Page 152 of Scarbound

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

“The way I talk to you reflects your behavior,” Chung-Hee barked. “Stay out of my personal life.”

Jun stopped pacing and turned slowly. The room froze.

“It stopped being your personal life the moment you started dragging other people into it.”

Chung-Hee’s expression darkened. “Jun.”

“No.”

It was only one word, but something in Jun’s voice silenced the room.

“You don’t get to shut me up anymore.”

Kija looked between them. Jun’s anger was different from Chung-Hee’s. It wasn’t chaotic. It had been building for months.

“It stopped being your personal business the night you called me because you had sexually abused him and didn’t know what to do afterward.”

Kija went completely still. Chung-Hee’s face changed.

“It wasn’t private when Noeul couldn’t come back to work for a week after you beat him. It wasn’t private when he wouldn’t stop crying because you dragged him to your brother’s grave in the middle of the night and forced him to apologize.”

“Jun, shut up.”

“And it sure as hell wasn’t private when you deliberately tore him apart right after he tried to kill himself and had to undergo surgery on his hand again.”

Kija stared at Chung-Hee, the man who had spent the last half hour explaining his grief, his guilt, his love, his hatred. And suddenly those words sounded very different.

Chung-Hee couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed his hand onto the table. The glasses jumped, ice shifting against crystal as the sound cracked through the room.

“I told you to shut the fuck up!”

“Don’t you dare blame Jun for your own failures,” Kija said, just as furious. “Are you with Noeul just to torture him?”

For a moment, Chung-Hee looked as if he might collapse. His earlier resolve flickered and dimmed, like a candle in the wind. He turned his gaze away, while digging his fingers into his arms.

“Fine! It’s my fault.” His voice cracked. “Now, let me go to him.”

“Do you really think he’ll want to see you after what you did to him?” Jun replied, his voice calmer now, but no less firm.

Chung-Hee looked at him. “I need to know he’s safe.”

“He is.”

Jun deliberately said nothing more.

“Where is he?”

“He asked to be left alone.”

“Jun.”

“And for once, you’re going to respect that.”

Chung-Hee’s jaw tightened. “Tell me where he is.”

“No.”