Chapter 29 : Chapter 29

Ye Sara had only one set of clothes that could be called 'exercise wear'.

It was the school gym uniform.

She had formal suits that didn't suit her age, and elegant dresses that didn't seem to have any use, but the only outfit suitable for moving her body was the school gym uniform.

Though, to be honest, it wasn't purchased for actual exercise but because it was part of the required school supplies.

The uniform in the mansion was a spare, and the one she wore at school stayed at school.

As expected of a wealthy school, the gym uniforms were collected by a laundry service and returned to the locker of the gym uniform owner after washing.

Since it was stored in a gym uniform locker in the changing room rather than a personal locker, there were no privacy concerns.

The gym uniform was the stereotypical image of what comes to mind when thinking of a 'gym uniform'.

A dark green zip-up hoodie and track pants with white stripes down the side, typically called 'training pants'.

At least it wasn't excessively baggy, fitting well enough to avoid looking too outdated.

That doesn't mean it wasn't somewhat outdated, though.

There were few people who would immediately recognize this uniform as Hwayoung High School's gym clothes, but apart from that, it had the look of something a local college student might throw on for a quick trip outside.

If it weren't Ye Sara's body wearing it but the original me, it would give off the impression of a jobless person stepping out to buy cigarettes after a night of gaming.

It was only because Ye Sara's face was quite pretty that such an image was somewhat mitigated.

Honestly, it wasn't something one would confidently wear around anytime.

"…I should probably buy another set of gym clothes at some point."

Seeing me in the outfit, Yoo Ha-neul immediately said that.

I quietly nodded.

Though I wouldn't have many chances to wear them even if I bought new gym clothes, I had plenty of money, so it wouldn't hurt to buy a few more.

Moreover, aside from the expensive clothes for formal occasions and the pajamas for sleeping, Ye Sara didn't seem to have much that could be called 'everyday clothes'.

The thin indoor outfit I wore earlier when meeting Yoo Ha-neul was pretty much all there was.

Maybe she never bought clothes because she didn't go out much?

…But then, why did she have dresses and suits?

It's not like Ye Sara had events to attend where she'd need them.

"Well, then, let's go!"

While I stood there blankly, something suddenly pulled my arm.

Ah, not 'something', it was Yoo Ha-neul.

Yoo Ha-neul had already hooked her arm around my left arm.

She must have been frustrated with me standing by the front gate, lost in thought.

…Something soft pressed against my arm, hard to ignore.

Now that I thought about it, Yoo Ha-neul wasn't exactly a character with a bad figure.

Naturally, in this position, her chest would be pressed against my arm.

Even though there were several layers of fabric between us, it wasn't like I couldn't feel anything at all.

"Ah, h-hold on a second…"

I stammered in surprise, but Yoo Ha-neul didn't listen and simply pulled my arm along.

As my upper body leaned forward, I crossed the line of the gate and stepped forward.

My legs moved instinctively to keep from losing balance—

And just like that, I found myself outside the gate.

Turning my head, I saw a security guard looking at me while sweating profusely.

It was still only March, not nearly hot enough to sweat.

He probably hadn't anticipated something like this happening.

Yang Hye-in, who had seen me off this far, was staring at me with a rather expressionless face.

"Young lady."

She took a few steps toward me and spoke.

Yoo Ha-neul, who had been clinging to my arm, sensibly let go and stepped back.

"Take this with you."

Yang Hye-in pulled a smartphone from the pocket of her maid uniform apron.

"It's yours, young lady."

It was a smartphone that had been on the market for several years but looked spotless, as if it had never been used.

Naturally, that was because it had barely been used in reality.

Now that I thought about it, it was almost surprising that Ye Sara even had a phone registered in her name.

And in Yang Hye-in's hand, it wasn't just a smartphone.

"What's this…?"

Something thick was beneath the phone, so I pulled it out.

It was a wallet.

A simple, gray, monochrome wallet containing several 50,000-won bills.

"That is also yours, young lady."

…Was this allowance?

No, it might very well be Ye Sara's own money.

Even if she had a bank account and cards, it wouldn't make sense for her to carry no cash at all.

Besides, if I used a card while out shopping, it would probably be reported directly to the chairwoman.

As a minor, Ye Sara couldn't have a credit card in her name, and even if she used a debit card, there would be transaction records.

…Still, it was a bit jarring to see such a young girl walking around with wads of 50,000-won bills.

"I recommend using the phone only when necessary."

Yang Hye-in advised me.

"…Yes, thank you."

I nodded.

Was I being tracked?

Honestly, whether I used the phone or not wouldn't make much difference since someone would surely be following me the moment I left the mansion…

But it couldn't hurt to heed advice from an insider.

"Well, then, please have a safe trip, young lady."

Yang Hye-in bowed slowly.

It felt strange to see her bowing so politely despite being much older than Ye Sara.

It wasn't simply because I saw an adult treating someone younger so respectfully.

More than that, it was because it kept reminding me that Yang Hye-in was a servant in this mansion.

Ye Sara hadn't garnered any interest or attention from the mansion's servants.

If it was true that the mansion's staff were partly responsible for Ye Sara's death, then Yang Hye-in could be considered one of the accomplices.

Of course, Yang Hye-in didn't know I wasn't Ye Sara.

No, even if I told her, she wouldn't believe it.

It's just not something anyone would accept as plausible.

Although this world had some fantastical aspects, like intuitive abilities, those things were considered the norm here, while everything else that was 'fantasy-like' would be deemed nonsense.

If she wasn't someone who believed in ridiculous conspiracy theories like body possession or transmigration, there's no way she would believe me.

In that case, Yang Hye-in must have concluded that 'Ye Sara has changed' based on the actions of me in Ye Sara's body.

On the other hand, if the original Ye Sara had opened up even slightly, Yang Hye-in might have acted this way too.

"…"

But it's too late now.

Yang Hye-in hadn't even realized Ye Sara was dead.

Ye Sara had been lying in bed until I entered her body.

"…Alright, I understand."

Ye Sara's will only hinted at Yang Hye-in's presence very briefly.

I'd need to look into what kind of relationship Yang Hye-in and Ye Sara had.

Even if Yang Hye-in was one of the accomplices, if she could have helped Ye Sara later on, then from my current perspective, she still had enough value to be useful.

At my words, Yang Hye-in slowly raised her back again.

Since she had already turned away, I couldn't see what kind of expression she was making.

"Shall we go, then?"

Instead, what I saw was Yoo Ha-neul, smiling brightly at me.

It was a radiant and pure smile, one that wouldn't lose to the light shining from her face.

She grabbed my wrist.

Then she turned around and started running.

"Ah, wait a second…!"

Before I could stop her, we were already running together.

"Let's get as far away from here as possible first! We'll figure out what to do after that!"

Over her head, a clear blue sky stretched endlessly.

In an animation, when a beautiful girl runs away from the place that had been restraining her, soft music typically plays in the background.

The quiet music gradually grows louder, and it's as if all the noise in the world fades, leaving only the sound of the girl running.

If there's a savior guiding her by the hand, it's even more perfect.

As though only the two of them exist in the world, the music builds to a climax, with a choir or a singer hitting incredibly high notes as the animation reaches its peak—

"Huff… huff…"

—But unfortunately, I didn't have the stamina to keep running until the background music ended.

If this were an animation, the music would have cut off, and all that would be heard would be the heroine gasping for breath.

Damn, I really need to work on my stamina.

I don't need anything exceptional.

Just being able to run as much as anyone else would be incredibly helpful.

It would be embarrassing to fall behind during some triumphant scene later, wouldn't it?

Well, that scene is just my imagination for now.

Still, the person standing right in front of me was the main character of this game, after all.

Yoo Ha-neul had let go of my hand and was lost in deep thought.

"We should definitely get you a new set of gym clothes."

She said while looking at my outfit, not caring that I was gasping for air.

"Our school gym uniform isn't especially ugly, but you can't just keep wearing it every time you go running."

She wasn't wrong.

I felt exactly the same way.

"Alright, then. The first place we'll go today is a clothing store."

Yoo Ha-neul nodded decisively.

"…The first place?"

I managed to ask after catching my breath, and Yoo Ha-neul nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, of course! It's such a sunny weekend, did you really think we'd just jog and head straight back?"

"…"

Hmm, I guess I hadn't thought that far ahead.

I'd only thought about getting outside.

I hadn't really considered what to do once we were out.

I had intended to investigate how Ye Sara communicated with the outside world from the mansion and school, but there weren't many places outside linked to Ye Sara.

Well, she might have had some places from her childhood.

The problem was that I didn't know about any of them.

"What do you think, are you in?"

"Yeah."

Well, I didn't really have any reason to turn down her suggestion.

"Great, then let's run to the clothing store."

Yoo Ha-neul said as she pulled out her smartphone from her pocket.

"…What?"

"There's a shopping mall about 500 meters away. Let's run there. Come on, stand up straight."

She grabbed my shoulders and forced me to stand up, though I was bent over and holding my knees to catch my breath.

I wasn't just weaker in stamina but also strength, so I had no choice but to straighten my back.

"Wait, h-hold on!"

I shouted in surprise, but Yoo Ha-neul showed no mercy.

"Alright, now take a deep breath!"

"Are you really planning to run 500 meters there!?"

"It's fine, I'll run with you. If it's too hard, we'll take a break midway."

"That's not the problem—"

Was she seriously suggesting we run through the busiest street on a weekend, dressed like this?

A street full of foreign tourists?

Of course, Yoo Ha-neul's face was completely sincere.

She smiled at me with a literally dazzling smile.

"Of course!"

"Ah, couldn't we just walk—"

But before I could even finish that suggestion, Yoo Ha-neul had already grabbed my wrist.

"Alright, then, let's go!"

And she started running again.

"W-wait!"

My panicked cry didn't seem to reach Yoo Ha-neul.