Page 120 of Scarbound

Noeul laughed softly. “I’ll wait for your message, then.” He glanced toward Ji-Woo. “We should probably finish the exhibition before they throw us out.”

Ji-Woo nodded.

Noeul turned toward the other men. “If you don’t mind, my brother and I will keep looking around. We’ll leave you three to talk.”

“Of course,” Jun said. “Have a good evening, Noeul. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You too.”

Kija gave Noeul one last smile. “Goodnight, handsome.”

Noeul froze for half a second. Ji-Woo immediately looked at Chung-Hee. Jun did the same. Kija seemed completely unbothered.

Noeul gave an awkward laugh but didn’t answer the compliment. “Goodnight, Kija.”

He reached lightly for Ji-Woo’s sleeve. “Come on.”

The brothers began walking toward the next room. Noeul resisted the urge to look back but made it only several steps before finally giving in. Chung-Hee was still watching him. His posture was perfectly controlled, his expression almost unreadable. Only the tension in his jaw betrayed him.

Their eyes met. Noeul’s stomach tightened.

Then Chung-Hee smiled. A small, polite smile.

It unsettled Noeul. He quickly turned away.

Beside him, Ji-Woo lowered his voice. “He’s angry.”

“I noticed.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“I know.”

Ji-Woo looked at him. “Then stop looking like you’re waiting to be punished.”

Noeul slowed.

“Hyung, I didn’t mean…”

“No.” Noeul looked back toward the exhibition. “You’re right.”

He took a quiet breath. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ji-Woo studied his face, then nodded. “Exactly.”

Noeul forced the tension out of his shoulders. “Come on.” He pointed toward the next installation. “We still have half the exhibition left.”

Ji-Woo smiled, and together they walked on.

CHAPTER 41

The next morning came with no message from Chung-Hee. No call. No unexpected knock on his door. Nothing.

Noeul should have felt relieved. Instead, the silence made him uneasy. He had been almost certain Chung-Hee would appear at some point during the night, demanding an explanation for a conversation that needed none. Kija had complimented him. That was all. Noeul hadn’t flirted with him, encouraged him, or done anything wrong.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

He repeated the words to himself while preparing his usual strong Americano.