The Night That Unveils Old Wounds

[Flashback a few hours earlier]

Upon arriving at the camping area, Do Hwan walked toward the tent without saying anything. He found Hana and Da Reum tidying up their meal leftovers, and they immediately turned around, noticing his arrival.

Hana looked around frantically. "Do Hwan!" she called out in a panicked tone.

Do Hwan glanced briefly but kept walking. Hana quickly grabbed his arm, making him stop. "Where’s Narin? Why are you back alone?" Hana asked quickly.

Do Hwan frowned. "Why are you asking me?"

Da Reum approached, her expression full of worry. "Earlier, Narin went to look for you after you stormed off during the game. But she hasn’t come back yet."

Do Hwan’s body tensed, and he quickly turned around. "She went looking for me?"

"Yeah! She looked worried when you just walked off like that," Hana replied, her voice trembling.

Without warning, Do Hwan grabbed Da Reum’s collar with a furious look. "Are you crazy? How could you let her go alone? It’s already dark, and you just stayed here doing nothing?"

Hana was shocked by Do Hwan’s sudden anger but somewhat understood since what he said wasn’t entirely wrong. Letting Narin go alone was partly her fault too, but she had to separate them to quickly find Narin.

"Do Hwan, stop! It’s not entirely Da Reum’s fault. Let’s just go look for Narin first. I’m worried she might get lost in the forest," Hana said, trying to calm him down.

Right! He didn’t know how Narin was doing out there, so he released his grip roughly. "I’ll deal with you later," he warned coldly. "Hana, you stay here."

Do Hwan immediately turned back without saying anything else, walking quickly toward the forest. Hana and Da Reum could only look at each other before deciding to wait at the camping area, feeling restless.

[Flashback off]

---

Upon arriving at the camping area, Hana and Da Reum hurried toward us with relieved faces.

"Narin!" Hana exclaimed, hugging me tightly. "Are you okay? Oh my God, I almost fainted thinking you were missing!"

I gave a faint smile, hugging her back. "Sorry for making you worry..."

Da Reum came closer, her gaze soft but also worried. "How did you end up in the forest? Weren’t you just looking for Do Hwan for a bit?"

I took a deep breath, gathering the courage to speak. "I thought Do Hwan was still around there... but he had already gone back. I didn’t realize I had walked too far."

Da Reum gently rubbed my arm, looking guilty. "I should’ve gone looking for you... Sorry."

I gave a small smile, trying to reassure her. "It’s okay. I was just being reckless."

Do Hwan just stood behind with a grim face, clearly unhappy seeing Da Reum too close to me. His sharp gaze was directed at Da Reum, but he said nothing.

Hana seemed to notice the awkward atmosphere and quickly diverted the attention. "Alright, the important thing is that Narin’s safe. Let’s stop blaming ourselves. We’ve all been worried enough."

Do Hwan remained silent and just turned toward the campfire area. Hana guided me to sit on a folding chair and sat beside me. "I thought something bad would happen. Luckily, Do Hwan found you," Hana said with a relieved sigh.

"I panicked too, but thankfully Do Hwan came just in time," I replied with a faint smile.

Meanwhile, Do Hwan began clearing the leftover food on the picnic table. Da Reum approached with a trash bag. They exchanged a brief, unfriendly glance before choosing to stay silent.

"I’ll throw this away," Da Reum said, grabbing some dirty plates from the table.

Do Hwan just grunted in response, busy wiping the crumbs off the table roughly. When Da Reum returned, she brought a cloth and started cleaning the table without acknowledging her brother’s glare.

"Should we cook something else for Narin?" Da Reum asked, glancing at me.

"No need," Do Hwan answered curtly.

"She just needs rest." Da Reum just shrugged, choosing not to respond.

Hana nudged my arm lightly, grinning. "It’s kind of funny seeing them cooperate like that," she whispered, amused.

I held back a laugh, realizing they didn’t really want to work together but were forced to because of the situation. "I didn’t know they could get along like that," I murmured quietly.

Hana covered her mouth, suppressing a giggle. "Do Hwan looks so annoyed. But at least they’re not fighting."

I nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Do Hwan seemed calmer, though his way of wiping the table was still rough.

"Are you done yet?" Do Hwan asked without looking.

"There’s still a lot to clean," Da Reum replied briefly.

"If you’re lazy, just leave." Do Hwan snorted quietly but continued packing the clean utensils into the storage box. Occasionally, Da Reum shot him a resentful look but refrained from saying more.

Hana and I just exchanged glances and chuckled lightly at the two brothers who still seemed awkward working together.

"Maybe after this incident, they’ll work together more often," Hana muttered.

I shrugged with a small smile. "Who knows. Maybe not that fast."

"Actually, I’m still curious about what made Do Hwan hate Da Reum so much," Hana commented.

I just stayed silent, watching the brothers clean up. I knew a bit about their story, but I had no right to draw conclusions about things I didn’t fully understand.

When everything was finally cleaned up, Do Hwan drank from a water bottle while sitting near the campfire. His gaze remained dark, but not as gloomy as before.

Da Reum sighed deeply before moving away and sitting a bit farther from us. Hana turned to me again. "When you’re feeling better, let’s cook something to warm you up."

I smiled and nodded. "Okay, thanks, Hana."

At that moment, I felt Do Hwan’s gaze on me again. Even though his face still looked cold, there was a hint of relief that couldn’t be hidden. I lowered my head, sipping mineral water, trying to ignore the strange feeling stirring in my chest.

---

Around midnight, I woke up to voices outside the tent. The quietness made their conversation clear even though they were speaking in low tones.

"Why don’t you just leave?" Da Reum’s voice sounded cold and emotionless.

Do Hwan scoffed mockingly. "Leave where? You’re kicking me out now?"

"Wouldn’t it be better that way? At least no one would feel bothered by your presence anymore."

I could sense the anger in Do Hwan’s voice. "You really have no heart, huh? You think it’s easy for me to just leave? I’m his son too!"

"A son? Don’t kid yourself, Do Hwan," Da Reum replied sharply, his tone disdainful.

"You think you were ever considered a son? You’re just a burden he never wanted from the start. You know that. But you still stubbornly stick around in a place that clearly doesn’t belong to you."

Silence hung between them before Da Reum continued, his tone sharp yet oddly detached. "Just leave the house. It’d be much better if you disappeared rather than stay and keep making him feel pressured."

I froze, feeling the pain of imagining how Do Hwan must have felt hearing those cruel words from his own brother. Yet behind Da Reum’s harshness, there seemed to be something else—a reason he didn’t want to admit, even to himself.

However, behind all the firmness and coldness in Da Reum’s words, something felt off. Why did he want Do Hwan to leave in such a cruel way? As if... there was something he was hiding. Something he didn’t even want to admit to himself.

***