The next morning, Dongmin was already waiting in front of the elevator.
With two mugs in his hands.
"…Here."
Seeing the mug held out to me, I froze for a moment.
It made me think of the day, a few weeks ago, when he pulled back the hand that had been held out in exactly the same way.
"…You’re not pulling away this time."
"Back then, I thought I should pull away, so I did. Right now, there’s no reason to."
Dongmin gave a short laugh and put the mug into my hands.
Our fingertips brushed.
If it had been before, my hand would have stopped there, but this time our fingers naturally interlaced.
"…We’re in front of the company."
"I know. Still, I’m not letting go of your hand."
The elevator doors opened.
The two of us rode side by side, looking up at the number for the 4th floor.
Even though neither of us said a word, it was completely different from that heavy silence before.
The warmth touching through our fingertips told the difference.
"…I cried a lot yesterday, so my eyes are swollen."
"…Can you tell?"
"A little. But it’s pretty."
My face burned.
Ding—the door opened with a sound.
Not wanting to let go of his hand, I stepped out a little late on purpose.
*
After work hours, the three of us gathered together in the archive room for the first time.
Yeoju, Dongmin, and Unhak.
Unhak smiled awkwardly first.
"…The three of us sitting together like this is a first."
"It is."
Dongmin couldn’t quite look Unhak in the eye.
He still seemed bothered by having misunderstood him over the past few days.
"…What I saw in the archive room then was actually a misunderstanding. I’m sorry."
"Ah, that. It’s okay. I kind of laughed when I saw your face back then, too. I didn’t know jealousy showed that much on your face."
"…Hey."
"I’d never seen you make a face like that before. Usually, no matter what I ask, you’re stone-faced."
When Unhak laughed teasingly, Dongmin’s face flushed slightly.
Seeing the sharp jealousy of the past few days and the awkward apology of now layered over one face was strangely reassuring.
"…More importantly, from now on, the three of us are going together, right?"
Unhak asked, changing the mood.
"Yes. That’s right."
"I’m glad. I kept feeling like I was moving around secretly behind you, hyung."
*
We were dividing up the roles again.
Unhak said he would take the lead and dig into BND’s internal approval line more directly now, without worrying about getting caught the way he had before.
"…You know it’s dangerous to go in that openly, right?"
Yeoju asked worriedly.
"I know. But their eyes are already on me anyway. If I make myself stand out more, the two of you will be able to relax a little."
"…Why should that all be on Unhak?"
"Yeoju and I aren’t dating, and we’re not glued together every day either. From their point of view, I’m the suspicious one, not you. There’s no reason for them to drag you into it too."
He wasn’t wrong.
But my chest sank at those words.
In my second life, it had been the exact opposite.
Just being by Dongmin’s side had dragged me in too, along with the self I’d been hiding.
Back then, because the two of us were together, I was exposed too, and we always died together.
"…That means you’re planning to take it all on yourself, Unhak."
"I’m not taking it on. Right now, I’m choosing the safest option."
"It’s not safe, it’s dangerous! Manager Seongho’s side—if something goes wrong, who knows how far they’ll go. They could wipe out the whole line. Accounts, documents, even people. You’d be the first one standing there."
My voice came out sharp.
Unhak fell silent for a moment.
"…Stop it. Unhak needs to step back a bit now. I’ll look into that line more."
"…You, Yeoju?"
"I can do it too. I don’t want to dump everything on Unhak alone."
That was when Dongmin finally jumped in.
"Then I’ll help with that side too."
"…Dongmin, no."
"Why not? I’ve said over and over that I’m going with you too, so why am I the only one you keep leaving out?"
"The section chief is already watching you, Dongmin. If you go in deeper, you’ll be the first one to get caught."
"Then what, Yeoju won’t get caught?"
"I’m the one who was originally in charge of that company’s accounts, so it won’t look strange if they look into me. You’re different."
"…Still, how many times do I have to tell you to stop trying to carry everything by yourself?"
Neither of them gave an inch as they kept talking back and forth.
Unhak sighed in the middle of it.
"…You and Yeoju are fighting over the same thing again."
He was right.
We’d gathered to divide up the roles, but in the end we were bickering over who would take the dangerous part.
*
The next day, the unease left behind by that argument became reality.
At lunchtime, the section chief called Dongmin aside. Dongmin came back with a face stiffer than usual.
"…What did he say?"
"…He just casually asked why I’m interested in the executive-level approval line. I casually brushed it off, too."
"…That was it?"
"Seems like it. But."
Dongmin dragged the words out for a moment.
"The fact that that question reached me at all means someone’s already paying attention. If the section chief asked directly, it could mean the order came down from above first."
My heart sank. One small question from Dongmin was already being reported somewhere.
"…Can you stop digging? Because of me, Dongmin too…"
"If you say that again, I’ll really be hurt. I’ve said over and over that I’m going with you too."
His tone was firm.
The one who used to push me away was him, but now it was completely the opposite.
That reversal made me even more uneasy.
*
On the way home, Dongmin came along, saying he’d walk me to my place.
"…I can go the rest of the way by myself."
"I know. Still, I want to go with you."
As we left the main road and turned into a narrow alley, Dongmin quietly took my hand.
"…Aren’t you scared? Stuff like this lately."
"I am. But when I’m holding your hand, it’s not as bad."
"…You need to stand by that. Because I’m going to have to keep holding it from now on."
Yeoju let out a small laugh.
When we reached the streetlight at the alley by my place, Dongmin stopped walking and turned around.
"…In ten days, once this is all over."
"…Yes."
"The day after that, I hope nothing happens. Just a normal day, where we eat together and stuff like that."
It was a modest wish.
Normalcy I had never once had in either of my two lives.
My eyes grew hot at those words.
"…I want that too."
Dongmin touched his forehead to mine, then gave me a light kiss and pulled back.
"…Go inside. I’ll leave after I hear the door lock."
*
At night, I came home and looked at the calendar.
The number that had been two weeks was already down to ten days.
It was no longer a number I was counting alone.
One resolve I’d held close by myself, vowing to protect it, had broken—but in its place, the number of people counting had grown to three.
Out the window, I could see Dongmin’s shadow still standing at the end of the alley, not yet gone.
He was really keeping his promise to leave only after he heard the door lock.
