All the gimmicky "solutions" on the internet don't work, they honestly just make it redder.

I've never had a visible hickey like this so I don't know how to go about it. Should I pass it off as something else? (do people instantly recognize it as a hickey or can it pass as something elsE?) I'm thinking of covering it with a bandaid for a while but it would look quite suss. I don't know what kind of excuse to give. I might have to keep it there for a long time so people will wonder why its not healing.