Chapter 37 : Chapter 37

Ye Sara's actions could only be described as "unexpected".

In fact, when I think about all that's happened so far, her behavior has been somewhat strange ever since she entered high school.

The students who came from the same middle school, whether they were in the same class or not, had some idea of what kind of person Ye Sara was.

She was someone who had given up on everything and never approached people first.

It's said that when she was in elementary school, she craved attention and acted strangely in all sorts of ways, but by the time she graduated, it seemed like she had accepted her situation and stopped seeking relationships with others.

Honestly, from the perspective of her classmates, that made things easier.

If the other person doesn't respond, it's naturally easier to ignore them.

But that Ye Sara's behavior started to change around the time she graduated from middle school.

Lee Soo-ah spoke to Ye Sara.

And, surprisingly, Ye Sara responded to her.

The two of them even took a picture together at graduation.

That is, they took a picture together, even though Ye Sara wasn't even included in the yearbook.

This incident was enough to cause a stir.

Lee Soo-ah had already made many friends at school and was quite popular.

And yet, she committed an act that was practically a taboo.

How were the other students supposed to deal with someone like Lee Soo-ah?

The conclusion the other students came to was simple.

All they had to do was ignore Lee Soo-ah too.

Since she was connected to Ye Sara, it was impossible to talk to her without also interacting with Ye Sara.

At first, some students tried talking to Lee Soo-ah while ignoring Ye Sara, but they quickly realized it was impossible to avoid the topic of Ye Sara in conversations with her.

Lee Soo-ah carried the guilt of ignoring Ye Sara during middle school, and she deliberately brought up Ye Sara whenever she talked to the other kids.

Each time she did that, the other students would fall silent.

Before long, Lee Soo-ah found herself isolated, just like Ye Sara.

After entering high school, Ye Sara made another friend.

This time, it wasn't hard to ignore them.

After all, that student was a transfer, with no connections within the school.

Transfers were already in a vulnerable position, making it easy to ignore them and lump them together with Ye Sara.

At least, that's what everyone thought.

However, the two became too close to ignore.

Yoo Ha-neul approached Ye Sara without hesitation, and Ye Sara accepted her just as easily.

The two always chatted during breaks, and Yoo Ha-neul would even joke around with Ye Sara.

While Ye Sara and the other students in the class maintained a mutual disregard for each other, her strikingly beautiful face was hard to completely overlook.

Even while sitting quietly, her appearance commanded attention.

Though it was difficult to approach her, her somewhat aloof beauty only added to her elegant atmosphere.

Even if they tried to ignore it, the truth of Ye Sara's "flower on a cliff" aura was undeniable.

But Yoo Ha-neul shattered that atmosphere without a care.

Whenever she poked Ye Sara's side, Ye Sara made a strange yet adorable sound.

The sound was so contrary to her usual vibe.

And because of that, it was funny.

Laughter is a natural reaction.

Maybe if you're thoroughly trained, you can hold it in, but for the past three years, the students hadn't learned how to suppress laughter.

After all, they had merely been in a relationship of mutual ignorance.

Recently, the students sitting around Ye Sara had been realizing, much to their dismay, that it's much harder to suppress laughter than to tolerate someone being annoying or yelling.

*

Ye Sara caused even more incidents after that.

She talked to two incredibly popular boys at school.

In fact, these two were difficult to ignore.

One was the heir to Homyeong Group, the second-largest company in the country after Eugene Group.

He was handsome and very popular.

The other was a boy rumored to be a rising star in Korean soccer, though he didn't seem intent on pursuing soccer as a career.

Regardless, he was popular.

Who could dislike a handsome, athletic, and kind guy, except maybe a lesbian?

Sexual instinct is just as hard to suppress.

No girl in this school could easily ignore those two boys.

So all they could do was hope that when they talked to the two, they wouldn't bring up Ye Sara.

That's right.

The silent prison that forcibly surrounded Ye Sara was much thinner and weaker than the gatekeepers had thought.

And that became even clearer today.

Students often unconsciously think of school as their entire world.

That mindset usually doesn't change until they graduate and start working.

The best way to realize that all the social skills you thought you knew are just clumsy gestures of a fledgling adult is to go out into the real world and face the malice that awaits.

Or, to have someone from outside force you to realize it.

Some insane photographer took a picture of Ye Sara.

And an insane news outlet bought that picture and wrote an article.

To top it off, the article was about a dating rumor.

It was even plastered all over the portal site's main page.

Of course, it didn't have as big an impact as a celebrity dating scandal.

But it was enough to spread rumors within the closed society of the school.

Moreover, both of the people involved in the dating rumor were in the same class.

It was inevitable that people's attention would be drawn to them.

That's right.

No matter how much the students treated Ye Sara as invisible within the school, people outside the school didn't care about that in the slightest.

As the article spread to other media outlets and online communities, and as people started commenting on Ye Sara and Yoo Ha-neul's looks, bodies, and outfits, there was no way a bunch of high school students could stop it.

Especially since the students in this school were still teenagers, full of sexual curiosity.

When they hear rumors that someone is dating, they get curious.

And if the two people dating are the same gender, it piques their interest even more.

And, they start to worry about themselves.

If there were two lesbians in the class, how would they change clothes during P.E.?

Even if the other students ignored them, wouldn't the two's eyes be on the rest of them?

Even though they treated Ye Sara like she was invisible, it was still just "treatment".

They could still see her.

And the incident that confirmed those fears finally occurred.

"Come, sit here."

Ye Sara said to Yoo Ha-neul with a bright smile.

Many had seen Ye Sara's slight eye-smiles before, but this was the first time they'd seen her smile so openly.

That innocent expression was so beautiful, I couldn't control the way my gaze turned toward her.

Moreover, it was also a kind of declaration.

Rumors?

Dating scandal?

We really are like this, so what?

That was the meaning it carried.

At least, that's what everyone in the class thought.

Whatever Ye Sara's real intentions might have been.

*

Yoo Ha-neul, who had been standing dumbfounded for a while, suddenly slapped her cheeks with both hands.

"Hup!"

She gave herself a pep talk and then, with confident strides, walked over to me.

She plopped down on the chair I had pulled out for her.

Yes, that's how you should do it.

Though the article made it easy to misunderstand, we were just friends.

But there was no need to prove that to everyone.

I didn't care about what others thought anyway.

After all, people had been treating me like I didn't exist for a long time.

They can keep doing that.

Yoo Ha-neul started rummaging through her bag.

And, as usual, she pulled out a bag of chocolates.

It was the kind with individually wrapped chocolates, like little candies.

She tore open the large bag, pulled out a piece of chocolate, and wordlessly held it out to me.

I stared at the chocolate for a moment, then ate it directly from her hand.

I might have brushed my lips against her fingers slightly, but Yoo Ha-neul didn't seem to care.

"Is it good?"

As usual, she asked.

I nodded.

I wasn't sure how the kids around me felt, but I could sense someone stretching their neck to watch from a distance.

We had pushed our desks together, even though class was about to start.

For anyone with even a little nosiness, it must have been impossible not to sneak a glance.

The kids nearby were probably struggling to hold back since it would've been obvious if they stared directly at me.

Let's see how it goes during class.

*

The teacher who walked into the classroom stared wide-eyed at Yoo Ha-neul and me sitting together.

They opened and closed their mouths a few times as if they wanted to say something, but then shut it.

Yeah, what could they say?

At the very least, they couldn't call me out.

That would go against their principle of ignoring me.

And they couldn't call out Yoo Ha-neul either.

If they asked her why she was sitting with me, it would inevitably lead to talking about me.

Even though I was supposed to be invisible, they couldn't completely ignore me.

They had to give me grades, and my name was written on the attendance sheet.

Eugene Group had given enough money that I could receive a perfect attendance award without even showing up.

If Yoo Ha-neul started talking about me, it would prove that I existed.

Otherwise—

"Yoo Ha-neul, move your desk immediately, or I'll deduct points for your attitude."

Yeah, or they could just throw out a threat.

For Yoo Ha-neul, whose grades allowed her to attend this school, even losing one point for behavior was a big deal.

But Yoo Ha-neul stubbornly stayed in her seat despite the teacher's words.

"I'm—ah."

I poked her in the side just as she was about to argue.

I shook my head at her.

"…"

Yoo Ha-neul bit her lip.

"…Sorry."

She seemed to understand what I was thinking when I pushed our desks together.

She looked frustrated that she couldn't help any more than that.

I stood up and helped her move her desk back to its original spot.

Then, after bringing her chair over—

I sat in it.

"…"

The classroom fell into silence.

"…Take your seat."

The teacher, face flushed red, spoke.

It was directed at Yoo Ha-neul.

They probably thought she'd chase me out and sit back in her own seat.

"…"

Yoo Ha-neul hesitated for a moment, then started to move toward my desk.

But she didn't take more than a single step.

I had grabbed her sleeve as she turned around.

Yoo Ha-neul looked at me with wide eyes, and I shook my head once.

Then I patted my thigh with my hand.

"…What…?"

Yoo Ha-neul's jaw dropped.

And so did the jaws of everyone in the class.

I looked up at Yoo Ha-neul and smiled sweetly.

Yes, in this class, I don't exist.

It's been that way for years.

So naturally, this chair I'm sitting on is empty, right?

I slowly turned my head and stared directly at the teacher, whose bangs were now damp with cold sweat.

Go ahead and try ignoring me.

Seeing the confident smile on my face, the teacher turned pale.