Chapter 75: Interlocking Fingers
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75: Interlocking Fingers
“So, what do you think, Ha-chan?”
“It’s not a problem for me. Is that okay, Seol-hyang?”
She may be my boss, but for today, she was a university student, just like me.
So when I spoke to her so casually, her eyes wavered for a moment.
“Um, no, I mean… my name, one more time.”
“Seol-hyang?”
When I said it again at her cautious request, a shiver ran through her.
“Ha-chan, thank you.”
And for some reason, her eyes held a deep sense of longing.
‘Seol-hyang, Seol-hyang? What is this? Why does it feel so familiar on my tongue?’
Was it because I called her Ms. Baek Seol-hyang every day?
Saying ‘Seol-hyang’ felt strangely familiar.
Baek Seol-hyang felt unfamiliar, but just Seol-hyang felt familiar.
‘Something…'
Wait. As a memory flashed through my mind, I was startled by a warmth in my hand and turned my head.
Seol-hyang had taken my hand at some point, and without turning to face me, she said, “H-Ha-chan, l-let’s hurry! We’ll be late for class!”
Seeing her ears flushed bright red, I felt the warmth spreading from our hands and started walking alongside her.
As I watched her from behind, I tried to grasp a faint memory.
It was from before my sister returned. A memory from when I was very young.
Yes, I remembered someone holding my hand just like this, walking through school.
It was a very old memory. The shock of my parents dying soon after my sister’s return had erased most of my memories from that period.
But I was sure I had a memory just like this.
Was I mistaken? The memory was too hazy; I couldn't be sure.
Then, it belatedly dawned on me that I was holding hands with Seol-hyang.
The soft warmth from her hand was ticklish, making my head spin.
What did this mean?
Holding hands could happen, but for a man and woman of the same age, it was usually something couples did.
What Eunnamu and Baeksan had said came to mind again—that Seol-hyang probably liked me too.
‘Is it true?’
While I was lost in this confusion, we arrived at a university lecture hall.
Class had just started, so when we carefully opened the door, a few heads turned our way.
The professor was among them, but as soon as he saw us, he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice.
His actions desperately conveyed that he hadn't seen who came in and wasn't paying any attention at all.
‘Is this the power of being an acquaintance of the dean?’
The power of connections…
As I marveled at it, I noticed the students who had looked over were no longer focused on the lecture but were staring blankly at Seol-hyang's face.
Honestly, if I didn't know her, I’d probably be staring too. I sat down with her in an empty seat in the corner.
Even then, our hands were, for some reason, still joined.
Held beneath the desk, our hands had grown much warmer, proof of how long we'd been holding them.
We’re in class now, shouldn't I let go?
When I looked at Seol-hyang, she couldn't meet my eyes and was instead glaring at the poor professor.
Thanks to her, the professor's face was gradually turning pale, but she showed no signs of looking away.
After watching her for a moment, I decided to ask her gently.
“Seol-hyang.”
“Hmm?”
She answered without turning to look at me, so I wiggled our joined hands.
Just that small movement made her flinch, her face turning bright red.
“Are you going to keep holding on?”
At my direct question, Seol-hyang trembled for a moment, then looked at me with slightly teary eyes.
“...Do you not like it?”
I do like it, I almost blurted out.
A beautiful face is a powerful weapon. I didn't answer, just quietly shook my head.
Seeing her so embarrassed was making my own face heat up.
Then, Seol-hyang slowly opened her hand and interlocked her fingers with mine.
The kind of hand-hold only lovers share.
As I reeled from the shock of her action, she whispered quietly.
“I'm not letting go.”
Coming from a returnee like her, it felt like she truly meant she would never let go for the rest of my life.
“Fuck, I can't watch this anymore!”
Just then, Baeksan, who had been standing quietly behind us, made a retching sound and fled, phasing right through the wall.
Hey, this isn't my fault.
*
We kept our fingers interlocked until the class ended, and thanks to that, I couldn't remember a single thing from the lecture. My mind felt completely dazed.
Seol-hyang seemed determined not to let go, holding my hand tightly. When class was over, she checked her phone with her other hand.
“Ha-chan, where should we go for the next class?”
She seemed a little more used to holding my hand now, looking at me with a face that was less flushed than before.
Looking at her, I checked the time on the wall clock.
“Let's get lunch first.”
“The cafeteria it is, then.”
Seeing Seol-hyang's beaming smile put me at ease.
Hand in hand with her again, we left the classroom.
Between Seol-hyang's looks and the fact that we looked like a couple walking hand-in-hand, we drew a lot of stares, but our hands remained linked.
It was still early September, so our hands should have felt hot.
We made our way to the university dining hall.
We had to go down a flight of stairs to get there, and I noticed Seol-hyang hesitate on the way down.
“What's wrong? Do your legs hurt?”
“Ah, it's just a little awkward for me to go down stairs.”
Not going up, but going down is awkward? How?
“It's because of my chest...”
Confused, my gaze drifted to her upper body.
...She couldn't see her feet.
Of course it would be awkward if she couldn't see where she was stepping.
“Oh, sorry, I didn't realize. I'll hold on tight.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Realizing that being well-endowed could cause such difficulties, I held her hand firmly and guided her down.
When we entered the dining hall, we could see students eating here and there.
University cafeteria food is usually just good value for the money and can't compare to a real restaurant, but the food here was actually pretty decent.
The menu had a wide variety of options.
“See anything you want? My treat. I might not be able to afford anything expensive, but I can at least buy you cafeteria food.”
“Pfft. And who do you think that money comes from, Ha-chan?”
“No work talk allowed. I'm giving you a warning.”
“Ah, my mistake. But what happens if I collect all the warnings?”
For some reason, she looked at me with expectant eyes.
What could I do if she got them all? If it were Ahyu, I'd just give her a flick on the forehead, but I couldn't do that to Seol-hyang.
“You're thinking too long. Does that mean I can keep collecting warnings?”
“That's cheating. There's almost nothing I can make you do.”
“How is that cheating? Fine, then for the next warning, let's agree to answer any question the other person asks, right away.”
That sounded reasonable enough.
I nodded, bought our meal tickets, and we went to a table to wait for our number to be called.
“Ah, I'll go get some water.”
I was about to get up to get water before our food arrived when I realized we were still holding hands.
She stared intently at our joined hands.
Then she gave me a shy smile.
“...After we eat, will you hold my hand again, Ha-chan?”
“Ah, yeah.”
As she slowly let go, I answered without thinking and hurried over to the water dispenser.
Then, to calm my chaotic thoughts, I pressed my forehead against the machine and quietly took a breath.
With Ji-eun or Si-ho, there was always a line I wouldn't cross because I saw them as minors, but Seol-hyang was my age.
She was a full-fledged member of society, and I'd always treated her as a grown woman.
So for her to be coming on to me so strongly that even an idiot could see it... it was hard for me to handle.
I didn't know why, but it seemed certain that Seol-hyang liked me.
The problem was, I truly couldn't figure out the reason, which made my thoughts a tangled mess.
I couldn't fathom any reason why someone like her would like me.
Imagine a woman who lacks nothing—not in social status, looks, or ability—suddenly telling you she likes you.
Who would readily believe that?
“To think a day would come when I'd be worrying about something like this.”
I hated the part of myself that couldn't readily accept someone's affection because of what happened with Kwak Sa-yeon.
If that incident with Kwak Sa-yeon had never happened, what would I be like now?
Would I have confessed to her right away?
Thinking it was a miracle that someone like her could like me.
No, right, let's use this chance to think about it seriously and clearly.
Let's assume she likes me.
Then what about me?
‘Do I…'
Do I have romantic feelings for her?
Seol-hyang was my boss and the Chairperson of the World Returnee Association.
She was reliable, cool, and beautiful.
Enough to easily develop feelings of admiration for her.
But if you were to ask if I liked her…
‘...I don't know.’
You could call me spoiled for saying this, but while I liked her as a person, I couldn't say I liked her as a woman yet.
To begin with, because of my trauma, I had a tendency to see people like Seol-hyang, who I thought were so much greater than me, as being in a different world.
I'd been consciously trying to change that recently, and it was getting better, but it still lingered in my heart, tormenting me.
And I knew full well that this attitude of mine was incredibly disrespectful to Seol-hyang.
‘In that case, starting now.’
I decided to try and see her more as a member of the opposite sex.
To figure out what I feel for her, as a man to a woman.
I had to do it, if only to be sure.
“You're back?”
When I returned with the water, Seol-hyang greeted me with a smile.
When it came to being pretty, she was truly in a league of her own.
“Thanks for getting the water.”
“It was nothing.”
She took the cup of water and started to smile faintly.
“I never thought I'd be attending school with you like this again, Ha-chan.”
“Huh? Again?”
At her words, I turned to look at her. She let out a little “Ah!” and looked up, laughing in embarrassment.
“Ah, I mean, I never thought I'd be attending school again! Even if it's just for a day.”
The way she was smiling bothered me.
Come to think of it, the reason we came to the university today was because she'd been caught in a dimensional shift while transferring elementary schools and never got to experience school life.
She couldn't re-experience middle or high school, so she'd taken the time to at least experience university life.
‘More than romantic feelings or anything like that…'
I wanted today to be a day that could, even if just a little, make up for the school life she never had.
“If you want to come again, I'll come with you, so don't worry. We should attend all the classes today, too.”
“...Really?”
“Really.”
Her eyes curved into crescents.
But then, as if remembering something, her expression soured slightly.
“But if someone else asked you to go to school with them, you'd go with them too, wouldn't you?”
I couldn't imagine who else would ask me to go to a university, but I scratched my head.
“I don't think I'm the type of person who's kind to just anyone.”
“You are. Too kind. Sometimes it's infuriating.”
Then she began to hesitate.
“But that part of you is…”
“Number 153! Number 153! Your pork cutlet is ready! Come and get it!”
Just then, the cafeteria cook shouted, cutting Seol-hyang off.
It seemed our food had been ready for a while, as the cook had already moved on to several numbers after ours.
“...Let's go get the pork cutlet.”
She left her sentence unfinished and stood up, her face flushed red.
I followed her to get our food, and we immediately started eating.
The pork cutlet tasted just like one you'd get at a cheap diner.
It was nothing special, but the sight of Seol-hyang eating a pork cutlet was a rare one.
She had a sophisticated image that made you think she'd be more suited to eating steak.
“If you stare at me like that while I'm eating, it makes me embarrassed.”
Perhaps because I'd been staring too intently, Seol-hyang blushed slightly and shot me a look.
Still, it was fascinating to watch her nibble on the pork cutlet with that small mouth of hers.
“Or... do you want to do this?”
Just then, she picked up a piece of pork cutlet with her fork and held it out to my mouth.
We were both eating the same thing, but for some reason, that piece looked much more delicious.
‘I might not know what love is yet…'
‘But I definitely understand now why couples go out of their way to do things like this.’