Page 188 of Scarbound

“Noeul.”

He crossed the room quickly and took the note from him.

Noeul shoved at his arm. “Stay away from me.”

“Noeul.”

“Stay away from me, damn it!”

He scrambled backward until his back struck the cabinets.

“This isn’t true.”

Chung-Hee stared at him.

Noeul shook his head hard enough to make himself dizzy. “No. Gong wouldn’t…” His voice broke. “Why would he…?”

He couldn’t finish. Because he knew. Not the details. Not when. Not how often. But he knew what the words meant.

Noeul pressed both hands against his face.

“Gong raped Haneul.”

The sentence came out barely above a whisper.

Chung-Hee went still.

Noeul looked up at him. “You knew.”

Chung-Hee’s expression shifted. “You truly didn’t know?”

Noeul stared at him. “What?”

“What Gong did to Haneul.” Chung-Hee’s voice weakened. “Haneul wrote that he didn’t think you knew. I told myself he was protecting you.”

Noeul’s face crumpled. “I didn’t know.”

Chung-Hee stopped breathing. Haneul had been telling the truth. Noeul had known nothing. Chung-Hee had read the truth years ago and chosen not to believe it. He had punished Noeul for something Haneul had explicitly asked him not to blame him for.

“Noeul…”

“No.” Noeul’s voice cracked. “Don’t.”

He drew his knees toward his chest. “No, I didn’t know.” His breathing broke into sobs. “But what does that change?”

Chung-Hee frowned.

“My twin brother raped my best friend, and my defense is that I didn’t know?” Noeul demanded. “I didn’t know. So what?”

“Noeul…”

“Is ignorance supposed to make me innocent?”

“Yes.”

The answer came so quickly that Noeul stared at him.

Chung-Hee’s own eyes had filled with tears. “Yes,” he repeated. “You didn’t do this.”