Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
The party continued.
At one point, everyone in the audience turned their attention to me, the main character of the party, to listen to what I had to say.
It was incredibly embarrassing.
Even though the conversation was a series of insignificant topics, or maybe because of that, I became even more exhausted.
After all, I had to deal with a lot of people.
Most of them didn’t leave a strong impression.
I remember a few, but aside from those whom I thought I should definitely remember, very few people remained in my mind.
Everything felt unnecessary.
I wanted a smaller world.
Maybe I was just so used to living in a narrow world for too long, or maybe that was just my nature.
But whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.
I had no intention of deliberately giving up what I had in my hands, but I also didn’t want to hold so much that it spilled out of my grasp.
Eventually, after standing for about an hour, completely drained, I slipped into a small room near the lobby where the party was taking place.
Most of the people at the party were already chatting with friends, so the only ones who would come looking for me were probably Ha-neul, Soo-ah, or So-hee.
Or maybe even Yang Hye-in.
Well, I didn’t mind if any of them came.
I didn’t know what this room was originally for, but there was nothing in it.
It could be used for anything if something were placed inside.
Although it lacked a bathroom or shower, making it a bit inconvenient to use as a living space.
Despite being empty, the room had a few chairs.
Leaning against one of them, I let out a small sigh.
I hadn’t realized while standing, but my legs were incredibly sore.
Even though I had built up my stamina, it still seemed far from enough.
As I massaged my slightly swollen legs within reach, the door quietly opened.
“Sara.”
It was Ha-neul who entered.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing me massaging my legs, Ha-neul asked in a slightly worried tone.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit tired, so I’m taking a break.”
I responded gently.
There was no need to be sharp with her.
With her hair down and wearing a red dress, Ha-neul didn’t look like a child from a humble household.
If I were meeting Ha-neul for the first time today and someone introduced her as the granddaughter of a chairman of some big group, I’d probably believe it without question.
That’s how much I felt that distinguishing between rich and poor was meaningless.
Maybe Ha-neul appeared that way because she was someone who always tried to blend into her surroundings no matter where she went.
Ha-neul carefully closed the door again and walked over to sit beside me.
“……”
“……”
There was a moment of silence.
Since we talked almost every day, surprisingly, there wasn’t much to talk about.
We even experienced almost the same things since we were always together.
But that didn’t make the silence uncomfortable.
It was a silence born of shared understanding, not because we had nothing to say.
“Hey, Sara.”
“Hmm?”
“Happy birthday.”
Ha-neul suddenly said that, and I stopped massaging my legs.
I straightened up slowly and looked at her.
Ha-neul was looking at me.
Her face was slightly flushed, and she was fidgeting with her hands.
She seemed a little embarrassed by the situation.
…Ha-neul probably wanted to say this to ‘them,’ not me.
In that sense, I felt a little sorry.
I had subtly taken their place and acted as if I were them.
But, even so, I didn’t want to give it up.
“Thank you.”
I smiled gently at Ha-neul.
Fortunately, they had told me the date of their birthday.
Thanks to that, I was able to say thank you without feeling awkward.
“I’ve prepared a birthday present in your room, so I’ll give it to you when the party’s over.”
It seemed she had prepared a gift in the meantime as well.
It was quite impressive in a way.
The actual gift didn’t matter much…
That was something I shared with them.
I had no complaints about the gifts my friends prepared for me.
No matter what I received, I would be happy.
It was the first real gift I’d ever received in my life.
Although I already knew all too well what the gift was, since they had ordered it online, I decided not to say anything.
I wanted to pretend I didn’t know and accept it.
“Then… I’ll have to keep up with the party.”
I smiled as I said that and stood up.
After sitting for a while, I felt much better.
When would the party end?
No matter how much longer, after another hour or so, it should start winding down.
If I gave my uncle a hint, he’d figure something out, right?
As I stood up, Ha-neul also rose to her feet.
As we were walking side by side to leave the room—
Ha-neul grabbed my right wrist.
Taken by surprise, I couldn’t resist, and my body spun half a turn as I was pulled by her grip.
Then, I met Ha-neul’s gaze directly.
“And… ‘Sara.’”
“Huh, what…?”
“I want to congratulate Sara too.”
Ha-neul’s smile was like a blazing fire.
“Wait, I am Sara.”
“No, you’re ‘Sara,’ right?”
Ha-neul emphasized my name with a particular tone.
…How?
I hadn’t said anything.
“So, why don’t you call Sara out? Hmm? I have a gift I want to give directly to her.”
“…What if I don’t want to?”
Since I had been caught, there was no longer any reason to hide.
As I glared at her with a burning gaze, Ha-neul pushed my body backward.
Naturally, I couldn’t match her strength, so I was helplessly pushed until my back was pressed against the wall.
Bang!
“Ugh…”
Ha-neul’s left hand slammed into the wall next to my left cheek.
Her face came so close that I could feel the heat emanating from it.
“Wha-what…”
“If you don’t call her out, I’ll do it myself.”
“……”
Ha-neul’s body drew closer to mine.
Since the dress wasn’t made of thick fabric, I could clearly feel the line of her body as it pressed against mine.
It felt like we could both sense each other’s heartbeat.
“Go ahead, try it if you can.”
I forced a smug smile and said.
“You’re still saving your first kiss, aren’t you? Are you really going to waste it on me and not on him?”
“’Your’ first kiss, you said?”
Oops.
“So… you’re saying you’ve kissed before? With whom?”
“……”
“With Sara? How?”
“……”
Ha-neul’s eyes blazed even brighter.
They had been burning since earlier, but now it felt like something physical might emerge from them.
“It doesn’t matter how, does it? I don’t care. It wasn’t even my first kiss anyway.”
I tried my best to bluff, but—
“I don’t care either.”
“Huh?”
Ha-neul shattered my bluff with just one sentence.
“After all, this body is Sara’s body too.”
“Huh?”
“So, if I just press my lips and wait until Sara shows up, that would still count as the first kiss, wouldn’t it?”
If it’s a long enough kiss, could it count as the first kiss?
“That’s nonsense!”
But Ha-neul’s face was already inches from mine.
“No, wait, Ha-neul, snap out of it!”
I turned my face away, but Ha-neul’s hand, which had been against the wall, grabbed my chin and turned it back toward her.
One hand still held my wrist, and I tried to resist with the other, but I was no match for her strength.
My mind was spinning.
It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.
No matter how freely we could switch bodies—
It seemed external factors could still cause the switch.
In the end, I closed my eyes tightly and gave up.
Even with my vision blocked, I could vividly feel who was in front of me.
Our bodies were pressed together,
our noses brushed against each other,
and something soft and warm touched my lips.
The last thing I felt was a sweet, glossy scent.
*
…Huh?
Wait a minute.
No, no, no.
Hold on.
I had been resting in my consciousness just a moment ago.
Suddenly, as if waking from a dream, I regained awareness, and when I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry.
Something was too close for me to focus properly.
Like turning on switches in a dark building, my senses returned one by one.
The first thing I noticed was a scent.
It smelled like flowers.
Perhaps, it was the scent of the person currently pressed against me.
The next thing I became aware of was the hard wall behind my back and the soft body pressed against the front of me.
And the warm, soft sensation on my lips…
Maybe the other person’s lips.
“……”
Slowly, the other person pulled back.
My focus returned, and though I was still momentarily confused, my brain quickly identified the person in front of me—Ha-neul, with her hair down.
And then, it made one more conclusion.
…Just a moment ago, Ha-neul and I had our lips pressed together.
In other words…
We kissed.
“…Eh?”
And the conclusion was so absurd that a strange noise escaped my lips.
“Happy birthday.”
Ha-neul smiled brightly as she wished me a happy birthday.