Chapter 185
Chapter 185
Some people considered birthdays deeply important, while others didn't.
Most people, of course, did consider them important. A birthday was the day a person came into this world, the day every action they'd ever taken and every relationship they'd ever formed first began.
It was only natural for someone who believed their life was worth living to want to celebrate the day it started.
Even someone who, until very recently, hadn't thought their life held much value at all.
"Sara, come to think of it, when's your birthday?"
Ha-neul asked the question while the four of us were all gathered in the room, same as always.
Yang Hye-in's personality and way of speaking had softened considerably after she came back from visiting her grandmother, but she still maintained the basic routines she'd always kept.
As long as it wasn't mealtime or time for Sara to leave the room, Yang Hye-in didn't go out of her way to intrude on how the four of us lived.
That said, a great many other things had changed too... but I'd get to that later.
...More to the point, it seemed like Ha-neul hadn't been going home for a while now. Was I imagining that?
Well, she still occasionally slept at her own house or showed up with side dishes her parents had pressed on her, so it probably wasn't a "runaway" situation like Su-a's had been for a time.
Ha-neul had mentioned that her father was a pretty taciturn man, but he might actually have surprisingly open-minded views about this sort of thing.
In any case, I was fine with it. It put my mind at ease not to feel like Ha-neul was the odd one out for no reason.
"My birthday?"
When the question about my birthday came, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Because I didn't know whether I should say my own birthday or Sara's.
Mine! Use mine!
Before I even had a chance to hesitate, the Sara inside our consciousness shouted that at me.
"Um... June 17th."
And so, I reflexively answered with that.
It was Sara's birthday.
"Oh, that's only a week away."
So-hee, who'd been rolling around on the bed with her smartphone, said that.
True enough.
I had a great deal of time to talk with Sara. Every night when I fell asleep, I met her.
During all those conversations I'd learned her birthday, and that was why I did remember it clearly, but...
The fact remained that I'd completely forgotten all about it until a week before.
.......
Maybe she'd read my thoughts, because Sara let her displeasure show.
Sorry. I'll still make sure to celebrate it properly.
...Though, how was I supposed to give Sara a present? Could I just buy something, wrap it up, and be done with it? Then call Sara out so she could unwrap it?
And what about a birthday cake?
Our two personalities were clearly separate, but we shared a single body, which meant the problem was that we couldn't both exist in the same space at the same time.
Remember back when we went to the amusement park? I'd like it if you did it that way.
...Well, if that's what she wanted, I didn't have much choice but to go along.
The real celebration was something I could just give her directly inside our consciousness, after all.
I could tell Sara smiled a little. It made me feel inexplicably happy.
"So, is there anything you want?"
"Anything I want..."
Hmm.
Since it was Sara's birthday, shouldn't I pick something that Sara wanted?
What would Sara want?
"......."
Ah, this is incredibly difficult.
I waited for Sara to tell me what she wanted, but she stayed silent.
...Instead, from somewhere deep within our consciousness, I began to feel a faint sense of expectation from Sara.
"......."
Ah.
I'm doomed.
This feels like she's gone into "try to guess" mode.
"Sara?"
Ha-neul asked again.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
I'd never had anyone like a girlfriend, so I'd never once in my life been asked things like, "Do you notice anything different about me today?" or "Let's just eat anything," or "Don't you even know what I want?"
In other words... Sara was the very first person I'd ever gotten to the brink of that kind of relationship with.
"Uh..."
I agonized for a long while.
"W-well, I wonder...?"
In the end, that was all I could manage.
*
"W-well, I wonder...?"
Sara's answer was exceedingly vague.
But Yu Ha-neul thought she could more or less guess why she'd answered that way.
Because Sara could have anything she wanted.
That wasn't a metaphor or an exaggeration; Sara simply had that much money. If there was an object she truly wanted, she could just go buy it or name her price. If she put her mind to it, she could probably even build a zoo full of rare animals for her private viewing.
But...
Understanding the answer and coming up with a proper response to it were two very different things.
Figuring out what kind of gift to give a girl who could truly have anything was an incredibly difficult task.
"Hmm..."
Seeing Sara with beads of cold sweat dotting her brow, clearly troubled by not having given a proper reply, Yu Ha-neul nodded.
"Well, it can't be helped. It's always hard to answer right away when someone springs the question on you like that."
Money aside, even under normal circumstances, it was tough to answer when you didn't have a specific item you really wanted or urgently needed.
"S-sorry..."
Sara, who'd grown inexplicably downcast, was adorable.
Sure, it was probably rude to look at a person who was genuinely feeling low and think that, but even knowing that, she couldn't help it.
She already liked her, and Sara was the kind of girl who was cute even when she wasn't wearing an expression like that.
Objectively speaking, when you're looking at a pretty, cute girl and you've also got rose-colored glasses on top of that, thoughts like that become unavoidable.
"You don't have to apologize. It happens."
Yu Ha-neul smiled and gently ran her hand over Sara's hair.
It was the kind of hair that felt so nice she wanted to keep touching it.
....
Though, separately from that, her worries about the gift kept surfacing.
Still, she wasn't worried.
Because Yu Ha-neul was sure she'd be able to find something Sara truly wanted.
*
A present for Sara...?
Watching Ha-neul discreetly stroke Sara's hair, Lee Su-a fell deep into thought.
Just what would Sara want?
...Probably not something material.
Lee Su-a had been through this herself.
When people got busy, they sometimes forgot even very important promises or anniversaries. Lee Su-a's parents had been like that.
Of course, they hadn't always forgotten her birthday. It was just that they were so busy or overseas and got the date confused due to the time difference, or forgot the date and then hurriedly called in the middle of the night to wish her a happy birthday...
She had no memory of ever not receiving a birthday present. Her parents knew they were busy, so they always made sure to prepare a gift as early as possible.
But each time, what Lee Su-a had wanted more than a present was to see her parents.
And wasn't it Sara's own birthday, after all?
Wasn't the essence of a birthday having your family gather together, sing the birthday song, blow out the candles on the cake, cut the cake and share it, and talk happily together?
...And Sara had surely never received a proper birthday celebration before.
"I see."
In that case, there was no need to prepare an expensive gift.
More than that, a sincere celebration would be better.
How grateful Lee Su-a herself was that Sara was still alive, and what a blessing meeting Sara had been in Lee Su-a's life.
Yes, that would be good.
That Sara's life had become a true source of hope for someone else's life.
She wanted to let her know that.
With that, Lee Su-a's present had been decided.
*
"I see."
Hearing Su-a murmur to herself, Shin So-hee grew a little uneasy.
Because no plausible idea was coming to mind. Unlike Ha-neul, who seemed to have already thought of a gift for Sara, or Su-a, who'd gotten lost in thought like she'd hit on a solid idea.
"Hrm..."
After mulling it over with her arms crossed, Shin So-hee promptly shoved the whole worry aside.
Worrying like that wasn't her style in the first place.
She ran wherever she wanted to go, wherever her heart led her, as hard as she could.
If something blocked her path, she climbed over it or smashed through it and kept moving forward. That bold, sweeping spirit was what Shin So-hee considered her specialty.
So this time, she'd just put in the work.
Find out what Sara wanted, prepare an event that Sara would truly enjoy.
Think up everything she possibly could on her own and pour it all out for Sara.
...And, well.
Shin So-hee did have a senior at work who'd definitely be helpful at a time like this.
She wasn't in this room right now, but she'd surely know what Sara had done for her birthdays in the past.
First, she'd ask her senior about this and that and come up with a plan.
The most important thing was to manage it carefully so Sara wouldn't hate it or feel too overwhelmed.
Shin So-hee nodded to herself, arms still crossed.
Yeah, this should be enough to work with.
If she prepared at a brisk pace, she could definitely put together a decent party within a week.
...Though lately her senior's condition had seemed a little strange.
And with that, Shin So-hee made a deliberate effort to ignore the thought that had formed in the back of her mind.