17화 1부 엔딩 — 판 짜는 년

**[피의자 신문조서 — 발췌]**

| 문항 | 답변 |
|---|---|
| 위조 사실을 인정합니까 | 인정합니다 |
| 지시한 사람이 있습니까 | 없습니다 |
| 공범이 있습니까 | 없습니다 |
| 단독 범행입니까 | 네 |

수진은 사흘 동안 같은 대답만 반복했다.

"이수진 씨, 이거 혼자 한 거 맞아요?"

수사관이 서류를 넘기며 물었다.

"네."

"500억을 대리 한 명이 혼자 빼돌렸다?"

"제가 서류 만들었습니다. 다 제 손에서 나왔고요."

거짓말은 아니었다. 서류는 전부 자기가 만들었다.

다만 그걸 시킨 사람이 있다는 말만 안 했다.

*말하면 어떻게 되지.*

말하면 지훈이 잡힌다. 그리고 지훈이 잡히면, 모연도 같이 딸려 들어간다. 계좌 명의자니까.

*그럼 저 여자가 감옥에 가겠지.*

수진은 이를 악물었다.

*내가 살자고 저 여자를 넣어? 그건 아니지.*

라운지에서 손을 뿌리친 얼굴이 떠올랐다.

그 얼굴을 떠올리면서도, 여전히 같은 결론이 나왔다.

*배신당한 거랑, 저 여자 인생 끝내는 거랑은 다르지.*

"이수진 씨."

수사관이 펜을 내려놨다.

"이거 혼자 뒤집어쓰면 최소 7년입니다. 알고 하시는 거예요?"

"네."

수진이 짧게 대답했다.

구치소 독방.

수진은 벽에 등을 기댄 채 앉아 있었다.

*이제 정리해볼까.*

머릿속으로 판을 다시 그렸다. 뒷골목에서 수백 번 해왔던 그 계산이었다.

누가 짰고, 누가 이득을 보고, 누가 뒤집어쓰는가.

**[정리]**

| 항목 | 결과 |
|---|---|
| 500억 | 지훈이 새벽에 이체 완료 |
| 서류 흔적 | 전부 이수진 |
| 지훈 | 그날 현장에 없음 |
| 강모연 | 참고인, 무혐의 |
| 이수진 | 단독 범행 |

*지훈은 오늘 오지도 않았고.*

*내가 만든 서류엔 전부 내 흔적만 남았고.*

*이체는 새벽에 이미 끝나 있었고.*

답은 간단했다. 너무 간단해서 헛웃음이 나왔다.

*처음부터 이렇게 짜여 있었구나.*

자신을 발탁한 것도, 신분을 만들어준 것도, 위조를 맡긴 것도—전부 오늘 이 순간을 위한 준비였다.

자신은 그저 서류에 이름을 남길 사람이 필요해서 데려온 말이었다.

가족관계 없음. 찾을 사람 없음.

*그러니까 나였구나.*

수진은 소리 없이 웃었다. 웃음인지 신음인지 알 수 없는 소리였다.

*판 짜는 년이라고 불리던 내가, 남이 짠 판에 이렇게 완벽하게 앉아 있었네.*

여덟 달 전 그 지하실에서 지훈은 그 이름을 버리라고 했다.

버리라던 이름으로, 결국 여기까지 왔다.

계산이 다 끝나고 나서도, 하나가 안 풀렸다.

*그럼 저 여자는.*

지훈이 짠 판이라면, 모연도 이용당한 쪽이어야 했다. 계좌 명의를 빌려주고, 아무것도 모른 채 끌려다닌 사람.

그런데 라운지에서 나온 그 문장이 자꾸 걸렸다.

"저 사람이 제 서명을 위조하고, 제 결재 권한까지 도용했어요."

*서명. 결재 권한.*

정확했다. 너무 정확했다.

놀란 사람은 저렇게 말하지 않는다. 놀란 사람은 "이게 무슨 일이냐"고 하거나, 아무 말도 못 하거나, 둘 중 하나다.

저건 답을 알고 온 사람의 문장이었다.

*그럼 처음부터—*

거기까지 갔을 때, 수진은 생각을 멈췄다.

*하지 마.*

손이 떨렸다.

그 끝까지 가면 어떻게 되는지 이미 알고 있었다.

어젯밤이 통째로 없어진다.

품에 안겨 울던 것도, 좋아서 운다던 말도, 목덜미에 얼굴을 묻고 소리 없이 울던 것도—전부 연기가 된다.

서고에서 엄마 얘기를 하던 목소리도. 커피를 두 손으로 받던 것도. 재킷을 돌려주며 손이 스쳤던 것도.

여덟 달이 통째로 지워진다.

그리고 전 재산을 털어서 항공권 두 장을 산 인간 하나만, 세상에서 제일 우스운 꼴로 남는다.

*그건 아니지.*

수진은 벽에 뒤통수를 기댔다.

*겁먹은 거야. 그거밖에 없어.*

저 집안에서 어떻게 살아왔는지 봤다. 열여덟에 울었다가 그 소리를 듣고, 그 뒤로는 안 울었다는 사람이었다. 저 사람들 앞에서 자기 하나 팔면 살 수 있는데, 그걸 안 할 리가 없었다.

*그래. 그런 거야.*

수진은 그렇게 정리했다.

정리하고 나서도 손이 계속 떨렸다.

*그럼 그 밤은 뭐였는데.*

그 질문만은 어떻게 해도 눌러지지 않았다.

**[사건 처리 결과]**

| 인물 | 결과 |
|---|---|
| 이수진 | 구속 기소, 징역 7년 선고 |
| 강모연 | 피해자 신분, 무혐의 처분 |
| 지훈 | 참고인 조사 후 종결, 혐의 없음 |

법정에서 판결이 나던 날, 방청석은 비어 있었다.

올 사람이 없었다.

*7년.*

판결문에 적힌 숫자였다. 스물아홉에 들어가서, 서른여섯에 나오는 숫자.

수진은 그 숫자를 속으로 몇 번 굴려봤다.

*뭐, 살아는 있겠네.*

차가운 호송차 안, 수진은 창밖으로 멀어지는 도시를 바라봤다.

*강모연.*

이름 석 자를 속으로 되뇌었다.

그 이름을 부르는 순간 목구멍에서 뭔가 뜨거운 게 올라왔다.

여덟 달 동안 자기는 이 사람을 팔려고 서류를 만들었다. 그건 자기 잘못이었다.

그런데 마지막 사흘 동안 자기는 판을 뒤엎으려 했고, 전 재산을 털었고, 밤을 새웠고, 자기 목에 7년을 걸었다.

그리고 그 대가로 손을 뿌리쳐졌다.

*겁먹어서 그랬다고 치자.*

*겁먹었으면 나한테 미안하다는 눈이라도 했어야지.*

라운지에서 마지막으로 본 얼굴이 떠올랐다.

돌아서서 눈물을 닦던 뒷모습. 한 번도 이쪽을 돌아보지 않았다.

*나 끌려 나가는 거 안 봤잖아, 너.*

수진의 손톱이 손바닥을 파고들었다.

*7년이야.*

*그 값은 받아야지.*

수진은 그 문장을 몇 번이나 속으로 되뇌었다.

*살아서 나갈게.*

수진은 그렇게 다짐했다.

언젠가 다시 그 얼굴 앞에 서서, 그날 왜 그랬는지 반드시 듣고 말겠다고.

*그리고 지훈.*

그 이름에서는 다른 종류의 감정이 올라왔다.

훨씬 단순하고, 훨씬 명확한 것이었다.

*너는 그냥 죽여야지.*

호송차가 서서히 속도를 냈다. 창밖 풍경이 뒤로 밀려났다.

수진은 눈을 감았다.

머릿속에서 이미 다른 판이 그려지기 시작하고 있었다.

시간은 7년이었다.

*(1부 끝)*

English

> **[Suspect Interrogation Record — Excerpt]**
>
> | Question | Answer |
> |---|---|
> | Do you admit to the forgery? | I admit it. |
> | Was there anyone who gave the order? | There was no one. |
> | Was there an accomplice? | There was none. |
> | Did you act alone? | Yes. |

Sujin gave the same answer, over and over, for three days.

"Ms. Lee Sujin, this really was you, alone?"

The investigator asked, flipping through the documents.

"Yes."

"One assistant manager, all alone, made off with fifty billion won?"

"I made the documents. Every one of them came out of my own hands."

It was not a lie. She had made every document herself.

She had only left out the part about someone giving the order.

*What happens if I say it.*

If she said it, Jihoon would be caught. And if Jihoon was caught, Moyeon would be pulled down with him — she was the one whose name was on the account.

*Then that woman would go to prison.*

Sujin clenched her jaw.

*Save myself and put her away? No. Not that.*

The face that had struck her hand away in the lounge rose in her mind.

Even with that face in front of her, she still landed on the same answer.

*Being betrayed and ending that woman's life are not the same thing.*

"Ms. Lee Sujin."

The investigator set his pen down.

"If you carry this alone, that's a minimum of seven years. You understand that?"

"Yes."

Sujin answered, short.

A **solitary** cell in the detention center.

Sujin sat with her back against the wall.

*Let's go over it, then.*

In her head, she rigged the table again — the same calculation she had run a hundred times in the back alleys.

Who had rigged it, who came out ahead, who took the fall.

> **[Summary]**
>
> | Item | Result |
> |---|---|
> | 50 billion won | Jihoon completed the transfer before dawn |
> | Paper trail | Entirely Lee Sujin |
> | Jihoon | Not at the scene that day |
> | Kang Moyeon | Witness, no charges |
> | Lee Sujin | Acted alone |

*Jihoon hadn't even come today.*

*Every document I made carried only my own trace.*

*The transfer had already been finished before dawn.*

The answer was simple. So simple that a hollow laugh escaped her.

*So this was rigged from the start.*

Picking her out, building her a new identity, handing her the forgery work — all of it had been preparation for this one moment today.

She had only ever been the **pawn** brought in because someone needed a name to leave on paper.

No family. No one to come looking.

*So that's why it had to be me.*

Sujin laughed without a sound. It was a noise she could not tell apart from a **groan**.

*The Table-Rigging Bitch — that's what they called me. And here I was, sitting so perfectly inside a table someone else had rigged.*

Eight months ago, in that basement, Jihoon had told her to drop that name.

And with the very name he had told her to drop, she had ended up here.

Even after she had worked through every step, one thing still would not settle.

*Then what about her.*

If this was a table Jihoon had rigged, Moyeon should have been used too. Someone had lent her name to the account and been dragged along, knowing nothing.

But that sentence from the lounge kept catching on something.

"That person forged my signature and even stole my approval authority."

*Signature. Approval authority.*

It was exact. Too exact.

A person who is truly shocked does not talk like that. A person who is truly shocked says "what is going on," or says nothing at all. One or the other.

That was the sentence of someone who had already known the answer, walking in.

*Then from the very start—*

When her thoughts reached that point, Sujin made herself stop.

*Don't.*

Her hands were shaking.

She already knew what waited at the end of that thought.

Last night would vanish, whole.

The face that had cried, held in her arms. The voice that said she was crying because she was happy. The back that had wept without a sound, her face buried in Sujin's neck — all of it would become an act.

So would the voice in the archive, talking about her mother. So would the coffee cupped in both hands. So would the brush of fingers when the jacket was returned.

Eight months would be erased, whole.

And only one person would be left standing — the one who had spent every last cent on two plane tickets, the biggest fool in the world.

*No. Not that.*

Sujin leaned the back of her head against the wall.

*She was scared. That's all it is.*

Sujin had seen how Moyeon had lived in that family. She was a woman who had cried once at eighteen, been made to hear what that cost, and never cried again after that. In front of people like that, giving Sujin up would save her — there was no way she wouldn't do it.

*Yes. That's what it is.*

That was where Sujin landed.

Even after landing there, her hands kept shaking.

*Then what was that night.*

That one question would not go down, no matter what she did.

> **[Case Outcome]**
>
> | Person | Result |
> |---|---|
> | Lee Sujin | Indicted in custody, sentenced to seven years in prison |
> | Kang Moyeon | Treated as a victim, case closed with no charges |
> | Jihoon | Case closed after questioning as a witness, no charges |

On the day the **verdict** came down in court, the gallery sat empty.

There had been no one left to come.

*Seven years.*

It was the number written in the ruling — the number that would take her in at twenty-nine and let her out at thirty-six.

Sujin turned that number over in her head, more than once.

*Well. At least I'll still be alive.*

Inside the cold prison transport van, Sujin watched the city slide away outside the window.

*Kang Moyeon.*

She said the full name over to herself, in silence.

The moment she said it, something hot rose up in her throat.

For eight months, she had made documents meant to sell this woman out. That much had been her own fault.

But for the last three days, she had tried to overturn that table. She had emptied out everything she owned, stayed up through the night, and staked seven years of her own life on it.

And in return, her hand had been struck away.

*Say it was because she was scared.*

*If she was scared, she could have at least looked sorry.*

The last face she had seen in the lounge rose in her mind.

The back of her, turned away, wiping her tears. She never once looked this way.

*You didn't even watch them drag me out, did you.*

Sujin's nails dug into her palm.

*Seven years.*

*I'm **owed** that much.*

Sujin repeated that line to herself, over and over.

*I'll walk out of here alive.*

That was the promise Sujin made to herself.

That someday she would stand in front of that face again and make sure to hear exactly why she had done what she did that day.

*And Jihoon.*

A different kind of feeling rose up at that name.

Something far simpler. Far clearer.

*I'll just kill you.*

The van slowly picked up speed. The view outside the window slid away behind her.

Sujin closed her eyes.

In her head, she had already started rigging the next table.

Seven years — that was the time she had.

*(End of Part 1)*