Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
It had really been a long time since all the members gathered at the mansion.
The members, of course, referred to me, Ha-neul, Soo-ah, and So-hee.
Yang Hye-in was there too, but she wasn’t someone who usually stayed in the room.
Although I had left the mansion unattended, since it had been less than two weeks, the mansion hadn’t completely fallen into disrepair.
It seemed like no one had broken in either.
Well, aside from Yang Hye-in and So-hee, I had fired all the staff, but it was still being managed by a private security company.
However, that didn’t mean the mansion hadn’t been affected at all.
So-hee had returned to her home while I was away from the mansion, so naturally the only one left to manage the mansion was Yang Hye-in.
I’m human too, and of course, I wasn’t cruel enough to make Yang Hye-in clean this enormous mansion by herself, so I had told her it was fine to leave unused areas alone.
But would Yang Hye-in really just listen to that?
She had covered the unused rooms with white cloths so the dust would be easier to deal with later and securely locked the storerooms.
She had also been cleaning the lobby, at least.
Still, the mansion felt much more desolate than when people were around.
Even when there were people here before, it wasn’t enough to fill the mansion… but if you think about it, excluding the guards patrolling outside, there were only five of us in this huge mansion, and that gave it a strangely eerie feeling.
It felt different from being home alone in my past life.
When I was alone, I could be in my parents’ villa with my sibling or the small rental room I lived in.
Even when I was alone, I didn’t feel like the place was empty.
More than that, I could always hear faint sounds of TVs or conversations from the corridor outside.
…It was a completely different feeling from this enormous building, where more rooms had their lights off than on.
‘I had no intention of leaving this room anyway.’
That’s true.
I’d walked around the mansion, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting.
Well, except for the size of the building itself.
…Even so…
“Should we call Yang Hye-in too?”
“Huh?”
Ha-neul, who was closest to me, was the first to react to my mumbling.
I was sitting cross-legged on the large bed I usually used.
Ha-neul was sitting at the edge of my bed, and So-hee was rummaging through the storage space under her bed.
Soo-ah was sitting at the table, searching for something on her laptop.
…It felt kind of like a typical student apartment.
Of course, I’d never been to a women’s apartment before, and even when I lived alone during college, I only occasionally invited friends over.
But… the atmosphere now was exactly like that.
So-hee was already staying here, and Soo-ah actually slept in my room more often than her own house.
Ha-neul had also been sleeping over more and more often.
And more than anything, their belongings were quietly piling up here.
So-hee, who was living here anyway, had brought several suitcases as if she were going on a trip, so I had no complaints.
But even Soo-ah had left her laptop, clothes, underwear, and cosmetics, and Ha-neul’s clothes had started to gradually increase in the wardrobe as well.
So, what should I call this if not an apartment?
Well, it was still pretty spacious even with four people living here, so there weren’t any inconveniences.
“Why Yang Hye-in? Does she have something she needs to do?”
Ha-neul tilted her head as she asked, and I shook mine.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… right now, it’s only us and Yang Hye-in in the building, right? Even the security company employees are all at the front gate.”
So, outside of this room, Yang Hye-in was the only one here, wasn’t she?
No matter how you look at it, wouldn’t it feel a bit lonely to be all alone outside?
This building wasn’t originally made for people to live in, so unless you were in this room, it didn’t feel like anyone lived here.
Walking through the hallway in the middle of the night would probably feel a little creepy.
“Oh, that’s not true.”
So-hee finally lifted her upper body after finding what she had been searching for in the storage under her bed.
The crinkling sound was from a bag of snacks.
…When did she buy those?
After pulling out several snack bags, So-hee walked over to the table where Soo-ah was sitting.
When she piled the snacks onto the table, Soo-ah closed her laptop and set it aside.
“But didn’t you fire all the staff?”
“Even though I fired the staff, there are still guards patrolling inside the building. It’s so big, after all. Someone could sneak into the upper floors and live there for quite a while without being noticed.”
I shivered at the thought of such a situation.
It would be natural to have neighbors in an apartment or a villa, but this was my personal mansion.
The very idea of someone entering a place I owned without permission made me uncomfortable, and I couldn’t imagine that anyone who snuck in would be normal.
It would be a huge headache if a homeless person or runaway snuck in.
Once it goes unnoticed, the fact that it wasn’t caught would spread as a rumor.
Then, the group sneaking in would grow larger, and… in the end, it might end up looking like some abandoned mental hospital.
Well, since this building wasn’t just a private mansion but also a registered cultural property, it might not get to that point.
“In any case, the guards patrol the hallways regularly. The security team is larger than when we employed them directly, and they’re much more thorough.”
As So-hee said that and tore open a bag of snacks, I couldn’t help but feel a little conflicted.
After all, wasn’t So-hee the first person to break through the mansion’s security?
And not with some fancy equipment or special skills, but just by bringing a ladder from the storeroom.
But maybe because she had experienced exploiting those security flaws herself, she knew the situation best?
“But still…”
Even if the guards walked the hallways on schedule, they were still outsiders.
They were paid to be here.
There wouldn’t be any major issues since I had hired one of the best companies in the business, but seeing unfamiliar faces in the middle of the night would still feel incredibly lonely.
‘You’re surprisingly considerate for someone who thinks Yang Hye-in deserves to be punished.’
Sara’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
I still thought Yang Hye-in’s past needed to be addressed properly.
But even so…
It was a bit personal, but Yang Hye-in had come running to save me.
Even if Choi Na-kyung hadn’t intended to kill me, she had been covering my mouth and making it impossible to breathe.
I could have died by accident.
And if I had died, Sara would have too.
We were sharing the same body, after all.
Even though I had died and come back once, there was no guarantee that it would happen again.
‘I’ll give you credit for caring about your life.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Sara’s words.
“If we call her, will she be staying with us?”
So-hee asked.
Uh…
Right.
That’s a separate issue.
No matter how you look at it, having her sleep here would be a bit much.
This room might be large, but there wasn’t anywhere else to sleep.
If Yang Hye-in came, she would probably have to sleep on the floor.
And this room didn’t have an ordinary household floor.
It had hard marble floors, so it would still be incredibly uncomfortable even if she used the sleeping bag So-hee had brought.
…Wouldn’t that be a bigger inconvenience?
No, more like a form of absurdity?
“…”
Still, something about it didn’t sit right with me.
“If it bothers you that much, just do whatever feels right.”
Seeing me lost in thought, Ha-neul smiled and said that.
“Yeah, she’s right. This is your house, after all.”
Soo-ah also smiled in agreement.
My house, huh.
Could this be called Sara’s house?
‘…’
Seeing that Sara didn’t say anything, it seemed she found it hard to agree unconditionally.
…But.
Until recently, this place had only felt like a prison to me.
But now, it felt a little different.
This room, which had once felt completely empty, now had three other people besides me and Sara.
It was filled with their belongings, brimming with signs of life.
“Let’s think about it while we eat. It’s not like sitting here worrying is going to solve anything.”
So-hee, who had already spread out snacks on the table, said that.
Could eating help me figure this out?
‘…Maybe?’
I knew it was just an excuse to delay the decision, but I got up anyway.
After all, I knew very well how awkward it felt to not eat while everyone else was.
At least now, it felt like I could eat more than before.
That was a relief.
Thanks to that, I had even gained a bit of weight.
‘…You’re the one who gained it, not me.’
Hearing Sara grumble, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.