Page 321 of Scarbound

Jun’s voice echoed through the apartment. Kija stepped between them, hands raised slightly, but Jun was done holding back.

“You keep saying you love him as if that excuses everything. It doesn’t. You hurt him. You controlled him. And now, after everything that happened, you’re still withholding his passport and his money because you’re afraid he’ll leave you?”

“He’ll disappear!”

“Maybe he will!”

Chung-Hee flinched.

Jun lowered his voice. “And if he does, you let him. If you ever want to apologize to Noeul, then apologize because you owe him one. Not because you think an apology will make him come back. Not because you think being sorry earns you another chance.” Jun stepped closer. “You don’t get to decide whether you’re part of his life anymore. He does.”

Chung-Hee looked away.

“Stop.”

“No. You need to hear it.”

Chung-Hee’s fists clenched.

“If Noeul never comes back to you, that will be because of what you did. Not Duri. Not Kija. Not his brother. Not Haneul.”

Chung-Hee’s face twisted.

“Don’t bring my brother into this.”

“He has been in this from the beginning!” Jun shouted. “That’s the problem.”

Jun extended his hand. “Give me his things.”

Chung-Hee stared at it. “No.”

“Chung-Hee.”

“They’re in the safe.”

“Then open it.”

“You won’t get them.”

Jun slowly lowered his hand. For several seconds, neither man moved. Then Chung-Hee grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the table, walked into his bedroom, and slammed the door behind him.

The lock clicked.

Jun stared after him.

Kija sank back onto the couch. “What the hell happened to him?”

Jun didn’t answer immediately. He looked toward the closed bedroom door, then around the apartment.

“We can’t keep ignoring this,” he said finally. “Something has to be done.”

Kija looked at him. “Meaning?”

Jun swallowed hard.

He hesitated. An idea had begun forming in his mind at the gallery, one he had immediately dismissed because it was dangerous.

Now he reconsidered.