Page 53 of Scarbound

“Noeul.” Chung-Hee’s voice sounded relaxed, but Noeul immediately recognized the tension hidden beneath it. “Where are you?”

A brief pause.

“Outside? I can hear traffic.”

“I went for a walk.” Noeul glanced at the time on his phone. Only an hour had passed since Chung-Hee had dropped him off. “I needed some fresh air.”

No answer.

His stomach tightened. He could almost picture Chung-Hee sitting behind his desk, fingers tapping against the wood while he replayed every word, searching for something that didn’t fit.

“Are you alone?” Chung-Hee asked. His voice was calm, but something beneath it felt dangerously close to snapping.

Noeul closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. “Just me and Mr. Choi. Who else would I be with?”

“Are you sure?”

The question came almost immediately, suspicion lingering beneath his lowered voice.

Noeul rubbed a hand across his face, trying to suppress the irritation rising inside him. “I’m sure. Do you want to speak to Mr. Choi?”

This time, Chung-Hee hesitated.

“No… that’s all right.” His voice softened. “After spending so many days in the hospital, it’s natural that you’d want to go outside. To walk. To feel your body move again.”

Another pause.

“I should get back to work. We’ll talk later this afternoon, all right? And…” His tone became quieter. “If I can’t reach you, I’ll worry. You know I can’t bear that anymore.”

There was no room to refuse.

“Okay,” Noeul replied quietly.

The call ended.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and kept walking, but his thoughts weren’t on the park anymore, or the city, or even Mr. Choi walking beside him.

They remained fixed on Chung-Hee.

Did he genuinely worry about him… or simply need to know where he was?

And why, despite everything, did part of Noeul still want to reassure him?

Mr. Choi broke the silence.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying this…” He spoke carefully, choosing each word. “But from the way he talked to you, Mr. Lee seems to care about you. Perhaps a little more than most people would.”

Noeul let out a short, nervous laugh. “He likes me?”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

His smile disappeared almost immediately. “Most of the time… it feels like he punishes me for existing.”

Mr. Choi looked at him thoughtfully. “Really? I’ve only met the two of you today, so I may be completely wrong. But that’s not what I saw.”

Noeul frowned. “What did you see?”

“A man who checked whether you’d eaten. Who arranged your apartment, hired someone to help you recover, and called less than an hour after leaving.” He glanced at Noeul. “Whether it’s healthy or not… I don’t know. But it certainly doesn’t look like indifference.”