Page 350 of Scarbound

Noeul’s fingers tightened slightly around his glass. “Of course.”

Chung-Hee looked up.

“There were good memories,” Noeul continued. “I won’t lie and pretend there weren’t. There were moments when you made me happy.” His gaze remained steady. “And there were many painful ones.”

“Mostly painful,” Chung-Hee said.

Noeul didn’t contradict him.

Chung-Hee stared into his glass for several seconds before pushing it away. “I’ve imagined this conversation hundreds of times.”

Noeul waited.

“Every version sounded better in my head.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “I’m sorry.”

Noeul remained still.

Chung-Hee forced himself to meet his eyes. “Not for ‘treating you badly.’ Not for losing my temper. Those words would make what I did sound smaller than it was.”

Noeul’s heartbeat quickened.

“I hurt you,” Chung-Hee continued. “I controlled you. I frightened you. I used your guilt against you because I knew it was the easiest way to keep you close.” His voice became rougher. “And when you tried to leave me, I kidnapped you.”

Noeul’s fingers went cold around the glass.

Chung-Hee saw it. He stopped.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

“You don’t have to continue,” Noeul said.

“I do.”

“No.” Noeul’s voice remained calm. “You don’t get to decide what I need to hear.”

Chung-Hee went silent. The words hurt more than anger would have.

Noeul took a slow breath, then nodded once. “Now you can continue.”

Chung-Hee swallowed. “I raped you.”

The restaurant continued around them. Someone laughed several tables away. A waiter carried a tray past them. Glass touched glass. Ordinary life continued while the ugliest truth between them finally existed in words.

“I knew you didn’t want me,” Chung-Hee said. “And I did it anyway.”

Noeul looked down. For a moment, he was somewhere else. A bedroom. A handcuff. Blood.

Then he felt the smooth glass beneath his fingers. The restaurant. The voices. His feet against the floor.

Duri waiting for him.

He was here.

“I spent a long time blaming Haneul,” Chung-Hee continued. “Then Gong. Then you. Anyone I could blame except myself.” His jaw tightened. “But nobody made me do what I did to you.”

Noeul slowly raised his eyes.

“I did it,” Chung-Hee said, his voice shaking now. “And if you ever choose to report me, I won’t fight you. I won’t use my money, my company, my lawyers, or my name to make it harder for you. I’ll tell the truth.”