By the second round, it was already too late by the time I’d figured everything out.
This time, I decided to move first before that happened.
I knew it was a dangerous gamble, but it was better than sitting still and ending up with the same day all over again.
After work hours, I waited in front of the glass door on the BND side.
It was the first time I’d stood there to see someone other than Dongmin.
It wasn’t long before a familiar face came out.
A face still youthful, light on its feet. The face I’d barely managed to identify after months in the second round, I recognized first this time without even knowing the name.
"…Excuse me."
"…Yes? Me?"
Unhaks stopped walking, looking flustered. It made sense, since a stranger had suddenly called him over.
"You’re Kim Unhak, right."
"…Uh, how do you know my name……."
"On the Sunil Capital account side, you’re the one putting the number in the approval field, right? Using a number ending in 5321."
The color drained from Unhak’s face. He took a half-step back as if to run.
My heart lurched at that half-step. If he turned and ran right here, the next move was obvious. He’d call Seongho.
"…Who are you, then."
"Not an enemy. If anything, I’m on the other side. That number was the one Seongho’s manager used when he pulled you in, wasn’t it? If you want to back out now, talk to me."
I’d let too much out, too fast.
I’d never pushed this hard with this much certainty in front of someone I’d never met.
There was no taking it back now.
If Unhak just turned around and left, I had no idea what Seongho’s side would do next.
Unhak stared at me for a long time.
His eyes moved restlessly.
He was gauging whether to run, shout for help, or use some other move.
The longer that silence dragged on, the tighter my chest felt.
At last, fear flashed across his eyes, mixed with something like relief that he’d been found out.
"…What are you, really? Not company, not police."
"I work at an accounting office. Let’s just say I have reasons for knowing."
"How am I supposed to believe that."
"You don’t have to. Just one question: if things keep going like this, do you really think it’ll end well?"
Unhak fell silent. That silence was already an answer.
"Whether you believe me or not, the most dangerous people to you right now are them. Not me."
While Unhak stood there unable to say anything, I added the final nail.
"I’ll see you again tomorrow afternoon. Come to the records room. When no one’s around."
*
That night, after everyone had gone, I stayed alone at the office and turned on the monitor.
The Sunil Capital ledger was still there, with that line showing the missing 240 million won.
If Unhak had touched that hole while covering it up, then the evidence was in his hands too.
I’d know by tomorrow.
*
The next morning, I ran into Dongmin in front of the office coffee pot.
I took out two mugs and held one out to him.
"…Here, have this."
Dongmin didn’t take the mug, just looked at me. His expression was complicated.
"…Why are you doing this."
I had plenty of excuses ready. Made coffee anyway, thought of you while passing by. I’d always covered things up with excuses like that before.
This time, I didn’t want to.
"…I just wanted to give it to you because I’m interested in you, Dongmin."
Dongmin’s eyes wavered.
His hand lifted once as if to take it or not, then dropped back down in the end.
"…I’m busy."
He said it briefly and turned away.
I didn’t miss the moment that hand froze in midair, then fell.
It was the hand of someone who wanted to accept it, but wouldn’t.
It was the exact same gesture I’d made countless times in the second round.
I stood there holding the rejected mug, and still smiled.
Now I understood all too well why I’d pulled back then.
It was because I was afraid that if I let my feelings show, I’d get dragged in no matter what.
Now that I knew what those feelings were, it didn’t matter if he pushed me away.
This time, I had no intention of giving up.
*
In the afternoon, I sat down across from Unhak again in the records room at the end of the hall.
It was the promise I’d nailed down at that spot yesterday.
"…The Sunil Capital ledger your office looks at, there’s missing money in it, right. Those accounts—some of them I moved myself."
That was Unhak’s admission.
But he still had nothing in his hands to hand over.
It looked like he still had no intention of turning over the evidence yet.
"So what exactly do you want me to do."
"I’m not asking you to hand anything over right now. Take time to think if you need it. But not too long."
"…Why are you trusting me and telling me this? What if I just tell Seongho everything."
"Then that’s how it would be. Still, I had to try talking to you."
Unhak looked at me for a long time, then finally lowered his gaze.
"…I’ll think about it. That’s all I can say for now."
It wasn’t a firm yes.
But it wasn’t a no either.
For now, I thought that was enough.
Just then, through the glass door, I met Dongmin’s eyes as he passed by.
The sight of us sitting there with our heads together could easily look like something else from far away.
Dongmin stopped walking.
The expression that flickered across his face for a moment was completely different from that usual indifference.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked like he was about to step forward before stopping again.
'…No way, could that be.'
Dongmin quickly looked away and kept walking.
His steps were a little faster than before.
But the face I saw in that brief moment was a face that couldn’t hide everything, no matter how hard it tried.
It was nothing like the indifferent look from when he’d turned down the coffee earlier.
Only after seeing that back did Unhak let out a small laugh, as if he’d finally understood something.
"…Looks like he completely misunderstood us."
"…Seems that way."
"Aren’t you going to clear it up?"
"We can’t exactly say what we do...."
"I suppose it is pretty secretive."
I brushed it off with a joking laugh, but I had no intention of actually clearing up the misunderstanding.
If I told him the real reason, I’d have to explain everything—from the fact that I was digging into Unhak, to why I was doing it.
That would break the promise I’d made not to drag Dongmin into this right then and there.
It was better to let him think it was jealousy.
Even knowing that misunderstanding would hurt Dongmin more, this was the safest choice for now.
*
Toward the end of work, I ran into Dongmin in the hallway while sorting papers.
Normally we’d just pass each other by, but Dongmin stopped first.
"…Did something happen with Unhak?"
His voice was stiffer than usual.
It was the kind of question I could’ve brushed off as nothing, but there was an edge to the way he asked it.
"…We just talked a bit about work."
"You talked about work in the records room, that close?"
Before he’d even finished, Dongmin himself looked like he’d realized his mistake.
He seemed to notice only belatedly how those words must have sounded.
"…No, I didn’t mean it like that."
"I know. I didn’t take it that way."
In truth, I took it exactly that way.
Even so, I wanted to say that for him.
Dongmin fell silent and looked away.
He tried to go back to his usual indifferent face, but he couldn’t hide the slight red at the tips of his ears.
"…It’s just, it’s been bothering me. That guy’s kind of like that, isn’t he. Pushing himself on people."
It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t the right excuse for this situation either.
He could’ve just said it was bothering him, and left it at that.
Dragging Unhak into it for no reason only said even more.
Back home, I fiddled with the broken watch on my wrist.
I used to be like that.
I liked someone, but couldn’t say even one word about it, so I drew a line and kept my distance for no reason.
Now Dongmin was doing the same.
Instead of simply saying it bothered him, he couldn’t say it straight and was awkwardly shifting the blame onto Unhak.
I was the one who’d vowed not to hide anything, and yet it seemed like the one holding in the words was him now.
It felt like our roles had completely switched.
