Chapter 131
Chapter 131
"Oh, right!"
'Sara' snapped back to attention and shouted.
"What we were talking about wasn't any of this!"
But the mood that had filled the room moments before still clung to her. Everyone in the room had interpreted 'Sara's' attitude in their own way and was now gazing at her with sympathy.
As 'Sara,' she didn't actually hate those looks. Having been almost entirely shut away from the world since she was nine, she didn't dislike it when people showed her concern. Maybe it was because her emotions and memories had blended with that person's in her consciousness—now she was almost afraid of losing that feeling.
Perhaps she treasured it more precisely because it was a feeling that person had given her.
—But that wasn't what she'd been trying to talk about.
"Uh, but that's what we were just talking about a minute ago," So-hee said.
"No, I was only explaining because you all couldn't keep up!" 'Sara' said, clearly frustrated. "I didn't ask him for a favor and come out here just to keep talking about this stuff and then go back. I came out to actually deal with this situation."
"......By 'this situation,' you mean......"
"Yes, this situation that you set off."
It was only after responding to Yang Hye-in that 'Sara' realized she'd been standing up. Looking a bit awkward, she sat back down and went on.
"The story you spilled to those police officers without telling anyone first...... honestly, that's not the issue."
"......."
Confusion spread across everyone's faces. Not just So-hee, who was sitting right next to her, or Ha-neul, even Su-a and Yang Hye-in looked somewhat puzzled.
"I don't care about that from the start. Why would I care who gets punished? Even if a few cops make a fuss and some public official files a complaint, Mother will handle it one way or another."
"Which is precisely why I'm trying to make sure that doesn't—"
"Doesn't happen? And then what?"
'Sara' cut Yang Hye-in off mid-sentence.
"It doesn't happen. Everyone accused of 'abusing' me gets their just punishment. I get some compensation money through one channel or another. Do you think that would make me happy? Would it make me feel better?"
"......."
Yang Hye-in couldn't say a word to 'Sara,' who was demanding answers with her brows drawn tight.
"Think about it. If I'd actually wanted to wreck someone, there's nothing I couldn't wreck. The one inside me would weigh all the pros and cons, but I'm not that type. Compensation? No matter how much I got, do you really think that would count as 'compensation' from my perspective? Does pouring a cup of water into a lake change the volume? Well, maybe it would be a cup's worth."
'Sara' let out a deep sigh with an exaggerated motion.
"Whatever I got, it wouldn't even match what I've been paying you in salary here."
"......."
With that outburst, it felt as if everyone in the room had been doused with cold water. Anyone else saying such things would be one matter, but coming from the 'victim' of what had happened, the weight was entirely different.
If she had wanted an apology and wanted to set things right, that would have been another conversation. But what came out of 'Sara's' mouth was something else entirely.
"Hey, Sara."
After a moment of silence, Ha-neul spoke first.
"I get that that's how you feel...... but could you tell us why you two switched places?"
'Sara' wasn't saying she wanted to do something about the situation. She was saying she didn't want to do anything about it.
That didn't mean Ha-neul could just ask outright. From 'Sara's' perspective, this body was originally hers—she'd only been yielding her place to the Sara who came later. The real issue was that they needed Ha-neul's help to switch consciousness. 'Sara' taking back the body wasn't really a problem at all.
But even so, up until now 'Sara' had always given her place to Sara without expressing her own will. In fact, Ha-neul was the only one she'd had a real conversation with, with the others, she'd only interacted as Sara.
Which meant this was the first time 'Sara' had deliberately revealed her identity with a purpose.
And the things she'd come out to say were what they just heard. The message hadn't exactly landed cleanly.
"There's only one reason I came out like this," 'Sara' said, as if sensing that thought.
"Because that person...... the Sara you all know, she was feeling guilty."
"Guilty......?"
The kids sank deeper into confusion at 'Sara's' words.
"'Do I even have the right to receive anyone's forgiveness in Sara's place?' 'Am I allowed to enjoy all of this while using her body instead of her?' 'Is it wrong to make Sara face someone like that just to get her memories back?'......Honestly, she thinks way too much. It's honestly exhausting. When I quietly handed the body over, I meant for her to just live however she wanted—not agonize with guilt over every little thing she does."
She spoke as if it were incredibly tedious and tiresome, yet 'Sara's' expression also looked like she was showing off, like she was thinking of something precious.
"Anyway, that's why I came out. I'm the one who should 'receive the apology' and the one who should 'give the forgiveness.' I have no intention of actually resolving the case or anything. As long as I end up feeling okay about it, and she believes that it's real, isn't that enough?"
'Sara' stopped there and looked around the room at each person.
"So you're all going to have to cooperate with me. That naturally includes you, Maid."
It was an utterly selfish reason, and at the same time, a deeply selfless one.
*
The conversation continued after breakfast ended.
'Sara' asked if skipping meals was even a big deal, but when Ha-neul said, "This is the body Sara worked so hard on for you......," she grumbled but went down to the dining room with the others anyway.
Not much conversation happened during the meal.
That was exactly why Ha-neul had suggested eating in the first place. Everyone needed time to sort through their thoughts.
......Or maybe she'd just wanted to stall for time.
From So-hee's attitude that morning, Ha-neul had sensed something.
So-hee had made it clear she didn't care which 'Sara' Sara was. Her feelings were simple but pure: she liked Sara because she was Sara.
But Ha-neul couldn't bring herself to think that way no matter how hard she tried.
She knew perfectly well that So-hee's approach was exactly the right one when it came to 'someone you like.' A person's life is unpredictable, and there's no telling how the person you care about might change.
It could be a positive change or a negative one.
She could hit her head and get seriously hurt someday. Decades from now, dementia might set in. The word 'like' that So-hee had said encompassed all of that. It was an expression of resolve—that no matter what happened to Sara going forward, no matter what happened between the two of them, she would still like Sara without fail.
Of course, even short of the extreme, relationships between people change all the time.
Just as she'd come to learn things about 'Sara,' there might be plenty of unknown things about Sara yet to discover. She might learn about habits she didn't know existed. They might turn out to have surprisingly different favorite foods. Sara might hate something that Ha-neul loved, or Ha-neul might hate something that Sara loved.
To put it bluntly, Ha-neul and Sara had barely known each other for just over a month. Even if they'd been inseparable, unknown aspects could surface anywhere.
After going through all of that, would she still be able to keep liking Sara?
That thought scared her.
Wasn't she the one right now splitting Sara's two personalities in her mind as if they were 'different people'?
The meal ended while she was lost in those thoughts. Breakfast at Sara's house was mostly light fare to settle the stomach, toast and such, so it was never going to take long anyway.
In the end, stalling for time hadn't worked out as well as Ha-neul had hoped.
*
"All right, so where should we start?"
Back in the room, 'Sara' spoke as if she were picking up a conversation right where it had left off.
"First things first. That one, I guess."
She looked at Yang Hye-in, who had followed them into the room.
"How about we just get the apology over with quickly?"
The way 'Sara' said it, she sounded exactly like someone trying to knock out the most annoying bit of homework first.