Since that day, he’d been avoiding him so openly it was obvious.
In the morning, he never showed up first at the coffee pot, and if they ran into each other in the hallway, he’d turn toward the stairs on the other side.
It felt like he was watching the exact same trick he himself had used on his second run, and he hadn’t expected the feelings of the one doing the avoiding to be so obvious.
On the second day, he skipped out on lunch entirely.
When Ji-won noona asked, “Why do you keep going out to eat alone these days, Dongmin?”, he had nothing to say and just laughed it off.
At the office, no one thought it was strange.
Only on that side, and only to one person, did the whole change show.
On the third day, he ran into Unhak in front of the reference room. It was Unhak who came over first.
“…Um, excuse me.”
“Have you made up your mind?”
“It’s not that.”
Unhak looked around and lowered his voice.
“After I talked with you that day, I ignored one call from Manager Seongho’s side. I didn’t take it on purpose because I didn’t know how to answer, but I guess that got noticed. Since the next day, some stranger keeps circling around my desk.”
His heart sank.
“…Are they watching you?”
“I’m not sure. It’s just a feeling. Someone I usually wouldn’t even pay attention to suddenly keeps catching my eye.”
The fact that he’d carelessly made contact had, in the other side’s eyes too, revealed Unhak’s change.
The danger he’d expected when he thought of this as a gamble was landing on Unhak first like this.
“…Sorry. I feel like it’s because of me.”
“It’s not your fault. Either way, getting involved was my choice.”
Unhak forced a smile, but his fingertips were trembling faintly.
“…I’m almost done thinking it through. But give me one more day. What I have, that’s not all there is.”
At the words not all there is, his ears perked up.
“…You have other things too?”
Unhak bit his lip.
“…Not the ledger, but the people. Do you know there’s one more person above Manager Seongho?”
He didn’t know. It was a name he’d never managed to uncover even on his second run.
“…Who is it.”
“I’m not sure about that yet either. I just heard about it. But if that’s true, then taking out Manager Seongho alone won’t be the end of it.”
It was deeper than he’d thought.
If there was Seongho behind the ledger, and someone else behind Seongho, then the whole picture he’d drawn up until now would change.
“There is. But I’ll tell you tomorrow. If we talk more here, I’m in danger too.”
*
At lunchtime, when he saw Dongmin heading out alone, he followed him.
He was sitting alone at a nearby convenience store table, eating onigiri.
“…You were here.”
Dongmin nearly choked on what he’d been chewing and looked flustered.
“…I just came out for some air.”
The excuse was obvious. He sat down across from him and opened the convenience store onigiri he’d bought.
“…I was going to eat by myself.”
“I just wanted to eat with you. I won’t talk. If it bothers you, I’ll leave first.”
Dongmin looked like he wanted to say something, then just kept eating.
The two of them spent a while eating their onigiri in silence.
It was awkward, but not a silence he hated.
After a long while, Dongmin spoke first.
“…Why are you doing this to me.”
Only after finishing the onigiri did he bring out what he’d wanted to say.
“I like you, Dongmin.”
Dongmin choked while swallowing what he’d been eating.
He coughed several times before he could finally catch his breath.
“…All of a sudden, saying something like that.”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve felt that way for a while. I just didn’t say it.”
Dongmin went completely red and couldn’t answer at all.
Avoiding his eyes for no reason, he just fiddled with the onigiri wrapper.
*
At quitting time, he ran into Dongmin in front of the elevator.
It was clear he wanted to avoid him, but there was nowhere to go in the narrow hallway.
Standing side by side and waiting for the doors to open, he spoke first.
“…So you really have been avoiding me lately, right.”
Dongmin flinched.
“…No.”
“Well, that’s a relief if it’s not that.”
Only after saying it did he realize he’d thrown back the same words Dongmin had once said to him.
Dongmin seemed to notice it too.
His eyes widened slightly, and just as he seemed about to say something, he closed his mouth.
The doors opened.
Dongmin got on first, and he followed after.
Inside the elevator, with only the two of them there, the silence stretched on.
His expression was one of restraint.
He kept his jaw tight, staring only at the number display.
As Dongmin endured that silence for several floors, he finally spoke first.
“…What are you to Unhak?”
His voice was lower than usual.
It was a question he’d been holding back until he couldn’t anymore.
“…Why do you want to know that?”
“…Just because. The two of you keep hanging around together these days.”
He had the look of someone who couldn’t hide his jealousy, but also couldn’t hide his curiosity.
The face was familiar. It was the same expression he himself had worn countless times in his first run and his second run.
“…I’m not involved with Unhak. I told you at noon, I like you, Dongmin. There’s nothing beyond that feeling.”
Dongmin’s eyes wavered.
Even though he was hearing the same words as he had at noon, he still had the same flustered expression.
“…Saying that again like this.”
“Can’t I say it again? I don’t mind saying it as many times as it takes.”
Dongmin couldn’t answer and looked away.
The tips of his ears were red again.
Ding, the doors opened.
Dongmin got off first.
Just before the doors closed, he thought he heard a small mutter from that turned-back figure.
“…I don’t even know where to start telling you.”
The doors shut completely.
Alone in the elevator, he couldn’t tell whether what he’d just said was a lie about Unhak, or something completely different.
That usually indifferent face was slowly letting through the expression of someone with words he couldn’t say.
He was both scared and curious about what would come out if that gap widened.
