Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
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The party itself didn’t go in a strange direction as I had feared.
By “strange direction,” I meant something that would stray from the original purpose of my birthday party—like people suddenly coming up to talk about business or money.
Of course, if it’s something unpleasant for me, it would definitely fall under the category of “straying from the purpose.”
“You’ve grown so much.”
This was the phrase I heard most often.
“You’ve grown so much.”
I guess it means there were many people who hadn’t seen me in a long time.
And maybe, people who hadn’t shown much interest in me until now.
“Hello.”
Even though I couldn’t remember their faces or names, I smiled and greeted them.
Then I waited until either someone next to them or they themselves introduced themselves to me.
“When I last saw you, you were only three—”
“I used to chat with your mother about all sorts of things—”
“Your father was—”
As expected, none of the conversations people had with me were actually about me.
They were about my father, or my late mother.
People who remained only faint memories in my mind.
Naturally, the conversations didn’t last long.
These were people who usually made a living talking for a living, so the exchanges lasted a bit longer than usual, but that was about it.
I always kept a smiling face when dealing with these people, but I never asked any personal questions about them.
And I didn’t exactly give proper answers, either.
When asked about my favorite food, I just said I liked everything.
When asked about my favorite celebrity, I simply replied that I didn’t know since I didn’t watch TV.
When asked if I had a boyfriend at school, I shyly twisted my body and said I didn’t have one yet.
It was like a strange kind of trick, even to me.
To the listener, it would seem like I was answering properly, and since I kept smiling, it was hard to find any fault in my responses.
Naturally, the conversation would end superficially, and after exchanging a few more words, they’d eventually move on.
It wasn’t exactly a miraculous trick.
It was just something I had to do.
I suppose it was a mix of the situation and my own thoughts that created this kind of “luck.”
As I expected, many people came to the party.
Not only my immediate family members but also their families, as well as people who held important roles in the group.
But none of them had anything to gain here.
Because the kids who were invited here were almost all from ordinary families.
The group of people in red clothes, whom I subtly showed as “my people,” naturally mingled among themselves, chatting.
It was only natural.
The only people they could talk to freely here were each other.
Even if they met someone they didn’t see often at school, talking to anyone outside of the group of red-clad people would be extremely difficult.
After all, they weren’t people who the other partygoers could even hold a conversation with.
If I had brought along the child of a conglomerate still attending Hwayoung High School, there might have been more to talk about, but… there wasn’t much to say between kids from ordinary families who only studied hard and the corporate executives.
There wasn’t even a pretense of familiarity to make small talk.
So, in a place like this, the kids who would usually be ignored or even ostracized for some reason—
Here, it was different.
There was me, wearing a red dress just like them.
Criticizing them was like criticizing the person who invited them—me.
Ignoring them was like ignoring the fact that I had invited them.
Naturally, people became cautious in how they treated them.
The wave of red dresses created a kind of wall in the party hall, a boundary separating the wealthy from the less wealthy.
“Sara.”
I turned at the sound of someone calling my name.
It was my “uncle.”
Though, technically, he was someone I couldn’t exactly call “uncle.”
He was my father’s cousin.
He must have already inherited a large fortune long ago.
The Eugene Group grew rapidly after that.
Before that, it was already one of the largest groups in South Korea, but Eugene Electronics hadn’t been around for that long.
“Yes, Uncle.”
So, for now, I called him “Uncle,” as he claimed I should.
“Are you enjoying the party?”
If I were to answer purely based on my feelings, I wasn’t enjoying it at all.
I would have preferred sitting down with my friends, sharing cake and drinking tea.
I didn’t want to gather with strangers, people I had never met before, to chat.
But, of course, I couldn’t say that to the person who organized the party.
“Yes, I’m having a wonderful time.”
“Really?”
My “uncle” smiled softly.
“You have a lot of friends. I’m relieved to see that Sara is doing well at school.”
Of course, that was completely wrong.
I was never doing well at school.
It only seemed like I was, thanks to teachers who had been bribed by Choi Na-kyung.
But I wasn’t stupid enough to say that here.
I had no intention of betraying the person who worked so hard for me.
“Yes, they’re all my friends.”
“Could you introduce a few of them to me?”
Was he asking this out of pure goodwill, or was he testing me?
I believed it was the latter.
No matter how rich I was, the people around me were no less wealthy.
And like me, they had grown up wealthy from a young age.
The difference was that I hadn’t grown up accustomed to spending money, while they had enjoyed all those privileges since childhood.
If someone asked, “What can you do with money?” they would certainly answer better than I could.
“Yes, of course.”
But even so, he wasn’t completely without thought.
While I stayed up all night preparing outfits, I didn’t spend the entire time on clothes.
During the time the tailors were cutting and stitching the fabric, I spent some time listening to the stories of those who were invited in my name.
Of course, I couldn’t remember everyone’s story.
But still, there were a few that stood out.
I considered introducing one of my close friends like Ha-neul, So-hee, or Soo-ah, but I quickly gave up.
My “uncle” had already seen me spending time with them.
If I were going to show I had “real friends,” it would be better to introduce someone completely new.
As I scanned the room, I quickly spotted one of them.
“Over here.”
“Alright.”
As I walked slowly, my “uncle” followed behind me.
The soft murmurs of the red-clad group quieted as they heard my footsteps approach.
Eyes around me turned to me, but there was only one person I was focused on.
“A-reum.”
“Huh? Huh?”
A-reum, who had been eating a cupcake just moments before, hurriedly turned around at the sound of my voice.
She was startled to see my face, and then confused when she saw the man following behind me—
“Oh no!”
Realizing she might have cream on her face, she quickly wiped her mouth with her hand.
Honestly, it wasn’t something people in high society would do.
But because of that, I was relieved.
After all, I didn’t know much about high society either.
“Uncle, this is my friend, A-reum. She’s on the student council and studies hard enough to receive a scholarship.”
“Ah, yes! Hello! I’m Son A-reum!”
Suddenly introduced, Son A-reum greeted my uncle loudly, almost in a panic.
Her voice was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone who hadn’t already been looking.
There was a moment of silence.
“Ah, ah…”
Son A-reum let out a small, pained sound and then,
“I-I’m sorry…”
She apologized in a weak voice.
A single strand of her hair stuck out like an antenna, and though it was just my imagination, it seemed to droop as well.
After a moment of silence, someone nearby let out a quiet snicker.
It was probably one of the kids from our school.
Before long, the surrounding area was filled with laughter.
It wasn’t mocking laughter.
It was genuine, pleasant laughter.
Not the kind of forced, polite laughter you often heard in these circles, but real laughter.
“Ugh…”
Son A-reum buried her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed.
The girl standing next to her patted her shoulder sympathetically.
A few of the other kids came over and cheerfully greeted me.
And my “uncle” watched it all unfold.
“…They’re good friends.”
In the end, that was the only evaluation he could give.
“Aren’t they?”
…Even though most of them were people I’d met for the first time yesterday.