In Chapter 16, the details of Sean's suicide attempt are revealed, how and why did he attempt suicide?

In Chapter 16, the King asks Marlowe how he almost killed Sean. Marlowe says that Sean had been part of his squadron, and when he didn’t come back from a mission, Marlowe thought that he was dead. Marlowe later saw Sean acting in a camp show after he came to Changi. Sean was playing the female lead. When the show ended Marlowe went backstage and found Sean wearing a negligee and stockings, surrounded by men. Sean sent everyone away and when they were alone Marlowe asked what happened to him and how he could let those men “paw” him as they had been doing. Sean said that he didn’t mind because he was now a woman. Marlowe became angry and tore Sean’s clothes off him, screaming that he was a man. Sean started to cry and Marlowe stormed out of the theater. When Marlowe went back to apologize, he found Sean lying on a bed with a long cut on his wrist and blood everywhere; he put a bandage on the wrist and got a doctor. When Sean came too Marlowe apologized and Sean asked him to please be his friend, but Marlowe walked away hating himself.