The next day in the dorm at night, Raehyun was deep in thought while a book was open in front of him. Injae came in and asked, "Will you go with me to the hospital?"
"Why? What happened? Are you sick?" Raehyun asked, worried.
"Yes, having a bad stomach lately," Injae replied.
"You should have asked me earlier," Raehyun said.
"You were busy; how could I bother you in such a situation?" Injae justified.
"That's not a bother," Raehyun insisted.
Injae playfully "Okay, I understood Your High__"
"Don't call me that. I don't like it," he interrupted.
"So, are you coming?" Injae asked.
"Of course, it's not something you should ask," Raehyun replied.
Injae stood up to give Raehyun a kiss on the head, saying, "As expected of my best friend. I love you." Jiho pushed him back, "Stop! That's so cheesy."
Injae lay on his bed to go to sleep. Raehyun cautiously asked, "Can I ask you something?"
Injae sat up to listen. "It's nothing serious; you don't need to sit up to listen to me," Raehyun commented.
"of course, it must be important. You have been dealing with a lot of things recently," Injae said.
"If you were aware of someone's crime in your family, what would you do?" Raehyun inquired.
Injae took a deep breath and bit his lips. "If I were a common citizen, maybe I would have tried to cover it. But I am a responsible police student; I would rather make that person pay the price for their wrongdoings." Staring at Raehyun, he asked, "Is that about your brother?"
After a prolonged silence, Raehyun replied, "Mmm, it is. Let's talk about it later. You can go to sleep now."
"Sure, tell me about it when you want," he said, lying in the blanket. Raehyun got back to studying with all kinds of complicated thoughts surrounding his head.
**+**
On the way back from the hospital, Injae asked, "Why did you sleep in late?"
"I just didn't want to wake up," Raehyun replied.
There was a prolonged silence until they arrived at Injae's house. "How about coming in? You haven't eaten anything yet. Eat something before you go," Injae suggested.
"You know it's uncomfortable for me to communicate with strangers," he replied.
"No one's home; they have gone down to the countryside to see grandparents,"
Raehyun contemplated while tapping the steering wheel.
"Why, is the house too little for you?" Injae said, sulking.
"Hey, you know it's not like that," Raehyun rejected his comment while getting off the car.
While Injae was setting the table, Raehyun asked, "Where did you learn how to cook?"
"From my mom; I used to tag around her like a ghost from childhood, and without knowing, I just know how to cook," he replied.
Raehyun commented while observing the surroundings, "There are a lot of family photos."
"Yeah, my parents like to go on picnics; that's how the walls got filled," Injae said.
"You have got a happy family. I used to have a happy family too, and I just smiled all the time. Now we don't even have a picture together."
Looking at Raehyun, who smiled rarely, Injae said, "You are talking like someone who had lost his family."
"Ah, I am just talking about my brother."
Handing him chopsticks, Injae asked, "Do you hate your brother?"
"No," Raehyun replied, "it's just I can't accept his wrongdoings."
They started eating, and Raehyun put the chopsticks on the table and broke the silence. "Actually, I am suspicious that he is a murderer."
"That's why you reported him?" Injae chimed in.
"Mmm, but there is no evidence," Raehyun replied.
"Then why are you so sure about it?" Injae asked
Raehyun said " Because I know him for Years " Injae looked at him dumbfounded. "No, no, I mean, I saw him acting suspiciously," Raehyun clarified.
"Although I don't believe you blindly, one thing I am sure of is you must have your reason to have such a suspicion. Moreover, he is your brother; why would you lie about it?" Injae explained his thoughts.
Injae came out to see him off. Darkness was spreading slowly. Raehyun was about to go, Injae knocked on the door, and Raehyun lowered the mirror.
"Tell me if you need help; I will try my best to help you." Injae's warm words gave him a little smile, and he said, "Got it, thank you."
Raehyun headed home. He parked his car. Somehow he hated entering the house and sat down on the bench in front. It was already dark.
"I should ask him about it. Huh, what's the use of asking? Still, I shouldn't try to run away from all of this." A lot of thoughts haunted him while he was staring at the flowers in front of him in a pot, swinging with the soft wind in the darkness. He took a deep breath and looked at the dark sky before entering the house. There was no one in the living room.
"Maybe he is not home yet," Raehyun thought and was about to enter his room. At that time, In Hyuk's room's door opened, and he came out wearing a sky-blue shirt with dark blue loose pants. Raehyun looked at him for a long while and turned around to enter the room.
"Haven't you wanted to talk to me? That's why you sat outside on the bench, right?" In Hyuk asked.
Raehyun let go of the doorknob and walked to In Hyuk. "Right, I have a lot to say, but I am tired. How come you never realized that I was also one of your victims? I have never been happy after the massacre in the Palace. Ah, that's not it. I was about to be happy, but you shattered all my imaginations. Even in this life, I felt anxious every single day. I wished—I wished that we wouldn't be born again, not at least with such a painful fate."
In Hyuk stayed silent at his words, and he took slow, heavy steps to his room until a question from In Hyuk froze his feet, "Will you kill me again?"
As tears flowed down Raehyun's face, he entered the room, and the door closed with a slight thud.