Chapter 35
When I heard the door lock click, I looked up.
The front door opened slowly.
Min-ah came in.
Her eyes were swollen.
Her face was a mess, and her lips trembled faintly.
The moment she saw me, she pressed her lips together as if trying to hold back tears, and every line I’d prepared caught in the back of my throat.
“Min-ah…”
I called her name softly. Min-ah stopped just inside the entryway, unable even to take off her shoes properly.
I looked past her.
Beyond the open crack of the door, there was no one.
The hall outside was quiet.
And yet something still bothered me.
Who was she with?
The question rose to the tip of my tongue, but the moment I saw her face, I swallowed it back down again.
Min-ah kept her head bowed as she spoke in a small voice. “Oppa... I’m sorry...”
Her voice cracked. Those simple words—that apology—jabbed me straight in the chest.
I averted my eyes for no good reason.
“For what...”
Min-ah stood at the entryway with both hands clasped tightly together.
“For leaving like that earlier, and for not telling you properly...”
Her voice shook at the end.
I didn’t know what to say, so my lips just moved soundlessly.
I think I’d been angry. Maybe hurt, too.
But seeing her standing there with a face that looked ready to crumble made all of those feelings cool and blur at the edges.
“If I’d known you were feeling uneasy, I should’ve told you first.”
Min-ah forced the words out.
“I should’ve said I didn’t know either, that I was scared too, but that me loving you hadn’t changed...”
I bit my lip. It was exactly what I’d wanted to hear.
It was the thing I’d wanted most at the table earlier.
And hearing it didn’t make me feel better—it only made me feel more sorry.
“I’m sorry too.”
The words finally came out. Min-ah raised her head.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I started this.”
My throat tightened. It came out wrong, half-broken.
“I said I wanted this, and then the moment it seemed like you were wavering even a little, I got scared...”
“It wasn’t weird.”
Min-ah shook her head slightly.
“You were allowed to ask. I made it that way.”
“No.”
I shook my head quickly. I didn’t want to hear that.
I hated the way she tried to pin it all on herself, and I hated even more the thought of laying all the blame on me alone.
I gestured awkwardly. “Just... come in first. Don’t keep standing there.”
“Okay...”
Min-ah carefully slipped off her shoes and came inside.
Usually she would’ve come straight over and thrown herself into my arms, but today she stopped a step away.
The distance between us hurt.
I started to move toward her, then stopped.
Was it all right to hold her? Or was it better not to touch her right now?
While I stood there hesitating, Min-ah reached out first and timidly caught the hem of my shirt.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“I still love you.”
For a second, it felt like my breathing stopped, and I barely managed a nod.
“I know.”
To be honest, I didn’t know for sure. But I wanted to answer that way.
Tears slipped from Min-ah’s eyes again.
I lifted a hand awkwardly and wiped at the corners of her eyes.
My fingertips were a little unsteady.
“Don’t cry.”
Even as I said it, it sounded absurd.
I was the one who’d made her cry....
Min-ah nodded, but she kept crying anyway. I pulled her into my arms carefully.
She froze for a moment, then slowly leaned into me.
She was warm. I could feel the familiar heat of her body.
That familiarity steadied me and unsettled me at the same time.
“I’m sorry, Oppa...”
From within my arms, Min-ah murmured it softly.
“Yeah. ...It’s okay, Min-ah.”
It wasn’t okay. Not in the slightest.
And yet right then, that was all I could say.
We stood there like that for a long time before Min-ah spoke again, carefully.
“Team Leader...”
At the name, my shoulders tensed without my meaning to.
Min-ah seemed to notice and stopped speaking for a moment.
“Team Leader said... we shouldn’t fight any more today, and that we should talk again tomorrow.”
I closed my eyes. So she had met him after all.
I’d guessed as much, but hearing it from Min-ah’s own mouth still left my chest feeling hollow.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah...”
Still in my arms, she gave a tiny nod.
“He said all three of us should talk...”
Three of us. Me and Min-ah.
And Gyeong-rok hyung.
Since when had hyung become such an unquestioned part of our problem?
I couldn’t answer.
Min-ah asked carefully, “Oppa, are you okay?”
If I said I was okay, that would be a lie. If I said I wasn’t, Min-ah would probably cry again.
So after a slight delay, I only nodded vaguely.
“I’m okay, Min-ah.”
Min-ah drew in a small breath against my chest. I patted her back once more.
***
Morning was no different from usual.
After seeing Min-ah off to work, the day began.
Left alone, I couldn’t get my hands to stay on anything.
Haah... all I could think about was what Min-ah had said yesterday.
Team Leader said the three of us should talk tomorrow.
That word—three of us—kept snagging in my throat.
Since when had hyung become such a natural part of our problem?
By evening, Min-ah sent me a message.
I stared at the reply for a long time before finally moving my fingers.
The cafe was tucked down a side alley not far from the company.
It was the kind of place where there usually weren’t many people.
Min-ah was already there.
“You’re here, Oppa?”
“Yeah.”
I started to sit across from her, then hesitated.
I remembered what had happened at the Japanese restaurant.
In the end, I sat down beside Min-ah instead.
I could feel her draw in a very small breath.
Normally I would’ve taken her hand without thinking, but today I couldn’t bring myself to move even the tip of a finger.
After a little while, the cafe door opened.
Gyeong-rok hyung came in. When he spotted us, he walked over at an unhurried pace.
“Sorry. I got an urgent call. You haven’t been waiting long, have you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Min-ah answered first. I only nodded.
Hyung sat down across from us.
The three of us facing each other made my stomach turn for no good reason.
I fidgeted with my water glass. It was hyung who spoke first.
“I heard about yesterday.”
I looked up. He glanced from me to Min-ah and back again.
“Min-woo, you must’ve had a hard time. Min-ah, too.”
His voice was calm. It was the voice of someone taking no one’s side.
“But in the end, the reason you two fought was me.”
“It wasn’t because of you, hyung...”
I blurted it out, then stopped. Hyung looked at me quietly.
“No?”
That one low word shut my mouth.
He was right.
I couldn’t deny it, even if I wanted to.
If hyung hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have fought like that yesterday.
We wouldn’t have asked questions like those in the first place.
No... we probably wouldn’t have started any of this to begin with.
Min-ah lowered her head.
“It’s not all Team Leader’s fault.... I also...”
“Min-ah. You weren’t blameless either.”
Hyung’s voice was low.
Min-ah’s shoulders stiffened slightly. I looked at her on reflex.
“If you knew Min-woo was going to be uneasy, you should’ve explained it first. What you were feeling, how far was okay, what was hard for you.”
Min-ah couldn’t say anything.
“But Min-woo, you’re the same.”
This time hyung’s gaze turned to me.
“Just because you were the one who wanted to start it doesn’t mean you had to hide your anxiety. Before you started doubting Min-ah, you should’ve said you were scared.”
I bit my lip. It didn’t feel bad.
In fact, I understood what hyung was saying.
He wasn’t saying I was wrong, and he wasn’t saying Min-ah was bad.
He was only saying we were both at fault.
“So today, I’m going to put an end to it.”
When Gyeong-rok hyung spoke again, Min-ah lifted her head.
“Put an end to it?”
Her voice cracked a little. Hyung nodded.
“Let’s stop here.”
It was such a short sentence.
My mind went blank all at once.
I should have felt relieved. He was saying it was over.
He was saying there was no more reason for Min-ah to meet him, and no more reason for me to be anxious.
“What...?”
Min-ah reacted first.
It was a small voice. Not relieved—more like the voice of someone who’d suddenly felt the floor drop away beneath her.
I looked at Min-ah. She wasn’t looking at me.
She was only staring at Gyeong-rok hyung.
The moment I saw her expression, something inside my head turned cold.
Hyung went on in the same even tone. “I don’t want to watch you two keep fighting because of me.”
Min-ah tried to say something, then closed her mouth again.
“Min-woo. If I keep stepping in, I think it’ll only destroy the two of you.”
Destroy.
The word stayed in my ears.
I looked at Min-ah. She had lowered her head.
Both hands rested on her knees, and only the tips of her fingers trembled faintly.
Seeing that made my chest ache.
And tangled up in that ache was something else, something strange.
The feeling that it shouldn’t end.
It had to end, yes... but this felt like the wrong place for it to stop.
Min-ah lifted her head.
“Team Leader. Then... from now on, even at the company...”
Her words broke off there. Hyung didn’t rush to answer.
“I won’t be any closer than necessary.”
Min-ah’s face tightened a little. Hyung slowly got to his feet.
“That’s enough for today.”
“Hyung.”
The word escaped me before I could stop it. Hyung looked at me.
I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to say.
Hyung looked at me for a moment, then gave a short bow of his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Leaving only those words behind, he turned away.
The cafe door opened and closed.
Jingle.
The small bell rang out.
Even after hyung was gone, neither of us said anything for a long time.
Min-ah kept looking toward the closed door.
—