CHAPTER 57
Noeul woke to the smell of coffee. For several seconds, he didn’t move. His eyes remained fixed on an unfamiliar ceiling while his mind struggled to place the room around him. Pale morning light slipped through the curtains. Somewhere nearby, water was running. A door opened, then closed.
He didn’t immediately know where he was.
Panic arrived before memory. His body tightened beneath the blanket. He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. Pain flared sharply through his head, forcing him to stop and breathe. Another pain followed lower in his body, deeper and burning, forcing him back against the mattress.
A broken sound escaped him.
The door opened.
Noeul flinched violently.
Duri stopped in the doorway. He was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, wrinkled now, his hair disheveled. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
“Hyung.”
Noeul stared at him.
Duri didn’t move closer. “It’s Duri.”
A few seconds passed.
“Duri…”
“Yes.”
Noeul looked around the room again. Something returned. A garden. Cold air. A hand. Away.
“This is your room?”
Relief crossed Duri’s face. “Yes.”
Noeul frowned. “Your…”
“My room. At my mother’s apartment.”
Noeul repeated the information silently, fixing it in place. Duri’s room. His mother’s apartment. Away from Chung-Hee.
He rubbed his forehead. “My head hurts.”
“I know.” Duri remained near the door. “Dr. Daniels came last night. He looked at your head and your wrists.”
“Doctor?”
“Yes.”
Noeul stared down at his hands. Both wrists were bandaged. He turned them slowly, examining them as though seeing them for the first time.
“What happened?”
Duri went still.
Noeul looked at him. “What happened to my hands?”
Duri took a careful breath. “You hurt them trying to get free.”
Noeul’s expression changed. “Free?”
Duri regretted the word immediately.
Noeul’s breathing quickened. Images came without sequence.
Metal. A bed. Hands. Pain.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“No.”
Duri lowered his voice. “You don’t have to remember.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t.”
Noeul opened his eyes. Duri was still standing where he had been. He hadn’t approached. Hadn’t touched him.
Noeul looked down at the blanket. “Where’s Ji-Woo?”
“He fell asleep in the living room about an hour ago.”
Noeul frowned. “He’s here?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to stay with you.”
Noeul seemed to think about that. Then his eyes drifted toward the window.
Duri waited.
After a while, Noeul whispered, “I’m thirsty.”
Duri nearly smiled. “There’s water beside you.”
Noeul looked toward the nightstand. A bottle of water stood there with a straw beside it. He reached for it, but his hand trembled badly enough that the bottle slipped against the wood.
Duri moved instinctively. Then stopped. “Can I help?”
Noeul looked at him. At the bottle. Then nodded.
Duri approached slowly, picked it up, and handed it to him.
Noeul drank too quickly.
“Slowly,” Duri murmured.
Noeul ignored him until his stomach turned and he pulled away, coughing. Duri took the bottle when Noeul held it toward him.
“More later.”
Noeul lay back. His eyes closed.
For a moment, Duri thought he’d fallen asleep again.
“Duri.”
“Yes?”
“Why does my body hurt?”
Duri couldn’t answer immediately.
Noeul opened his eyes. When their gazes met, Noeul turned his face away.
“Oh.”
Duri’s throat tightened.
Neither spoke.
A soft knock came sometime later.
Duri looked toward the door. “Come in.”
Kang Yujin entered carrying a tray. She had changed from the elegant clothes she’d worn the night before into loose trousers and a soft cardigan. Her hair was tied back.
She stopped several steps inside. “Good morning, Noeul.”
Noeul looked at her.
Recognition didn’t come.
Yujin didn’t seem offended. “My name is Kang Yujin. I’m Duri’s mother. You’re in my home.”
“Eomma.”
Yujin froze.
Duri looked down.
Noeul frowned immediately, confused by his own word. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” Yujin’s voice softened. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
She lifted the tray slightly. “I made juk. Plain. There’s nothing strong in it.”
Noeul stared at the bowl. His stomach tightened.
“I don’t want it.”
“That’s all right.”
The answer came so easily that he looked at her.
Yujin placed the tray on a small table away from the bed. “You don’t have to eat it. I’ll leave it here in case you change your mind.”
She added a second bottle of water. “And some tea. Duri told me you like coffee, but Dr. Daniels said we should keep things simple for now.”
Noeul’s gaze moved toward the tray again. “No coffee?”
Duri looked at him. “Later.”
Instead, she placed a folded pile of clothes on the chair. “These are Duri’s. They’re clean. You can use them whenever you want.”
Noeul looked down at himself beneath the blanket. His expression changed.
Yujin immediately turned toward the door. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Thank you,” Duri said.
She paused. “Noeul?”
He looked at her.
“You don’t need permission to ask for anything in this house. Food. Water. Quiet. A locked door. Whatever you need.”
Noeul stared at her.
Yujin gave him a small smile. Then left.
Dr. Daniels returned shortly after nine. This time, Noeul was awake when he entered. Duri sat beside the window. Ji-Woo remained near the door, holding a cup of coffee he hadn’t touched. Yujin stayed outside.
Dr. Daniels pulled a chair toward the bed rather than standing over Noeul. “Good morning, Noeul.”
Noeul looked at him.
“Do you remember me?”
Noeul frowned. “A doctor.”
“That’s enough.”
Dr. Daniels sat down. “How is your head?”
“Hurts.”
“More than yesterday?”
Noeul stared at him. “I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.”
Dr. Daniels asked his name, the year, and where he was. Noeul answered each question. He was uncertain of the exact date after three days confined in Chung-Hee’s apartment, but he knew it was the weekend and understood how much time had passed.
“And why am I here?” Dr. Daniels asked.
Noeul touched the bandage carefully. “I was struck in the head.”
“Do you remember being examined last night?”
Noeul looked at him. “You checked my head and my wrists.”
Dr. Daniels nodded. “That’s right.”
He checked his pupils again, then his pulse and blood pressure, explaining every movement before touching him. Noeul tolerated the examination better than the night before.
When the stethoscope appeared, his breathing changed.
Dr. Daniels stopped. “Same thing as yesterday.”
Noeul looked at it. “Heart?”
“Yes.”
After several seconds, Noeul nodded.
This time, when the cold metal touched his chest, he flinched but didn’t panic.
Duri watched from across the room.
Noeul’s eyes found him anyway.
Duri smiled faintly.
Dr. Daniels finished and moved away. “Your vital signs are better this morning.”
Ji-Woo exhaled.
“But,” the doctor continued, “I’m still concerned about the confusion and the head injury.”
Noeul’s expression hardened immediately.
“I want you evaluated at a hospital,” Dr. Daniels said. “You lost consciousness after a head injury. Your condition is stable now, but I cannot rule out internal bleeding without imaging.”
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“Noeul hyung…” Ji-Woo began.
“No.” Noeul pulled the blanket closer. “I don’t want people touching me.”
“No one should touch you without explaining why.”
“I don’t care.” His voice cracked. “I don’t want to go.”
Dr. Daniels studied him. “Can you tell me what you’re afraid will happen at the hospital?”
Noeul’s gaze dropped. “People. Questions. Touching.” His fingers tightened around the blanket. “I can’t.”
“I understand. But before I accept your refusal, I need to know that you understand what you’re refusing. Tell me what I’ve explained about your head.”
Noeul swallowed. “There could be bleeding inside my head that you can’t detect here.”
“And what could happen if it became worse?”
“I could become seriously ill.” His voice weakened. “I could die.”
“Knowing that, do you still refuse transport?”
Noeul met his eyes. “Yes. I’m not going to the hospital.”
Ji-Woo turned toward the doctor. “You’re accepting that?”
“He understands the recommendation and the consequences of refusing it,” Dr. Daniels replied. “We continue close monitoring here for now. But if his neurological condition worsens, this decision changes.”
He looked directly at Noeul. “If you begin vomiting repeatedly, become difficult to wake, develop weakness, suffer a seizure, or become more confused, they call an ambulance immediately. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Even if you don’t want to go?”
A pause followed. “If something changes, I’ll go.”
Dr. Daniels documented the recommendation, the risks he had explained, Noeul’s answers, and his refusal of transport.
Ji-Woo nodded reluctantly.
Noeul looked exhausted already.
Dr. Daniels waited before continuing. “There is something else.”
Noeul’s body tensed.
“We don’t have to do anything yet.”
Noeul stared at him.
“But we need to talk about the injuries from the assault.”
Dr. Daniels kept his voice clinical without becoming cold. “You were bleeding when your friends found you.”
Noeul turned his face away.
Ji-Woo’s eyes closed briefly.
“I need to examine the injuries properly at some point,” Dr. Daniels continued. “There are also tests and preventive treatments that are usually discussed after sexual assault.”
Noeul’s breathing became shallow.
“I don’t want to.”
“I know.”
“No police.”
The words came suddenly.
Dr. Daniels paused.
Ji-Woo looked at his brother.
Noeul’s gaze remained fixed on the wall. “I don’t want the police.”
“No one mentioned the police,” Duri said gently.
“They’ll ask.” Noeul’s voice trembled. “They’ll want me to tell them.”
Ji-Woo stepped forward. “Hyung, he needs to pay for what he did.”
Noeul looked at him.
“No.”
“He raped you.”
Noeul flinched so violently that Ji-Woo stopped.
Duri stood. “Ji-Woo.”
“I know.” Ji-Woo looked away. “I know, sorry.”
Noeul pulled the blanket tighter. “I won’t go.” His voice was becoming more agitated. “I won’t tell them. I don’t want them looking at me. I don’t want them asking what he did. I don’t want—”
His breath caught.
“I don’t want anyone to know.”