Chapter 166
Chapter 166
Strangely enough, even after all that, the police never arrived.
"No. I no longer have that kind of power."
I asked Yang Hye-in just in case, but she only shook her head and said that.
And it made sense. In the past, she had apparently been able to fend off police and doctors who came to the hospital, but that hadn't been her own power so much as the chairwoman's power backing her.
"......Should we report it to the police?"
Yu Ha-neul thought for a moment and asked again, and
"I think you probably should."
Yang Hye-in answered.
Despite being halfway up a mountain with nothing visible except trees packed densely left and right, the police arrived surprisingly early.
"......So to confirm, you're saying the reason you broke the window here was to rescue a kidnapped girl?"
Even after hearing the full story, the officer seemed to find the situation hard to believe and asked again.
"That is correct."
"And the kidnapper was Yujin Group Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung."
"Yes."
"......And the kidnapping victim is her daughter, Miss Ye Sa-ra."
"As you said."
When the officer checked his notepad again, Yang Hye-in answered calmly.
"......."
After double-checking the situation, the two young officers looked at each other and shrugged. It felt like a silent exchange along the lines of 'Do you understand this?' 'No.' No words passed between them, though.
"......We'd like you to come to the station so we can hear a more detailed account. Is that all right?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"Senior."
Seeing Yang Hye-in agree to go to the police station despite having done nothing wrong, So-hee cut in.
"It's all right. This is a necessary procedure."
"That's right. In a case like this it's essential to hear both sides, so......"
"......."
So-hee's expression sharpened a little, but she didn't get angry. She knew, after all, that these officers hadn't done anything wrong.
......Not yet.
Choi Na-kyung had already used the power of money once before to brush aside the suspicions about the injuries found on Sara's body. It hadn't been Choi Na-kyung personally back then, of course, but regardless, the source of that power was clearly Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung.
The situation had escalated to this point, so naturally it couldn't just be swept under the rug, but Choi Na-kyung would struggle in her own way. That was what Yu Ha-neul thought.
"......What about us?"
"If you'd accompany us as witnesses, we'd be grateful."
"Then we'll accompany you."
"What?"
The moment Yu Ha-neul said that on her own, the female journalist who'd been eagerly waiting for a photo op despite the officers' attempts to stop her let out a startled shout. But when Su-a, who was nearby, looked at her, she let out a deep sigh and raised both hands. Though, since one hand was still holding the heavy camera, she lowered them again quickly.
"......If my employer says so, I guess I have no choice."
She sighed as if the world were crashing down.
*
In the end, the group that got to leave the police station first was just the rest of us who had followed later.
It didn't look like they intended to detain Yang Hye-in immediately, but she was still the person who had seen and heard the most there in that moment. A lengthy investigation was unavoidable.
"She isn't going to be arrested, is she?"
"Probably not."
To So-hee's worried murmur, the person who answered was, unexpectedly, not Yu Ha-neul or Su-a but the journalist.
"I've had to go to the police station myself fairly often, so I know the gist of it. Well...... she could face some disadvantages later, I suppose. She did smash someone else's car, after all. And the other party happens to be one of the richest people in the world."
When the three listening began to look increasingly grim, the journalist shrugged once and added,
"Still, these bastards do care about public opinion. Even if she doesn't get a full acquittal or dismissal, I don't see her going to prison. Unless it's some big-shot politician connected to their higher-ups—surprisingly, people who are just loaded like the chairwoman tend to have a pretty wide range they can't cover."
Then, after scratching her head,
"So, you know...... what I'm saying is don't worry too much. And this young lady lying here is practically second to none when it comes to money, too. Once she comes to her senses, wouldn't she do something for her? She's the person who was trying to rescue her."
she said.
Not all of us could go to the police station. Mainly because of Sara. Considering she had been the target the chairwoman had tried to kidnap just moments before, we couldn't just send her to a hospital alone.
We'd just experienced firsthand today what happened when we let 'Sara' go off alone at school. No one here was stupid enough to repeat the same mistake.
The photographer journalist and Yu Ha-neul went to the police station first, while So-hee and Su-a followed Sara to a nearby hospital.
Because of the blunt trauma to her head and the special circumstances of being kidnapped and then rescued, she underwent several tests, but the finding was that she had no major physical abnormalities.
Still, she was put on an IV.
"......."
A brief silence.
Everyone sitting there was looking at Sara's face.
Maybe because of the ordeal she'd just been through, even her sleeping expression didn't look very peaceful.
Her bloodless face was beaded with cold sweat.
"......By the way."
It was So-hee who broke the silence.
"Your name is......?"
"......."
Come to think of it, Su-a was probably the only one here who might know the journalist's name.
"Is that really so important?"
"I just don't know what to call you every time I address you......."
"Hm."
At So-hee's words, the journalist shrugged and answered.
"Lee Yu-gyeong. It's Lee Yu-gyeong. And when you address me, call me 'Ms. Journalist,' not my name."
"......."
The person who identified herself as Lee Yu-gyeong was the only one who didn't seem weighed down by the situation.
No, if anything, she seemed to be anticipating something. Especially whenever she looked at the sleeping Sara's face, that emotion was clearly visible.
"......Hah."
A soft sigh escaped.
Yu Ha-neul thought it was probably a sigh from Su-a.
*
Everything before my eyes was pitch-black.
Not in a figurative sense—I truly couldn't see a thing.
Not only could I not see, I couldn't hear or feel anything either. Just me, alone, in an empty black space.
What had happened?
Right. I had been kidnapped by Choi Na-kyung.
No. Sara had been kidnapped. For some reason, Sara had lost consciousness, and I had woken up.
......This was exactly like the very first moment.
Back then, Sara had also been unconscious. Because she'd stayed asleep the whole time I was going to school, until Choi Na-kyung finally came to see me.
So, maybe.
Maybe this time too, if I didn't go find Sara, she would definitely stay asleep.
But how?
I didn't really know what Sara had done while I was inside our consciousness. But Sara must have tried, in her own way. For her own life, and for me while I had been struggling.
She just couldn't have imagined what kind of person Choi Na-kyung was.
And that was understandable.
Who could even imagine a person like that?
Even I, who knew at least a little of the game's setting, hadn't properly known what kind of person she was.
.......
Now, Choi Na-kyung can no longer hold a huge influence within Sara's memories.
Of course, she still occupies a large part of those memories, but from now on, her friends would cover them one by one.
Right. Maybe there would be a way to ask the other friends for help.
Once I opened my eyes, maybe I could ask the others to hug me, to kiss me.
But for how long?
I might have to leave this body someday, but until that happened, I didn't know how many more times I would need to go looking for Sara.
A "stimulating memory" will eventually grow dull if you repeat it over and over. If I kept trying to find Sara that way, there might come a day when I couldn't call her out even when I was the one at the front.
I couldn't let that happen.
Because this body was not my body; it was Sara's body.
Because the life lived by this flesh should be not my life, but Sara's life.
Because Sara's life was something Sara should live herself.
So—
So this time, I had to find Sara.
Just as Sara came looking for me every time I was waiting inside our unconsciousness, this time I had to wake Sara's sleeping consciousness.
"......."
I close my eyes.
You might ask what difference closing my eyes makes in a place where I can't see anything anyway.
But this is simply my action for concentrating.
Just as I can recall my own memories in detail, to recall Sara's memories in detail as well.
I revived the sensation of tracing back through Sara's memories.
As though groping with my hands, I feel through the memories slowly.
Into the memory Sara cherished most. Yes. That memory will do nicely.
......Far off in my field of vision, a faint light appeared.
I moved toward that light, step by step.
With each step closer, the light grew brighter.
When my vision was finally dyed white, I opened my eyes.
And what I saw was.
What stood before me was—
Simply the room I always looked at.
"......."
The room I always faced in my memories.
On the bed, Sara was sitting.
"Sara......?"
I called to her like that, but Sara didn't answer.
Walking slowly, moving closer to Sara,
I realized Sara was not alone.
Beside Sara, there was one more person.
A much smaller Sara than the one sitting, a younger-looking Sara.
Sara doesn't have a younger sister. More than anything, the being I was seeing now was not a Sara from so long ago that she couldn't remember.
Because the Sara cradling the small Sara didn't seem to be much different in age from the Sara of now.
......That Sara was wearing the clothes that I usually wore, inside Sara's memories.
The vampire's clothes, that is.