The First Lie

Seo Minjae’s POV

The file lay open across Minjae’s bed, its words crawling off the page like spiders into his brain.

> "Kang Raon: primary survivor. Minor lacerations, smoke inhalation. Statements withheld due to psychological trauma. Unfit for cross-examination."

Minjae gripped the paper tighter.

Kang Raon wasn’t just a name from a fever dream. He was part of the incident. His incident.

He turned to the second page. The ink was slightly smudged—like someone had tried to erase part of it but failed.

> "Seo Minjae: dissociative amnesia caused by severe trauma. Trigger incident: fire at the Sangwook Children’s Shelter."

Fire.

Shelter.

Those words hit him like a punch to the gut.

The last page was a photo—burned at the corners, but still visible.

Two boys, holding hands in front of a battered brick building. One of them was undeniably him. The other—

Raon.

No mistaking it now.

Minjae sat on the bed, frozen, unable to stop shaking.

Why hadn’t anyone told him? Why was this buried?

And why was Raon back now?

What did he want?

He didn’t have answers.

Only one truth remained: he had lied to Raon first.

He had promised he’d remember.

And he didn’t.

---

Kang Raon’s POV

Raon stared down at the campus courtyard from the rooftop, his hoodie pulled up, cold wind tugging at the hem.

He could almost see Minjae in the crowd, even though he wasn’t there.

It used to be the opposite. Back then, Minjae was the one no one could find, and Raon was the one clinging to him like a shadow.

And now?

Now he was the ghost in Minjae’s life.

Only this time, he wouldn’t disappear.

Not until the truth came out.

Raon pulled out his phone. No response to the last message. No read receipt.

He didn’t expect one.

Minjae always ran when things got too real.

Just like he did that night.

Raon gritted his teeth.

---

Seo Minjae’s POV

Minjae found Raon that evening, right where he expected him to be — sitting on the school rooftop, legs swinging carelessly over the edge.

“How dramatic,” Minjae muttered, stepping closer.

Raon didn’t even flinch. “Took you long enough.”

Minjae stared at him. “You were there. In the fire.”

Raon looked up at the clouds. “There were a lot of fires, Minjae. Be more specific.”

“Sangwook Shelter.”

Raon slowly turned his gaze to him, something ancient and painful flickering behind his eyes.

Minjae continued, quieter now, “We were kids. I don’t remember any of it except... screams. Smoke. Running.”

Raon stood up. “You remember more than you think.”

“I need you to tell me.”

Raon shook his head. “No. You need to remember on your own. If I tell you, you’ll just reject it.”

“That’s not fair—”

“Neither was you leaving me behind in a burning building.”

Silence.

Minjae’s voice cracked. “I didn’t know. I didn’t—”

“But you promised,” Raon interrupted coldly. “You promised you’d come back for me.”

Minjae’s hands curled into fists. “You think I wanted to forget you?”

“I think,” Raon stepped forward, closing the space between them, “you chose to forget. Because the truth is worse than the lie.”

Minjae’s voice broke. “What happened to us?”

Raon reached into his pocket and handed Minjae a folded note.

“Read that. Then come find me when you’re ready to stop lying to yourself.”

And he walked past him, footsteps fading down the stairs.

Minjae opened the note with trembling hands.

> “You lied to save yourself once. Let’s see if you do it again. — R”

---

Kang Raon’s POV

Raon walked the streets without looking where he was going.

Minjae’s face haunted him. That dazed look, that flicker of guilt—so painfully familiar it hurt.

He wasn’t ready yet.

Raon wasn’t sure he was ready either.

Because once Minjae remembered, they’d have to face everything.

Not just the fire.

Not just the lies.

But the truth about what Minjae did after.

The truth about why Raon ended up alone in that place.

The truth about the monster Minjae had become… or maybe always was.

Raon still remembered the night the fire started.

How the other boys screamed.

How Minjae had stood in the hallway, unmoving, eyes empty.

How Raon had begged him to run — but instead, Minjae had said, “They deserve it.”

Raon had never known whether he’d meant the bullies… or everyone.

And when Raon woke up days later in the hospital, Minjae was gone.

New name. New family. New life.

No letters. No visits.

Just silence.

Until now.

---

Seo Minjae’s POV

Minjae stared at the note in his hands long after Raon left.

He folded it carefully, placing it beside the photo from the file.

“I didn’t forget you on purpose,” he whispered to the empty room. “I didn’t mean to lie.”

But the line between lies and survival had always been blurred.

He couldn’t run anymore.

Not from Raon.

Not from the past.

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