Page 172 of Scarbound

“Between understanding Gong and excusing him.”

Noeul leaned back in the chair. “I wasn’t excusing him.”

“I believe you.”

“Then…”

“But they may not have.”

Noeul went quiet. Dr. Kim allowed several seconds to pass before asking, “What happened after Haneul died?”

“Everything stopped.”

“What do you mean?”

“No calls. No messages. At university, people avoided me. Invitations stopped. Some people called Gong a murderer. Some called me one too.” His mouth twisted bitterly. “Murderer by association, I suppose.”

“That must have hurt.”

“They were my friends.”

A pause.

“We grew up together. They knew me.”

“And you felt they had chosen Haneul.”

“They had.”

“Over you?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Kim studied him for a moment. “Go back to the basketball court.”

Noeul frowned. “What did you see?”

“Them.”

“Tell me.”

Noeul sighed. “They were together. Laughing. Playing. Whole.” He paused. “I remember wanting to walk over. Just for a second. I thought maybe I could pretend nothing had happened.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew I wasn’t welcome.”

“How?”

“A few of them looked at me. No one waved. No one called me over. Then they turned away and kept playing.”

“And what did you tell yourself?”

Noeul knew the answer immediately. “That I stood by my brother and paid the price.”