Page 114 of Scarbound

The colleague beside him laughed. Noeul’s smile faded slightly. Maybe normal would take some practice.

After lunch, the office settled into a quieter rhythm. Noeul returned to his desk, almost indifferent to the voices around him. He focused on his screen, eager to continue his first project, when a familiar voice interrupted him.

“Noeul?”

His fingers stopped over the keyboard. He knew that voice. For a moment, he couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Then he looked up, and his heart nearly leapt into his throat.

Standing before him, slightly older but unmistakably recognizable, was Minho. His former best friend. The man who had once been like a brother to him, before Haneul’s death drove them apart.

For a few seconds, neither spoke.

Minho smiled, though there was hesitation in his eyes. “Hey. It’s been a long time.”

Noeul felt a surge of conflicting emotions, anger, pain, and a trace of nostalgia he immediately wished he could erase. His expression turned cold almost instinctively.

“Minho. I didn’t know you worked here.”

Something in Minho’s expression changed at the formality in his tone. Only slightly, but Noeul noticed.

“Yes,” Minho replied with forced lightness. “I’ve been here for a while. So you’re one of the company’s new hires.”

Noeul nodded briefly. “Exactly.”

Minho shifted awkwardly, the weight of their shared past hanging between them.

There had been a time when silence between them had been comfortable. They could sit together for hours playing games, studying, eating whatever snacks they had managed to buy, without needing to fill every second with conversation.

Now even a few seconds felt unbearable.

“I didn’t know you were coming back to Seoul,” Minho said.

Noeul’s gaze returned to his monitor. “There was no reason for you to know.” Another small wound. He saw it land. Part of him regretted it. Another part didn’t.

Minho lowered his voice. “I know things ended badly between us. I’ve had a lot of time to think about everything that happened.”

Noeul’s fingers tightened slightly. Not here. Not today.

“I want you to know that I’m sorry,” Minho continued. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Noeul’s expression remained unreadable. “What happened between us was a long time ago. Let’s keep things professional.”

Minho sighed. Hurt showed on his face, but he remained beside the desk.

“I understand that you’re still angry. I would be too. But I hope we can at least talk about it someday. Properly. You were my best friend. I hate how things ended.”

Noeul looked away. For one terrible second, he could see them as they had once been. Four boys who had once believed friendship could survive anything.

Then the image disappeared. Minho had disappeared when Noeul needed him most. The nostalgia hardened into something bitter.

“The apology comes a little late, don’t you think?”

Minho opened his mouth, but Noeul didn’t allow him to answer.

“Look, Minho,” he said flatly. “I’m here to work, not to revisit the past. Let’s keep things professional and leave it at that.”

Minho stared at him for several seconds before nodding. “All right. I understand.”

He stepped back but stopped before leaving.