102. Is There Something on My Face?
102. Is There Something on My Face?
***
The second-floor cafe, designed in pale sky blue, was bright and radiant. At the same time, it carried a strangely serene feeling, giving the place its own distinct atmosphere.
And now, in that spacious cafe decorated with luxurious designs and ornaments, there were only two people.
After exchanging light greetings as they confirmed each other's presence, Serin naturally took the seat across from Eunha at the table.
The very moment she sat down.
As her pure-white silver hair scattered and briefly veiled Serin's face, Eunha's gaze was drawn to her without realizing it.
'Silver hair as white as snow.'
Silver hair radiating such dazzling brilliance that it called to mind Rin from Another World, and beneath it, a beautiful face.
In truth, until meeting like this today, Eunha had imagined countless times over the past few days what kind of person Rin might be, but the Serin she now actually faced gave off something beyond even her imagination.
After all, she couldn't have expected the near-perfect character Rin to be identical in reality.
To Eunha's eyes, Serin's appearance was so beautiful it genuinely drew admiration the moment she saw her.
When Serin, aware of Eunha's gaze, suddenly turned her head.
Swish.
In an instant, Eunha turned her head away from Serin.
"...?"
She'd been staring openly until Serin sat down, but the moment Serin looked back at her, Eunha averted her eyes. Serin found it absurd. But only for a moment—Serin then looked over the various menus displayed on the kiosk screen on the table.
So this kind of thing exists too. It was a little fascinating.
Perhaps because it was a high-end cafe, even the kiosk pads were individually built into each table. It seemed like you could order through the kiosk pad without moving, and a staff member would bring it to you.
"Shall we order first, then?"
"Ah, yes!"
"Eunha, this is actually my first time at a cafe like this—do you have any recommendations?"
Normally I wasn't the type to lead a conversation like this, but being alone with Eunha, I felt like I had to take the lead. And unexpectedly, the words flowed out of Serin naturally.
"I don't visit all that often either... but personally, the apple pie was good."
"Really? Then let's get the apple pie—there are a lot of other interesting menu items too."
As they browsed through the cafe's menu, touching the kiosk here and there, a snow-white hand entered Serin's field of vision.
Eunha's hand, suddenly extended, operated the kiosk on the opposite side of the table. Then she gradually began pressing various desserts.
And then, without warning, Eunha even transferred the items Serin had selected to her own kiosk and placed them in the payment section.
"...?"
Serin, unfamiliar with the kiosk system, watched her selected items vanish in an instant. Not understanding the situation, she looked at Eunha.
"Still, this meeting happened because I asked to meet you, so I'll pay for everything today."
"No, you don't have to..."
No, I definitely have money too, so why does everyone who wants to meet me insist on paying? Serin shook her head.
"No. I really don't mind."
With that, Eunha smoothly operated the kiosk as if she were completely used to it.
Within seconds, a mechanical sound rang out from the kiosk at Eunha's seat, announcing that payment was complete.
Serin stared blankly at that swift decisiveness.
'...Oh.'
And she'd definitely added quite a few items without thinking. Seeing Eunha pay for all of it, Serin was at a loss for words.
Eunha smiled triumphantly as she looked at Serin's expression.
Was paying just now really something to be that happy about? But Eunha's smile looked so innocent that Serin couldn't bring herself to say anything about the payment.
'Well, whatever. It's not my money anyway.'
Then Serin felt she needed to correct what Eunha had said earlier when she'd called her Rin.
"Eunha?"
"Yes, go ahead, Rin."
She'd been smiling softly while looking at Serin just moments ago, but now she was avoiding Serin's gaze again. Serin found that oddly bothersome.
Maybe she's just shy around new people. I'm not the type to get close to someone easily either, but Eunha seemed even more reserved than me, which somehow made me want to talk to her more casually.
"Please don't call me Rin—just call me Serin. We're not meeting inside Another World, so calling me Rin out here is a little strange, isn't it?"
"Okay. I will. Then—ah, is your name... actually Serin?"
She spoke in a calm tone, carefully watching my reaction.
A woman who exuded sophistication to anyone's eyes was being this cautious, her actions and speech so careful. The gap was funny, so I laughed softly and answered.
"Yes. It's Han Serin."
"That's a really pretty name."
"Eunha is a really pretty name too."
"..."
At Serin's words, Eunha's mouth opened and closed once as if she'd been struck speechless. Then she clasped her hands under the table and spoke in a whisper.
"Th... thank you."
Serin let out a small laugh at that, shook her head gently, and continued softly.
"Eunha, you seem really tense right now. You can just relax. We're not meeting today because we each have some agenda—we're just meeting to say hello, right? I'd like it if you could let your guard down a little and be comfortable with me."
Serin thought that if she could ease the distance between them even a little by saying things like this, the conversation ahead might be more comfortable.
Honestly, until meeting the famous player Jeanne d'Arc—Yoo Eunha—Serin had definitely been nervous too.
Just ten minutes ago, she'd seen the cafe with not a single customer and felt her heart drop, wondering if she'd come to the wrong place.
But now, face-to-face with this person called Yoo Eunha, that tension had mostly melted away.
Eunha was more nervous than she was, and her cautious words and actions were so visibly obvious that, conversely, Serin actually felt at ease seeing her like that.
Because unlike her cold outward appearance, she seemed like a deeply shy and kind person.
So, intending to lighten the mood a little, Serin looked around the café and spoke.
It was also a question she'd been wondering about since before entering the cafe.
"Looking at it again, it seems like a cafe with a really nice atmosphere, but why is there no one else here besides us? When I came up earlier, I didn't see anyone on the first floor either. Do you happen to know why, Eunha?"
The prices of the various desserts and drinks on the kiosk were certainly quite high, but even taking that into account, it seemed like a place many people would visit to enjoy the cafe's unique atmosphere. Yet right now, there was no one else inside.
"Ah, that's because... I thought it might be uncomfortable if there were other people around when I met you, Serin."
Serin, who had been listening intently to Eunha's words, definitely heard what she said, but couldn't understand the meaning.
Seeing Serin's expression, Eunha continued as if it were nothing.
"So I rented out this cafe for the day."
Serin blinked at Eunha's words, and only then realized why there were only two people in the cafe.
'...Renting out an entire cafe just to meet someone.'
More than anything else, Serin was astonished by Eunha's way of thinking.
I want to have a quiet conversation at a café.
—> Then just rent out the cafe so no other customers come in.
She couldn't understand what kind of logic that was.
"Wouldn't renting it be really expensive? You didn't have to go this far."
Honestly, having a conversation alone together in an empty space like this was comfortable, but still—did she really have to? That feeling was strong.
"It's actually not as expensive as you might think, Serin. And I also like quiet places."
On top of that, Eunha answered in a perfectly flat tone as if it truly were nothing, so Serin just accepted it.
She'd seen in passing an article about Another World pro players' salaries—they easily exceeded hundreds of millions of won. If even other players earned that much, then this woman before her, who possessed overwhelming star power in Another World and bore the name Jeanne d'Arc, nearly incomparable to other players...
Serin couldn't even imagine how much money she was raking in.
After that, a brief silence fell between them.
"..."
"..."
Eunha fidgeted with her hands under the table, busy observing Rin, while Serin chose to give Eunha some time rather than forcing herself to open a conversation.
Rather than pushing the conversation or trying to get closer to Eunha, it wasn't like they disliked each other or anything. Just spending time together in the same space like this seemed enough to lower the tension.
So Serin didn't deliberately strike up a conversation with Eunha. Instead, she naturally turned her head and looked outside the cafe.
The cityscape from the second-floor window wasn't particularly special or fascinating, but Serin found herself watching the countless people below as they went about their own lives.
Seeing people from outside, not from home, was novel in itself.
Maybe it was because of the distinctly close distance, but watching people live their lives felt fresh in its own way.
"..."
After starting as a streamer, her personal time had decreased so much that Serin could barely feel how each day passed.
She'd wake up and start her stream, then follow that day's schedule once she went live.
When the scheduled stream time ended, she'd talk with her editors about RinTube or check business emails,
or end the day by checking other streamers' broadcasts or community reactions.
At the end of it all, she even spent time consistently exercising to change her trash body, so she'd collapse into sleep at the end of each day.
Close her eyes, and it was the next day again.
Sitting leisurely in a café like this and simply passing the time felt new to Serin.
It felt like her dulled sense of time was coming back to life.
And so, even though the sight of people living their own lives outside the cafe window was truly nothing special, Serin watched as if spellbound.
About five minutes had passed with Serin staring blankly out the window.
Suddenly, Serin turned her head from the window.
"Ah."
Eunha, her face flushed red with embarrassment, quickly turned her head away. Serin watched her for a moment, then spoke casually.
"Is there something on my face?"
If she'd said something in between, that would be one thing, but Serin couldn't understand why she was staring so openly at someone's face without a word.