No Turning Back
Even after the call ended, I couldn't set my phone down.
My face hovered faintly on the blackened screen. Min-a's voice kept echoing in my mind.
She had said the car was shaking. That they were on their way to an off-site appointment.
Taken at face value, there was nothing strange about it.
It was perfectly ordinary for an employee to visit a client with her team leader.
Yet those short, breathless gasps that had interrupted the call, and the way Min-a's voice had risen slightly higher than usual, refused to leave my head.
Had the car really just shaken? Or had something happened between the two of them inside that car—something I didn't know about?
Once my thoughts turned in that direction, they spun wild scenes on their own.
Hyung gripping the wheel. Min-a in the passenger seat beside him.
The two of them alone in the narrow, closed space of the car, her voice suddenly trailing off.
I shook my head hard.
You crazy bastard.
The muttered words rang through the empty room.
I had decided not to suspect them. The three of us had made a clear promise.
No secrets between us.
No lies. Everything that happened would be spoken about honestly.
Min-a had already kept that promise.
She had told me every detail about what happened that Friday night—how it felt, even the parts that were hard to say—without hiding anything.
Hyung had done the same. He hadn't dodged a single question and had even forced me to face the things I wanted to look away from.
It would be cowardly to doubt them now.
Above all, if they had truly meant to hide something from me, Hyung would never have suggested dinner together.
He wouldn't have openly told me he was with Min-a and invited me to join them.
Right.
Nothing had happened.
Min-a had simply been tense because she was in the car, and the events of last weekend had me reading too much into even an ordinary tone of voice.
When I settled on that conclusion, the pressure crushing my chest eased a little.
A different feeling rose to take its place.
The thought of seeing the two of them together tonight.
The realization that this would be the first time the three of us sat facing one another since that day made my heart beat a little faster.
Was it discomfort? Nervousness?
Or some other reason I didn't want to admit? I couldn't tell.
“Welcome. Do you have a reservation?”
“Ah, I’m meeting someone.”
The address Hyung had given me led to a rather upscale Japanese restaurant.
…Just like last time, I wondered how Hyung knew about places like this so casually.
Upon hearing I was with a party, the staff bowed without asking anything else.
“I’ll show you inside.”
I followed the staff, walking slowly.
It was no special day. Just three people having an ordinary dinner.
Yet my heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears.
The staff stopped in front of a sliding door.
“Your party is here.”
When the door opened, I saw Min-a first. Then Hyung sitting right beside her.
“Oppa, you’re here?”
“Min-woo. Come sit across from us.”
They greeted me like always. I smiled awkwardly and stepped into the room.
But my feet paused for a moment as I moved to sit.
Hyung was seated next to Min-a. The only empty spot left was directly across from them.
Normally Min-a would have sat beside me. It wouldn’t have even been a question.
Today, Hyung and Min-a sat side by side on one side, and I had to sit alone opposite them both.
They had come straight from the off-site visit, so it made sense they had sat together first.
That was all.
There was no reason to read anything strange into it.
“Why are you standing there, Oppa?”
“It’s… nothing.”
I sat down across from them, pretending nothing was wrong.
“Hehe. Oppa, Team Leader said you can order anything you want today.”
Min-a smiled brightly, just like always.
“If you say it like I never treat you, I’ll be hurt.”
“No! That’s not what I meant at all.”
Min-a laughed and lightly touched Hyung’s arm.
It was a trivial gesture. The same kind of playful touch I had seen many times before.
But watching them sit side by side made even that small movement look different today.
I couldn’t tell Min-a to come sit next to me.
The moment I said it, I would be admitting that this seating felt wrong.
Hyung casually called the server and ordered sushi and sake.
Once the order was placed, he closed the menu and slowly looked at me.
A faint smile curved his lips. It was the smile of someone who already knew I felt the awkwardness of this arrangement.
“Min-woo… You’re bothered by the seating, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
The sudden question pulled my gaze back to them.
Min-a looked at Hyung with slightly widened eyes, as if this was news to her too.
“No. You came together after the off-site, so it makes sense.”
I tried to sound indifferent, but my words came out a little too quickly.
Hyung’s smile didn’t fade.
“It does make sense. Hmm.”
He nodded slowly.
“But we didn’t sit like this by accident today.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I told Min-a to sit here on purpose.”
Min-a’s shoulders stiffened slightly.
It seemed she hadn’t thought much of it when Hyung had suggested the seat.
“On purpose?”
“Yes. On purpose.”
Hyung answered as if it were nothing.
His tone was as casual as if he were describing the dishes we had ordered.
“Min-woo. How does it feel seeing us this close?”
“…What?”
I knew exactly what he meant but let my answer trail off. Gyeong-rok Hyung kept that relaxed smile on his face.
“Me sitting with Min-a like this. This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Hyung smiled and slid his arm behind Min-a’s chair.
At first it looked like he was simply resting it on the back. Then his hand slowly drifted down until it rested on her shoulder.
Min-a flinched and looked at me.
Hyung felt her reaction but didn’t pull away.
“If watching right in front of you is uncomfortable, I won’t go any further.”
Hyung removed his hand from Min-a’s shoulder and picked up his chopsticks.
He placed a piece of sushi in his mouth, then smiled at me.
“Tell me anytime.”
“…Yeah…”
I couldn’t answer properly. I was afraid that if I said it was uncomfortable, or that I hated it, he would declare we were ending everything.
“Are you uncomfortable, Min-a?”
“Mmm…”
Min-a glanced at me, unable to answer right away. Her eyes were trembling.
“…No. Oppa, are you okay? …Do you like it when the Team Leader and I… get a little closer?”
I hadn’t touched the sushi, yet my throat had closed up so tightly I couldn’t speak.
I simply gave a small nod.
Hyung smiled and lowered his hand again. The moment he stroked Min-a’s thigh, her shoulders jerked.
The hand holding my sake cup tightened almost imperceptibly.
“T-Team Leader…”
The moment I said it was fine, he began such blatant touching.
I picked up a piece of sushi but couldn’t bring it to my lips.
Hyung’s hand was slowly caressing Min-a’s thigh beneath the black suit skirt.
He stroked upward, then gently parted her legs.
I knew I should stop him, yet I couldn’t move a single finger.
This was all something I had caused myself. With a trembling hand, I simply filled my own cup again.
I hadn’t expected Hyung—who had always held back a step until now—to become so aggressive…
When he finally withdrew his hand from her thigh, I let out a shaky breath.
“I’ve thought a lot about the three of us, and I even looked some things up. Apparently situations like this exist.”
Hyung poured sake into Min-a’s cup and his own, then emptied his in one swallow.
“So I was curious how you would react, Min-woo.”
After setting the cup down, Hyung’s expression grew serious.
With a deeply furrowed brow, he lowered his voice and spoke calmly.
“Min-woo. If you can’t handle it, stop now. I don’t want to ruin a valued subordinate and my younger brother.”
None of us spoke first. Min-a simply looked back and forth between me and Hyung.
“…Hyung. I’m sorry. I’m grateful you’re thinking of me… but I can’t pretend none of this happened now.”
My tightly clenched fist trembled.
I was thankful Hyung was looking out for me… but I couldn’t stop.
“You can keep going. …Thank you for thinking of me.”
Both Hyung’s and my eyes turned to Min-a at the same time.
“Hup!”
She drew in a startled breath.
“I… don’t want to stop either. …This all started for Oppa’s sake.”
Gyeong-rok Hyung nodded.
“If you both feel the same, I won’t suggest stopping for no reason.”
Hyung began again. Every time his hand moved beneath her suit skirt, Min-a’s breathing grew rougher.
“Hngh… Ah… Ah… Mmm… T-Team Leader… We’re… outside…”
I couldn’t see exactly where his hand had gone under the table, but from Min-a’s reaction it seemed he was touching her quite deeply.
She bit her lip hard, but she couldn’t hold back the faint moans that still escaped.
All I could do was watch as Min-a twisted her waist slightly in time with Hyung’s caresses, enduring the pleasure.
Her eyes were fixed on me, but her gaze had gone hazy and unfocused.
It looked like she was pleading with me. Or perhaps she was simply losing her mind.
“Haah… Hah… Haah…”
Min-a gripped the edge of the table tightly. Hyung looked at me and smiled with perfect ease.
If I told him to stop right now, he would.
Min-a would come back to sit beside me.
I knew that. Yet the words refused to leave my mouth.
As I watched Min-a flinch beneath Hyung’s touch, something stirred in my chest before jealousy could even rise.