Choi Na-kyung slowly opened her previously closed eyes.
It had been a long recollection.
And it had been a long time.
The experience of seeing the one you secretly loved fall in love with someone else is heart-wrenching.
In fact, there were many reasons why she and Choi Na-kyung could not be together.
She probably never thought she could love another woman.
Her family was too far above for Choi Na-kyung to even approach, and that family wanted their daughter to marry into a family they desired.
That could have been one of the reasons.
And by chance, in an arranged meeting she didn’t even want, she ended up falling for her suitor.
It was the same for the other person too.
Even though it was a meeting neither of them wanted, they loved each other.
No, all of those are just excuses.
The reason Choi Na-kyung couldn’t become the most important person to her was simply that she didn’t have the courage to take one more step.
She didn’t speak to her when they first met.
She waited for her to approach her first.
She never had the courage to say she loved her first.
She was too scared of growing distant from her, so instead of stepping closer, she just watched from a few steps away.
Maybe she could have taken her hand and run far away.
Maybe she could have stayed close to her side and protected her from all the hardships.
If she couldn’t even do that, she could have at least started a conversation first.
But in the end, Choi Na-kyung did none of those things.
That’s why even the short time she had left with her had to pass so helplessly.
She had vowed that this time it would be different.
Calling her “Chairwoman” might have been a sign that Sara had already started drifting away from her.
“Ha.”
It was laughable that she had once felt superior while reminiscing about the past over a single word.
She had woven such a tight safety net around Sara.
She had built conditions no one could easily approach, and created reasons no one could challenge.
Surely, it should have been her who could break through all those barriers—
“…”
Choi Na-kyung turned her gaze to the side.
Though her mouth was still smiling, her slightly squinted eyes certainly weren’t.
Normally large and gentle-looking, those eyes became sharp as knives when glaring at someone.
Years ago, people had speculated about her relationship with the former chairman.
Some even wondered if Sara was really Choi Na-kyung’s daughter, judging by Choi Na-kyung’s sharp eyes and Sara’s upturned ones.
But that was impossible.
Choi Na-kyung had never given birth to a child.
Even after their marriage, their relationship was merely that of a father and mother.
The chairman needed someone to act as Sara’s mother, and Choi Na-kyung just wanted to be close to the trace of the one woman she had loved all her life.
The two had never shared a bed.
Both the chairman and Choi Na-kyung only had one person they loved.
“I would like you to explain what happened in detail.”
Choi Na-kyung spoke in a gentle voice.
They were sitting in the backseat of a luxury sedan.
The driver hadn’t entered the car yet.
Whenever she needed to discuss something important, only she and the person she was speaking to would be in the car.
Since it was an expensive car, speaking softly meant there was no way anyone outside could hear.
At Choi Na-kyung’s words, Yang Hye-in flinched, hesitating before finally opening her mouth.
“I… I think the young lady wanted it.”
“You think?”
“…Yes.”
Yang Hye-in swallowed nervously.
The Choi Na-kyung sitting next to her now was far more terrifying than the one she had seen when she first started working at the mansion.
If she decided to do something to her, there was nothing Yang Hye-in could do to stop it.
How much money would it take for one person to kill another?
Or to dispose of a body?
How much to close a police investigation early, leaving the case unsolved?
Yang Hye-in couldn’t begin to imagine, but no matter how much it might cost, the chairwoman of the Eugene Group could surely make it happen.
“It was your job to make sure she didn’t think that way.”
“…”
Yang Hye-in had no response.
“…”
For a while, Choi Na-kyung simply stared at Yang Hye-in.
The air in the car had clearly frozen.
Yang Hye-in felt as though it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
“Alright.”
Finally, Choi Na-kyung spoke.
“You are dismissed as of this moment. Leave your uniform behind, pack your things, and leave the mansion. You are no longer permitted to speak to Sara. Eugene Group will ensure you receive your severance pay properly. Thank you for your service.”
And as if she had lost interest, she turned her gaze to the window.
“…Understood.”
Yang Hye-in barely held back a long sigh and opened the car door.
“Oh, and.”
At Choi Na-kyung’s sudden voice, Yang Hye-in froze halfway out of the car.
“As a matter of course, you understand that everything that happened within the grounds of this mansion is confidential, don’t you? Do you need more money?”
Stiffly, she turned to look at Choi Na-kyung.
She was still gazing out the window.
But for some reason, Yang Hye-in felt as though she was staring directly at her.
“…No, I’m just grateful for having been employed up to this point.”
“…”
Choi Na-kyung gave no response.
Yang Hye-in stepped out of the car.
The chauffeur standing nearby closed the door.
He also promptly climbed into the driver’s seat.
Without a word, the car departed.
Yang Hye-in stood there for a moment, as though nailed to the spot.
It was all over now.
After three years in this mansion, there was no longer a place for her here.
“…”
She watched the car disappear into the distance for a while, then finally turned around.
She clasped her hands and straightened her back.
Even though she had been fired, until she left the mansion, she was still Sara’s personal maid.
*
It wasn’t until Choi Na-kyung was out of sight that I could finally calm down.
When she passed by, I instinctively raised my head to look up at her.
No, perhaps it wasn’t me but “Ye Sara” who had looked up at her.
The emotion I felt in that moment was anxiety.
I should get up now.
If I don’t see her now, I won’t know how long it will be until she comes again.
Ye Sara wanted to move towards “Mother”.
But I couldn’t.
Ha-neul was sitting right next to me.
She was there, sitting beside me and watching me.
The things we longed for were completely different.
Ye Sara longed for Choi Na-kyung, the last remaining member of her family in the world, the only person she had known and loved for so many years.
But I knew I shouldn’t.
Ha-neul was right beside me.
I knew that if I followed Ye Sara’s thoughts, Ha-neul would be deeply hurt.
It wasn’t just Ha-neul.
Shin So-hee and Lee Soo-ah were also there.
They were among the few friends at school who didn’t ignore me.
Only after the door quietly closed could I finally take a deep breath.
“Sara!”
As my body began to collapse, Ha-neul caught me.
Perhaps because I was wearing an outfit that left my shoulders exposed, I could feel the warmth of her body directly on my skin.
“Sara!”
I heard a voice from the direction of the sofa where Shin So-hee and Lee Soo-ah had been.
Both of them ran over to me, quickly sitting down by my side and grabbing my hands, my shoulders.
“Ye Sara, hold on. Look at me.”
Shin So-hee, who was holding my shoulders, said.
I lifted my gaze and met her eyes.
The wildly shaking world before me gradually began to come into focus.
The whiteness that had filled my head slowly faded away, returning to its original color.
“What’s going on? What did that person do to you all this time…?”
“I, I…”
I opened my mouth.
But then shook my head.
“I don’t… really know.”
That’s right.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know anything about Ye Sara.
At first, I thought I just needed to get rid of the chairwoman.
I thought I could simply run away.
I thought I could make new connections and no longer be lonely.
But would Ye Sara really want that?
Would she really want to part ways with her one and only family—her “Mother”?
Yes, there was definitely a feeling of hatred.
But Ye Sara could never completely push away one of those emotions.
The feelings of hatred and love constantly clashed, and in the end, she chose to take both.
She chose to take her own life.
It wasn’t simply an act of running away.
It was a purely malicious act meant to hurt the other person.
…Somehow, I ended up becoming the intruder who interfered with that act.
Do I even have the right to keep stopping her?
Do I have the right to keep meddling in her life?
My heart didn’t answer.
It had been pounding wildly as my emotions clashed, but now it was beating calmly.
There was no way to know what it was thinking, whether Ye Sara was still inside this body.
“Leave this house.”
Ha-neul spoke while holding my hand.
“That person is not normal. You’d be better off running away far from here.”
It was as if she were offering to come with me.
“…”
I thought for a moment.
Slowly organizing my thoughts as they started to clear.
Should I run away?
Would that be the better choice?
“…No.”
The answer came quickly.
It had already been over two months since I entered this body, and in that time, Ye Sara’s personality had never once surfaced.
Maybe it was because she had truly died.
The pounding of my heart and the conflicting emotions I’d felt toward Choi Na-kyung just now might have been nothing more than a body reacting instinctively.
…But, that didn’t mean Ye Sara had completely disappeared from this body, or that she had passed from this world.
This body, after all, was not mine.
Even if the owner of this body had given it up.
I had made a promise.
As I read that will.
“From now on, I must not give up.”
“Sara…”
At my words, Ha-neul called out to me with a pained voice.
Yes, I must not give up.
If there is any chance that Ye Sara still remains within this body, then perhaps I can even have a conversation with her.
And the best way to know if Ye Sara still exists or not…
…is to meet with the only connection she ever had in her life—Choi Na-kyung.
“I absolutely can’t give up.”
I spoke as if making a vow to myself.