I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

“It’s almost the end now.”

I said that, but Sara still had a slightly anxious expression. Her consciousness overflowed with emotions, and her expressions were diverse. Honestly, she didn’t look like the wicked villainess described in the game.

She was just a slightly weak and delicate girl.

“It’s the end, but I’m still a bit anxious.”

Sara, sitting next to me, replied. Unlike usual, she didn’t cling to me tightly. Keeping a hand’s distance away, Sara looked more lonely and fragile.

But I couldn’t easily hug her.

Sara keeping her distance meant she had a lot on her mind.

No matter how much she sorted out her thoughts, the fact remained that Choi Na-kyung had held an important place in Sara’s life. It was only natural for her to feel mixed emotions if everything was going to end in just a few days.

“…That person thought my childhood was theirs.”

As I quietly listened, Sara slowly began to speak.

“If that person disappears, my childhood will truly be gone. I had no friends, and effectively no family. I was just an isolated lonely girl, left alone in a room with no one to be kind to me. In my memories, I only see me being alone.”

“…”

What should I say to comfort Sara?

Even so, the crime should be judged, and the sin committed by Choi Na-kyung was too great to simply forgive and forget. Doesn’t that mean you hate the one who swallowed your childhood? Wouldn’t our future be much brighter once Choi Na-kyung disappears?

No, no words could comfort Sara.

She had devoted her entire childhood… No, thinking about it, the only time Sara truly felt happy was just a few months. It wasn’t just her childhood; I hadn’t existed in this world before she had decided to take her own life earlier this year.

From Sara’s perspective, this situation might feel like a denial of her ‘entire life.’

“What if the person I cherished so much completely disappears from my life… If my life until now was a lie, what should I do?”

Of course, Sara had voiced such concerns before. She tried to sever ties with Choi Na-kyung and completely cut off any lingering feelings after being kidnapped.

But even so, it was different now that the situation was at its end compared to when the work hadn’t finished yet.

“…Don’t get the wrong idea. I feel relieved.”

As our eyes met, Sara said with a faint smile.

“It’s because I’m relieved. Relieved.”

“That’s exactly the problem.”

She had cleared away everything that had been blocking her life, yet her entire life was stuck behind that obstacle, unable to move forward.

If clearing that obstacle was achieved through her husband, then this relief would be filled only with a sense of accomplishment. However, Sara was a girl who had ultimately given up everything. If I hadn’t come into her body, none of the preceding events would have occurred.

But that was a far-fetched thought.

Well, I won’t deny that I’ve been a pretty important figure in Sara’s life and have helped with many things. At least, among the kids around me, if anyone was certain about the reason they liked me, it would be Sara.

However, if Sara herself didn’t accept me, everything that had happened until now would have been pointless.

No, she probably wouldn’t have even made a proper attempt.

In fact, even if I disappeared from this spot right now, I believe Sara would manage everything well.

“From now on, we just have to look at the future.”

So, I told Sara.

“What’s happened until now cannot be helped. But even if everything ends, think of all the things we will have left.”

Ha Neul, Sohee, Sua. And Areum will stay with us.

Yang Hye-in certainly won’t leave us behind either.

We can keep making new friends at school. The bonds that Choi Na-kyung created have already long been broken.

Sara might not realize it yet, but we have a long future ahead of us.

“Really?”

Sara said with her eyes closed.

“Yeah.”

Then she moved closer and sat next to me.

Leaning her head on my shoulder, Sara said, “That’s right. We’ll continue to be together.”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t hold back a smile at those words.

“Yep. We’ll keep being like this.”

And saying that, I wrapped my arm around Sara, hugging her.

Sara stayed in my embrace for a long time without saying a word.

Until we woke up again.

*

I didn’t expect it to rain.

The sky had seemed clear when I fell asleep. The red sunset was pouring in through the window.

Pitter patter, I lay there for a while, listening to the sound of rain falling heavily, something I hadn’t thought of during the day.

Well, it was hot and humid. Summer is always like that. I’m not sure if it’s monsoon season or not, but there was really no reason for me to worry. I didn’t need to go outside anyway.

“…”

Sleep refused to come back. The embrace from earlier still lingered on my body.

If only I could stay that way forever…

I was unable to fall asleep, so I got up. Since I had fallen asleep without drawing the curtains in the hospital room, faint light was seeping through the window. It couldn’t exactly be called strong light since rain was falling. The bright moonlight wasn’t visible. Just the dim light from the streetlamps near the hospital barely filtered in.

There was a fairly wide road running through the area near the hospital, but all I could hear through the thick window was the sound of rain. Even if a car passed by, it seemed like the sound would drown beneath the rain.

I slowly walked over to the window. Standing there, I quietly gazed outside. I could see cars passing by in the distance. There were probably still people awake in the town. But the hospital itself was eerily quiet, as if asleep.

As I stood there staring out the window for a while—

Click,

A small sound echoed. It wasn’t the type of sound that would come from an empty room.

I turned my head towards the direction of the sound.

The doorknob rattled a few times as if confirming it was locked.

If I had been trapped here clueless… if I had been forcibly admitted to this hospital as ‘Choi Na-kyung’ had planned, I would have been incredibly terrified.

However, I knew who was behind that door.

After a few more clicks of the lock, the door opened.

It wasn’t forced open. They must have had a key.

“…”

“…”

Since the lights in the hospital corridor were off, I could barely make out the figure behind the door.

“Sara?”

But even from that figure, I could tell who it was.

If someone else had seen her, they might have described her as very attractive. Perhaps some might even think of her as a ghost or specter because of that.

Now, without even a husband, and not often showing her face to the media, she was the kind of woman who diligently cared for her appearance, as if trying hard to impress someone.

For some reason, she harbored an inappropriate interest in her adopted daughter, being a woman not quite in her right mind.

The figure took a step closer toward me, inching into the faint light coming through the window, looking perfect as ever.

No, maybe not quite as perfect as usual. Perhaps she hadn’t eaten well lately, as her cheeks seemed slightly sunken. Dark circles under her eyes were prominent, not fully concealed by makeup, and her hair looked a bit frazzled.

But she must have done her best in her own way.

Her daughter,

In other words, she must have been suppressing her fluttering heart and slowly preparing to meet the one she liked. That’s just how she was.

…If only.

If only she had let me know just a bit earlier.

But it was already too late. The wrongs committed didn’t go away with time; they remained right where they were.

“Sara… is that you?”

Her voice sounded like that of a mother who truly loves her daughter, hardly resembling that of an attacker.

Hearing that voice left me astonished.

That wasn’t an act. She genuinely worried for her daughter. Did she believe that their relationship could still be mended?

…But.

“I’ve kept thinking.”

I said to the person in front of me.

“About what you said that day. What you told that person that day.”

It felt as if I was talking to someone entirely different from me, not the person she knew.

Words that almost seemed mixed up with someone else,

Or perhaps seemed to overlap.

I tried replaying in my mind what that meant within the confines of her memory. But I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of those words.

“Before we part, can you tell me what that meant?”

Looking at her didn’t make my heart race anymore.

Yeah. Just as she said.

I now had more than enough reasons to finally put my past to rest.

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