Chapter 11: Will you accept my resignation?

The blue sky visible through the window contrasted sharply with the quietness of Museum’s office.

“Garyeon, I’m testing what you sent, and this part is a little…”
“Ah, okay. Send me a summary by email, and I’ll take care of it.”

The occasional stiff voices amplified the desolate atmosphere of the office.

“Seolha… After you’re done with the testing, could you check the email I sent…?”
“Okay. Just wait a moment.”

Chae Seolha stopped working and opened her email inbox. Two new emails had arrived. One was from Oh Minseo, an employee, and the other was…

<[Our Planning] Sending the final advertisement draft.>

The company name sounded vaguely familiar, but perhaps due to the lack of proper rest lately, Chae Seolha couldn’t remember why she had interacted with this company.

In fact, the email was in her inbox because of the CC function; the actual recipient was Lee Dasom, who was in charge of design.

Chae Seolha knew nothing.
Neither the company named Our Planning, nor the advertisement draft attached to the email, nor the target platforms and the reasons for distribution, nor the name at the bottom of the email.

It wasn’t her concern, and she didn’t want it to be.

“Dasom.”
“Yeah, what?”

Chae Seolha spoke to Lee Dasom, who was sitting across from her.

“Could you check your email?”
“Yeah, hold on. I’ll check as soon as I finish this.”

She couldn’t wait. Even for a moment, Chae Seolha couldn’t afford to wait.
She wanted to deal with it quickly and erase it from her mind.

“You can do that later, just check this first.”
“…Where is it from?”

Lee Dasom sighed and looked at Chae Seolha.

“Our Planning.”

A moment of silence hung in the air. The typing sounds in the office accelerated.

“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know them.”

Lee Dasom replied in a disinterested tone, her eyes fixed on the monitor.

“It seems like they sent another email because you didn’t reply. They’re asking you to handle it quickly.”
“I really don’t know that company. If it bothers you, just put it in the spam folder. I’m very busy right now. I don’t have time to deal with spam emails.”

Spam email.
Those words stirred a wave of unease within Chae Seolha.

“It’s the contract you were working on.”
“I told you I don’t know them.”
“Stop it. You talked with this company about advertising, didn’t you? Yes, the one that jerk brought on Tuesday…”

The typing sounds in the office stopped abruptly.
Only the four women’s hair stirred in the frozen stillness of the office.

“…”

A bead of sweat trickled down Chae Seolha’s neck. The room temperature was 22 degrees, certainly not hot enough to sweat. But the sweat wouldn’t stop.

The truth, crumpled and tucked away in a corner of her heart, was resurfacing.

“Are you going to accept it?”

Yu Garyeon looked at Chae Seolha and spoke.

“Accept what?”
“The resignation letter he submitted. Are you going to accept it?”

The resignation letter.
That damn piece of paper that turned the carefully prepared party into a funeral.

She didn’t want to accept it.
She couldn’t bear the thought of him, Yu Dojin, leaving the company.

So Chae Seolha had shredded Yu Dojin’s resignation letter. She even burned the remaining pieces on the building’s rooftop. She thought that would solve everything.

But Yu Dojin had thrown that damn piece of paper in her face again.

“There’s no way to stop it once he’s submitted his resignation. Even if I refuse to accept it—”
“So you are going to accept it.”
“…Yes.”
“Huh.”

Yu Garyeon sighed at Chae Seolha’s answer, as if dumbfounded. Her silver hair shimmered sharply.
As if blaming Chae Seolha for Yu Dojin’s resignation.

Chae Seolha frowned at the rising discomfort.

“What do you expect me to do if he wants to leave?”
“…You have no shame, do you? Still.”
“What?”

Shame.
Chae Seolha couldn’t fathom why she had to hear such a thing from Yu Garyeon.
Yes, at least, I don’t want to hear it from you. Chae Seolha’s lips trembled slightly.

“Are you blaming me now?”
“Well, I think you’ll know if you think about what you’ve done.”
“And you’re still going on about ‘Hey, Hey.’ Aren’t you tired of it? Have you already forgotten? Because you kept distancing yourself like that, he—”
“Because of what you did!”

Yu Garyeon stood up abruptly and glared at Chae Seolha.

“W-Wait. Girls.”

Lee Dasom hurriedly stepped between the two women.

“Calm down…”
“You’re in no position to say that.”
“That’s right. Honestly, Dasom, you’re just as much to blame. Vegan food and all that, you kept doing things he hated.”

Lee Dasom’s expression darkened.

“…What do you know about him and me? Don’t talk like that when you don’t know anything.”

Lee Dasom muttered, clenching her fists. Blood trickled from her bitten lip.

“I probably know more than you.”
“Garyeon, from what you’re saying, it sounds like you’re blameless. Am I wrong? Do you feel good pretending to be nice? Always acting like that in front of Dojin…!”
“Pfft…”

A sudden burst of laughter interrupted the argument. The three women, their faces flushed, turned their heads towards the source of the sound.

“Pfft… Hahaha—”

A slow, snail-like, yet somehow barbed voice mocked them.
Yu Garyeon, frowning, spoke.

“What?”
“I just… can’t believe you’re still blaming others after all this…”
“And what you’re doing isn’t blaming others?”

Chae Seolha flinched at Oh Minseo’s words and spoke irritably.

“You’re doing it again… I never said I wasn’t at fault…”

Chae Seolha bit her lip at the continued laughter.

“Dojin just left because he was angry with us… It’s everyone’s responsibility, not just one person’s… No matter how much you try to shift the blame, that won’t change…”

Her downcast gaze searched the office, cautiously, as if searching for someone.
And finally, the verdict came.

“Dojin isn’t coming back.”

****

Chae Seolha packed her bag and decided to leave the office. She still had a mountain of work to do, but nothing mattered right now.
Her tattered heart was at its limit.

“One pack of Reds, please.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to see your ID.”
“…Here.”

Twenty-eight. Old, yet young, but certainly old enough to buy cigarettes.
Despite that, she always had to show her ID. The distrustful glances were a bonus.
I hate it. I absolutely hate it. The earlier incident made Chae Seolha hate her face even more.

“Could you move a little…?”

The smoking area near the building was already full of people who came out for a smoke after lunch.

“Excuse me, I’m leaving.”

The pathetic sight, resembling a raccoon den, was due to a city ordinance aimed at creating smoke-free streets, but it didn’t stop people from smoking within the city.
People still entered these small, yellow-ceilinged dens, desperately and pathetically puffing on small pieces of paper.

Chae Seolha was no different. If there had been even a little space left, she would have become another raccoon, holding a cigarette butt in her mouth.

“Sigh…”

After searching for a smoking spot, Chae Seolha eventually returned to the building where her company was located.
Her destination was the rooftop. It was a stuffy place, surrounded by high walls on all sides except for the ceiling to prevent accidents, but she didn’t care.
The poster indicating that smoking was permitted was enough to satisfy Chae Seolha.

She sat down and repeatedly inhaled and exhaled the acrid smoke.
She hadn’t touched a cigarette for years, after Yu Dojin advised her to quit, but today, she couldn’t bear it any longer.
As if trying to blow away the worries, thoughts, and reality deep within her heart along with the smoke, Chae Seolha exhaled compulsively, but the distracting thoughts wouldn’t disappear.

Even when she looked up at the blue sky, all she could see was the acrid smoke she had exhaled.

“…”

When Yu Dojin submitted his second resignation letter and left the company, Chae Seolha felt bewildered and a desperate urge to stop everything.
That’s why she grabbed his pants without caring that she was falling. She ran down the stairs, even at the cost of breaking her expensive high heels, and called out to him.

But Yu Dojin left heartlessly without looking back.

After sitting there for a long time, Chae Seolha, led back to the office by her colleagues, felt a surge of rage.
Yu Dojin had betrayed her again. As that thought filled her head, old, buried feelings began to resurface.

Come to think of it, she had always been the one holding onto Yu Dojin.
Even though he betrayed and hurt her countless times, she forgave him, suppressed her feelings, and constantly tried to mend their relationship.

Yes, she always tried to laugh it off.
Even that incident.

Of course, she had been getting angry with Yu Dojin more frequently lately.
But it was all for his own good. If she left him alone, some other company might steal him away. Or he might be tricked by a wicked woman and suffer greatly.

It was absurd that she was angry when she should be grateful, but even if he felt resentful, he could have just honestly told her and tried to improve their relationship.
Why did he just endure it, then explode on his own and ruin everything? Chae Seolha couldn’t understand Yu Dojin’s actions at all.

—If you have complaints, we should talk and resolve them! Why are you lashing out like this!
—Did you ever listen when I tried to talk?

What a joke. When did he ever try to talk? He’s the one who made unreasonable demands.

I care about you so much, and you’re getting angry over such trivial things? As expected… I’m only that insignificant to you.

Chae Seolha’s burning gaze targeted Yu Dojin.

But her feelings didn’t reach him.
She could never be chosen. The realization of that miserable reality filled Chae Seolha with a deep sense of self-loathing.

Then go.

She didn’t want to worry or feel miserable anymore. Maybe it was for the best.
I’ll forget about that ungrateful man and start anew, Chae Seolha thought, clenching the cigarette between her teeth.

Why do I have to feel like this when I haven’t done anything wrong?
Yes, I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all his fault.

“Oh… you’re here…?”

Oh Minseo appeared behind Chae Seolha, who was angrily grinding a cigarette butt into the ground. A relaxed smile, as usual, graced her face.

She acted as if she hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Chae Seolha’s heart. Chae Seolha didn’t like that about Oh Minseo.

“Oh, you’re smoking… I thought you quit…?”
“What do you want?”
“Ah… I wanted to talk to you about something…”

Oh Minseo fiddled with her hair, seemingly embarrassed by Chae Seolha’s aggressive attitude.

“If you’re going to talk about Yu Dojin, that jerk, I’m done. It’s none of my business.”
“Hmm… I see…? Then I’ll have to tell someone else…”
“What?”

Chae Seolha’s eyes widened.

“Huh…? You said you weren’t interested…?”

It was obvious that what Oh Minseo was about to say was related to Yu Dojin.
She didn’t care about that man anymore, but the phrase “someone else” irritated her.

“Just tell me.”
“Aha… Okay… It’s nothing much, I was just wondering what you would do if you could meet Dojin again…”

Oh Minseo ran her hand through her messy brown hair and looked at Chae Seolha with curious eyes.

“But since you don’t seem to want to see him… I’ll ask the others…”

What would I do? Our relationship is over. I don’t care what that man does anymore. I’m going to start anew. I’m different now. I have money, a job, and reputation. There’s nothing to regret.

Chae Seolha thought so. It was a perfectly rational judgment.
But for some reason, her heart…

“…Where is he?”
“Huh…?”
“Where is he? Where do I have to go? Huh? Where did you find him? Tell me. Just tell me. I’ll go right now. Hurry.”
“Oh… What the—! That hurts, Seolha…”

Chae Seolha’s hand gripped Oh Minseo’s slender arm with more force than ever.
A ragged breath escaped Chae Seolha’s lips.

“So, you want to see him…?”
“I will. I will see him. I want to see him. So please.”

Oh Minseo smiled faintly at Chae Seolha’s answer and continued.

“Well… it’s no fun just telling you everything…”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a hint, so try to find him…”
“…Are you playing with me?”

Chae Seolha frowned and looked at Oh Minseo.
Seeing this, Oh Minseo smiled faintly, looking satisfied.

“Suit yourself…”

Her eyes weren’t smiling.