, as the precinct is unusually busy for a bit. But then Sehun invites Jongin out to get coffee with him with a pointed look, and Jongin knows the time has come to reveal a bit of what he knows.

The two end up, as usual, at Club Espresso, the café near the precinct with the cute barista that Chanyeol has his eye on. Sehun orders them both coffees and they settle into a private booth near the back of the café to talk.

“Okay, so you’re obviously connected to this case pretty personally,” Sehun says. “If you’ve got information that’s not on the official police report.”

Jongin nods glumly. “Yeah, that’s an understatement,” he agrees. Then he sighs. “Do Kyungsoo was my best friend growing up. We were hanging out the night he disappeared, and he broke his arm. He promised me he was going to go to the hospital but I was going to get in trouble for being late so I didn’t go with him. I went home, and no one ever saw him again.”

“Why didn’t you tell the police this?” Sehun demands. “I’m sure they questioned you extensively after he disappeared.”

Jongin shrugs. “We were doing something we weren’t supposed to.”

The younger male snorts. “What, like smoking pot or something?”

“Among other things,” Jongin admits. He blushes. “It was a really…I guess controversial time in my life.”

Sehun’s look remains unimpressed. “Look, if you really want to find out what happened to your friend, then I need all of the facts. Just tell me what happened.”

Jongin takes a deep breath. “Okay…”

He remembers the day as if it happened yesterday, not ten years ago. It was a muggy, humid summer’s afternoon and school had just let out for the day, which of course meant that he and Kyungsoo were on their way to their secret place deep in the woods.

Kyungsoo had been a little out of it that day, having a more difficult time keeping up with his more athletically-inclined best friend. Jongin blamed it on the sticky heaviness of the afternoon, made all the more intense by the trees blanketing them from overhead. Looking back on it later, he’s wondered if there was more to it than that. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever find out.

“Wait up!” Kyungsoo had called, huffing and puffing as he struggled to keep up.

But Jongin had only flashed him one of his signature grins and kept going, eager to get to the little abandoned house buried deep in the woods.

It had looked like rain, Jongin remembers noticing. The sky had been dark and cloudy beyond the treetops, thunder roiling on the horizon.

They’d reached the dilapidated ruin just as the first fat raindrops had begun to fall, escaping into the little downstairs bedroom that was, for the most part, pretty waterproof. The rain still dripped in from little cracks in the walls and ceilings, but their mattress stayed dry and they had been happy.

As usual, they’d flopped down on the mattress with the moth-eaten blanket and passed a couple of joints back and forth until the air had become hazy and ethereal, listening to static-filled songs on the ancient radio, laughing and joking with one another.

Sunset probably wasn’t far off when Kyungsoo had sat up, stubbing out the tiny remainder of their final joint. “Let’s go upstairs and watch the rain.”

Jongin remembers frowning at that. It had been so out of character for Kyungsoo to suggest something that could be kind of dangerous. Though they’d been coming out to the house for over a year now, they’d yet to go upstairs for fear of the floorboards being rotted through.

“I don’t know that that’s the best idea,” Jongin had muttered, and he still chuckles over that because for him to be the reasonable one is laughable. At least it had been back then.

Kyungsoo had only flashed one of his heart-shaped smiles that made Jongin’s heart flutter in a weird way and gotten to his feet, tossing his blazer aside on the mattress. “I’m sure it’s safe enough. What? Are you chicken?”

And then of course Jongin hadn’t been able to refuse. To this day he’s not sure why such a stupid challenge meant so much to his teenage self, but he’d quickly followed Kyungsoo without hesitation after that.

The upstairs of the house had been nothing more than a little loft, similar to what one might find in a barn, and the only way to get up there was by way of a rusty metal ladder. Kyungsoo had gone first, testing each floorboard carefully before putting his weight on it, and Jongin had followed.

Most of the wall in the loft had been missing, giving them a spectacular view of the forest with the rain pouring down. It was a sunstorm, with the sun shining brightly despite the torrential downpour.

Kyungsoo had sighed with a contented little smile and settled himself down to watch the storm. After a moment’s hesitation, Jongin had sat down beside his best friend.

Though they were far from dry up there in the loft, getting soaked in a matter of minutes, they had been happy. They watched the sun setting slowly through the storm, close enough that their shoulders had been touching, enjoying an amicable silence.

It had been Kyungsoo who broke it. He’d cleared his throat nervously before speaking. “About the other day,” he’d begun.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jongin had interrupted him, forcing a smile. It had been nearly two weeks since Kyungsoo had kissed him in this very house, and they hadn’t said a word about it since then. For some reason – a reason that the present Jongin may or may not understand very well – it had made his heart beat too fast. “Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen.”

Kyungsoo had frowned down at his hands, clasped around his knees. “I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen,” he’d finally said, and he’d looking up at Jongin with eyes b with sincerity. “I liked that it happened.”

Jongin hadn’t answered. He hadn’t been sure what to say. Even now, after replaying this scene over and over in his head a million times, he’s still not sure what he should’ve said.

Kyungsoo had sighed and looked away, this look of defeat on his face that to this day Jongin remembers like it’s been permanently burned onto the backs of his eyelids.

And so Jongin had done the only thing his teenaged self could think of: he kissed Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo had been just as shocked at Jongin’s initiated kiss as Jongin himself had been, but it hadn’t taken long before instinct took over.

Kyungsoo had tasted sweet, better than any of the girls Jongin had ever kissed – before or after this incident. His lips had molded perfectly to Jongin’s, his warm and familiar hands clinging to Jongin in a sort of neediness that had had Jongin’s straining against the fabric of his trousers.

Though he’s sure that he never intended it to go so far, it hadn’t taken long for Kyungsoo to end up on his back, Jongin hovering over him, both of their clothes tossed aside and forgotten.

Jongin had hesitated, a blush creeping along his exposed flesh. “I-I don’t know what I’m doing,” he had admitted in a husky whisper. “I’ve never done this before. I’ve never been with a g-guy before.”

“Me either,” Kyungsoo had assured him shyly, reaching up a soft hand to tenderly brush back a wet lock of Jongin’s hair. “But we can figure it out. If you want.”

Jongin is fairly certain that it was Kyungsoo’s sincerity that had pushed him over that last hurdle of doubt keeping him from continuing. He had dived in for another kiss and, one way or another, they had figured things out. It had been more instinct than anything, he supposes.

When they had finished and were lying on the dirty floor of the loft, the rain slanting through the missing wall to soak them even more, Jongin had had time to reflect on what had happened. And he had panicked.

He remembers just how confused he had been. He had grown up in a society where homouality was looked down upon. He had never for a second entertained the idea that he himself might be gay. What would his parents have said if they found out? What about the kids at school? Even the sweet old lady who ran the convenience store by his house would have probably started treating him differently.

Kyungsoo, who, despite his introverted personality, had always been more comfortable in his own skin than Jongin, hadn’t seemed to go through this internal crisis. He had just snuggled closer to Jongin with a contended little sigh and Jongin had been torn over what to do next.

In the end he had cleared his throat, and that had been all it took for Kyungsoo to know what was coming next. He had always been too smart for his own good, Jongin thinks.

Kyungsoo had quickly pushed himself away, forcing a smile that was anything but genuine. “It’s okay,” he had assured his friend quickly. “You don’t have to say anything. It was a mistake. Let’s just forget about it.”

“Kyunggie,” Jongin had said, feeling like something in his chest was being ripped out.

But Kyungsoo had just shaken his head, still smiling that horribly fake smile. “It’s okay, Jonginnie. I understand.”

It had been in his haste to collect his discarded clothes that he forgot to be careful about where he put his feet. The rotted floorboards had given way and he’d crashed through the floor of the loft to the destroyed kitchen below.

Still , Jongin had jumped up in alarm. “Kyunggie!” he’d shouted through the hole, coughing at the dust. “Kyungsoo! Are you okay?”

A low groan had reached his ear. “I-I think so,” Kyungsoo had called back. “I think my arm is broken though. It hurts a lot…”

“Hold on! I’m coming!” Grabbing all of their clothes, Jongin had climbed back down the ladder so haphazardly that it was a wonder he hadn’t fell himself.

He found Kyungsoo sitting in what had once been the kitchen, clutching his arm to his chest. It had definitely looked broken, and Kyungsoo had been white with pain.

Jongin had quickly helped Kyungsoo get dressed and then pulled on his own wet clothes. “We need to get you to a hospital,” he’d said.

Kyungsoo had stopped him with another forced smile. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You’ll get in trouble if you come home late. I know how strict your dad is. I’ll just go by myself. I’ll be okay.”

Jongin had hesitated. Even as a teen, he had known that he wouldn’t actually have gotten in trouble for taking his best friend to the hospital, but Kyungsoo was giving him a way out, a way to pretend like things were back to normal.

So Jongin had made Kyungsoo promise to call the second he got back from the hospital and the two had parted ways.

And it had been the last time Jongin had ever seen Kyungsoo.

Jongin’s throat is dry and his voice hoarse when he finishes his tale, feeling emotionally drained even though the story of his last night with Kyungsoo isn’t all that long. He quickly gulps down what’s left of his coffee, even though it’s cold by now.

Sehun, sitting across from him in the booth, hums thoughtfully. “So you didn’t go with him to the hospital and you never saw him again…” he summarizes.

Jongin sighs. “Yeah.”

“And you never told the cops because you didn’t want to tell them that the two of you had ,” Sehun continues.

“I’m not gay,” Jongin assures him quickly, defensively.

Sehun waves his assurances away with a disinterested wave of his hand; it’s obvious that Jongin’s ual preferences are the farthest thing from his mind. “And you were afraid and you didn’t want to get in trouble. I guess I can understand that. But I guess my question is this: if the cops haven’t been able to solve Kyungsoo’s disappearance in ten years, what makes you think you’ll be able to solve it now?”

Jongin doesn’t answer; he’s been asking himself that same question for the past several months. 

So even more information has been revealed. What do you guys think so far?

Also, sorry for my mini haitus. I was on vacaiton, traveling around Hong Kong and China, and then it was my birthday! So I was really busy there for a couple of weeks. 

Also, do you guys remember my boyfriend? The one I always talk about? Yeah, well, he's not my boyfriend anymore.

He's my fiance! We're getting married <3333