Chapter 120
Chapter 120
I didn't normally memorize the names of flowers.
I knew the ones that were famous enough to see often in daily life, cherry blossoms, roses, tulips, carnations, forsythia, but beyond those I was practically clueless about flowers.
Still, I did like looking at them. I never went out of my way to find them, but walking down the street I'd sometimes catch myself staring at the brilliant flowers set out in front of a florist's. I'd never thought about buying any, though—aside from the occasional carnation for my parents.
So I knew almost none of the names of the flowers in this garden.
But I liked it. The flowers were beautiful.
Click.
When I heard that sound, I looked up to find So-hee aiming her smartphone camera at me.
"Oh, uh, just—you looked pretty."
Our eyes met and So-hee gave an awkward little laugh, lowering her phone as if embarrassed.
I didn't mind being photographed, really.
When the news article came out, what bothered me was strangers secretly taking pictures, not people I'm close to taking my photo.
Well, my dislike of secret photos was a personal hang-up, not some moral absolute.
I still don't like strangers taking pictures of me.
Sara said, from inside me.
I could hear faint fear in that voice.
......Then I'd have to be careful about that too from now on.
Maybe misinterpreting my silence, So-hee quickly brought up the photo she'd just taken and showed it to me.
In it, I, Sara, was crouched before the flower bed, quietly gazing down at a flower I couldn't name.
The composition was genuinely nice. Maybe thanks to the bright, clear weather, the picture came out strikingly radiant.
"How is it? Good, right?"
When So-hee asked, checking my reaction, I nodded.
"Ah."
Watching from the side, Su-a clapped her hands together.
"Then let's all take a photo together. I mean, we've never taken one with everybody before."
Oh.
Now that I thought about it, she was right.
For a group that hung out practically every day, we didn't take many photos. Or maybe I should say it hadn't even crossed our minds.
"I like that."
Ha-neul nodded vigorously too.
"Alright, then."
I stood up as I answered.
"Let's take one together."
*
As always when someone says that, the photos didn't stop at just one. Maybe they'd been holding back all this time out of deference to me, but So-hee, Su-a, and Ha-neul each wanted a picture with me beside them.
"Okay, taking it now."
One, two, three; Yang Hye-in pressed the shutter, and the smartphone clicked softly.
Apart from the selfie-style shots we took ourselves, all the other photos were taken by Yang Hye-in.
Arms linked with me in the center, then swapping spots for another shot—they only seemed satisfied after they'd each gotten one.
Well, they'd probably keep taking photos at other spots too. I'd given them permission.
Thankfully, Sara didn't seem to mind the picture-taking.
"......."
Still, when we finished and started moving, I felt a strange sense of emptiness.
The kind of feeling you get when you stand up to leave a place and realize your pocket feels too light, like you've forgotten something.
I didn't figure out what that feeling was until we'd reached the edge of the flower garden.
"Aren't you going to take any photos, Yang Hye-in?"
When I blurted out the question without thinking, the whole group stopped in their tracks.
"......."
Yang Hye-in looked at me, her posture a little stiff. She was taller than me, and her rigid stare felt a bit intimidating, but she wasn't much older than I was. And we were employer and employee.
Ah, right—this might've been the first time I called her by name.
I'd chosen to avoid addressing her at all because using her name felt awkward. When I did call her, it was as 'Maid.'
But I couldn't exactly do that in public.
When it came down to it, So-hee was also my Personal Maid.
"......Aren't you going to take one?"
At my question, Yang Hye-in hesitated briefly before nodding.
"I will."
For some reason, her voice carried a faint tension.
*
Surprisingly, the amusement park carved out of the mountainside still had higher ground to climb.
The Ferris wheel, practically the park's trademark, was situated even higher than the flower garden, which was already relatively elevated. It made sense. The higher a Ferris wheel is, the more its view opens up.
On a day this clear, not riding it would practically be an insult to the amusement park.
The Ferris wheel at the park back where I used to live had been shut down due to old age, but that didn't seem to be the case in this world.
According to the description, they'd torn down the old one and rebuilt it in almost identical form. With the amount of money the group had, they could pull off something like that without blinking.
Naturally, a ton of people had the same idea we did, and the line waiting to ride was packed.
Still, with passengers constantly getting on and off, the wait moved fairly quickly compared to the crowd size.
The person I ended up riding with this time was Ha-neul.
Yang Hye-in had said she'd wait outside, but I insisted she ride too, having her just stand around alone after we'd come all this way felt wrong, so we had to split into two groups again.
Since the Ferris wheel's optimal capacity was four people and we were five, we decided to split into three and two.
Part of me thought it might be less awkward if I went with Yang Hye-in's group, but for some reason the others were adamant that I had to be in the group of two, and that was how we ended up dividing.
The method for splitting teams this time was the palm-flip game.
And that was how Ha-neul and I ended up together.
"......."
"......."
Um.
Now that we were actually alone in here, it felt a little awkward.
Sitting face to face inside the cramped cabin, I realized just how awkward it really was.
What should we talk about?
Come to think of it, we'd never watched a movie or TV show together. We'd never even talked about what kinds of food we liked. At some point we'd become friends who hung out together, but we still knew so little about each other.
......No, there was one thing. One thing only the two of us shared.
And that, honestly, was why I felt this awkward in the first place.
Ha-neul knew full well that I wasn't 'Sara.'
More precisely, she was the only person who treated me as a 'different personality' rather than a 'memory.'
The last conversation the two of us had alone had been about exactly that, so I had no idea what I was supposed to say now.
"Is 'Sara' still with you?"
While I was agonizing over whether I should say anything, Ha-neul asked that.
I turned from the window to find her looking straight at me.
"Yeah, she's still with me."
Relief that I didn't have to be the one to break the awkward silence, and discomfort at having to talk about this, hit me at the same time.
"I see."
Ha-neul murmured that, then:
"Is it okay if I sit next to you?"
She asked me that.
"Huh? Of course—"
I started to answer, then faltered at the displeasure I felt welling up deep inside my chest.
Uh...... why was Sara reacting to what Ha-neul said like that?
But before I could even question the feeling, Ha-neul was already seated next to me.
Right next to me.
Pressed close.
"So I've been thinking."
"Y-yeah."
It was hard to look her in the face.
Our shoulders were touching. Close enough that if I turned my head, our noses might brush.
"Sara's memories change when she feels an intense emotion, right?"
"Th-that's, right?"
At least, that was how it'd worked so far. If there was a better method, that'd certainly be easier for me.
"And Sara's strongest emotions come out when she meets with the Yujin Group Chairwoman."
"Uh...... but......."
All the while Ha-neul kept pressing closer. I couldn't see her expression, because I'd desperately averted my gaze to the window.
The displeasure in my chest intensified.
Did Sara actually dislike physical contact with other people that much?
One of Ha-neul's arms slipped behind my back. Her other arm came across my front.
Ha-neul had pressed right up against me, wrapping both arms around me almost like she was trapping me.
"U-um, Ha-neul?"
"So I was thinking—I figured there might be another way to switch your personalities."
"......Huh?"
At that one line, my embarrassment vanished in an instant.
Because what she'd said was shocking enough to blow away every other feeling.
"How......?"
I turned my head without thinking, and nearly ended up with my lips touching Ha-neul's. Her face had flushed red, and she was looking at me from right in front of my nose.
"Ah, I—buh......."
Words failed me for a second.
"If it's true that your personalities switch through intense emotions,"
With every word Ha-neul spoke, her breath reached me. Her face was so close that I could see almost nothing but the depths of her eyes.
"couldn't we just create those intense emotions?"
Inside my chest, Sara's displeasure had amplified nearly to its limit.
"Ah—hah...... wait......."
Ha-neul's face drew even closer.
Once again, our breath mingled—
*
—and just like that, I returned to my own body at a moment I hadn't wanted to.
"......."
"......."
The Yu Ha-neul who had been leaning toward that other person came to an abrupt halt.
"......It's you."
The arms wrapped around my body loosened and slipped away. In an instant, Yu Ha-neul pulled back and put distance between us. Her demeanor signaled a rejection of physical contact, but I didn't especially care.
"......Were you actually trying to use that as an excuse to kiss me?"
"......No. I just genuinely wondered if it would work."
"Must be disappointed that it did."
"......."
The silence made it seem like she really was disappointed.
Truthfully, I was surprised too. That sitting so close to her had become the trigger, the medium, for 'intense emotions.'
......Though that 'emotion' was a different kind than the one the other person had felt toward Ha-neul.
Whenever she'd sat close to Ha-neul, what that person had felt was a fluttering excitement and embarrassment.
The emotion I'd felt when I sat close to Yu Ha-neul was...... and embarrassment.
The direction of the feeling had been inward.
"......."
"......."
Having unintentionally discovered a different method, the two of us went a long while without saying a word, just sitting there staring at opposite sides.