Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
Sara’s bad mood wasn’t easily going away.
Even though she didn’t want to, her body had been dragged out, and during that process, she ended up having unwanted physical contact with Haneul.
Even if they were friends, I think there are plenty of people who dislike physical contact.
In my case, I never even thought about having skinship with same-sex friends in my original life.
But I couldn’t think of a way to resolve this feeling.
“I-I’m sorry…”
I tried apologizing to Ha-neul, received an apology from her, and I even apologized myself, but Sara was still sulking.
‘…’
She hadn’t said a word since earlier.
Although she wasn’t speaking, the emotion I could feel made it clear that she was still there.
How could I resolve this feeling?
Since I was the one moving around, I thought I had to resolve it, so I started thinking of various ways.
“Suddenly, I want something sweet. How about we get some ice cream?”
We went to an ice cream shop.
‘It’s still too cold.’
…It failed right away.
That’s right.
Even though it’s already April, it’s still a bit too chilly to enjoy ice cream.
Does Sara get cold easily?
“How about riding the carousel?”
I chose the best ride I could handle with my body and tried it.
‘…Am I a kid?’
…Indeed, there were a lot of children.
“It’s time for the parade!”
We also watched the parade, which is one of this amusement park’s highlights.
‘…’
Ah, she seemed a little satisfied with this.
I was worried she might get annoyed because of the crowd.
However, that subtle feeling of displeasure still hadn’t completely gone away.
But now, there wasn’t much left to see.
Since we couldn’t ride the attractions, there was no reason to stand in long lines, and we already ate ice cream, so there wasn’t much point in eating more.
Although, to be honest, these kids could probably eat more, but if I ate more with this body, I’d definitely feel sick.
There’s also supposed to be a fireworks show tonight… but there’s still a lot of time until then.
We can’t just keep wandering around outside until then.
The goal was to lighten the mood, and making things worse was definitely not an option.
“Oh, right. The safari.”
As I looked through the amusement park map, I muttered to myself.
“How about we go there?”
When I pointed to it, all the kids smiled and nodded.
…It seemed like I was looking extremely excited.
Well, I had been moving around a lot since we got off the Ferris wheel.
Maybe I exaggerated a bit because I was trying to cheer up Sara.
Well, if it helps lighten the mood, I guess it’s not so bad…
Ha-neul still looked a little guilty.
…I’ll have to talk properly with Sara about this tonight.
*
‘Are those animals happy?’
…And as soon as we entered the safari, I deeply regretted that decision.
That’s right.
Sara was a child who had been confined inside that mansion until now.
What was I thinking, showing confined creatures to a child like that?
…I hope they’re happy.
I couldn’t just brush off her muttering, so I said that to Sara.
‘Can they really be happy?’
…
It wasn’t an easy question to answer.
After all, I wasn’t one of those animals.
Maybe their nutritional status is better than if they were out in the wild.
At least they wouldn’t starve here.
They’d be safe living in a zoo, and their offspring would be safe too.
I also knew that the animals here formed close bonds with their keepers.
But if those animals knew what life was like outside the zoo, would they be happy here?
In fact, this doesn’t just apply to zoo animals.
The same could be said for all pets that people raise.
There are animals that live longer under human care, while others have their lifespans shortened.
Whether it’s livestock raised for food or leather, or horses raised for riding…
The question of whether animals are truly happiest in their natural state has always sparked fierce debates in environmental discussions.
In the end, it’s humans who judge whether animals are happy or not.
However, I don’t think that’s the point Sara was trying to make.
Sara had been raised in that mansion, not knowing anything about the outside world, all because of her abnormal stepmother.
As a result, Sara had reached a twisted situation where her only emotional attachment was to her stepmother.
Now, her emotions and memories were slightly mixed with mine, making it a little better, but originally, she would’ve found it hard to even have proper conversations with others.
So, is Sara happy after leaving the mansion?
Perhaps I was too irresponsible when I tried to leave Sara behind.
‘What are you thinking about?’
As I stared out the car window, lost in thought, Sara snapped irritably.
‘If I was unhappy, I would’ve said so already.’
…
Ha.
Well, that’s true.
The returned Sara was a much stronger child than I had thought.
Although she didn’t have a strong will to live yet, she wasn’t at the point of giving up on our relationships either.
She had already given up on life once, but she wasn’t the kind of child who would deny the existence of what was beside her.
She had already seen the possibility.
She knew there were people who cared about her.
And she probably knew by now that there was no longer any reason for her to be unhappy.
…
Ah, I see.
Maybe I was under a big misconception.
Just because someone seems detached from life doesn’t mean they’ve given up on everything.
Perhaps I had no reason to worry from the moment Sara returned.
‘…’
Sara didn’t say anything.
But I could feel a bit of the frustration inside my chest fading.
*
No matter how hard we tried to have fun, 4 PM seemed to be our limit.
No, let me correct that.
It was the limit for Sara’s body.
No matter how much we walked around, there’s a limit to physical stamina.
You might be able to walk around a little longer if you manage it efficiently and take proper breaks, but your energy will run out before the day is even over if you don’t have a strong base stamina.
In the end, we decided to leave the fireworks for another time.
“Next time, we can take it easy and come out a little later.”
I nodded in agreement with So-hee’s comment.
Honestly, I wanted to show Sara the fireworks, but… it just wasn’t possible.
Switching personalities wouldn’t bring back physical stamina.
And besides, Sara didn’t like that process much, so I couldn’t do it recklessly.
If we overdo it today, it might affect tomorrow too.
Of course, knowing that, we came out on a Saturday, but I didn’t want to spend all of Sunday in bed either.
So, we decided to head back for today.
“Oh, then, how about buying some souvenirs before we go?”
I hadn’t thought of that.
To be honest, I’ve never bought souvenirs at an amusement park.
The souvenirs were usually things like headbands or plush toys, which I had no use for, and there was no reason for a group of guys to buy stuff like that.
The other kids agreed with my suggestion.
Yang Hye-in didn’t voice her opinion, but…
Well, she’s always like that.
Though it was my suggestion, So-hee, Soo-ah, and Ha-neul seemed even more excited than I was.
The three of them dragged me around, trying various things on my head and making all sorts of suggestions.
Since I had no sense for these kinds of things, I just nodded along.
Well, how expensive could it be, anyway?
Being able to say things like “I’ll take everything in the store” as a joke or a boast, but actually being serious, makes you feel incredibly secure.
Honestly, I had enough money to buy everything in the store, including the items in the back.
‘…’
I could feel Sara sulking again, watching me have fun with the others.
If she wanted to play with us that badly, she could just come out and join us.
…Well, I guess Sara still felt awkward walking around like this.
I picked up a random headband nearby.
It had ears that looked like those of a tuxedo-wearing cat, which seemed to be the park’s mascot.
I put the headband on and asked.
How does it look?
‘…Huh?’
Sara reacted to my sudden question.
I stood in front of the mirror, turning my head this way and that as I asked.
Does it suit me?
‘…’
Sara still seemed unsure of what I was asking.
Do you think it looks good on you?
Sure, I was the one moving around, but this was originally Sara’s body.
This face was Sara’s face.
I was the one who chose the cat-eared headband, but the face wearing it was Sara’s.
In other words, I was asking if she wanted me to pick one for her.
…Unfortunately, since I didn’t bring any money to this world, I’d have to buy it with Sara’s money.
Oh…?
Or what do you think?
Should I choose something else?
I turned my head.
Since Sara shared my senses, she could see everything I was seeing.
“If we’re going to buy it, let’s pick the one that looks the prettiest and suits you the most. How about it? I’ll help you choose.”
I whispered softly.
Sara was with me in consciousness.
Even though she wasn’t physically present to walk around with us, in a way, she was the child who was always with me.
So there’s no need to sulk.
After all, we’re doing this together.
‘…’
After a moment of silence, Sara spoke timidly.
‘Th-then, over there…’
Even though I couldn’t see her, I had a feeling I knew where Sara’s consciousness was pointing.
Over there was a wide-brimmed witch’s hat, like something a witch would wear.
“Alright.”
I whispered softly as I walked over to it.
In the end, Sara tried on more than ten different headbands, hats, and hairpins before buying them all.
Still, in the end, I thought it was nice that we could enjoy it together like this.