Just Ten Minutes
“...Did you do that on purpose?”
“Seon-tae, take this for me.”
At the director’s words he shrugged and turned. Unlike me, flustered and unsure what to do with myself, he accepted the bags in my place with complete composure.
“Huh? Isn’t that Ha-jin?”
The director recognized Do Ha-jin as well and waved. Only then did Ha-jin unfasten his seat belt and step out of the driver’s seat. The look on his face as he bowed his head in greeting remained dark.
“What brings you here? Come to see Ji-yul?”
“...Yes.”
“All right, then. Get back to work, everyone.”
The director disappeared inside the gate again, and Ha-jin started toward me. Cha Seon-tae had just finished loading the last of the bags and was dusting off his hands.
“Ji-yul, can we talk in the car for a minute?”
“About what?”
Something about the request made my skin crawl; I took a step back. More than anything, the resentful way Ha-jin was looking at me—as if I were the one who had done something wrong—set my teeth on edge. I understood how he felt, but did he really have the right to look at me like that?
“It’ll only take a second.”
“......”
“Come on. Please?”
When he took another purposeful step closer, a gloved hand blocked his path. Cha Seon-tae stretched his arm out as if shielding me; Ha-jin’s brow furrowed, and my throat went dry enough that I had to cough softly.
“What is it?”
“......”
Seon-tae only shrugged without a word. Looking thoroughly displeased, Ha-jin gestured past him toward me.
“Really, just a minute. I thought it would be better to say this face-to-face instead of over the phone or by text.”
“......”
“Give me ten minutes.”
Seon-tae shot me a look that asked what I was going to do about it. Glancing between the two of them, I reluctantly caught the arm barring my way and pulled it down.
“Fine. Ten minutes.”
“Let’s go.”
“......”
I followed Ha-jin as he turned first. When I glanced back, Seon-tae—who had been standing there at a cocky angle—let out a short snort of laughter and vanished beyond the gate in a single long stride.
For a moment the empty space left behind felt oddly isolating, almost like abandonment, but I pushed the feeling down and climbed into the passenger seat Ha-jin held open for me. He swung around into the driver’s side.
While he silently adjusted the air-conditioning, I watched him from the corner of my eye and spoke first.
“Don’t tell the adults...”
The only reason I had forced myself into this uncomfortable conversation was to make sure he kept his mouth shut. Honestly, I didn’t care about anyone else. I might have felt a faint moral obligation toward Ha-jin, but that wasn’t really my problem, and third parties didn’t register at all.
But given his connection to my family, word could easily reach my father. I didn’t want that. I had no desire to share anything with my father, and I certainly didn’t want his interference.
“I’d rather my father not know.”
He let out a long breath before answering.
“All right.”
“......”
As always, Ha-jin was compliant. Somehow that only made the air grit more harshly against my skin. It left me feeling like the genuine villain of the piece, so I fidgeted with the sleeve of my dress and lowered my eyes. He sighed again.
“Are you seeing that guy?”
What was I supposed to say? The truth was no, but if I said no, everything that had just happened would look even stranger.
There was no reason to tell an outsider that Seon-tae and I had agreed to keep things light and free of feelings. More than that, knowing Ha-jin’s usually gentle nature, I worried he might not accept it easily and could still go to my father.
When I simply stayed silent, he took it as confirmation and let his body slump back against the seat.
“Honestly, I saw it coming from the first time I met him.”
“...What?”
We hadn’t done anything back then—what exactly had he predicted? I was turning to look at him when Cha Seon-tae suddenly burst out through the gate.
He didn’t spare us so much as a glance, just finished loading more bags and went back inside. I watched until he was completely gone before bringing my eyes back to Ha-jin.
“What did you see coming?”
“......”
He studied me quietly, then laughed the way someone laughs when they’re sighing.
“Just... the way you look at him is completely different from the way you look at me.”
“Different how?”
“The interest is different.”
“......”
“That guy observes you. I just look.”
“What does that even—”
“Anyway, Ji-yul.”
Ha-jin cut me off gently.
“I know. I’m the only one who likes you.”
“......”
“And I know you know that.”
Neither of us had ever tried to hide it, so of course he did.
“So you don’t have to feel bad about it.”
“......”
“Don’t feel sorry. If you do, Oppa’s going to feel even worse.”
“It’s not... exactly that...”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, embarrassed. He smoothly changed the subject.
“The reason I came today—”
“Yeah.”
“It’s...”
He dragged the word out, so I turned toward him. The moment our eyes met he looked away first. He was probably hurting from the rejection; I understood that and waited quietly for him to continue.
“I’m going back to the States earlier than planned.”
The next words were unexpected enough that my eyebrows rose. He glanced at me for a second, then lowered his eyes again. The hand resting on his thigh twitched with some restless discomfort.
“There’s a study group over there that entered a summer competition, so... looks like I’ll be leaving sometime this week.”
“That soon?”
“I’m sorry. I said I’d help you study, and now I’m bailing after only a few sessions. Pretty irresponsible of me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. You know I don’t care about college.”
“......”
He exhaled another long breath, and a sudden sense of dissonance pricked at me. It was nothing more than a vague hunch, but the air felt far too heavy.
“I’m really sorry.”
I had never wanted the tutoring in the first place and had told him outright I had no interest in university. He hadn’t started with any grand sense of duty—just an offer to help for a couple of months at most. Leaving early for the sake of his own future was more than enough justification to stop.
So why was he apologizing this much?
“Anyway... that’s what I came to tell you. I have to get ready to leave right away, so we probably won’t see each other before I go.”
“Okay. Have a good trip. See you when you come back for winter break.”
“......”
I had tried to give him a properly considerate farewell for his sake, but instead of answering, Ha-jin twisted around in a flurry of motion.
“Oh, right—this.”
What he pulled from the back seat were the CSAT prep books from his house and a daily study schedule packed dense with Excel formatting.
“Even if you’re not interested, take them. I made them for you anyway.”
“Okay.”
I accepted them out of respect for the effort, and he got out of the car, hurried around to my side, and opened the door for me.
“I’ve got some documents to pick up, so I should get going.”
“Yeah.”
Even as I stepped out, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling. The way he kept avoiding my eyes, the way a man who used to press close at every opportunity was now putting careful distance between us...
“Maybe it’s for the best. You’ve got someone next to you now.”
Thinking about it, his acceptance had been surprisingly quick. That was the part that felt most off.
“After what happened with your aunt, you were pretty lonely. You wouldn’t let yourself get close to anyone. But it doesn’t seem that way anymore, so I’m glad.”
“......”
“Anyway, Oppa’s going to head out.”
“...Yeah. Take care.”
“You take care too.”
I hugged the books to my chest and pressed myself against the wall as Ha-jin’s car slowly began to reverse. When our eyes met through the windshield he gave me an awkward smile, then turned the wheel. For some reason the receding rear of the car looked like it was running away.
Honestly, I had expected Ha-jin to cling. Was he giving up so easily because he thought Cha Seon-tae was my boyfriend? Common sense said that was the right call. Continuing to press yourself against someone who already had a partner would have been the abnormal thing. And all that apologizing... maybe he was just flustered.
What was certain was that Ha-jin’s feelings were finished now. I had never expected them to last forever, and part of me was even grateful that he had left with only kind words.
And yet I felt strangely hollow.
It wasn’t because Ha-jin’s heart had moved on. It was the emptiness of having once again lived through an emotion that was only ever temporary. Of course. I started walking with that bitter taste still in my mouth.
I kept my eyes on the ground as I followed the wall, and the moment I lifted my head in front of the gate I found Cha Seon-tae leaning against the pillar.
“......”
At his feet sat the large garbage bag Hee-yeon unnie had been emptying earlier. Starting from the sneakers idly tapping the ground, my gaze traveled up to the face watching me with arms crossed, and suddenly Ha-jin’s words came back to me.
That guy observes you. I just look.
“The madam said we should all have dinner together—like a little farewell party.”
I spun on my heel and walked past him. I had been about to ask whether he had kissed me knowing Ha-jin was watching, but the director and Hee-yeon unnie were coming, so I let it drop. Ha-jin had promised to keep quiet anyway.
“Ha-jin left?”
“Yes.”
“I should’ve come earlier. If he’d had time he could’ve stayed for dinner. It’s been a while since we all ate together.”
“I’ll go buy some of the lamb the young lady likes.”
“Okay. I’ll just put these books away.”
“Rest. We’ll call you when everything’s ready.”
I nodded obediently and crossed the courtyard at a quicker pace than necessary.
Peeping. Voyeurism. Observation. They were all roughly the same thing, nothing new under the sun—yet an unnameable sense of dismay still washed over me.
Just... the way you look at him is completely different from the way you look at me.
Of course it was. I had happened to learn about Cha Seon-tae’s far-from-ordinary past, and the present that looked so different from that past was fascinating. The shell of him was easy on the eyes, and he had been the first to throw a little entertainment into my dull days.
Feeling curiosity toward him for any number of reasons was the most natural thing in the world. Anyone else would have felt the same. I was sure of it.
I walked faster, and my eyes landed unthinkingly on the stone statue. I didn’t linger long on the winged angel’s back as it faced the main house; I put distance between us and passed it by.