Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Choi Na-kyung opened her arms. To me, the sight felt sluggish, as if I were watching a slow-motion film. Or maybe she really was raising them that slowly.
Perhaps Ye Sa-ra's body was focusing on Choi Na-kyung even more intensely than before.
After her father died, Choi Na-kyung had been the only person in Ye Sa-ra's life to show her anything resembling real, human warmth. And Ye Sa-ra, having given up on everything else far too young, had clung solely to Choi Na-kyung.
In the process, emotions that had warped and twisted again and again now surged from deep inside her chest, churning up and spilling out.
I took one step closer to Choi Na-kyung.
What I felt was elation. The relief of finally meeting a beloved family member after a long, long wait.
And then came a boundless hatred. Disillusionment for the stepmother who had ruined her life.
I hadn't shown those feelings last time because I'd clung to Ye Sa-ra's body and refused to let go. I had instinctively sensed how dangerous those emotions were. I was afraid that if I left them unchecked, a disaster might follow.
No, perhaps I was simply terrified that I might be swept away by that current of emotion and lose myself entirely.
But—
But this time, there was nowhere to retreat.
This body was never mine in the first place. It belonged to a child who hadn't even fully bloomed yet. I have no intention of claiming a body like that as my own and living the rest of my life as if it were mine.
And, well. Wasn't I dead to begin with?
No one ever invited me into this world. I don't know how, but I'd been occupying this body without permission, completely regardless of Ye Sa-ra's will.
In a way, I was also the one most violently interfering with Ye Sa-ra's plan.
Using Ye Sa-ra's name, I had made friends, forged human relationships, and shattered the school's rules. Throughout all of it, I freely used what was not mine.
To be honest, I hadn't been thinking about Ye Sa-ra from the start. At first, all I wanted was to somehow avoid the doom that was coming for this body's owner.
If I hadn't found that will and changed my mind, I might still be thinking only about that.
...No matter what kind of life I live, a life lived in this body is, in the end, Ye Sa-ra's life.
If there's an owner, returning it is the right thing to do. At least, that's what I was taught from childhood.
A wraith who had already died, living out someone else's life; it was nothing but lingering attachment and obsession.
I looked back. The three people I was closest to in this world were watching me with worried faces.
I had asked the three of them some time ago not to interfere, no matter what happened.
If things stopped midway like last time, there was a high chance Ye Sa-ra's memories would never return.
...Well, I'm not worried.
Because I think the three of them would treat the real Ye Sa-ra well even if she came back, just as they always have.
My gaze lingered on the three of them, and finally settled on Ha-neul's face.
Ha-neul looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Ah. I might have gone a little overboard with what I said last time.
I hadn't meant for her to take it so seriously. No one knew whether this would succeed or fail.
"It's okay."
Afraid that Choi Na-kyung might hear, I mouthed the words and turned my head back.
Choi Na-kyung's expression had clouded for a moment when she saw me looking back at my friends. But when our eyes met, she smiled softly, as if it had never happened.
Anyone watching would have seen a mother who simply found her daughter so precious she couldn't bear it.
Or maybe it was the face of someone whose sticky desires were dripping out, unrestrained.
...If she found her adoptive daughter that precious, it would have been better if she had just been a normal mother from the start.
I thought this as I felt the hatred overflowing from my heart, exactly as it was.
I took one more step.
And then another, and another.
With each step closer, the emotion I felt grew thicker, sharper.
And as that torrent of emotion slowly soaked my entire body, rising from the ground up,
I surrendered myself to the feeling.
*
Seeing Sara stagger toward her, just as she had the last time, a flicker of unease stirred in Choi Na-kyung.
When Sara had said she desperately wanted to meet, Choi Na-kyung had truly believed that Sara was longing for her. Yet the Sara she was now meeting again wasn't much different from last time.
Step by step, Sara approached Choi Na-kyung as if forcing herself to walk.
She even stopped halfway to look back at her acquaintances standing far off in the distance, and impatience simmered in Choi Na-kyung's stomach.
Last time, her mood had soured so badly that she had simply left. But how much had she regretted it afterward?
Thankfully, Sara didn't collapse this time.
Because after turning her head back to meet Choi Na-kyung's eyes, Sara ran straight for her.
Just like she had when she was a child.
Just like the days when she would cling to her waist with an innocent face, gaze up at her, and call her "Mother."
With a bit of force, Sara threw herself into Choi Na-kyung's arms.
Sara was much taller now than back then. The days of clinging to her waist and looking up were gone. Now, the top of Sara's head reached just below Choi Na-kyung's eyes. Her sleek hair was also much longer, reaching down her back.
As Choi Na-kyung wrapped her arms around Sara's slender back, she could feel that growth vividly through touch.
Sara's delicate figure, still fresh but slowly maturing into a woman. Her frame looked somewhat thin at a glance, but the shape of her waist and hips was distinct enough to make that boundary clear.
...It was like looking at her, from back in those days.
Of course, it would still take a few more years for Sara to resemble her completely. But even with the mixed blood, Sara was growing to look exactly like her from those days. Good enough to set aside any worries about those other genes.
Sara, who had buried her face in Choi Na-kyung's shoulder, slowly lifted her head. Sara was still noticeably shorter than Choi Na-kyung, so she had to look up to meet her eyes.
But that distance was by no means a problem.
"......."
It was not too far to gaze at each other's faces without a word.
Still, it was a little lacking.
She was still too young, compared to that image of her.
But just a little... just a little more.
Choi Na-kyung slowly raised her hand and brought it to Sara's face.
She stroked the soft cheek.
Just like in those old days, Sara closed her eyes and leaned her face into the touch.
The hand that was slowly caressing Sara's cheek began to move in wider motions. Her hand stroked Sara's cheek, touched under her chin, and brushed against her lips.
They were smooth lips, free of any cracks.
Through the gap between those lips, Sara's breath escaped.
As Choi Na-kyung felt that hot breath on her fingertips, she saw Sara's lips move.
Those lovely lips slowly parted—
And through them—
"Mother."
The word slipped out.
"......."
Choi Na-kyung's hand, which had been caressing Sara's face, stopped.
As if Sara hadn't noticed,
"Mother......"
She repeated the word again.
"......."
Why on earth?
Why had her form of address suddenly changed back?
Choi Na-kyung had no desire to simply remain "Mother" to Sara. That was exactly why she had maintained this distance, slowly building their relationship.
She had endured the longing to be together constantly and had put in all that slow effort, until she had finally made Sara say the words she had once said to that man—
"Mother?"
Sara opened her closed eyes and looked up at Choi Na-kyung. Her round eyes looked as if she had no idea what she had just said.
"......."
Choi Na-kyung slowly unclasped her hands from Sara's waist. And took one step back.
The dazed feeling in her head from moments before was finally starting to settle down.
Right. The plan wasn't over yet. Sara was still "Sara." Not her.
And neither her first time, nor 'her' first time, could be wasted at just any moment.
"I should be going for today."
At those words, Sara's shoulders flinched inward. It was a different reaction from their last meeting—a return to how it used to be. The characteristic gesture of Sara's that she had seen countless times since childhood.
As expected, she had tried to do too much at once. She should have been more certain, taken the proper time to move.
"......."
Choi Na-kyung shifted her gaze to the three children who had accompanied Sara.
The bold-looking one with her hair tied back in a single tail. There seemed to be nothing remarkable about this child. No backing, and no exceptional ability of her own besides being a scholarship student.
The blonde with twin tails, who was clearly mixed-race at a glance....The young lady of Yiwon Trading Company, was it?
It seemed she would need to set a proper date to have a conversation with that family's people.
And lastly—
Yang Hye-in and that so-called "successor."
Choi Na-kyung had only learned about what had happened at the mansion after arriving here. Even then, it was a short, vague story she had heard while waiting for Sara to come down.
...Sara was regaining her agency.
When Choi Na-kyung looked back again, Sara was staring down at her own hands, fidgeting them as if she couldn't quite believe they moved like that.
But then, there had often been moments where Sara showed behavior she herself couldn't understand.
"...I'll have you come again on a set date."
At that, Sara lifted her head with a dazed, "Huh...?" Her pupils were trembling badly.
...She was probably unable to get a grip because of her feelings about her friends.
This matter had to be settled. Absolutely, without fail.
I'd take my time. For certain.
*
Choi Na-kyung left like that, but Sara remained standing exactly where she was.
Yu Ha-neul, Lee Su-a, and Shin So-hee all ran quickly to Sara as she stood there.
And upon seeing Sara's state, they stopped short for a moment.
...Up close, Sara was a little strange.
She was staring down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them, as if she had just woken up from a long sleep. As if it were a wonder that they could move at all.
Her unfocused eyes were trembling badly.
"......Sara?"
Yu Ha-neul, who had reached Sara's side first, spoke cautiously.
Sara raised her head and looked at Yu Ha-neul. Her eyes were still trembling violently.
No, it wasn't just her eyes.
Her hands, her shoulders too.
She was shaking all over like a leaf, as if she had just seen something unimaginably terrifying.
"I, I......"
"Sara......"
Yu Ha-neul took a step closer to Sara.
"How on earth......?"
At those words, her steps halted.
Ah.
So that's how it is.
It had already happened.
In that short span of time.
She felt as though her world was crumbling.