Sara smiled too often.
Ah, of course, that didn’t mean Sara smiled at just anyone.
Sara didn’t smile unless she thought it was necessary.
She rarely smiled at people she wasn’t close to, and she didn’t just flash smiles at anyone either.
But still, Ha-neul thought Sara smiled too often.
Even though Yoo Ha-neul knew Sara didn’t smile at just anyone, and that the smiles she showed to others weren’t particularly sincere.
It was easy to recognize Sara’s fabricated sneers or forced smiles meant to mock.
Naturally, Ha-neul didn’t really care about those smiles.
However, it was different when Ye Sara smiled ‘sincerely’.
Whether Sara realized it or not, the way she narrowed her eyes when she smiled was a smile that could even captivate a fox known for charming others.
To those who truly helped or liked her, or those in similar situations as herself, Sara easily showed such smiles.
At first, Ha-neul thought that smile was meant only for her, but when she realized it was just an ordinary smile that Sara showed to other people as well—
Well, it wasn’t particularly shocking.
She had always known that’s how Sara was.
The smile Sara gave Ha-neul every morning didn’t seem like one she made consciously.
But still.
Still, Ha-neul couldn’t help but feel that Sara shouldn’t be smiling like that at ‘everyone’.
It wasn’t that she wanted that smile reserved only for herself—
But still, it was only natural to feel a bit jealous when Sara smiled at someone else with that expression.
In that moment, it was like the person receiving Sara’s smile had become more favored in Sara’s heart than Ha-neul was.
…Actually, it wasn’t just the smile.
Certainly, Sara was someone who anyone would call ‘attractive.’
Even putting aside her personality, just her looks alone were enough to charm others.
If Sara weren’t so naive and innocent, she could easily stir up trouble in the school by seducing boys—or even some girls.
And if you considered the wealth behind her… they should all be thankful that Sara wasn’t a bad person.
But because she was so attractive—
All of her ‘sincere’ emotions amplified that charm too easily.
When she pouted her lips, or gaped open her mouth as if flustered, or when she glared intensely at someone…
Although sometimes the glares could be a bit scary depending on their intensity, once you got to know the surprisingly clumsy Sara, you’d realize most of the time it was just a misunderstanding.
Just like right now—
“Heh.”
Ha-neul poked Sara’s side, who was sitting next to her.
As always, Sara let out a strange sound, one that didn’t seem fitting for her cool exterior.
“Why, what’s wrong…?”
During lunch, Sara had probably unknowingly seduced the disciplinary officer.
No, could she have done it on purpose?
Ha-neul didn’t want to think Sara was that malicious, but honestly, she wasn’t entirely sure.
Even if it wasn’t seduction, the villainous way Sara provoked the officer was surely calculated.
Was she clever or not?
Maybe it was because she had spent her life trapped in a cage, but Sara hadn’t properly learned how to navigate human relationships.
Thanks to that, Ha-neul had benefitted in her own way.
But strangely enough, Sara’s mind worked quite well in odd ways.
Like how she effortlessly toyed with everyone by taking advantage of her situation, or how she found ways to use the image the media had spread about her to her advantage.
Or how she easily found ‘people who would help her’.
Even when everyone else was completely ignoring her.
…In that sense, Ha-neul might be just one of ‘those people’ to Sara.
…And when that thought crossed her mind, it gave her chills, enough to wake up drenched in cold sweat in the middle of the night.
Yes, she knew.
That’s how friendships are.
One person might think they’re a best friend like no other, while the other simply sees them as one of many friends or acquaintances.
Usually, both sides remain unaware of the misunderstanding and get along well enough, but once the difference in their thoughts is revealed, their relationship becomes irreparably damaged.
One side feels a heavy burden from being liked too much.
The other feels deeply betrayed by the disparity in affection.
…Ha-neul didn’t want her relationship with Sara to end up like that.
That’s why she kept steady control over her feelings until now.
But—
“Heh.”
Ha-neul poked Sara’s side again, and Sara let out that strange but cute sound once more.
Someone nearby giggled.
It made Ha-neul a little annoyed.
“Hey, Ha-neul. Did I do something wrong?”
“…”
After seeing that will, Ha-neul spent the entire weekend agonizing over how to treat Sara.
She couldn’t continue exploiting Sara’s lack of common sense to gain emotional advantage like she had done before.
A rejection rooted in conscience.
The belief that it was wrong to take advantage of someone’s misfortune for her own gain.
…As if she hadn’t turned a blind eye to it all this time.
A voice inside her whispered.
Even without that will, it could have been easily inferred.
Sara was a child who had lived locked up in a cage without a single friend.
Even if she hadn’t revealed her desire to die, it was clear that she had lived a terribly unhappy life.
But until Yang Hye-in showed her the will Sara had written herself, Yoo Ha-neul had been ignoring that fact.
It was only after facing undeniable proof that Ha-neul’s conscience finally kicked in.
So, really, Sara hadn’t done anything wrong.
“…No.”
Even now, her petty sulking was just for her own feelings.
“No, it’s just, I like you.”
Ha-neul tried saying it casually.
She wondered if voicing her feelings would make them clearer.
Sara tilted her head slightly.
Her pretty eyebrows furrowed a bit.
“…Really?”
A puzzled expression.
A puzzled voice.
Ironically enough, that attitude mirrored the confusion inside Ha-neul’s heart.
“But you know,”
Ha-neul leaned forward suddenly as she spoke.
“Don’t you think it’s better to at least have your textbook open?”
Because, after all, it was class time.
Sara and Ha-neul had caused enough disturbances in class that the teachers seemed to have finally decided to ignore them.
Of course, if Ha-neul skipped school, it would be marked as an absence.
But at least they weren’t stopping her from chatting with Sara during class.
Or rather, it seemed more accurate to say they were trying their best to pretend not to notice.
Judging by the occasional side glances, they hadn’t completely succeeded in ignoring them though.
What did people think of their relationship?
From their attitudes, it was clear that they thought there was something suspicious between them.
Not only Ha-neul, but even Lee Soo-ah was the same, and probably Shin So-hee too, since the soccer team likely thought the three of them were entangled in some messy relationship.
Maybe that’s why people couldn’t tear their eyes away.
Sitting with their desks pressed together didn’t help matters either.
“Still, we’re students, right? We should at least study.”
Sara spent most of her classes dozing off.
Maybe she had never learned to focus, having been treated that way since childhood.
Though Sara didn’t seem to care much, Ha-neul, as her friend, felt a bit concerned.
It was likely just Ha-neul projecting her own belief that if you didn’t study hard, you couldn’t stay in school.
Sara probably didn’t understand that feeling.
“…”
Sara stared at Ha-neul for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and opening her textbook haphazardly.
It was so clean, without a single word written inside.
…Good.
Seeing that, a small spark lit up in Ha-neul’s heart.
Did you know?
One way to attract attention was to mess around during class, but another way was to focus intensely on studying.
Wouldn’t getting unexpected good grades attract attention in its own way?
And the school definitely wouldn’t be able to ignore that.
Of course, that kind of thing didn’t happen overnight.
Sara, who had likely spent middle school like this, wouldn’t be able to suddenly come out on top in her first semester exams just by starting to study.
But if she gave herself enough time, wouldn’t it be possible?
“Heh.”
Ha-neul poked Sara in the side again as she started to nod off, causing more stifled giggles to come from the back of the room, but Ha-neul ignored them.
“Let’s study, study.”
In the end, Sara couldn’t resist Ha-neul’s persistence and picked up her pen.
*
As usual, after class ended, they went to the gym for physical training.
Whether it was fortunate or not, Shin So-hee didn’t show up.
Even as they climbed over the fence, there was no sign of her.
“Is something wrong…?”
Even though Ha-neul saw her as a competitor, a friend was still a friend.
It was natural to worry when someone who was always around wasn’t where she should be.
“Oh, right. That must be it.”
But what Sara said next was completely different from what Ha-neul had expected.
As if she had already known Shin So-hee wouldn’t be here today, Sara nodded as though in understanding.
“Oh, so…”
Noticing the puzzled expressions on Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah’s faces, Sara hesitated for a moment.
It was as if she wasn’t sure how to explain.
Sara’s expression didn’t seem serious, so it didn’t seem like anything bad had happened, but the silence was enough to make Ha-neul feel uneasy.
Did this mean Sara knew because she met Shin So-hee over the weekend?
Ha-neul didn’t allow herself to naively think that it was just a casual meet-up between friends.
Shin So-hee had already boldly expressed several times that she liked Sara.
There was no way she’d meet with Sara without some sort of intention.
“…You’ll understand if you come with me.”
After much hesitation, Sara finally gave a vague answer.
Hearing that, Ha-neul’s unease only deepened.