Nico
I walked out and closed the door behind me.
Then I slid down the wall in the hallway, sat on the floor with my knees up, and watched the second hand on Alaric's watch go around until I could breathe again.
I do not know how long I sat there. Long enough for my legs to go numb.
Then I heard footsteps on the stairs, and my body recognized them before my mind did.
Geum Ho stopped at the top of the staircase. He was grayer at the temples now and softer around the middle. He looked like anyone's uncle. That had always been the worst part.
"Seo-jun."
I could not move. I drove at over three hundred kilometers an hour for a living, and I could not make my own legs work.
"I heard you came home." He took a step closer, and I pressed my back harder into the wall. "I know I have no right. But I wanted to tell you I am sorry. For all of it. I have thought about it every day since Japan, and I..."
"Do not come any closer." It came out as barely a whisper.
