Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
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Little by little, it starts to show.
What is showing?
I still don’t know.
I was just starting to grasp it.
Until now, I’ve been greatly influenced by Sara.
In a way, it would be correct to say we’ve “mixed.”
People learn, understand, and accept many things through conversations with others, but my relationship with Sara was even closer than that.
I could directly see what kind of thoughts Sara had while living and what experiences she went through.
What I could see was mostly just Sara’s past—
…In the end, human memory is always about the past.
No matter how short a time, whether an hour, 30 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 second, or even shorter than that, once a person processes and remembers it, it becomes a memory.
So, the task of reading Sara’s memories—her “thoughts”—was surprisingly simple.
I just had to trace back into the past.
Keep going back until I reached a point close to the present.
But it wasn’t an easy task.
Finding a path within Sara’s mind was difficult.
Even for someone who hadn’t lived for twenty years yet, and even though her life was infinitely repetitive, it took a lot of time to go through all those memories, buried deep in her subconscious.
It was like pulling out random books from an unorganized library, trying to find the most recent one.
But fortunately, I had a lot of time.
Whenever Sara was awake, I was essentially sleeping.
During that “sleep time,” I could keep going back through Sara’s past.
Sara wouldn’t easily open her heart.
This was inside Sara’s consciousness, and since she was originally the owner, I’m not sure if I could win against her if she decided not to show her thoughts.
…Lately, Sara had been acting a bit strange.
I know it sounds odd for me to say that.
But—
“I’m back.”
Sara, who had been sitting next to me, suddenly spoke.
As we were talking, her words had abruptly stopped, making me think morning had already come.
But judging by how quickly she returned, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I just went to get some water.”
Though it took a bit longer than just grabbing water…
But as I looked at Sara squinting up at me, it didn’t seem like a lie.
Yeah, it didn’t seem like a lie.
But just because it’s not a lie doesn’t mean she’s not hiding something.
Even if she didn’t deliberately tell me, being inside Sara’s consciousness means I know nothing if she doesn’t share it.
The daily life Sara described to me seemed so peaceful and joyful.
But how could that be possible in this situation?
It would be great if everything was peaceful and going well, just as Sara said…
There were investigators looking into Sara’s past, and public officials worried about her.
Did they come into contact with Choi Na-kyung?
If they did, Choi Na-kyung wouldn’t stay quiet.
Even so, is it really possible for Sara to lead such a “normal” life?
“Hehe.”
Sara giggled and clung to me.
Even within her consciousness, I could feel the warmth of Sara’s body.
Though it wasn’t a real sensation, more like both Sara and I agreed it should feel that way.
It wasn’t as delicate a feeling as in reality.
But there was a somewhat dull warmth, like feeling something from a slight distance.
And since I was essentially a part of Sara’s consciousness now, it seemed like our senses were somewhat overlapping.
The closer we hugged like this, the faster those feelings grew closer.
Maybe Sara was desperately clinging to me for that very reason.
“….”
It was sad.
Because she had no one to hold her like this, she had never experienced such attention her whole life.
That’s probably why she’s clinging to me like this.
Without a word, I stroked Sara’s head.
“….”
Sara remained silent, nestled in my arms.
Every time she came here, Sara would say she had “returned.”
Maybe she said that just for my sake…
But perhaps it wasn’t that kind of thought.
Maybe she genuinely believed that this place was where she should be.
If that’s true…
“I want to stay here… forever.”
Sara whispered softly.
“Anyone who lies down once wants to keep sleeping.”
When I replied like that, Sara looked up at me.
Sara, looking up at me from so close, was terribly cute.
That Sara, pouting her lips, spoke.
“You know that’s not why I’m saying this.”
“…I see.”
Seeing Sara say such words with sincerity, I decided I must catch up with her memories.
*
Choi Na-kyung didn’t have a habit of biting her nails.
She had as a child, but fixed it as she grew older.
Biting her nails left them looking unsightly for a while, and she knew how that gave others a bad impression.
Since becoming an adult, she hadn’t bitten them once.
And even now, she didn’t.
She didn’t decorate her nails.
There was a reason, though it wasn’t something she could easily tell others.
Growing her nails long and painting them meant she wouldn’t be able to act freely when the time came to harm someone.
She always kept her nails trimmed, ready to gently touch others.
Especially since certain parts of the human body were particularly vulnerable.
…Choi Na-kyung, who had always been prepared to welcome others that way,
“….”
Now, she was staring blankly at her own nails.
It wasn’t because she wanted to bite them again.
She was simply thinking how great it would be if she could drive those nails into the neck of the person in front of her.
…Though she knew it was an impossible fantasy.
“So, have you met with Sara?”
“….”
The person sitting across from her calmly spoke as he looked at her.
Choi Na-kyung sensed him from the corner of her eye but continued to stare at her nails.
“If you can’t answer, would you like me to answer for you?”
“What are you saying…?”
“Sara isn’t in the mansion the Chairwoman prepared for her, is she? Of course, it’s not really a mansion provided by the Chairwoman but Sara’s own property.”
“…”
“The mansion has been dark for quite some time. Only one room has its lights on, and it’s not Sara’s room.”
Sara’s room was located deep inside the mansion.
A layout reflecting Choi Na-kyung’s desire to keep Sara as unseen as possible.
“The housekeepers have mostly been dismissed, and security has been handed over to a private security firm rather than the original staff. The city is concerned because, even though the mansion is privately owned, it’s also a registered cultural property.”
After speaking at length, he didn’t even bother to wet his throat.
“You know quite a lot.”
Choi Na-kyung lifted her gaze and sharply retorted, but the man didn’t bat an eye.
“We have our ways of finding things out.”
“Is it thanks to that anonymous informant again?”
“That, and we were also able to get in touch with a remaining housekeeper.”
“…”
“What exactly happened between you and Sara?”
Was he testing her, knowing the truth?
…No, they didn’t know.
If they had known, they would have used it against her long ago.
So, in reality, these people were only pretending to care about Sara on the surface.
They’d never given her any attention before, yet now they were rushing in at the first opportunity.
“Whatever happened between Sara and me, it’s a family matter.”
“Then would you be willing to talk if we brought in Sara’s real family?”
“…Her real family?”
Choi Na-kyung nearly burst into anger, but managed to calmly ask the question.
It wasn’t wise to react to every word this person said.
“Though the Chairwoman is Sara’s mother, there hasn’t been much discussion about it.”
The director adjusted his posture slightly before continuing.
“Sara has plenty of relatives.”
“Are you saying those relatives are closer to Sara than I am?”
“There are many who would take care of her if necessary.”
“…”
Choi Na-kyung glared at the director in front of her, but he simply accepted her gaze without flinching.
“If the Chairwoman wants to claim that she’s Sara’s real family, she needs to bring undeniable proof. If there’s evidence we can’t refute, we’ll have no choice but to step aside.”
“…”
Gritting her teeth, a grinding sound escaped from Choi Na-kyung’s mouth.