Colette could not believe her eyes.
She already knew Manon's eyes reminded her of someone, but she did not know this was the reality. She did not know that they had the same face entirely.
Not even registering what the system had stated, Colette called her name.
"Hana?" She uttered. As if recognizing her very voice instead of her face, Manon- no…Hana?-stared at her, bewildered.
"Yuna?"
That's right...her name. Yuna. She mindlessly had forgotten it...perhaps on purpose.
The two girls stared at each other, and a myriad of shared memories came to the forefront of their minds and hearts.
Colette- at that time was Yuna Han. And at 14, her hair cut in a short black bob, landing in the United States for the first time, had met Hana and her parents at the airport as her exchange host family. They were the same age, Hana being of mixed decent, whilst Yuna Han was fully Korean and not great at English.
But their family took care of her the 6 months she was there. Within 1 month, she and Hana knew everything there was to know about each other. Their favorite color, food, clothes, boys…everything. They were thick as thieves, and the closest friends. Hana had a unique trait. One blue eye from her father, and one brown eye from her mother. It was something she had never seen before, a person with such an oddly beautiful trait, such an oddly beautiful face, one she would never witness again, is what she thought upon first seeing her. A true beauty.
She had loved Hana so much. Like a real sister. They were both without biological siblings, and both lonely. They were the perfect fit for each other. That's why it was all the more painful. That's why Colette had no idea what to even say to her right here and now.
She blinked at the sound of Stella clearing her throat.
"Um…are you two okay?" Stella suddenly said, her eyebrows up to her hairline. Colette shook her head quickly, flaming hair flailing about, her brain suddenly turning back on and putting her feelings into a temporary chokehold by brute force.
"Yes! Thank you guys for today. We're gonna go eat now!" Colette yelped, ushering her…old friend…into the bedroom as quickly as she could and shutting the door to end the interaction. Thankfully, the other children did not push the matter and left quietly to go do their chores.
Colette's back was against the door, and she watched the brunette girl set down the tray of two soups, bread, butter and water glasses, onto a bed. Her mannerisms were the same. The way she walked. The way she sucked in her lips to bite them, the way she boldly met Colette's eyes head on or not at all, refusing to glance and look away, refusing to look down at her feet, at her, then up at the sky. She either saw her or she did not. And today, Hana- no, Manon saw her.
Colette felt a lump rise in her throat- eyes stinging as more memories came to the forefront.
In the past, after she left the states, they kept in touch. The distance only made them stronger as friends, and she loved bragging to whoever she could about her best friend Hana and how pretty, cool, and American she was.
That was until their senior year.
It had been 5 months until the college entrance exams when she got the news.
Hana's father died in a car accident, and Hana and her mother were getting deported as her mother was denied a new green card due to filing issues. They had to wait 2 years to apply again. Although Hana was born in the states, she had no family there to stay with as a minor, and had to leave with her mother or go into foster care for over half a year. The courts would not allow her mother to stay until she graduated high school because she would not turn 18 until 3 months later. This had all happened within one month, and as her best friend, she was so upset that Hana hadn't told her sooner.
Hana couldn't fathom leaving her mother alone and made the decision to move to Korea with her. But things did not get better.
"What is going on, Yuna? Why are we here?"
"Colette." she couldn't help but to reply. She hated hearing her old name, suddenly. Or maybe it was just from her mouth. Manon…or Hana?- blinked, unphased. It was confirmation that it truly was her. It was Colette's old friend standing before her now, in the body of a small skinny child who had been neglected, one that shared her exact face. The irony squeezed her chest tightly.
Colette remembered so much- the late nights at the pc cafe, but she also remembered Hana's mom haggard, dark circles around her eyes every time she stopped by their apartment. She remembered how stressed Hana looked every morning, how she got to school early to study for entrance exams because she was so unprepared to apply for colleges in Korea.
She remembered how all the boys liked Hana a lot, but all the girls gave her dirty looks, spilled milk on her desk, and even if Hana reported them it would go nowhere because they regarded her as a foreigner. She remembered that Hana still did it all, fought tooth and nail, and by some unbelievable skill managed to pass exams to go to her first choice of school, Yonsei. She could have gone to Harvard or Yale as an American student since she already took her SAT, but decided she would live out her life with her mother in Korea.
"....Colette. Why am I here and why are you cosplaying Sadie Sink's little sister? Why is your face like this?" Colette could have laughed, but it was no laughing matter. She needed to figure out what was happening. Manon did not look amused despite the joke, eyeing her like she wanted to both hug her and kill her. Her different colored eyes made her fierce gaze only more intimidatingly unsettling. It only made her remember the other moments she saw that look.
She remembered more…- the jealousy. She remembered how annoyed she was. She remembered being angry, letting whispers of jealous girls in their classes get to her. She remembered years of contempt piling up bit by bit as Hana decided to stay in Korea. She remembered rejecting Hana's invites to go play games or go sing at karaoke every once in a while. How she stopped sitting with her at lunch a few days a week. But they still hung out, they were still friends. Best friends. But things continued to change.
She remembered that by 19, they were avoiding each other as they made new friends at university even though they'd walked past one another, even though they'd go to the same university, even though their dorm rooms were neighboring. She remembered the incident that made them strangers, the boy, the fake friends, everything 'Yuna Han' had done to her. She remembered her reckoning- that it started off unnoticed- each person she knew, slowly distancing themselves. Until she was alone. She remembered transferring to remote classes only, then dropping out. She remembered all the messages that never went through, and all the people who pretended like she did not exist. And finally, she remembered the message she got that night on the bridge. The one that made her jump.
The feelings came up all at once, and Colette did not know how to proceed, how to respond, how to answer her old friend.
"I- I'm sorry I really don't know why you're he-"
[….Allow us to explain the situation.]
The system suddenly appeared on a pink screen in front of the girls, bold lettering impossible to ignore.
[Player 1- Colette, and Player 2- Manon. This development is a result of Player 1 encountering a reward called "Right Your Wrongs" in which space and time are bent in order to relieve the Player 1 of their biggest regret.]
[The system has detected that Player 1's biggest regret is how she did not protect her friend from her previous life, Hana Durand. Thus, the system has decided to offer the opportunity to protect Hana Durand by bringing her here. The system discovered Hana Durand has a similar physicality to the character Manon. Thus, we gave her the role of Manon.]
The system's words were concise and to the point, leaving no room for argument as it explained what to do with this development.
[The Player 1 must protect Player 2 to receive the full effects of this reward. An additional reward will be given upon completion. To prevent severe plot destabilization, Player 2's autonomy has been limited.]
There was a pregnant pause, and then chaos. Manon whipped her head around immediately towards Colette again. Her eyes burned passionately.
"So I'm here because YOU wanted me here? How much longer do I have to deal with you?! How long??!!" She raised her voice.
"I woke up on the floor of a dirty ass kitchen, had to answer to this weird white lady "Politely" instead of how I wanted to, and got treated like shit the entire way to this fuckass room to deliver YOU breakfast like some maid. WHAT IS THIS???" Manon was breathing hard, her face beautifully vengeful.
"Please, please calm down. This is a game- a dating sim game I used to play called Dragon Heart. And I did not ask for you to be here…" Colette felt tears well up in her clear blue eyes. "I already tried to leave…I tried to disappear and get away from you forever. I didn't want this. It's the system or whatever!" She pleaded for understanding, reaching for Manon's arm. The brunette allowed it, her eyes still angry but her mouth shut as her mind raced. Colette took it as a sign to continue, a sign to try.
"I'm literally dead. I died yesterday in the early morning. I jumped off a bridge with nothing but rocks below while staying at my house in the countryside. I don't even know if I've been found yet." Manon was at a loss for words now. Her expression softened into one of disbelief and slight horror. "I didn't want to bother you anymore…You sent me that message after all my texts and I just- I just broke…."
"Shut up." Manon sobbed. Colette finally really looked at her and found her face in her hands. Manon's shoulders shook as she cried. "Why would you do that??" she wailed, and Colette was genuinely just shocked at the force at which the girl was crying. It was raw and extremely sudden.
"I sent that 3 months ago. After sending the first message I sent another one 2 hours later apologizing and saying we should meet up the next day at the park by my place. You never showed up. I thought you didn't care. I thought you just wanted to say "fuck you" and disappeared." Manon sobbed, smacking Colette's shoulders before finally pulling her into a bony embrace.
Colette couldn't believe it. She had ended her life over many things, but the one thing that pushed her over- was Manon's mistake- something she sought to retract? Something she apologized for? Something Colette didn't need to die over? She wanted to cry too. But she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to. She just felt…warm.
"It's all my fault. I'm sorry I killed you." Colette shook her head vigorously.
"No. No. No. Every single thing you have ever said to me has been true. Every bit of anger you felt was valid. I'm the one who abandoned you and betrayed you for fake friends that just wanted to fuck me over. My choice was my choice no matter what. Do not apologize to me. Please. Let me apologize." Colette allowed herself to hug Manon back, and it was like her heart mended just a little bit, like she was feeling how she felt when she first saw Hana again the summer after her exchange program ended. It was like meeting her old friend again…on good terms. Better terms.
"I am so sorry. I should have been there for you. Instead I was so mean to you just to feel better about myself. I was a bully. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. You aren't dead. I want to get you out of this. I want to get you out of here." Colette pleaded.
"Ha- is that even possible?" Manon chuckled bitterly.
[….It is possible. Player 2 can return if Player 1 succeeds in the protection task.]
The two girls pulled away from each other, feeling somewhat intruded on but grateful nonetheless.
"See? We can get you out of here. I... can't because I'm dead. My body is gone. But if I can help you through this situation you have no business being brought into- that's enough for me." Colette reassured her, squeezing Manon's hand. Manon hesitated, her lips pursed, eyes glossy.
"I will miss you." Is all she said, too distraught. Colette felt the tears finally well.
"Don't."
Manon took another breath.
"I will miss you, but… I cannot fully trust you. I need you to promise me…that you will not repeat the things you did before." She pressed. "No lying. No hiding details. No isolating. I will try to help make sure this task or whatever succeeds. But I need you to not break my trust in you again. I need you to understand that." Manon's strong resilient eyes did not waver even a little. It was a trait Colette admired.
"I promise. Truly. Everything I do will be to make sure you get home safe." Colette was earnest, grasping Manon's small hands in her own freckled ones, tightly….desperately.
….
Colette and Manon ate their food as Colette explained the game. She explained that they were currently in the tutorial, and that the main objective was to protect her character. Through their conversation, it became clear that Manon, for some reason, as Player 2, had to select a prewritten dialogue choice rather than answering freely when speaking to the NPCs. If she attempted to answer as she pleased, her mouth simply would not move at all which frightened her. Manon was awfully jealous when Colette said she did not experience this, but they supposed it was one of the autonomy restrictions on Player 2 that the system mentioned.
They both had a promise to each other to not keep any secrets so they could both survive the game, but Manon still seemed standoffish and weary. She was also unfamiliar with dating sim games and every aspect confused her further.
"Originally, Manon couldn't get cleaned up, so how she gets picked is usually through Madame Delores' favor rather than the manager's choice." Colette began as they were washing their dishes in the kitchen. "But…since Madame and you had an altercation in the morning…I'm worried about how she feels about you….she's over there. Quick- try checking her Affection points." Manon squinted through the doorway, seeing Madame reprimanding Remy for the 10th time today.
"Um…I think it says 5." Colette cursed.
"That's really bad…We have to change our strategy…." She began, drying her hands on her skirts. "If you don't get to go to the main orphanage house for the special adoption as a candidate, the game cannot proceed, and you may suffer without me." Manon looked at Colette a bit fondly.
"Thanks for looking out for me…even though you kinda have to." She chuckled shortly, drying her own hands. Colette smiled, fishing something out of her pocket.
"Ah! But you should put your eyepatch back on. Madame hates your blue eye." Suddenly Manon grew colder, refusing the patch.
"I've spent a lot of time learning to love myself for who I am. You know that."
"I do. But if your AP with Madame falls below 1, you will very likely be killed. I have no idea what will happen to you then or if you can come back, but neither of us will be able to succeed easily." Colette urged. "Please- after the tutorial we can see what we can do, but this game is not all sunshine and rainbows." Manon looked reluctant, but took the eyepatch without much more pushback.
"Fine, but I won't wear it after the tutorial. Seriously." she said, eyes firm. Colette nodded along, thinking they could cross that bridge later when it was less detrimental. Manon put the patch back on and Colette brought her along to start their chores since they were behind schedule. As the youngest they had the least chores. But this just meant they needed to avoid the older kids as much as possible or they'd be given extra work to do. They snuck out to finish their only chore which was cleaning the floors. They'd start in the bedroom and end in the dining area in order to make sure they didn't run into any other kids.
"As I was saying before," Colette started again, waiting for Manon to finish sweeping the room so she could mop, "We need a new plan or approach. Since we don't have time to get you to at least 15 AP with Madame Delores, we need to make sure you impress the manager instead or you won't be chosen…" She paused. "So we should do your hair I think. You're pretty enough for the manager to like your face! Even with the patch, especially because you're the youngest."
Manon nodded as she finished sweeping, leaning the broom against a wall.
"Thank goodness. I was seriously debating cutting this hair off. It's nearly completely matted up. I'm not sure how long it'll take to fix it to be honest." Manon sighed, twirling a raggedy lock around her index finger. Colette was a bit worried about that too. They could probably sneak into the river out back to wash, but they had nothing but an old comb to do her hair. Madame hadn't dared to touch it because it was so badly tangled.
…"Shop." Colette said, and suddenly the familiar green window popped up.
"Whoa!" Manon exclaimed, looking at the window, trying to touch the new sparkly green color she hadn't seen before.
"You can see it?" Colette was shocked but not displeased. "Take a good look. This is one of the perks the system gave me. Let's see what's available today." She began scrolling through the items, noticing her balance was now at 6 XP. Manon didn't say much, just watched Colette in her element, an unreadable expression on her sunken face.
By a stroke of luck or maybe the system overheard them again, there was an item called "Silver Brush of Calypso." This time, maybe because she had gained a lot of XP recently, it had a description.
"This brush is a magical item. Knots and tangles? Gone. Matted furs? Fixed. Worn or torn clothing? Mended. Just brush your problem area and the brush will take care of it. Uses: Unlimited. May only be used by one Player. Transferable only one time. Price: 2XP." Colette read out the paragraph.
"So you can just buy whatever?" Manon was in awe at the glimmering screen. "That brush sounds perfect, though. Exactly what we need."
That was all Colette needed to hear. She purchased the item.
[…You have purchased the Silver Brush of Calypso. 2 XP have been deducted.]
The brush fell into the palm of Colette's hand, the cool metal with intricate carvings stinging slightly.
[….The system detects another player. Would you like to transfer ownership to Player 2?]
"Yes." Colette answered immediately, no hesitation. Manon flinched slightly, mouth parting as she stared at Colette..
"What? Are you sure?" She was hesitant, a bit weary as well.
[….Confirmed. Please give Player 2 the item.]
Colette opened Manon's hand and put the brush in her palm, wrapping her fingers around the handle.
"This is a token of our new friendship, and trust. You need this way more than I do. Please, take it." Colette urged, a smile on her lips. Manon grinned for the first time since she entered the game, a small one… in thanks.
"Should I try it now?" She asked, but she already brought the brush to her head, making Colette laugh.
As promised, the brush glowed as it went through Manon's hair. She was curious at first, then confused, then shocked as her length seemed to grow and grow.
"Um…is it meant to grow hair??" She yelped, staring at the brush after the first pass, which brought her now silky wavy hair down to her upper thighs. Colette was also shocked but knew what it was.
"I think your hair was just so matted up that it shrunk up." She said, a short laugh leaving her mouth. Manon laughed as well, continuing her brushing. By the time she was done, silky black hair falling in waterlike waves were covering her small frame.
"I mean, it's beautiful…but I think this body is so small that I'm drowning in hair." She said with another laugh. Colette agreed, unable to contain her grin.
"How about braids? Low pigtails? You love those." She suggested, and Manon gave her another fond look.
"You remember," Manon spoke gently, as if afraid to show too much vulnerability, afraid to expect too much of Colette.
"Of course I do." Colette sighed, and went up to her, parting her hair for the braids. "I remember everything. Sorry that I made it seem like I didn't." She hummed as she braided, working quickly with practiced movements. In no time at all, Manon's long hair was braided into two thick low ponytail braids. Colette finished the hairstyle by plucking out two face framing pieces in front. The 7 year old Manon looked adorable even in her tattered rag dress.
"Should I fix our dresses too?" Manon asked after she was done. Colette shook her head, pursing her lips.
"No, the other kids will definitely notice. They'll already faint when they see your hair. We can't have them getting jealous over clothing or we may not have any in an hour." She explained, to which Manon nodded, suddenly deciding to take a leap of faith to show her gratitude.
"Then turn around. Let's do something to those pretty red locks too." Manon spoke gently, turning to do Colette's hair. She tried to decline, but Manon wouldn't take no for an answer and began brushing. The brush worked its magic on her hair as well, making it smooth in very loose waves falling to her waist. Manon did a half up hairstyle with braids on either side of her head merging into one, and pieces of hair twisting around the braids. It was beautiful.
"Thank you.." Colette smiled, looking at her feet. She never thought this day would come, where they'd be anything near friends again. She thought there was no hope. Even though it was not forever, she was glad she had this time with her best friend at the very least. They'd finish this tutorial, get adopted, go to school again, grow up together…all before the brunette was sent back to her real life and left her here.
Suddenly, Colette remembered something. It was just a small memory, but enough to make her blood run cold. Manon seemed to sense this immediately and her brows furrowed in concern as Colette pulled away to finish mopping.
"Are you alright?" she asked, tucking the brush into her pillow before Colette needed to mop the area. Colette nodded with a smile.
"Yeah…just a bit nervous. This is really a deviation from the original. So I really hope it works." She explained. Manon wasn't sure if that was all, but she also had never played dating sim games and supposed she was not truly aware of the stakes here. She just nodded slowly. Even if she did not fully trust Colette, she did not have much of a choice if she wanted to leave this game.
"It'll all work out. I'll do my best not to anger anyone else." She replied, and Colette grinned, going back to her chores.
They'd have to work it out. But for now, they needed to worry about what Madame would say about Manon's hair, seeing as she had lost too much of her favor already.