Chapter 101: Overlapping Matrices and Thermodynamic Friction

Huh?

My eyes trembled violently as I stared at Na Eun-hyeok’s text. I had been losing my mind wondering why on earth he would contact me out of the blue, but to ask me to grab dinner? Didn’t we literally just have lunch together today? I kept telling myself that it was just a casual, meaningless gesture, but my heart stubbornly refused to listen, pounding frantically against my ribs.

[Where at?]

Na Eun-hyeok: [How about samgyeopsal?]

[Sounds good]

Na Eun-hyeok: [Cool, I’ll send you the location.]

Watching the text exchange flow as smoothly and naturally as water, I momentarily doubted whether I was the one who had actually sent those replies. Was I really about to have a casual dinner like this? With Na Eun-hyeok? For Chae Un-ha, whose unrequited crush had always felt entirely out of reach no matter how much effort I put in, the fact that a few taps on a screen could secure a private meal so easily was practically impossible to process.

“No, wait—this is not the time to sit around spacing out.”

I hurriedly slapped my cheeks to wake myself up and bolted out of bed. Sprinting into the bathroom, I twisted the faucet to max. Since I was officially meeting Na Eun-hyeok for a private meal, I needed to thoroughly wash up, purify myself, and meticulously obsess over what to wear. I suddenly remembered a bottle of perfume I had received as a gift a while ago and hadn’t even sprayed once. A part of me questioned if I was overdoing it, but another part screamed that this level of desperation was absolutely mandatory.

After all, this was our very first time meeting socially outside of school.

I had spent countless nights daydreaming about what it would be like to hang out with him outside of a campus setting. Now that the delusion was actually materializing into reality, anyone in my shoes would be a total nervous wreck. I forcefully brainwashed myself into believing that my frantic behavior was perfectly ordinary.

“Na Eun-hyeok.”

The address Na Eun-hyeok had dropped led to a remarkably large samgyeopsal restaurant located in the middle of a bustling commercial district. The place was famous for its staff members, who supposedly underwent a strict two-week intensive training program purely on the art of grilling pork to absolute perfection. Naturally, the prices were quite steep, but when it came to having dinner with Na Eun-hyeok, a numeric value on a menu didn’t matter in the slightest. It wasn’t like we were eating high-grade beef; no matter how expensive pork got, it was still just pork.

When I arrived at the venue, Na Eun-hyeok was already waiting outside. Today, he was wearing a simple white T-shirt layered under a loose, flowing black cardigan. Despite the incredibly casual outfit, he looked effortlessly sophisticated. As if to directly validate my observation, I caught the exact moment two girls approached him to shoot their shot, only to turning around and walking away with profoundly dejected expressions.

I hovered on the sidewalk, momentarily hesitating on whether it was okay for me to walk up to him, but Na Eun-hyeok spotted me first and raised his hand.

“Un-ha-ya.”

“You got here so fast. Sorry I’m late.”

Lacking any proper conversation starter, I quickly bowed my head in apology.

“Don’t be. I hurried a bit on purpose because I wanted to make sure I got here before you.”

His gentle voice was completely indistinguishable from its usual warm tone. Keeping my gaze lowered, my thoughts drifted back to the girls who had been standing in front of him just moments ago. He had probably turned them down with this exact same gentle demeanor, hadn’t he? Because Na Eun-hyeok was universally, horizontally kind to absolutely everyone. Yet, despite knowing that, a deeply ugly, triumphant swell of pride rippled from the depths of my chest at the reminder that I was the one who actually got to sit across from him for dinner.

Entirely oblivious to the chaotic storm brewing inside me, Na Eun-hyeok took a step closer. The rich scent of cedarwood bleeding into a crisp citrus note drifted off his clothes, completely rattling my heart. You smell incredible. The words hovered on the tip of my tongue, but before I could build the courage to mutter them, the exact sentiment was voiced from the opposite direction.

“You smell really nice. Did you put on perfume?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“It’s a scent that really suits you.”

I didn’t know the first thing about fragrances, but since Na Eun-hyeok said so, I immediately accepted it as an absolute truth.

“What were you up to that kept you from eating until this late?”

“Oh, just losing track of time while taking care of a few things. What about you, Un-ha? What were you doing instead of eating?”

“Ah, I…… I just had a lot of things on my mind.”

“Did something happen?”

“No! Nothing happened at all.”

I had to consciously strain every single fiber of my being to avoid thinking about Sephiroth. The moment my brain had flagged the comparison, a vicious loop had established itself: looking at Na Eun-hyeok automatically made me picture Sephiroth, and looking at Sephiroth instantly made me see Na Eun-hyeok. It was incredibly problematic. I was already thoroughly flustered because Sephiroth had breathed directly into my ear, making this face-to-face encounter with Na Eun-hyeok feel exceptionally dangerous.

“If something’s bothering you, you can always tell me, Un-ha-ya.”

“No, really, absolutely nothing happened.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Confronted by my stiff, defensive response, Na Eun-hyeok quietly stared at me for a few beats. Then, a beautifully fluid smile pulled at his lips, crinkling the corners of his eyes.

“Didn’t I tell you before? Un-ha, you are an incredibly terrible liar.”

“…….”

“I won’t pry any further. Don’t look at me with such a guarded expression. Let’s just go eat some meat.”

Gently stepping over my awkward reaction with total grace, Na Eun-hyeok turned and stroked ahead into the restaurant. Did I really look that guarded? I rubbed my cheekbones in confusion, but as I watched his retreating figure, the distinct silhouette of his broad shoulders suddenly struck me as uncannily similar to Sephiroth’s.

Seriously, has Sephiroth completely infected my brain? What the hell is wrong with me?

My mind remained a chaotic, tangled mess as we took our seats and Na Eun-hyeok began navigating the menu to offer recommendations. The reality that I couldn’t stop filtering everything through the lens of Sephiroth made me feel as though I was actively being possessed by a gaming ghost. Na Eun-hyeok and Sephiroth were undeniably night-and-day different. Just analyzing their core personalities was enough to easily debunk any insane theories of them being the same person. It was likely just a minor overlap in their basic physical skeletal frames, yet I was stubbornly drawing a bizarre bridge between two individuals who existed in entirely separate universes.

But the more I dissected every tiny detail, the deeper I sank into a swamp of paranoia. Even the sheer timing of this encounter was starting to feel suspiciously deliberate. Na Eun-hyeok almost never initiated casual contact with me outside of our structured team project meetings. And given that I had practically been living inside a capsule lounge lately during all my waking hours outside of studying, I normally wouldn’t have even seen his text in a timely manner. Yet, of all days, at the exact moment I cut my gaming session short to flee home in a panic, Na Eun-hyeok had suddenly reached out to propose a private social dinner. It was either an incredibly lucky stroke of cosmic coincidence, or……

……No. Stop. You are going way too far, Chae Un-ha.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Seeing me fiercely shake my head to rattle the thoughts loose, Na Eun-hyeok voiced his concern. I rapidly locked my facial expressions down and fixed my eyes onto the grill. The thick slab of pork the staff member placed onto the hot iron plate featured a stark white layer of marbling beautifully attached to rich, crimson meat. A glistening layer of savory fat began to sizzle and bleed across the surface. I stared blankly at the cooking meat, entirely mesmerized.

“Looks delicious, right? This is one of my absolute favorite spots.”

Entirely dropping my guard, I mindlessly blurted out,

“So you actually eat things like samgyeopsal too.”

“Huh?”

Ah, crap. I had let my guard down entirely too much. My relaxed brain instantly stiffened into a tight knot of sheer panic. Of course he eats samgyeopsal, he’s a human being. It was entirely because I habitually mentally categorized Na Eun-hyeok as some kind of ethereal angel or fairy that my brain had short-circuited like this. Flushing a deep crimson, I frantically waved my hands.

“No! I mean—it’s just, I sort of figured you wouldn’t really eat casual food like samgyeopsal.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Uh? Well, I mean……”

But Na Eun-hyeok—either thoroughly amused by my sheer panic or just completely oblivious to my inner turmoil—relentlessly pushed the agonizing line of questioning further. Why did I think that? I desperately scrambled to construct a respectable excuse, but my vocabulary entirely failed me. After muttering a few incoherent syllables under my breath, I finally squeezed out a response that sounded closer to a miserable groan.

“No, just…… it feels like things that are a lot more high-end and luxurious suit you better.”

“High-end?”

“No, just…… I’m sorry.”

My voice progressively shrunk until it was barely a whisper. Even as I uttered the apology, my brain was screaming that I had completely ruined everything. Our very first time having a private meal outside of school, and I was sitting here spouting pure nonsense. I wouldn’t even have a right to complain if he looked at me like I was a total freak.

“So you’re saying I look like someone who belongs in a luxurious setting? I’ll gladly take that as a compliment.”

“Y-Yeah. It’s definitely a compliment.”

Thank God Na Eun-hyeok was a deeply kind soul who chose to interpret my clumsy words in the most positive light possible. Since that was fundamentally what I had meant anyway, I vigorously nodded my head like a fish flapping in water. Watching my frantic reaction, Na Eun-hyeok let out a light, genuine laugh, but that was perfectly fine. Being a source of mild amusement was a thousand times better than losing points in his book.

“Do you want to get some drinks?”

“Sure.”

I forcefully choked back the words ‘Wait, you actually drink soju too?’ before they could clear my throat. I absolutely could not afford to repeat the exact same samgyeopsal mistake twice in a row. Na Eun-hyeok raised his hand and smoothly ordered two bottles of soju from the waiter. Not one, but two bottles right out of the gate. For someone like me who possessed an incredibly weak alcohol tolerance, it was a terrifyingly aggressive choice, but I lacked the raw courage to countermand his order.

“It’s really nice getting closer to you like this, Un-ha. Since we live pretty close to each other, we should hang out more often.”

“Yeah……”

“If our schedules align in the morning when heading to campus, you can just catch a ride in my car too.”

“Ah, no! No, that’s really not necessary.”

At his sudden proposition, my hands flew up to wave frantically in refusal. Catching a ride to school in Na Eun-hyeok’s car? While indulging in that kind of luxury would undoubtedly make me the happiest person alive, there was absolutely no way I could impose on him to that extent. More than anything, the sheer psychological weight of making Na Eun-hyeok chauffeur me around while I sat comfortably in the passenger seat would make me so intensely uncomfortable I wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Why? I really don’t mind.”

“No, it’s just…… trying to coordinate the timing would be an unnecessary hassle for you. And I’m sure there are days where you just want to drive alone without any company. Plus, the cost of gas…… though I suppose I could easily pay you back for that part. But still, what if I accidentally make a mess inside your car or something, that would be totally—”

“Alright, alright. I get it. I won’t force you to ride with me.”

Na Eun-hyeok’s amused voice softly cut through my frantic, rambling monologue. Only then did I finally shut my mouth, cautiously stealing a glance at his expression. Beneath the dimly lit, warm amber glow of the restaurant lighting, the pork continued to sizzle loudly, filling the space between us with a deeply savory, mouth-watering aroma.

The alcohol arrived, and a pair of small glass cups were neatly arranged in front of each of us. The clear liquid sloshed gently as it filled the brims. Raising our glasses, we let them lightly clink together with a soft clink. The faint vibration that traveled down to my fingertips gave me a strange sensation—making me feel thoroughly intoxicated before a single drop had even touched my tongue.

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