82화 열한 날

결과 통보가 온 날, MJ가 웃으면서 말했다.

"So you're both staying."

"…네."

"He submitted his eleven days before you." MJ가 서류를 넘겼다. "I saw the timestamps when I filed them."

은호가 고개를 들었다.

"열한 날이요?"

"Yeah. Month seventeen deadline. He filed on day one."

그날 저녁, 은호가 태경에게 물었다.

"의견서 언제 내셨어요?"

"…양식 열린 날에요."

"왜 그렇게 빨리요?"

태경이 잠깐 아무 말도 하지 않았다.

"미루면 은호 씨 결정을 기다린 게 되니까요."

"…"

"제가 먼저 내고 나면, 은호 씨가 뭘 쓰든 제 결정이랑 상관없어져요." 태경이 말했다. "그게 맞다고 생각했어요."

은호는 그 말을 오래 생각했다.

먼저 냈다는 건 하나를 포기했다는 뜻이었다. 은호가 돌아가겠다고 쓸 경우, 태경이 자기 결정을 바꿀 기회를 스스로 없앤 것이다.

"…근데 제가 돌아간다고 썼으면 어쩌시려고요."

"그럼 여기 혼자 있었겠죠."

English

On the day the outcome came through, MJ said with a grin,

"So you're both staying."

"…Yes."

"He submitted his eleven days before you." MJ turned a page. "I saw the timestamps when I filed them."

Eunho looked up.

"Eleven days?"

"Yeah. Month seventeen deadline. He filed on day one."

That evening Eunho asked him.

"When did you submit your preference form?"

"…The day it opened."

"Why so early?"

Taekyung said nothing for a moment.

"Because waiting would have meant waiting for your decision."

"…"

"If I file first, then whatever you write has nothing to do with what I decided." He said it plainly. "I thought that was right."

Eunho thought about that for a long time.

Filing first meant giving something up. If Eunho had written that he wanted to return, Taekyung had removed his own chance to change his answer.

"…And if I'd written that I was going back?"

"Then I'd have been here alone."