Chapter 5: The Confirmation of Contact

“Perhaps I should try sitting in a cafe?”

The internet claimed that observing passersby from a cafe was a truly delightful experience.

Naturally, Eunhae had never afforded herself such a luxury.

Constantly evading the destinies she loathed, the thought of simply observing them had never crossed her mind.

“Since it’s not visible… it should be fine.”

Eunhae murmured, as if bolstering her own courage, then rose to her feet.

Ordinarily, she would have sprinted home the moment class ended, but today was an exception. She ambled hesitantly towards the campus cafe.

She ordered an iced mocha and opened a book. Yet, Eunhae’s gaze continuously drifted beyond the windowpane.

She felt a pang of fear, wondering if it was acceptable to stare so openly. Fortunately, people seemed oblivious to the gaze from inside the glass, simply passing by.

“Ah…”

Eunhae’s face contorted. Another blurry destiny washed over her.

“…Has it been about an hour and a half?”

That much time had elapsed since she parted ways with Jung Seunghee.

She drained her now-melted iced mocha in one gulp and returned home. The subway ride was as discomfiting as ever.

Once she finally flung herself into her apartment, Eunhae, left alone, pondered deeply.

“Jung Seunghee is definitely the cause. Both times, I was with Jung Seunghee… and then it vanished.”

She opened her notebook, wrote Jung Seunghee’s name, and circled it. On the left, she jotted down what had happened at the freshman orientation after-party.

“Alcohol, two freshmen, sat next to each other, public place? Many other people were there… spilled drink, handed tissues.”

She tried to recall more, but nothing else immediately came to mind.

On the right, she documented the events of today’s major class.

“Lecture hall, again many other people, sat next to each other, hmm… hmmm…”

As she racked her brain, one particular incident surfaced.

It was when Jung Seunghee had tapped Eunhae’s hand, signaling that the professor was entering.

“…Contact?”

Suddenly, she remembered touching Jung Seunghee at the after-party as well.

“Contact? Contact, contact…”

Eunhae mumbled, writing the word on both sides of Jung Seunghee’s name.

Other overlapping factors existed, but her mind fixated on those two syllables: ‘contact.’

“…If we touch again, it will be confirmed.”

Whether it was coincidence or not.

As Jung Seunghee had predicted, the professor for ‘Understanding East Asian Classics’ roughly grouped the older students together to form teams.

Eunhae’s team included Jung Seunghee and several senior students from the Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering departments.

The Business Administration student declared this semester was his last.

“I’ve already secured a job, you see. So, I probably won’t be able to participate much. Instead, I’ll buy everyone a really big meal.”

Eunhae gazed at him with wide, sparkling eyes.

‘This must be the prestige of a senior student, solving problems with money!’

The Mechanical Engineering students reluctantly chimed in.

“We’re also in our fourth year, so it’ll be hard for us to dedicate much time… We’ll treat the three of you to something delicious. How about that?”

“Th-Then it would just be the two of us left…”

Eunhae was flustered, with three out of five members opting out.

‘Was this the legendary group project failure route she’d only heard about?’

Due to the nature of her major, all her specialized courses were either lab work or had no group activities. She had also been lucky enough to choose general education courses without group work, so this was a first.

Unlike a bewildered Eunhae, Jung Seunghee responded calmly.

“I’m not so short on money that I need to be paid to do someone else’s work.”

“…”

He had calmly provoked them.

The face of the fourth-year Business Administration student, who had spoken first, turned crimson.

“Who said you don’t have money? I just can’t make time, so I’m offering something else in return…”

“You’re essentially asking me to put in more time on behalf of the seniors, and offering money as compensation.”

“…”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit shameless for not just one, but three of you to try to free-ride?”

“It’s not free-riding!”

A fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student interjected, his face flushed.

However, he clamped his mouth shut when Jung Seunghee casually shifted his gaze.

“Either participate, or have your names removed. I’ll create a group chat and invite you. Any announcements or things you need to say, do it there. I don’t have endless time either.”

“That crazy bastard.”

One of the Mechanical Engineering fourth-years fumed, turning away. The other two also glared at Jung Seunghee with uncomfortable expressions before leaving.

“Eunhae sunbae, are you busy too?”

Jung Seunghee’s eyes, as he turned to her, were sunken. It was as if he was asking if she, too, would opt out.

“Uh… no.”

Due to her social anxiety, Eunhae didn’t have a part-time job and hadn’t yet decided on her career path. It simply meant she was attending school and taking classes.

“That’s good then. At least one confirmed member.”

“But the other seniors said they’re busy, shouldn’t we help them out a bit?”

“You mean we should prepare a presentation meant for five people, with just two of us? It’s not just their time that’s precious. My time and your time are also precious.”

“Even so, they’re preparing for employment…”

“If it were just one person, I might have adjusted and accepted it. But for all three to bail and offer money as support is absurd. Honestly, it’s not like they’re offering hundreds of thousands of won per person.”

“Th-That’s true too.”

“At the very least, they should pretend to participate. Eunhae sunbae, is this your last class today?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Then let’s decide which classic we’ll present on before we leave.”

Coincidentally, Eunhae needed an excuse to explore the correlation between contact and the problem of invisible destinies. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Alright!”

“I’m glad Eunhae sunbae is so enthusiastic. I’ll check if there are any empty study rooms.”

Perhaps because the midterm period was still far off, there were many empty rooms. The two easily found an unoccupied study room and entered.

“Since the professor formed the teams today, if there’s something you want to do, you should claim it as soon as possible so other teams don’t beat you to it. Eunhae sunbae, is there a classic you’d like to present on? Journey to the West looks interesting to me.”

After sitting at the desk that dominated the center of the study room, Eunhae’s eyes remained fixed on Jung Seunghee’s hands.

Since she couldn’t touch his face or neck, his hands were the most accessible option.

She knew well that Jung Seunghee was handsome. When she first saw him, he was so good-looking that she only later realized she couldn’t see his destiny.

Now that she looked closely, Jung Seunghee even had handsome hands.

His fingers, smooth and slender without prominent knuckles, appeared delicate and sensitive. The blue veins bulging on the back of his hand intensified this impression.

He was tall, and his hands were proportionally large. However, his fingers were long and graceful, preventing them from looking clumsy.

And how beautiful were his nails? They were clean, with a transparent pinkish hue. Their rounded tips were smooth, showing no signs of being bitten or torn.

It was truly remarkable that there wasn’t a single hangnail. Did he receive special care?

The image of Jung Seunghee applying oil and tidying his cuticles at home was utterly inconceivable.

Then was it natural? That was impressive too.

“Eunhae sunbae?”

“How do you take care of your nails?”

“…”

“…”

“My nails…?”

Eunhae’s face flushed, then turned pale again.

The problem was that her mouth was so accustomed to talking to herself that it lacked any filter when conversing with others.

“Oh, no, uh, your nails are just pretty. I still have a bit of a habit of biting my nails, so… I get envious when I see people with pretty nails.”

“…”

“Haha.”

‘Was it inappropriate to tell a man his nails were pretty?’

‘If only she had any experience with real men, she would know.’

Eunhae bowed her head, feeling utterly mortified.

“I’ve never heard anyone say my nails are pretty before.”

“Really? But your nails genuinely are pretty.”

Jung Seunghee looked down at his own nails. Eunhae subtly lifted her gaze.

The way he looked at his nails was also incredibly striking. His face, with his long eyelashes cast down, looked 멋있었다, as if he were deep in thought.

Yet, he was merely checking his nails.

‘…My nails!’

Eunhae, struck by an idea, leaned forward towards Jung Seunghee.

“Can I look at your nails for a bit? They’re just so pretty.”

“…Yes.”

Jung Seunghee, with a peculiar expression, pushed his hand towards Eunhae. She promptly seized it.

Jung Seunghee’s face and hand stiffened, as if he hadn’t expected Eunhae to grab his hand. However, she didn’t notice.

She was too busy fiddling with Jung Seunghee’s hand.

“Your nails really are pretty. Not a single hangnail. Do you do anything special to care for them?”

Her objective achieved, Eunhae released his hand with satisfaction. Jung Seunghee, retrieving his hand, looked at her with a reluctant expression.

“No. I don’t do anything special.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”