Chapter 205
Chapter 205
That's what I thought, but I was completely mistaken.
The moment I walked in with Son A-reum, Ha-neul and Su-a's expressions stiffened slightly.
Thinking it over, now that I've been confessed to, excuses like "because she's a girl" or "because we're friends" no longer work. If I hang out with another girl, it just becomes "messing around with another girl after getting confessed to."
But that doesn't mean they wouldn't get jealous if I hung out with a guy, either. In this world, men and women dating is far more common.
No, these romantic feelings are something I can't keep up with, no matter how hard I try. If getting close to a guy is a problem, and getting close to a girl is a problem too, then who exactly am I supposed to get close to?
But that's just an excuse on my part.
The problem is that I got confessed to by three girls and then brought in a new one. If I had clearly rejected those confessions, it might be a different story.
Though they all ran away before I could reject them. Anyway.
Thinking this way makes me feel wronged again...
...Is this all Sara's fault?
Did all this happen because Sara is too pretty? Who knows. If Sara hadn't been that beautiful, maybe things wouldn't have spiraled this far.
But tracing it back, in the end, Sara was simply born beautiful. And if she was born beautiful, then her birth mother and father must have been equally handsome and lovely. Which means Sara couldn't help being beautiful.
We've come full circle.
As I sighed inwardly, I heard a knock at the door.
Had Yang Hye-in come back after finishing distributing the gifts?
"I'll get it!"
I called out and quickly got up to open the door.
"Happy birthday!"
So-hee was standing at the door holding a cake.
The cake So-hee was carrying wasn't the fancy kind I'd seen at the party, but it seemed she'd made it herself—the words 'Happy Birthday to You!' were written on it, a little crooked.
A single large candle was stuck in the middle, a small flame flickering atop it.
If she'd come all the way from outside with the candle lit, that was a pretty impressive skill.
"Wow, woooow..."
I let out a half-hearted "Wow, woooow..." and stepped aside. So-hee, still beaming, carried the cake over and set it down on the table with a thud.
"Oh, A-reum's here too. Hi."
"Ah, hey..."
Thankfully, So-hee answered A-reum as if it was nothing. She didn't seem to view her as a rival.
"Alright, alright, everyone come here. Sara has to make a wish."
"Uh, uuhh..."
"R-Right..."
At So-hee's unreserved words, Ha-neul and Su-a looked a little taken aback but soon shuffled hesitantly over to the table. Naturally, Son A-reum did the same.
"Ah, right, right, almost forgot."
So-hee clapped her hands together and called out, then quickly ran over near the door and turned the room lights off.
The room went dark in an instant.
Now the only source of light left was the single candle on the cake.
The flame flickered precariously whenever we moved. The orange glow softly lighting our surroundings had a subtle, atmospheric quality.
"Happy- birth- day- to- you—"
The moment the lights went off, So-hee started clapping her hands and singing.
"Happy- birth- day- to- you—"
Following along, the rest of us, a bit dumbfounded, sang after So-hee.
Even I did, and it was my birthday.
"Happy birthday—"
It was only after singing up to "dear" that I remembered this party was actually for Sara's birthday.
"To Sara—"
So, well, there was no special reason for me to stop the birthday song.
"Happy birthday to you!"
Then all of us clapped together.
The song had started somewhat out of the blue, but while we sang, everyone was singing in one united spirit.
Listening to the sound of clapping, I blew out the candle.
The room was plunged into complete darkness.
And in that instant, something soft pressed against my cheek, then pulled away.
Even after the room lights came back on, I never could figure out whose lips they were.
*
Still, we'd already eaten at the party, so finishing the rather large cake was too much for us alone.
We'd had a proper meal before the party, and afterward we'd mostly eaten cake anyway, so it was easy to get sick of it.
Though for a cake made by a beginner, it was well crafted, and it tasted pretty good too.
"Did you make this?"
"Yeah. Though my senior helped a lot."
Ah, so that's why I hadn't seen So-hee for a while. I'd wondered where she'd gone.
"You worked hard. It's good."
"Hehe."
At my words, So-hee smiled as if embarrassed.
And Son A-reum was watching So-hee with eyes that looked like she was observing some fascinating animal.
"What, wh-what. Got a problem?"
Noticing that gaze, So-hee's face flushed a little as she grumbled.
"No, it's just... you're so different from how you are at school."
That's understandable.
When I think back to when I first met So-hee, her current attitude is almost unbelievable.
Well... that's all because her attitude changed after she started liking me, though.
...So when did So-hee start liking me?
Thinking back, it was a lot longer ago than I'd thought. I couldn't pinpoint exactly when, but I got the feeling it wasn't that long after she met me.
It seemed it was at least well before she started working as a maid...
Su-a insisted she liked me before Ha-neul did, and Ha-neul insisted she'd liked me almost from the very first time we met. Which meant these three girls had liked me for an immensely long time.
Tch.
Just then, that sound rang in my head.
...So you're finally awake.
...
But Sara gave no reply to my words. Seems she's thoroughly sulking.
...Come to think of it, Sara's been the same since quite a while ago—
Waaah—!!
Ah, you startled me.
At Sara's yell filling my head, I was genuinely startled—enough that my shoulders flinched. Though the other kids in the room all seemed lost in their own thoughts and didn't notice.
...You don't have to be so embarrassed about it.
So you're telling me, you've been kissed by all three of them and you're not embarrassed? You have no chastity, no chastity.
It seemed she'd been reading my memories in the meantime.
No, more importantly, that first kiss, the one Ha-neul gave me, happened because Sara couldn't hold out.
...
See, you've got nothing to say.
Wh-Who said I didn't!?
You're saying it right now.
Still, hearing Sara's voice put my mind at ease a little.
Being embarrassed together is slightly less mortifying than suffering it alone, after all.
D-Don't say such scary things...
But this is reality.
"Ah, Sara."
"Hm?"
I'd been eating the cake while a bit lost in thought when So-hee, sitting next to me, called my name.
"You've got cream on your mouth."
"Ah, okay."
I must have been too distracted to notice I'd gotten something on my lips.
I set the fork from my right hand down onto the plate in my left, intending to wipe my mouth.
Thud.
So-hee grabbed that hand.
"Huh?"
That sound probably didn't come from just my throat.
Son A-reum, who'd seemed oblivious, as well as Ha-neul and Su-a, who'd sensed So-hee was "about to do something", must have made that sound involuntarily in that instant.
And of course, so did the person at the center of it all: me.
"Ah, wait, hold on! So-hee!"
I cried out, but it was no use. So-hee was already lunging straight towards me.
The only thing I could do was struggle desperately not to drop the cake in my left hand.
Clatter.
Well, judging by that sound, I guess I couldn't stop the fork from falling.
Utterly unconcerned that the other kids were rising from their seats about a beat late, So-hee went right for my lips—
Hmm, how should I describe this.
I guess "skimmed" would be the word.
Right. At least she didn't straight-up lick it with her tongue.
Instead, she caught my lips with her mouth in one big motion, as if biting down.
Our two faces met, offset at a slight angle.
So-hee's upper lip touched the corner of my right lip.
So-hee's lower lip touched the corner of my left lip.
And just like that, So-hee's lips closed, skimming the cake from my upper and lower lips.
The sensation of So-hee's open lips closing was felt vividly, transmitted directly through my own lips.
That moment, so brief yet so agonizingly long, ended, and So-hee slowly pulled her face back.
On So-hee's lips, there was a bit of fresh cream she hadn't fully eaten.
It was clear evidence that our lips had been touching just moments before.
As if showing off, So-hee stuck her tongue out slightly and licked that cream into her mouth.
"Aahh!"
A beat later, three shrieks rang out.
I turned my head, trembling in dread, to see Ha-neul, Su-a, and even Son A-reum bolting up from their seats. Though I did think it was remarkable they didn't drop the cake they were holding.
"Heheh."
So-hee made a V sign with her hand at the three of them.
...So-hee.
If you could maybe, just maybe, read the room a little?