SWNOVELXO Chapter 197
Where’s Sara?
Lee Soo-ah became a bit anxious.
This was because she had spent several days contemplating the perfect gift. She wanted to give it to Sara while she wore pretty clothes, ideally when they were alone together.
But she knew well that it wouldn’t necessarily create an incredibly romantic atmosphere.
To Sara, Lee Soo-ah was just a friend.
While Soo-ah had feelings for Sara that went beyond friendship, they were one-sided emotions that Sara was completely unaware of.
However, Soo-ah lacked the courage to directly tell Sara she liked her, so she wanted to continue their friendship.
Someday, really someday, she would have to confess, but…
So, she chose a gift as proof to keep that friendship alive.
But no matter how strong their friendship was, she didn’t want to give it in front of other friends.
A gift of friendship shared only between her and Sara.
She wanted to feel those emotions.
When Sara had disappeared alone earlier, Soo-ah thought it was a great opportunity and tried to pursue her—
But she lost track of her among the crowd and ended up lingering where she last saw her.
Then Soo-ah spotted someone.
Ha Neul was emerging from a corner room, as if she were flying.
Her face was full of smiles. Something wonderful must have happened.
And seeing that smile, Soo-ah thought.
The reason Ha Neul could smile like that was obviously only because of Sara.
She wanted to rush over and interrogate her, but… she didn’t have that kind of courage. Ha Neul was always a bold girl, and if her reason for smiling was justified, she wouldn’t be shy no matter what others said.
But standing in front of someone like Ha Neul made Soo-ah feel small, and she didn’t want to oppose her.
Well, sure, when it came to height, she was definitely shorter than Ha Neul.
In fact, it was clear without even needing to ask that Sara was in the room Ha Neul just left.
Soo-ah hid behind a thick pillar until Ha Neul had completely passed and then cautiously stepped out.
If anyone had been watching, they would have thought her behavior was quite suspicious.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anyone paid attention to such a corner.
Soo-ah hurried to the closed door, peeked inside, and saw Sara squatting.
She sighed in relief, but as she entered the room, she realized something was off.
Sara was squatting with her face buried in her hands.
As if she were crying.
“…Sara?”
In an instant, her mind went blank.
What had Ha Neul done to Sara?
Of course, Soo-ah trusted Ha Neul. She was one of the most upright people she had ever met.
I trust her.
She had that faith, but…
Seeing Sara in this state after Ha Neul had left made her uneasy.
Could it be, just hypothetically, that Ha Neul had done something strange to Sara?
Soo-ah slowly and carefully approached Sara.
At the same time, she noticed something even stranger.
…Though Sara was squatting, burying her face in her hands as if crying, there was no sound of sniffling or crying at all.
All she could hear was the sound of deep breaths.
“…Sara?”
Soo-ah approached close enough to whisper to Sara as she gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Wha—!?”
Sara’s reaction was intense.
Soo-ah’s hand on her left shoulder made her jerk, trying to move away.
But Sara was still squatting, and quickly darting aside or rolling over just wasn’t in her athletic abilities.
As a result, Sara fell over to the side with a thud.
“S-Sara!?”
Soo-ah rushed over, calling Sara’s name repeatedly.
“U-uh, Soo-ah…?”
After some time struggling on the floor, Sara realized that the person in front of her was Soo-ah when she heard her voice.
“Sara, is something wrong?”
Soo-ah reached her hand out to Sara.
“N-no, nothing’s wrong…”
But the moment she unconsciously grabbed that hand, Sara froze.
Soo-ah’s movements halted almost simultaneously.
“…”
“…”
They both remained silent for a while.
Soo-ah’s eyes were on the left hand of Sara, which was grabbing hers.
Sara, having fallen to her side, instinctively reached out her left hand towards Soo-ah.
And on that left ring finger was a ring that Soo-ah had never seen Sara wear before.
“Uh, um, this is…”
Sara stammered, flustered, and exclaimed,
“T-this is a friendship ring!”
Only after hearing that did the frozen Soo-ah start to move.
“T-this is a friendship ring?”
You wear a friendship ring on your left ring finger…?
Of course, Soo-ah knew of the existence of friendship rings. However, she had never seen anyone wear one intentionally.
Naturally, wearing such a ring would attract plenty of misunderstandings from anyone nearby.
While same-sex relationships aren’t quite common, they’re certainly not rare enough to never encounter, and these days it’s not something to be ashamed of.
The opposite was true as well.
Naturally, if you walked around wearing matching rings in the name of friendship, you would be misunderstood even if you wore it around your neck instead of your finger.
And from Soo-ah’s perspective, that gift was meant to provoke such misunderstandings intentionally.
Even if Sara didn’t wear the ring, people would still misinterpret her simply because she was holding it.
Above all, those who think having same-gender relationships is embarrassing often use the excuse of “friendship.”
…How frustrating.
Clearly, the gift I chose was also something that would show how close I was to Sara.
Yet Ha Neul was racing ahead faster than that.
…At least, it wouldn’t be a problem as long as Sara thought of it as a friendship ring.
“…”
“…”
Amid a slightly awkward tension, Sara pulled herself up, still holding Soo-ah’s hand.
“S-so, what brought you here?”
Sara seemed awkward, perhaps because Soo-ah was silent, and asked like that.
“…A gift.”
“Huh?”
“I came because I wanted to give you a gift too.”
Soo-ah grabbed hold of her reason, took a deep breath.
“I wanted to give you this gift when it was just the two of us.”
“R-really…?”
Soo-ah nodded, then intentionally held up a box she had come to find upstairs.
It was a small box that fit snugly in the palm of her hand.
“Th-thank you…”
Soo-ah’s face turned red as she handed over the box. Sara’s cheeks also flushed as she accepted the gift shyly.
Inside the box was another box.
It wasn’t a ridiculous “box within a box within a box,” but rather a luxurious wrapping that hinted something precious was inside.
“I-I’ll open it…”
As Sara began to unwrap it, looking at her intently, she said somewhat awkwardly.
Seeing Soo-ah nodding nervously, Sara took a deep breath and placed the empty box on a nearby chair.
Now, only the jewelry box remained in Sara’s hands.
Sara slowly opened the box.
“…Wow.”
Inside the box was a single thin silver chain.
However, upon closer inspection, it was evident that it was a finely crafted necklace.
Not overly extravagant, but still noticeable; it definitely didn’t look cheap.
It was the same type of necklace that Soo-ah was wearing.
“Sara.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Could you sit in that chair for a moment?”
“Um, o-okay…?”
Sara cautiously took a seat in a nearby empty chair at Soo-ah’s request.
Soo-ah approached her and picked up the necklace from the jewelry box.
“…Could you hold your hair up for a minute?”
“Okay…?”
Sara seemed a bit nervous as she replied softly, raising her hands to gather her hair.
Soo-ah stood behind Sara, admiring the now exposed, flawless white neck.
A single silver line traced across that radiant skin.
“Alright, done.”
Sara released her hold. The falling dark hair draped over the back of the necklace.
“It’s pretty…”
Sara said in a slightly trembling voice.
“…”
“U-um, Soo-ah?”
Feeling anxious at Soo-ah’s silence, Sara turned her head slightly.
The light skin peeking from under the black hair.
And the faint glimmer of her lips.
“…”
Seeing that, Soo-ah felt apprehensive.
Afraid of witnessing another set of lips meeting those lips.
No, worried that it already had.
No matter how many times she heard the term “friendship ring,” she remained anxious.
After all, she had seen Ha Neul leave the room with a very fresh expression.
Among all the girls next to Sara right now, Soo-ah was the farthest behind.
That was right. And because of that—
Soo-ah thought.
She wanted to run, just like those girls.