Chapter 16

Not a chance I'm just letting her walk away.

The male characters? Sure, one misstep with them could be the detonator that blows up my entire life. But these three female leads? They're lifelines. If I can build solid relationships with them and keep those bonds intact, they'll be a massive help down the road.

Shin So-hee, despite how she looked, was genuinely kind and always ready to help people out. You could tell just from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way her face lit up. Technically, she was an outside-of-school character, and considering how her route, while well-regarded on its own, was somewhat isolated from the other characters' stories, I couldn't be sure exactly how she'd be useful... but still. A character who exists "outside of school" might come in handy someday. At the very least, she could probably hide me for a day or something.

I was mulling over those calculations as I walked when Shin So-hee, who'd been quietly following along, suddenly spoke up.

"So, what's this meal you said you'd treat me to?"

She'd probably seen our uniforms and assumed we were loaded. She was trying to sound casual about it, but she was clearly curious. And I couldn't blame her. From what outsiders said about Hwayeong High School, the students there supposedly wouldn't touch any food that cost less than a hundred thousand won.

But I brushed those quiet expectations aside without a second thought.

"Treat you?"

"...?"

So-hee tilted her head at me.

"What? You just said we should grab dinner together...?"

"I did say that. But I never said I'd be paying."

I didn't even carry a wallet. Inside Hwayeong High School, I just had to show my student ID and everything got billed to the house later. Outside of school, I never had a reason to go anywhere by myself, so there was never a reason for me to handle money. And besides, before this, I'd never even really gone out on my own.

...The real Ye Sa-ra definitely wouldn't have figured out how to buy a single-use transit card at the subway station. She'd never paid for anything in her life. She'd probably have recognized cash and cards, but those ticket vending machines? They're a massive hurdle for someone whose life has been kept at arm's length from not just money, but electronics in general.

"Then what? You're gonna feed me at your place?"

"Yeah."

At my answer, So-hee's footsteps, which had been right behind me, came to an abrupt halt.

I walked a few more paces before I realized she'd stopped, and I turned around. There she was, hands shoved into her cardigan pockets, eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

"You want me to eat at your house?"

"I invited you for a meal. That's how it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠works."

I glanced over at Yu Ha-neul and Lee Su-a, who were also following me.

"What about you two? That okay?"

"Huh? Oh, um. Yeah, I'm fine with it."

"Sure. I'm okay with it, too."

Lee Su-a seemed a bit flustered, but Ha-neul nodded right away. Her expression... I think she was smiling. Maybe she was happy to be invited to a friend's house. It made sense. Getting invited over by the first friend you make in high school would be exciting.

"I don't know. No matter how you slice it, going to some girl's house the day you meet her is gonna be super awkward."

So-hee made a very reasonable point.

"Won't your family be there?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about family. In that mansion... well, it's not like I live completely alone, but it might as well be the same thing."

"Uh...."

So-hee's words caught in her throat.

It wasn't that I had no family at all. But the one family member I had didn't share a single drop of blood with me, and honestly, she so blatantly neglected her one and only adopted daughter that it made me question if we even counted as family.

"There won't be any awkward run-ins with my family, so don't worry about it. There are a few staff members, but they'd never speak to you unless you spoke to them first. It'll probably feel about the same as eating at some fancy restaurant."

"Oh, uh, okay...."

My declaration of "no family" made it impossible for So-hee to refuse. Koreans are, by nature, helpless against the Talullah gambit.

Honestly, I had the upper hand here anyway. I already knew about So-hee's personal life. Like Ye Sa-ra, she'd only had one parent. The difference was that, unlike Ye Sa-ra, her surviving parent was her father, and their relationship was really good. She also had a little sister who never showed up in any CGs.

Having lost a family member herself, she'd understand how hard it was to say you had no family. She'd know just how numb you'd have to become to your situation to be able to say it so casually.

...Not that I'd thought that far ahead before I said it. But, well. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

At least I could call it useful info for watching what I say going forward.

"......"

"......"

Even Ha-neul, who'd been in a slightly elevated mood earlier, and Su-a, who'd been answering a little awkwardly, fell silent and started watching me carefully after hearing what I'd said. They really didn't need to.

"So hey."

So-hee spoke up after walking in silence for a while.

"How much longer until we get to your place?"

"Ah. About that."

I opened my mouth with the most serious expression.

"I think we might be a little lost."

I'd completely let my guard down since it was only a five-minute drive, but maybe because the starting point was different, I'd been wandering aimlessly for a while now. It was honestly amazing that I couldn't spot a mansion that big.

"......You should've said something earlier then!"

And so, So-hee ended up So-screaming at me like that, standing in the middle of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chilly night road with the sun almost completely gone.

*

"......So, what did you say you searched just now?"

So-hee asked Su-a.

"Uh, aah, well... 'Matsuda Department Store.'"

That was it. The actual official name of the mansion I lived in was the Matsuda Department Store. Not that it was still literally a department store, obviously. Just that it had been one in the past.

When So-hee had gotten fed up and demanded to know why we weren't just looking up the address on a map app, Su-a, who had a decent knowledge of the business world, had pulled out her smartphone and typed in "Matsuda Department Store" without a moment's hesitation.

...It was apparently some kind of registered cultural property, and the building had been standing for well over a hundred years. It was a two-story mansion, a bit small to look like a department store nowadays, but there was a reason it was ridiculously oversized for a single person to live in.

According to the very helpful explanation online, the founder of Yujin Group had bought it after the liberation of Korea, intending to use it as a department store. But after the Korean War, he went and built a truly massive department store right in the middle of a ruined Seoul, rendering this mansion, which had miraculously survived the war, completely useless.

In the end, it was being used to isolate Ye Sa-ra. It was her property, of course.

"A department store... Rich ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people really do just live on a whole different scale...."

So-hee marveled, looking up at the mansion. Ha-neul did the same. For a residential building, it had LED lights fitted along the walls to make it clearly visible at night. It had the kind of atmosphere you'd expect from some preserved cultural heritage site turned tourist attraction.

They seemed to be struggling to believe someone actually lived there.

The only one who looked a bit uneasy was Su-a, who'd guided us this far.

"Let's go in."

I said it as I walked confidently toward the closed front gate.

"Who goes ther—Ah, young lady!"

The black-suited guard standing watch at the gate spotted me, let out that startled shout, and then quickly shut his mouth. He'd been so surprised the words slipped out. He must've been flustered about breaking the "don't speak unless spoken to" rule.

"Could you call the maid?"

At my request, the guard just nodded and started opening the gate. He put a finger to his ear and murmured something.

Creeeak. The heavy gate groaned open.

"Alright. Come on in."

At my words, the three of them glanced around with slightly overwhelmed expressions and followed me inside. The guard didn't dare stop them.

We walked in silence for a while along the lit garden path until I spotted Yang Hye-in up ahead, walking toward us in quick strides. I stopped.

"......Young lady."

She looked like she had a lot she wanted to say, but when she saw the three people standing behind me, she closed her mouth.

"Sorry for coming home so late."

"......It's nothing."

"Did you report to the Chairwoman?"

"......"

Hye-in lowered her head without a word. Did that mean she had?

Well, judging by the lack of any further comment, nothing major had come of it. For now, at least.

I gave a little shrug, then glanced back behind me. After nodding, I walked right past Hye-in, who stepped aside, and started moving with confidence.

Once I'd passed, she fell in behind me, keeping a few paces back.

"Please prepare a meal for four."

"Yes, young lady."

Hye-in usually let a bit of emotion show, but it seemed she'd resolved to hide it completely and act with pure professionalism in front of the three "outsiders."

When we reached the mansion doors, two guards who'd already arrived opened them, each pulling one side.

"Whoa."

A breath of admiration came from behind me. I wasn't sure whose it was.

The first-floor lobby, with its grand staircase sweeping up to the second floor, made me wonder, looking back at it now, why I had never made the connection to a department store myself. It was a little bare without the sales counters that would've been there originally, but it was clearly a space built to accommodate a lot of people.

Hye-in's hands came to rest naturally on my shoulders. I followed her touch and let her slip my coat off.

She took the coats from the other three as well, not just mine.

"Oh, um, I can get it myse—"

Even Ha-neul, who showed some resistance at the idea of a literal maid helping her out of her coat,

"......"

Even Su-a, who was a little awkward but followed my lead and took off her coat,

"Ah, uh...."

Even So-hee, whose face had turned bright red, all ended up handing their outerwear over to Hye-in. Even with four coats that had to be pretty heavy, her expression didn't change at all as she bowed to us and then guided us to the dining room.

And then we walked into a dining room with a table so massive it was honestly ridiculous for me to eat there alone.