“What else can vividly revive memories like taste?

As soon as she took a bite, the spicy flavor filled her mouth, drawing out memories buried deep in Liz’s subconscious like relics. It was a memory from her past life.

She had a friend.

At the age of seventeen, on the day of the entrance ceremony, she became friends with someone who sat next to her. It was a friend who revealed her face on that occasion.

With many similarities, they quickly became close friends. They had similar ways of thinking, similar tastes, and similar inherent flaws.

The only differences were that she had good eyesight, while her friend had poor eyesight. Her friend was adopted from an orphanage to a good family, while she was living as a dependent in a relative’s house. And… the only difference was their gender.

Her friend was a boy, and she was a girl. However, just like any other differences, the difference in gender had no effect on their friendship.

There was an empathetic connection beyond gender between them.

The loss from experiencing the same pain, and the fatigue from trying to appear normal and not revealing the loss to others were something only the two of them could perfectly understand.

To her, that friend was not another gender but another version of herself. When she told her friend that, he replied with a smile.

“I feel the same way.”

It was a strong bond.

They studied together after school, and on the way home, they snacked at a snack bar. Her friend couldn’t handle spicy food well, but he always ordered the same as her. It was clear that he thought that since it was something another version of himself was eating, he should follow suit.

It was peaceful days.

Walking side by side, casting long shadows in the sunset, the road they walked together felt warm and cozy.

She believed that this tranquility would continue for a long time. However, the end came faster than she thought.

The vague discomfort she had been feeling since the beginning of the semester began to take a distinct form.

She noticed that when she passed by, children would stop talking and look at her with interest and disdain. However, if she approached, they would turn their heads and return to their previous conversation.

She learned that they wouldn’t answer until asked three times, that they would turn their heads away as if by mistake but not really, and that it was a subtle and skillful form of exclusion.

‘Why?’

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with a reason. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She could be sure of that, as she had lived her life on high alert since becoming an orphan, making sure not to make any mistakes.

Then she found out soon enough.

The moment she saw that the children, who sent her disdainful glances, were looking at her friend with admiring eyes, she knew.

Her friend was the cause.

The reason she was ostracized was that her friend, who was taller and better looking than her peers, was the cause.

It was another bitter life lesson that made her realize that she could be rejected for something that wasn’t her fault.
She knew the reason was irrational, but resisting it was too young, and the surroundings were too closed.

It was more comfortable to keep one person away than to turn the majority into enemies, ensuring a much more comfortable school life.

So she distanced herself from her friend.

After school, she didn’t wait and went home first. Even if she happened to go home together, she didn’t stop by the snack bar as before and parted ways at the crossroads without delay.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

Her friend, who sensed the strange attitude change, asked several times, but each time she shook her head.

‘No, nothing.’

Not saying that she felt ostracized because of him was her last bit of pride.

As another semester passed like that, the tight friendship turned into occasional greetings in the hallway. Then, the exclusion also came to an end.

Losing a like-minded friend was sad, but being excluded was so lonely and embarrassing that it offset the sadness of losing friends.

She spent the rest of her school life dryly and graduated.

Her relatives didn’t send her to college, and instead, they demanded repayment for raising her all these years.

There was no lofty ideal to strive for, as if it was a rebellion against that demand.

She worked day and night, and except for travel and food expenses, she gave everything to repay the money she claimed was used to raise her, including interest. She thought it would make her feel relieved to pay off everything and be free.

In her harsh daily life, there was someone who treated her warmly not as a working machine but as a human being.

Handing her warm tea, smiling warmly, and comforting her warmly, this person made her release the emotions she had held back for a long time. And the fact that she wasn’t blamed was so comforting.

So, immersed in happiness one day, a man appeared again, reminding her of a dark moment in her life.

She was so surprised when her old friend suddenly appeared at her workplace that she couldn’t say anything.