That nightI barely slept a wink. Only after checking the crack in the glass several times did I finally fall asleep.
The next morning, I ran into Dongmin in the elevator again. We exchanged only a quick greeting and went our separate ways. It was a morning no different from yesterday, but as soon as I sat down, my head was full of thoughts about that ledger.
The hole in the ledger was still there.
The recovered amount was 3.2 billion won, the deposited amount 2.96 billion won. I casually asked the manager, and he brushed it off with, “We’re settling soon anyway, so we can just make it right then.” No one seemed to find it strange.
The client’s name was 'Sunil Capital'. While flipping through the file folder, I saw a small sticky note attached next to that name. It was the manager’s handwriting. 'Debt investigation request — BND'.
My hand stopped.
BND was the office right next door. The place Dongmin worked.
*
During lunch, I deliberately lingered in the hallway. There was something I wanted to confirm, but I had no idea how to ask.
Then the glass door opened and Dongmin came out. He was on a call.
“…Yes, understood. I’ll handle this quietly. I’ll make sure it doesn’t reach the president’s ears.”
His voice was low and firm. It was completely different from the way he usually spoke to me. After he hung up and turned around, his eyes met mine.
“…Oh, what are you doing here?”
“Just taking a breather. More importantly, do you know Sunil Capital?”
The words came out before I could stop them. Dongmin’s expression froze for a moment.
“…Why are you asking that?”
“They’re one of our clients, but there’s a bit of a hole in the ledger.”
“…I think it’d be better if you didn’t talk about that company.”
His voice dropped. It was a face I’d never seen before, with not a trace of playfulness in it.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Dongmin looked at me for a moment, then continued with the expression of someone holding something back.
“…It’s better not to ask why. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
He seemed flustered after saying it. He hurriedly added,
“…No, I mean, if you get dragged into our company’s business, it’ll just become a pain.”
That explanation was even more awkward. It was harder for me to pretend I didn’t notice that awkwardness.
“…Okay.”
He only heard that, then went back into the office. Through the glass door, I could see him quickly stuffing the file on his desk into a drawer. Something was written on the cover in red ink, but it was too far away to read all of it. I could just barely make out the two characters 'Sunil'.
*
All afternoon, those words wouldn’t leave my head. Not wanting to see me get hurt, and the face he made while saying it.
By quitting time, I’d dug through the Sunil Capital files a few more times, but nothing else turned up. Instead, I kept stealing glances toward BND through the glass door. Dongmin hadn’t stayed at his desk all afternoon. It looked like he kept getting called away somewhere.
He said it was better not to ask why, but he himself seemed even more anxious.
All of a sudden, I had that thought. Did the Dongmin from the first run know about this too? He’d been the kind of person who never even mentioned company matters while we were dating. Back then, I’d just thought he was naturally quiet, but maybe he’d known and was hiding it from me. Even the name of the person who assigned that car that night, something he only let slip at the moment he was dying.
*
It poured on the way home from work. I was taking shelter from the rain under the eaves when Dongmin came and stood beside me. He already had his umbrella open.
“…Want to share?”
“…It’s okay. You’re probably heading a different way anyway.”
“I know. You always walk this way around here.”
He said it like it was nothing, but that also meant he’d been paying attention to something like that.
“…Still, I think I’ll wait a little longer before I go.”
“You’re going to wait until it stops raining? The forecast said it would keep going all night.”
He knew exactly. It meant he’d been paying attention to the weather from earlier.
“…No, really, it’s fine.”
Dongmin didn’t back off. He even tilted the hand holding the umbrella toward me and stepped closer.
“Then just use the umbrella. I can run.”
“What are you talking about? Then you’ll get soaked, Dongmin.”
“…You remember my name.”
For a second, I was at a loss for words. That was a slip. A faint smile flickered across Dongmin’s face.
“…Forget it. Just share it with me.”
In the end, those were the words that came out first. Dongmin looked startled for a moment, then soon brought the umbrella back between us. We walked side by side at a distance where our shoulders almost touched. After a few silent steps, Dongmin spoke first.
“…Lately, you’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you.”
“…No.”
“No, huh. You don’t even laugh when I joke, and you barely make eye contact with me. Did I do something wrong?”
His voice carried a hint of hurt. He didn’t sound like he was scolding me; he looked like he was asking because he really didn’t know. Seeing that face made my heart waver. The one who was wrong wasn’t him, it was me.
“…Nothing happened. I’ve just been out of sorts lately.”
The lies kept piling up. Dongmin didn’t press further and simply tilted the umbrella a little more toward my side.
“…Well, that’s a relief.”
Even as he said that, his expression didn’t look like he believed me at all. The more I tried to push him away, the more he kept coming toward me. This time, it felt like not just the person himself, but something he was hiding, was also moving toward me.
After walking for a long while, we reached a fork in the road and Dongmin handed me the umbrella.
“…Take this and go in. I can just run.”
Before I could stop him, he dashed out into the rain. The umbrella left in my hand felt strangely heavy.
I fiddled with the watch on my wrist. The crack in the glass was damp with rainwater and looked especially clear.
