“……What?”
I unconsciously asked back like that.
Of course, Ha-neul wasn’t someone I needed to use honorifics with.
I wasn’t some polite noblewoman from a medieval romance fantasy, just a teenager in a modern setting dating sim.
High school students only used formal speech when they weren’t close to each other, like with senior-junior relationships.
Even then, if they got closer, they would speak more casually.
……The reason I kept getting distracted was probably because a part of my mind was trying to escape the current situation.
Right now, on this rooftop, it was just Ha-neul and me.
So-hee was probably still squatting by the entrance of the rooftop, constantly grumbling about the situation.
I felt a little sorry for So-hee, but the truth was, I felt relieved to have left her behind.
……So, what exactly was going on now?
*
In the middle of first period, Ha-neul suddenly stood up and came over to tap me on the shoulder.
“……Why?”
When I asked back like that, Ha-neul said,
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“……Is it something we can’t talk about here?”
When I asked that, a bit flustered because Ha-neul had stood up first and approached me, Ha-neul didn’t look around or think about it.
She just nodded right away.
“Yeah, it’s something we need to talk about one-on-one.”
“Oh…….”
I glanced towards the teacher.
The teacher, who had been watching us with curiosity, quickly looked away when our eyes met.
It has been like this ever since So-hee’s bombshell announcement yesterday.
I didn’t know how many teachers Yang Hye-in had bribed, but considering the amount of money, it clearly wasn’t just one or two.
Maybe that young teacher was part of it too.
They couldn’t completely ignore us.
That’s how things had become.
But the way the teachers treated me hadn’t changed much.
I still left the classroom whenever I felt like it, and no one stopped me.
Even if I skipped school, I would probably still be marked present.
Yeah, their attitude hadn’t changed.
But their emotions had.
When they looked at me, or at my ‘close ones’, the teachers always had a strange, fearful look in their eyes.
I could guess why.
It must have been terrifying for them to realize they could no longer control me.
And they couldn’t touch So-hee either, after what happened during her transfer process to this school.
In a way, it was a misunderstanding on the teachers’ part.
They probably thought, “If her personal maid can easily spend billions, how much more could the girl who’s openly defying us spend?”
Until high school, I had been a docile sheep who never got angry, but after entering high school, I had clearly changed.
Though few, a faction around me was forming at school.
There were also kids who couldn’t dismiss me lightly, and the teachers had begun to realize they couldn’t simply ignore me either.
All this had happened in just two weeks after the entrance ceremony.
Even now, the teachers must be racking their brains.
Maybe the Chairwoman, who was far more powerful than me, had more influence.
But I was the one they saw every day.
They were probably debating which side to take.
Of course, I had no intention of accepting any of these teachers.
In any case, the teacher kept glancing at us while Ha-neul and I talked.
……Maybe they were lumping Ha-neul together with me in their thoughts too.
“But if we leave the classroom…”
Still, I couldn’t be certain.
The teachers’ attitudes and emotions were clear, but they hadn’t made any direct proposals to me.
What if leaving the classroom affected Ha-neul’s grades?
As if she had anticipated my concern, Ha-neul looked at the teacher and loudly called out.
“Teacher.”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
The teacher, startled at being addressed, dropped the chalk he was holding.
The chalk, which had barely been used, shattered as soon as it hit the floor.
“Can I go to the bathroom for a moment?”
The teacher rolled his eyes for a few seconds and then said,
“S-sure. Just don’t take too long….”
His answer trailed off uncertainly.
“…….”
The whole situation was so brazen that I looked up at Ha-neul with my mouth hanging open.
“Can we talk now?”
Ha-neul asked me.
“……Yeah.”
As soon as I stood up, So-hee also stood up confidently, following me.
In truth, it felt odd to call her my desk mate, since her seat was actually the empty space between two desks.
That’s right.
She was brought into this school through open bribery, so So-hee was someone no one could mess with.
……Considering how my maid was treated, it was natural that no one dared to disrespect me.
The result was the same—being ignored—but now fear was part of the equation.
Not fear of the Chairwoman, but fear of me.
I knew that wasn’t necessarily a positive change.
But it wasn’t entirely bad either.
If I could use that fear well, Ye Sara wouldn’t just remain an icon of misfortune.
“Let’s go.”
At my words, Ha-neul and So-hee started moving.
There was no one left in the classroom who could stop us.
Well, not that anyone had ever tried.
*
“So-hee.”
“Yeah?”
As we reached the rooftop door, Ha-neul spoke.
“We have something to talk about just between the two of us. Can you wait here for a bit?”
At those words, So-hee frowned slightly and tilted her head.
“…….”
She stared at Ha-neul for a moment without saying anything, her face completely expressionless.
But for some reason, I thought So-hee would refuse.
However, she acted contrary to my expectations.
“Is it about what I think it is?”
What I think it is?
“……No. It’s not that.”
Huh?
It seemed like the two of them knew something I didn’t.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Nothing, really.”
When I asked, So-hee just shrugged her shoulders and said,
“Well, fine. It seems personal. Even if I’m a maid, I shouldn’t meddle in my master’s private matters. That’s what my senior said.”
Even while saying that, So-hee had a strange, unreadable expression, as if she didn’t believe the words she was quoting.
Leaning quietly against the rooftop door, she waved her hand dismissively at Ha-neul.
“Thanks.”
Ha-neul slightly bowed her head in thanks.
And with that, we entered the rooftop—just the two of us.
—Leading to the current situation.
What Ha-neul was showing me was the letter Ye Sara had written in the past.
“…….”
I stared at it with my mouth hanging open, then asked Ha-neul,
“……Did you search through my room?”
Come to think of it, Ha-neul, So-hee, and Soo-ah had all been in my room quite a few times.
They had always been there together when I wasn’t, like when I was in the shower.
Now that I think about it, Ha-neul had casually opened my closet the first time she came over to sleep.
“You know where this was found, don’t you?”
“…….”
Since Ha-neul knew where it was found, I couldn’t deny it.
“Yang Hye-in gave it to me. I brought it here for you. Here.”
Ha-neul gestured for me to take it.
With trembling hands, I took the letter and carefully folded it along the creases.
“……She did?”
I carefully put the letter into my uniform pocket and asked again.
“Yeah. It seems like she searched your room before the Chairwoman came over.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. It looks like the Chairwoman doesn’t know.”
Of course, if she knew, she wouldn’t have left me alone.
She might’ve even kidnapped me to keep me completely out of action.
“……So,”
I asked Ha-neul, putting up the highest guard I had ever shown her.
As I narrowed my eyes and stared at her, she flinched a bit, looking hurt.
I felt a slight pang in my chest at that, but there was something I needed to confirm.
“Why did you come all the way here just to give me this letter? You didn’t call me here because you wanted to hear something from me, did you?”
“…….”
At my question, Ha-neul stared at the ground for a moment, hesitating.
Then, lifting her head, she asked me with a serious expression.
“That letter—did you really write it?”
“……What?”
No.
‘I’ didn’t write it.
But right now, I was ‘Sara’.
So…
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Even after my answer, Ha-neul asked again.
“……Why? Is there a problem?”
There were many problems.
I wasn’t the original owner of this body, and the original owner might already be dead.
……There was also the possibility that the real Sara might never come back.
I knew that the body retained some memories, but to confirm that, I might have to meet Choi Na-kyung, the only person with a significant connection to Ye Sara, several times.
But none of these were things I could talk about right now.
So, I asked back, with a slight edge to my words.
“…….”
Ha-neul didn’t ask any more questions.
She just took a few steps closer to me.
What did Ha-neul want to say to me?
Judging by her questions, was she already certain in her heart that I wasn’t the real Ye Sara?
……Yoo Ha-neul was originally the protagonist of the game.
And in the game, she had a sixth sense that helped her choose the right options.
Even if it was a game convenience feature, like how I could see the light coming from Ha-neul’s face, she might be using that sense as a real ability.
Yeah, she probably had a lot she wanted to ask.
But Ha-neul didn’t ask me anything more.
She just stepped closer to me and hugged me.
“It’s okay.”
And then she whispered to me.
“Even if you don’t remember anything yet, it’s okay. Whether you regain your memories or not, just do whatever you want.”
And as she hugged me tighter,
“I’ll stay by your side until then.”
She whispered in an even softer voice.