Our Hands Touched
It was Friday evening. The long, exhausting week had finally drawn to a close. The last person to step into the club room was Lee Seoeun, the president who had taken the wheel for today’s social gathering.
“Hi!”
She flung the door open with a bright, energetic voice, only to be met by grumbling from the rest of the members inside.
“Seoeun. What are we doing today?”
“Yeah. Unnie. Have you decided yet?”
Only Lee Suhyun, who was joining for the first time, and Park Juyeon, who had no strong opinions, stayed quiet. Yoon Hana and Choi Kang hounded Seoeun like they were conducting a formal hearing.
“Of course I have! And today I’ve even got some great news!”
Beaming, Seoeun thrust her phone screen toward them.
“Hmm?”
The members rose from their seats and swarmed like hyenas. Displayed on the screen were two online movie tickets.
“...We’re watching a movie?”
“Yep! That one’s insanely popular right now! Galaxy of Guardians.”
“Oh! I was actually planning to see that!”
Hana and Seoeun squealed in that high-pitched way only girls could manage. Choi Kang must have wanted to see it too; he immediately started digging through his phone to cancel a previous reservation.
“Have you seen it, Juyeon?”
When Suhyun quietly asked the unusually silent Juyeon, she gave a small nod.
“Unnie’s been dragging me along since last year.”
Ever since the social gatherings began, it was safe to say they had seen every major popular film together. From Juyeon’s perspective, having movie-watching as the group activity wasn’t bad at all. She didn’t have to talk if she didn’t feel like it. She didn’t have to worry about going alone to see something she wanted to watch. And if she was lucky, she might get to try several different popcorn flavors!
“I see.”
Suhyun, however, felt a strange distance in her words. They had been doing this since last year. Naturally, having joined late because of his transfer, there were countless stories he couldn’t relate to, and that fact sent a quiet chill through a corner of his heart.
“So! We’ll now begin the ladder game!”
“What ladder?”
“Since there are only two tickets, it means I get to pick one other person to go with me.”
Seoeun fiddled with her phone. Hana, who had been twisting her hair on the sofa, suddenly asked as if the thought had just occurred to her.
“Unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“But with two tickets, shouldn’t you just go with Jaejun oppa?”
Anyone without a partner might not get it, but Hana found it hard to understand why Seoeun wouldn’t go with her boyfriend when she had two movie tickets.
“He says he doesn’t want to~”
Seoeun let out a loud jeer the moment Jaejun’s name came up.
“I kept asking him, but he went on and on about how he doesn’t like crowded places.”
“Ugh, forget it! I’ll go with you guys! It’ll be twice as fun with all of you!”
Once everything was set, Seoeun had each member pick a number.
“I’m 1!” Choi Kang shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Then I’ll take 4.” Hana kept her eyes glued to her phone.
Suhyun, sitting beside Juyeon, watched her expression. The moment their eyes met, he instantly read her silent plea. That face that practically screamed Please pick first.
“I’ll go with 3.”
“Okay! Then Juyeon is 2! Here we gooo!”
When she pressed the button, red lines began dropping all at once. The lucky winner was…!
“Wow! Suhyun, congratulations!”
Whether it was beginner’s luck or not, the free coupon went to Suhyun.
“Oh! Thank you.”
Happy to have won, Suhyun smiled and glanced sideways… only to hear a tiny voice.
“…Three was supposed to be mine.”
It was so soft it was almost inaudible, but Suhyun’s sharp ears caught the small grumble.
Wait. So the signal she gave earlier wasn’t that she wanted him to pick first… it was that she wanted to pick first?
Juyeon’s slightly pouty lips gave him the answer.
Suhyun didn’t visit the theater often. The reason was simple. He was a loner, after all.
One could argue that even loners could go to the movies alone, but Suhyun saw little point in spending more than ten thousand won to sit by himself in a crowded place. Once enough time passed and the film became available for purchase, it was easier to just watch it at home. Why go through all that trouble?
“Alright. We’ve issued the tickets, but~” Seoeun stood before the group and explained.
“It’s Friday night, so there weren’t five seats together. Looks like we’ll have to split into groups of two and three.”
“Then how are we sitting?”
“Let’s sit according to popcorn flavors!”
At the words “popcorn flavors,” every member’s expression changed instantly. In a movie theater, popcorn was an incredibly important factor—perhaps even more important than the film itself. Everyone had their own preference: savory, sweet, cheese, onion, and so on.
Hana spoke up first.
“Onion for me! No compromises!”
“One vote for onion! Anyone else?”
“I only eat original. The rest are all fucking lame.”
Choi Kang’s crude remark made Hana frown.
“What are you even saying? Onion is way better. Original is too bland.”
“Whatever. We’re sitting separately anyway, so why argue?”
“Yeah, yeah. And I agree that original is the classic~”
Hana found it irritating how Seoeun usually took her side but immediately sided with Choi Kang when popcorn flavors were involved.
“What about you two, Juyeon and Suhyun?”
“I’ll have original today.”
At Juyeon’s answer, Hana’s gaze locked onto Suhyun. She radiated an aura that practically said, You’ll eat with me, right?
Having become the odd one out, Suhyun had no real choice. Strangely enough, he was oddly used to situations like this.
“Yeah. I’ll go with onion.”
The Spirit members headed inside carrying popcorn and drinks. Seoeun’s group was in row J, while Suhyun and Hana were in row K. The seats Suhyun and Hana ended up with seemed designed for couples—the two seats at the very end were isolated from the center like their own little island.
“Lee Suhyun.”
Before the movie started, Hana whispered his name softly.
“Yeah?”
Suhyun lowered his voice to match hers.
“Who’s your favorite character?”
Galaxy of Guardians was already a long-running series. Today’s film was the fourth installment.
“…I haven’t seen the previous ones, so I don’t know?”
Hana, who had been absentmindedly tossing popcorn into her mouth, tilted her head.
Did I hear that wrong?
“…Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Everyone wanted to see it.”
“No! Hey! If you haven’t seen the earlier films, you won’t understand the story!”
Even as she whispered, her tone was thick with disbelief. If he hadn’t seen the previous movies, he should have said something! They could have picked a different film or waited until next week…
“Ahaha. It’s fine… um… I can just watch the earlier ones at home later.”
Seeing him smile awkwardly, Hana felt a sweet potato lodge in her throat.
“…Lee Suhyun.”
“Y-yes…?”
Sensing the sudden shift in the air, Suhyun grew tense again, convinced he had done something wrong.
“I have the Blu-rays of the previous films at home. Watch them with me later.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll buy them myself.”
“Why buy them? I already own them. Why waste money?”
Since they couldn’t refund the tickets now, this was the best Hana could offer.
“But I’m watching this one for free?”
At Suhyun’s whisper, Hana’s face went blank. That’s right. This guy wasn’t even paying for his ticket. So there was no need to worry… or so she thought, but that wasn’t quite it. They had come to enjoy this together. It wouldn’t be right if only one person couldn’t fully enjoy it.
“No. You have to watch all of them. Though I heard you can still enjoy this one lightly even without seeing the previous films.”
The movie started before she could finish. Hana had no choice but to press her lips shut.
A vast universe unfolded across the screen, filled with alien lifeforms. But Suhyun couldn’t focus on the film at all. It was all because of the popcorn. More precisely, because of Hana’s fingers.
Every time he naturally reached into the bucket, her hand would slip in and brush against the back of his. Under the glow of the screen, Hana’s face looked flawless—porcelain skin without a single blemish, the kind of beauty that made the word “pretty” feel inevitable.
Yet while his heart raced, Hana seemed completely unaware of their fingers, staring at the screen with genuine fascination. In the end, only Suhyun was conscious of it. If he kept getting distracted like this, he wouldn’t be able to watch the movie at all. So he chose the most peaceful solution available to him.
“Ahh~ That was great~”
The ending credits rolled and the lights came up. Hana stretched with a big yawn, feeling strangely full. She had eaten most of that large popcorn. Had Suhyun lied about liking onion flavor too?
“Lee Suhyun.”
“Yeah?”
He turned toward her while cleaning up the trash.
“Don’t you like popcorn?”
He hesitated for a second before managing to come up with an excuse.
“I ate a pretty big lunch earlier.”
In reality, Suhyun was quite hungry.