Eye Contact Showdown
The basement gym was packed with people in workout clothes, buzzing with energy.
Hyejung, also dressed in athletic wear, was personally coaching her juniors. The CrossFit club she ran operated out of this small basement gym right in front of the university.
“Alright, last set everyone! Let’s push through! One!”
“Ugh… nngh…”
“Two! How’s that? Fun, right?”
“So… so fun…”
Having become something of a veteran in the club, Hyejung naturally took on the role of motivating members and guiding them through their exercises.
That day, she breezed through her usual hellish routine with the juniors—starting with a 5km run, followed by 100 push-ups, 100 pull-ups, 100 squats, and 100 sit-ups.
During the break, she wiped away her sweat, sat with her legs crossed, and scrolled through her phone in peace.
“…Hey, Hyejung. You free tomorrow evening?”
A male senior who was older than her approached, towel-drying his hair, and asked casually. Hyejung looked up at him with narrowed eyes and shook her head firmly.
“Nope. I’ve got a part-time shift tomorrow. Why, oppa?”
“Ah, just thought we could grab a meal together after so long. If you’re busy, we’ll do it another time.”
“Yeah… sure.”
The senior gave her a quick wink and walked away. Hyejung waved lightly in farewell before turning her indifferent gaze back to her phone.
“Hyejung! Are you going on a date with Jaehyuk sunbae?”
Right then, a friend snuck up from behind, threw her arms around Hyejung’s shoulders, and whispered in an excited voice. Hyejung frowned in annoyance.
“Ugh, seriously… What date? I told him I have work, so we’ll meet up another time.”
“What!? Why?”
“What do you mean why? I have a shift. I literally just said that. Are your ears blocked or something?”
“No way…! Ugh, you idiot…!”
Her friend plopped down beside her and thumped her own chest in frustration. Then she leaned in close, practically nose-to-nose, staring intently.
This friend who had zero sense of personal space was Sehee. She was Hyejung’s best friend since freshman year when they met in the club. Of course, their completely opposite personalities meant Sehee could be pretty annoying at times.
Sehee whispered rapidly right in front of Hyejung’s face.
“Dude, then you should’ve at least asked when you could meet next! You just let him walk away like that?”
“Why would I? It’s a hassle… Hey, move your head. You’re blocking my screen.”
“Wait, are you saving yourself for marriage or something? Do you go to church?”
Hyejung’s face flushed slightly. She glared at Sehee and shoved her away with her arm.
“What the hell are you talking about? Get lost, you bitch.”
“You dumbass, I’m saying this because I’m actually worried about you. What’s wrong with Jaehyuk sunbae? He’s handsome, has a great body, he’s tall, and his manners are decent.
“…And according to Hyunseo, that sunbae is apparently insane in bed. Plus, they say he’s huge down there…”
Ziiiing—
At that moment, Hyejung’s phone vibrated with an Instagram DM notification. She waved her hand dismissively, trying to shoo Sehee away.
“…Ugh, enough already. I got a DM on the club account, so back off for a second.”
“You’re twenty-five now. Are you seriously planning to stay a virgin forever? What the hell is wrong with you? You’re pretty and everything…”
“Just shut up already.”
Hyejung clamped her hand over her chaotic friend’s mouth and opened the DM that had come to the club account.
“…Hey, or are you still into that guy? The one from your department?”
“Ugh…! You’re seriously driving me crazy… Go away.”
“Come on… that’s not right. Just looking at him, he looks like the type who does all kinds of shady shit. Probably slept around with a ton of girls and ghosted them.”
“…He’s not like that.”
“Huh? What’s not like that?”
“He’s not the kind of guy who does stuff like that. You’re judging him just by his appearance…”
“Wait, what? You’re mumbling and defending him… so you really still have feelings for him?
“Ha… Kim Hyejung, this won’t do. Looks like my mental training was seriously lacking… After we finish today, you’re definitely coming with me. I’m going to give you some proper re-education.”
“Shut up. I need to reply, so zip it for real.”
“Ugh, you’re so frustrating… You’re really going to regret this someday.”
Sehee slapped her knee and shook her head, then finally stood up and left.
…Phew. Finally some quiet. That girl and her nosiness, I swear…
Hyejung fiddled with her phone, frowning as she fell into thought.
Of course she knew Sehee was genuinely worried in her own way. And if she was being honest, Hyejung herself had started to feel a vague sense of anxiety lately.
The fear that she might actually spend her entire vibrant twenties without ever dating anyone.
On top of that, she knew she’d have to get married someday. What if she had so little experience that her future husband looked down on her? That kind of hazy insecurity lingered in her mind too.
Almost all of her friends had started their first relationships in their early twenties. While they went through all the ups and downs—fighting, breaking up, getting back together—she was still the only one who remained a virgin with zero dating experience.
And of course, the biggest reason Hyejung ended up like this was obviously Namhyuk.
He was the first person she had ever liked with her whole heart. The wound she received when he rejected her, and the aftereffects of that pain, still haunted her to this day.
To be completely honest, if she actually decided to date someone right now, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Thanks to her cute face and her healthy, fit body, she had been getting approached by guys consistently all this time.
Even today—if she had accepted Jaehyuk sunbae’s invitation for a date, it probably would have led to a relationship without much trouble.
…Jaehyuk sunbae is a decent guy… Maybe I should ask him to grab a meal sometime…? Ha… but why doesn’t he spark anything in me…?
“…Fuck… I don’t know anymore.”
Hyejung grumbled to herself. Then she slowly read through the inquiry that had come via DM.
“…Ugh, there’s so many questions… Who the hell is this person?”
She tapped on the sender’s profile and read the name one syllable at a time.
“…Park… Jiyoung…? That name sounds familiar somehow…”
Hyejung furrowed her brows, trying hard to remember where she had heard it, but nothing came to mind.
Finally, she shrugged and opened the keyboard to begin typing her reply.
“Namhyuk-ssu, it’s showdown time! Let’s have an eye fight!”
“What…? An eye fight in May…? Noona, have you finally gone senile…?”
“No no, not that kind of snow fight. I mean this kind of eye fight~”
When Jiyoung noona pointed at her own eyes and grinned brightly, I shook my head in disbelief.
“Okay… but why are you suddenly suggesting an eye fight out of nowhere?”
“Ehe~! I actually watched a YouTube video yesterday on the ultimate eye fight winning strategy. Come on, let’s start already.”
“A w-winning strategy…? There’s such a thing…?”
When I looked her up and down skeptically, she shrugged and gestured for me to hurry up.
“Okay, we start on the count of three. One… two… three!”
Noona kept her eyes tightly shut until she said “three,” then suddenly opened them wide and shoved her face right up to mine. I flinched, my face turning red as I leaned back.
“Why are you getting so close… Fine, fine. I’ll do it too.”
I closed my eyes and then opened them, meeting her gaze. Noona stared straight at me with a deadly serious look in her eyes, not blinking once.
…That aside, looking at her like this, her eyes are actually really big…
She always had them half-lidded like she was sleepy, so they didn’t seem that large. But when she opened them properly, they were huge.
If she wore contact lenses later, they’d look incredibly pretty.
The thin double eyelids that gently framed her eyes were cute, and her eyelashes were thick and long. If you took a photo of just her eyes, anyone would immediately recognize them as belonging to an incredible beauty.
While I was staring blankly at her eyes, lost in thought, her eyes gradually turned bloodshot and began to water.
“Ughhh… khk…”
“N-Noona…? If it hurts that much, you don’t have to push yourself. We can just play something else…”
“No no no… It’s only just getting started…”
Then, while keeping her gaze locked on me, she suddenly began nodding her head up and down at an insane speed.
“What the— what are you doing? It looks like you’re possessed, stop that…”
“Hehe… This way, moisture keeps getting supplied to my eyes so they’ll never dry out, right…? How’s that for my winning strategy…!”
I let out a dumbfounded laugh.
So that was the so-called winning strategy… After watching all those random videos, she really learned something weird again…
That said, this game looked like it would be extremely easy to lose on purpose. My own eyes were already starting to sting and I was reaching my limit anyway.
While she was busy headbanging and doing pointless things, all I had to do was close my eyes first and act like, “Ugh, I was so close to winning, how frustrating!”
Alright, time to close my eyes around now…
Right at that moment, while she was vigorously bobbing her head, her hair flew in front of her face and she instinctively closed her eyes.
“Ah…!”
“Ah…!”
Damn it, what an idiot…! Even when I was trying to lose on purpose…
I quickly used my wits and squeezed my eyes shut as well. A moment later, she muttered in a deeply disappointed voice.
“Hng… I blinked…”
“Agh! I can’t hold it anymore… I lost, Noona.”
“Huh…? For real? I just blinked too…”
“What? I didn’t see that. I must’ve closed mine first.”
I rubbed my eyes as casually as possible. Only then did her face brighten. She threw her arms up and cheered.
“Ehe!! Super lucky~! See? I really am an expert, right? Hehe.”
“It’s just an eye fight, why are you making such a big deal…”
When I laughed and shook my head, she grinned, then quickly ran over to the notebook and drew another heart in it. She held it up proudly in front of me.
“Three wins!♥”
