Page 96 of Scarbound

Chung-Hee looked down at the untouched food. His mother’s words irritated him, yet they also found the places he tried hardest not to look at.

“He isn’t Gong.”

“No.” Ms. Lee nodded. “He isn’t.” Then she looked directly into his eyes. “But he knew.”

The room suddenly felt smaller.

“He knew what Gong was doing to Haneul.”

Chung-Hee’s jaw tightened. “He was just a teenager.”

“So was Haneul.”

“He didn’t understand.”

“He chose his brother.”

Her words hung in the quiet.

Haneul’s final note had said otherwise. I don’t think Noeul knows. Please don’t blame him. But Chung-Hee had spent years convincing himself that Haneul had been protecting his best friend, even in death. Then he had overheard fragments of Noeul’s conversation at the hospital and treated his guilt as confirmation.

Haneul’s words had offered one truth. Noeul’s self-punishment appeared to offer another. Chung-Hee had chosen the one that gave his anger somewhere to go.

His hesitation must have shown. “He covered for his brother,” she continued quietly. “Whether out of fear, denial, or loyalty, I don’t know.” Her eyes filled. “But my son still died.”

She wiped at them impatiently. “You’re trying to separate Noeul from Gong.”

“I am.”

“But Noeul has spent three years trying to separate himself from Gong too.”

Chung-Hee looked up. “What do you mean?”

“If he truly believed he had no responsibility,” she said softly, “why would he spend every day punishing himself?”

He remembered Noeul crying at Haneul’s grave. Offering his own life. Apologizing. The memory hurt as much now as it had then.

Chung-Hee looked away. “You will understand one day,” she said quietly. “Sometimes, even when you love someone, the kindest thing you can do is let them go.”

Chung-Hee slowly shook his head. “I can’t.”

She closed her eyes. “I know.”

A few moments later, the doorman called to announce a visitor. Ms. Lee looked toward the intercom.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

CHAPTER 37

There was no need to ask.

“Why is he here?”

Chung-Hee stood. For a moment, he rested both hands gently on his mother’s shoulders. “Why don’t you stay in the kitchen for a little while?”

She turned to look at him.

“You’ll understand soon enough.”