Chapter 34
Only after she got outside could Min-ah finally exhale.
She hadn’t realized it while she was still inside the apartment, but she’d been wound tight the whole time.
The moment the front door closed behind her, her legs had started to tremble.
“Huuuu….”
Standing in front of the elevator, Min-ah stared blankly at the changing numbers.
When the doors opened, she stepped in slowly.
The face reflected in the mirror looked terrible.
She looked wronged, almost ready to burst into tears, and there was even something in her expression that made her seem as if she’d been caught red-handed. It was enough to leave her flustered.
“What the hell…?” she muttered under her breath, but no one answered.
Min-ah gripped her phone tightly.
Should I just go back and apologize?
But she couldn’t do that.
If she went back now, they would probably end up having the same conversation all over again.
Min-woo would doubt her. She would feel hurt by that, and cry.
And in the end, they would probably just wound each other again without either of them saying what really needed to be said.
The elevator reached the first floor. Min-ah stepped out of the apartment building.
The night air felt cold against her skin.
Even as she walked, her eyes kept dropping to her phone screen.
She had no one to call.
She couldn’t tell a friend. She couldn’t tell her family. She definitely couldn’t tell anyone from work.
Who am I even supposed to talk to about something like this…?
This had started because Min-woo had wanted it. She had accepted it because of Min-woo.
And now that Min-woo was looking at her like that, where was she supposed to lean for support?
Her finger, scrolling through her contacts, suddenly stopped.
Team Leader Choi Gyeong-rok.
The moment she saw his name, her heart dropped with a heavy thud.
She felt like she shouldn’t call him.
And yet, at the same time, he was the only person she could talk to about this.
After a long hesitation, Min-ah finally pressed the call button.
The line rang several times.
Riiing. Riiing.
Before the third ring could finish, the call connected.
“Min-ah?”
It was a familiar voice. Calm, low.
The moment she heard it, Min-ah’s breathing wavered.
“Team Leader….”
“What’s wrong? Calling me at this hour….”
It was a brief question.
Min-ah bit her lip. She meant to say she was fine.
That nothing was wrong. That she just wanted to hear his voice, that was all.
But the words wouldn’t come.
“Min-ah.”
Gyeong-rok called her name again.
“Are you outside right now?”
“...Yes.”
“Are you alone?”
“Y-yes….”
Silence stretched between them for a moment.
Gyeong-rok didn’t press her immediately.
He didn’t rush to ask why she’d left, or what had happened with Min-woo.
He didn’t force the issue.
He only spoke in that same quiet voice.
“Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
“No, you don’t have to….”
“Min-ah. Where are you?”
At that, tears spilled from her eyes at last.
Min-ah hurriedly wiped at them with the back of her hand.
“I-I’m near the apartment…by the convenience store in front of the complex….”
“Go inside there and wait. Don’t stay out in the cold.”
“Yes….”
Min-ah couldn’t say anything else.
Once she was under the bright lights, she felt somehow even more pathetic.
She sat down at a corner table, pressed the phone to her ear, and tried to steady her breathing.
Through the receiver, she could hear a car door opening and closing.
Then the engine turning over.
Every sound came through clearly.
The fact that someone was coming to get her, that someone might actually listen to what she had to say right now… it was so reassuring that she felt like crying all over again.
How long had it been?
Through the convenience store’s glass door, a familiar car came to a stop.
A moment later, Gyeong-rok came inside.
He was dressed neatly in his usual dress shirt.
He didn’t look like he’d rushed out in a panic.
“Hiiing… Team Leader….”
The instant she saw Gyeong-rok, Min-ah shot up from her seat.
Then, before she even realized what she was doing, she took a step toward him.
By the time she came to her senses, her hands were already clutching the front of his shirt.
“I’m sorry…. I really… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Gyeong-rok patted her back for a while without saying anything, then took her with him outside.
***
After hearing the whole story from Min-ah, Gyeong-rok’s expression turned dark.
“...So Min-woo thinks that about you?”
“Yes….”
Now that she’d finally let it all out, she felt a little lighter.
“...You’re the one who messed up here.”
“W-what…?”
Her eyes went wide at Gyeong-rok’s words. For a moment, she wondered if she’d misheard him.
“I…looked into that a little before we started.”
Hurt, Min-ah kept her mouth shut and said nothing.
She had somehow assumed Gyeong-rok would side with her, so the disappointment stung all the more.
“Min-ah. How would you feel if Min-woo kissed another woman, got touchy with her, and slept with her?”
“No way!”
She slammed a hand on the table and answered at once. Gyeong-rok didn’t look startled; he only gave a slight nod.
“Right. Normally, that’s not acceptable. Min-woo knew that too, but he was so…worked up by it that he asked you to leave it to me.”
“...That’s…true….”
Min-ah nodded faintly.
There was no one around, but she was so embarrassed her ears had gone red.
“If Min-woo had talked to you properly and made sure you felt safe, if he’d expressed himself better so you wouldn’t be anxious, maybe there wouldn’t have been any need for a fight in the first place.”
“...I’m sorry. It was my fault.”
She clenched both fists and rested them on her knees, tears gathering in her eyes.
It felt as if they were about to spill down her cheeks any second.
“It’s not just your fault. I was wrong too.”
“N-no…selfish…no, Team Leader, you did it for me and Oppa….”
Min-ah couldn’t finish the sentence. Her tears kept welling up and interrupting her.
Gyeong-rok looked at her without speaking.
He acted as if he hadn’t heard the intimate term she’d just blurted out by accident.
“Min-ah.”
“Yes….”
“Have you thought about why Min-woo said that to you?”
Min-ah bit her lip.
“Oppa…must’ve suspected me….”
“It wasn’t only suspicion.”
Gyeong-rok spoke calmly.
“He was probably scared. This was something he started, and suddenly it must have looked like Min-ah was drifting away from him.”
Min-ah’s eyes shook again. Min-woo’s face, sitting across from her at the table, rose in her mind.
The face that had said he was scared. The face that had asked whether they should stop.
And the face that had gone rigid, as if it might collapse at any moment, when she couldn’t answer right away.
“I was…having a hard time too.”
Her throat tightened, but she forced the words out.
“It wasn’t easy from the beginning. Because Oppa wanted it…because I thought he would like it….”
“I know.”
Gyeong-rok answered without hesitation.
That single response made Min-ah’s tears swell again.
It was too gentle, too understanding—and too cruel.
And yet the fact that it was Gyeong-rok saying it made her feel guilty all over again.
“But Min-ah…being hurt and being blameless are not the same thing.”
Her fingertips stiffened slightly.
Gyeong-rok’s voice was still soft. But beneath it was a firmness that could not be avoided.
“Min-ah should’ve told Min-woo first, so he wouldn’t feel insecure. What you were feeling, how far you were okay with going, what scared you.”
“......”
“If you only act like you’re fine, the other person won’t know.”
Min-ah lowered her head.
He was right. She had kept acting like she was fine.
Because she was embarrassed, and because she thought Min-woo would be happy.
At some point, she had even stopped being able to explain her own feelings to herself.
“I…I feel like such a terrible person.”
Her voice was tiny. Gyeong-rok immediately shook his head.
“You’re not a terrible person.”
Min-ah looked up.
“But you did run away.”
Her chest tightened again.
She’d thought he was comforting her, but the next sentence had struck exactly where it hurt.
“Min-woo ran too, and Min-ah ran too. Neither of you could be honest with each other.”
“Then…what am I supposed to do?”
Min-ah’s voice trembled.
“I can’t even look Oppa in the face….”
“You have to.”
Gyeong-rok was firm.
“If you don’t go back now, Min-woo will only fall apart more. He’ll think you came to me.”
At that, Min-ah went deathly pale.
“N-no, that’s not it…!”
“I know.”
The answer came just as quickly.
“I know, but Min-woo might not.”
Min-ah couldn’t speak.
Gyeong-rok waited a moment before continuing.
“Go back and apologize. Don’t explain everything in detail. Don’t fight anymore tonight; just tell him you’ll talk again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow…?”
“Yes.”
Gyeong-rok looked at her.
“Let the three of us talk together.”
Min-ah’s heart sank a little.
“The three of us…?”
“This isn’t just a problem between Min-woo and you anymore.”
The words sounded strangely heavy.
It almost sounded like he was saying he would take responsibility. Or that he was already standing between the two of them.
Min-ah couldn’t ask any more.
If she did, she felt like she would hear an answer she didn’t want.
Gyeong-rok got to his feet.
“Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
“Team Leader….”
“Yes?”
“What if Oppa ends up hating me?”
Gyeong-rok didn’t answer right away.
After a brief silence, he said in a low voice, “Min-woo isn’t the kind of person who would hate Min-ah.”
Min-ah’s eyes filled again.
“But he’s probably hurt.”
That one sentence made her lower her head at last.
Gyeong-rok didn’t push her any further.
He only added quietly, “So go back today. Don’t run away.”
With both hands clenched tightly, Min-ah slowly nodded.
“...Yes.”
When the car stopped in front of the apartment, Min-ah couldn’t bring herself to unbuckle her seat belt for a long time.
Gyeong-rok didn’t rush her. He simply waited in silence.
“I should…go up alone, right?”
“I’ll walk you as far as the door.”
Min-ah looked up.
“When you get home, Min-ah should speak first.”
“Yes….”
The two of them got out of the car.
In the elevator mirror, they stood side by side.
Min-ah with her swollen eyes, and Gyeong-rok as neat as ever.
The sight felt strangely unfamiliar, and Min-ah quickly dropped her gaze.
When they reached the front door, her hands were trembling again.
Min-ah drew a shaky breath.
Then, with unsteady fingers, she entered the password.
***