Page 174 of Scarbound

“But?”

He didn’t answer. Dr. Kim waited.

Noeul pressed his lips together. “Everyone already thought he was a monster,” he finally said.

“So?”

“Someone had to remember he wasn’t.”

Dr. Kim’s expression softened. “And you decided that person had to be you.”

“He was my brother. I couldn’t abandon him too.”

“Too?”

Noeul’s eyes dropped. “Everyone else already had.”

Dr. Kim nodded slowly. “So you became the person who understood him.”

“I suppose.”

“The person who explained him.”

“Yes.”

“The person who stayed.”

Noeul nodded.

“And what happened to that person?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Who stayed for you?”

Noeul went still. He looked away. “No one.”

The answer came more quietly than he intended. Dr. Kim didn’t rush to fill the silence.

After a while, Noeul continued. “When I left the basketball court that day, I remember feeling bitter. But also…” He hesitated.

“Also?”

“Relieved.”

“Why?”

“Because Gong was at home.”

Dr. Kim waited.

“I’d lost everyone else, but I still had him.” Noeul gave a humorless little laugh. “At least with Gong, I wasn’t completely alone.” He stared at his hands. “I thought my friends had abandoned me because I loved my brother.”

“And now?”

Noeul was silent for a long time. “I think that’s part of it.”

“Only part?”