Page 275 of Scarbound

Yujin looked up.

Noeul bowed. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say this, but thank you. For everything.” His voice softened. “I will be forever grateful.”

“You don’t owe me gratitude forever.”

Noeul straightened. “I do.”

“No.” Her answer was gentle but firm. “I’m glad I could help my son’s friend. Consider it repayment for all the years you spent taking care of my son, too.”

“I didn’t really do much,” Noeul replied softly. “Duri was always strong and mature.” He paused, affection warming his voice. “He grew into an incredible person, Mrs. Kang. You did an amazing job raising him.”

Yujin smiled. “Thank you.” She glanced at the vegetables he had washed, then toward the cutting board. “Do your hands still hurt?”

“Sometimes.”

“Today?”

Noeul flexed his fingers experimentally. “Not much.”

She considered him for a moment. “There are more vegetables to prepare.”

Noeul followed her gaze to the knife and understood. For several seconds, he simply stared at it.

“We can leave those for me.”

Noeul remained still.

A knife was only a knife. He knew that. But his body remembered another kitchen. Another hand closing around a handle.

Blood.

Chung-Hee grabbing his wrist.

Noeul swallowed. “I can do it.”

“You don’t have to prove anything.”

“I know.”

He reached for the knife. His fingers trembled slightly when they closed around the handle. Yujin said nothing.

Noeul placed the first vegetable on the cutting board.

One cut.

Then another.

Nothing happened.

His breathing eased. Yujin returned to the stove as though the moment had been completely ordinary. Noeul was grateful to her for pretending it was.

“I really didn’t do much for Duri,” he continued after a while. “He was always strong and mature, even when he was younger.”

Yujin could hear the affection and admiration in his voice. Leaning against the counter, she studied him. “If your mother were here, I would praise her in exactly the same way.”

Noeul glanced up. “Thank you.”

“But since she isn’t…” Something playful entered Yujin’s expression.