The party kept going.
At one point, I embarrassingly drew everyone’s attention, feeling like a total fool, and even though the stories were utterly lacking in substance, maybe that’s why I felt so worn out. Anyway, I had to deal with a lot of people.
Most of their faces didn’t leave a deep impression. I only remembered a few. Except for those I definitely had to remember, almost no one stuck in my mind.
All of it felt pointless.
I wanted a narrow world.
Maybe having lived in such a tight space for so long made me accustomed to it, or maybe it was just my nature. But none of that really mattered.
I didn’t intend to intentionally give up what I had in hand, but I also didn’t want it spilling over uncontrollably.
After standing there for about an hour and completely exhausting myself, I retreated to a small room near the party’s lobby.
Most of the attendees were already busy chatting with close friends, so the only ones likely to come find me were Ha Neul, Sua, and Sohee.
Or perhaps Yang Hye-in.
Well, I wouldn’t mind if those people came to find me.
I had no idea what this room was originally for, but it was completely empty. Anything brought inside could be used without issue. It didn’t have a bathroom or shower, so it was a bit inconvenient as a room.
Even in such an empty space, there were a few chairs. I leaned back in one of them and let out a small sigh.
I hadn’t noticed it while standing, but my legs were definitely killing me.
Even after training like that, it seemed like I still had a long way to go.
While rubbing my slightly swollen legs, the door opened cautiously.
“Sara.”
It was Ha Neul who came in.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing me massage my leg, Ha Neul asked in a slightly worried voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit tired and resting.”
I answered softly.
This was someone I didn’t need to be on edge around.
Ha Neul, with her hair down and wearing a red dress, didn’t look like a child from a working-class family. If someone introduced her as the granddaughter of the group chairman, I would have just accepted it.
It felt like there was no real meaning in distinguishing between rich and poor people.
Well, maybe it was because Ha Neul was someone who always tried to blend in wherever she went.
Ha Neul carefully closed the door again, walked over, and sat next to me.
“…”
“…”
There was a short moment of silence.
We talked almost every day, so unexpectedly there weren’t that many topics to discuss. We were even experiencing almost the same things. We were always together.
However, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable.
This silence was born not from a lack of things to say, but from a shared understanding that there was no need for us to speak.
“Hey, Sara.”
“Yeah?”
“Happy Birthday.”
Suddenly, Ha Neul spoke those words, and I stopped rubbing my leg.
I slowly straightened up to look at Ha Neul.
She was looking at me, her face slightly flushed, and her hands fidgeting. It seemed she was a bit embarrassed by this situation.
…Ha Neul probably wanted to say this to ‘that person,’ not to me.
In that sense, I felt a bit sorry.
I had subtly adjusted my position to act as that person after all.
But still, I didn’t want to give up that role.
“Thanks.”
I smiled brightly at Ha Neul.
It was a relief that that person had told me my birthday date. Thanks to that, I could express my gratitude without any awkwardness.
“I have your birthday gift prepared in the room, so I’ll give it to you after the party ends.”
It seemed she had prepared another gift in the meantime. It was quite an impressive feat in some respects.
Whatever the birthday gift was… it was the same as that person. I had no intention of complaining about the gifts my friends had prepared for me. I would be happy no matter what.
It was the first proper gift I received in my life.
Honestly, I knew very well what that person had ordered online as a gift, but I said nothing. Rather, I wanted to pretend not to know.
“Well then… I’ll have to get back to enjoying the party.”
I said that with a smile and stood up. Sitting for a bit had made me feel better.
I wondered when the party would end.
I figured after about an hour, it would be time to wrap things up. Maybe if I gave my uncle some hints, it would work out?
As I stood, Ha Neul also stood up.
Just as we were walking side by side to exit the room—
Ha Neul grabbed my right wrist.
Caught off guard, I couldn’t even resist and was spun around by her grip.
And I found myself face-to-face with Ha Neul.
“And… ‘Sara.’”
“Uh, uh…?”
“I want to congratulate you, too.”
Ha Neul’s smile was a glowing, fiery one.
“Uh, no, I’m Sara, right?”
“No, you are ‘Sara,’ aren’t you?”
Ha Neul emphasized my name as she asked.
…How?
I hadn’t said anything out loud, had I?
“So, how about you let me call you Sara? Huh? I have a present I want to give you directly.”
“…What if I don’t want to?”
Now that I was caught, there was no more reason to hide.
I glared at Ha Neul with the same fiery look, and she pushed me back. Obviously, I couldn’t win in a battle of strength against her, and I was helplessly pushed back until my back hit the wall.
Bang!
“Ugh, ugh…”
Ha Neul’s left hand slammed against the wall beside my face.
Her face was so close that I could feel the heat radiating from it.
“What…?”
“If you don’t call me out, I’ll just call you myself.”
“…”
Ha Neul’s body shifted closer to mine.
The fabric of her dress wasn’t that thick, so I could distinctly feel her body shape pressing against mine.
It felt as though our hearts were beating in sync.
“If you’re going to do it, then go ahead.”
I feigned a relaxed smile and said.
“After all, it’s your first kiss, isn’t it? You plan to have that first kiss not with that person but with me?”
“You’re saying ‘you’? Huh?”
Oops.
“So, does that mean you’ve kissed someone before? Who?”
“….”
“Was it with Sara? How?”
“….”
Ha Neul’s eyes were blazing.
In fact, they had been burning since earlier, but now it seemed like they could incinerate anything.
“Uh, however it happened doesn’t matter, right? I really don’t care. It’s not like it’s your first kiss or anything.”
I tried to show confidence to the best of my ability—
“I don’t care either.”
“Huh?”
Ha Neul shattered my bravado with a single finger.
“After all, this body is also Sara’s body,”
“Wait, wait?”
“If I just press my lips to yours and wait for Sara to come along, then that counts as your first kiss, right?”
If it’s a non-stop long kiss, can that be counted as a first kiss?
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
But Ha Neul’s face was already too close.
“No, wait, Ha Neul, snap out of it!”
I turned my face away, but Ha Neul’s hand that was on the wall grabbed my chin and turned my face back toward her. One hand still held my wrist, and I tried to push back with the other hand, but my strength was no match.
My mind was dizzy. It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long time.
No matter how freely that person and I could switch bodies—
Outside forces that could change a body still seemed to be unchanged.
In the end, having given up on everything, I tightly shut my eyes.
Even with my vision blocked, I could distinctly feel who was in front of me.
Our bodies pressed together,
Noses brushing against each other,
And something soft and warm landed on my lips.
The last thing I sensed was a sweet lip gloss scent.
*
…Uh?
Wait, wait.
No, no, no.
Wait a minute.
I had just been relaxing in my consciousness until a moment ago.
Suddenly, everything snapped back like I woke up from a dream, and when I opened my eyes, my vision was all blurry.
It felt like something was too close, making it hard to focus properly.
Like flicking on the switches one by one in a dark building, my senses began to return one by one.
The first thing I felt was a fragrance.
It smelled like sweet flowers.
Maybe it was the fragrance coming from the person I was pressed against right now.
Next, I registered the hard wall behind me and the soft body pressed against the front.
And on my lips, something warm and soft—
Perhaps the other person’s lips.
“…”
Slowly, the other person pulled back.
My focus came into proper alignment, and although I momentarily confused the person before me, my brain concluded that the girl with her hair down in front of me was Ha Neul.
And then, I made one deduction.
…Just a moment ago, Ha Neul and I had been kissing.
So, that was what you’d call a kiss.
“…Eeh?”
And that conclusion was so bizarre that an error sound escaped my lips.
“Happy Birthday.”
Seeing me like that, Ha Neul beamed a smile and offered her congratulations.
