11
#11 - Senior's Cute Hands
About a week after the semester began, Monday came around once again.
Which meant it was the day I would see Senior Yeonjae again.
After getting dressed and putting on my backpack, I checked myself in the mirror by the entrance of my apartment.
Hmm...
Does it look like I tried too hard?
Maybe I should tone it down a little...
After repeatedly changing clothes, taking them off, and putting them back on, I finally completed an outfit that could reasonably be called effortlessly stylish.
Long jeans.
A black buckle belt.
A white T-shirt.
And over that, my department jacket.
Honestly, I wasn't particularly eager to wear the department jacket.
But we're in the same department.
I wanted to emphasize that fact a little.
...Wait.
Why am I putting this much effort into picking clothes?
She has a boyfriend.
Still, since I'd already gotten dressed, I decided to leave as is.
Besides, the timing was awkward now.
If I changed again, there was a real chance I'd end up late.
Of course, I was planning to arrive thirty minutes before class started.
I didn't know when Senior Yeonjae would arrive, so I wanted to get there early.
...It's definitely not because I wanted to see her sooner.
We're group partners.
I just wanted to talk about our project.
The actual lectures hadn't even properly started yet.
That's all it was.
When I arrived at the classroom, nobody was there.
Well, that made sense.
I caught the bus immediately and there wasn't any traffic, so I'd arrived ten minutes earlier than expected.
Which meant I'd arrived forty minutes before class started.
At that point, an empty classroom was perfectly normal.
After claiming the comfortable and prestigious corner seat at the very back of the room, I rested my head on the desk and thought about yesterday.
We'd only been playing together for five days.
And yet...
"Taeyang! What do you think? I'm already level 40!"
Celial was growing at a terrifying pace.
Honestly, it felt like she was pouring every spare second of her life into Elrmo.
It was so extreme that I'd practically stopped logging into my main account except for daily and weekly quests.
As a result, I'd been leveling my Dual Swordsman far more than planned.
Yesterday, while farming bosses, using a one-handed sword had actually felt a little awkward.
I was one of the highest-ranked Swordsmen on the server.
And yet my body was already adapting to dual swords.
It was a strange feeling.
Anyway, that wasn't important.
Right now, Celial was level 42.
I was level 41.
Considering my hunting speed was faster than hers, it meant she was truly giving everything she had.
Which was why I was currently planning her leveling route.
Where should we go next?
Magic Mine would be good.
Monster Forest would be good too.
Both had their own advantages.
Magic Mine was great for farming extra resources.
Monster Forest was better for fast leveling.
While considering the two hunting grounds, I suddenly remembered something I'd overlooked.
The Magic Swordsman storyline.
Celial wasn't just leveling.
She was also following her class story.
Around level 40, Magic Swordsmen naturally headed toward the Tower of Purity near Magic Mine.
If that was the case, she'd eventually go there anyway.
Then Magic Mine was probably the better choice.
We could level while also preparing upgrades for her equipment.
Still, I should ask first.
She might prioritize fast leveling above everything else.
As I continued building a personalized leveling route for Celial in my head, I heard movement beside me.
-Scrape...
The sound of a chair being pulled out.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the person I'd been waiting for.
"You came."
"Yeah. I'm here."
A little disappointing that it was Kim Seunghyeok rather than Senior Yeonjae, but there wasn't much I could do about that.
He just happened to arrive first.
Meanwhile, Kim Seunghyeok stared at me with suspiciously sharp eyes.
"Hey."
"What."
"You put some effort into your outfit today, huh?"
-Twitch!
I definitely felt called out.
But I immediately defended myself.
"What effort? It's just a normal T-shirt and jeans."
"You hardly ever wear jeans because they're uncomfortable."
-Twitch!
That was true.
I rarely wore jeans.
My leg muscles made them feel too tight.
They fit pretty well.
But I usually preferred clothes that were easier to move around in.
"...I wear jeans sometimes."
"Sure you do."
Shrugging, Kim Seunghyeok patted my head.
"Good luck."
Then he got up and walked away.
I cursed him with my eyes for daring to touch my head.
Then I returned to my thoughts.
Several minutes passed while I lay there planning Celial's future leveling route.
Then—
-Poke poke poke
Someone tapped my shoulder.
Assuming it was Kim Seunghyeok again, I prepared myself.
And then—
"WHOA!"
I jumped up to scare him.
"Kyaaah!?"
A thin, cute voice escaped instantly.
Naturally, that voice did not belong to Kim Seunghyeok.
"...Senior?"
It was Senior Yeonjae.
After the brief commotion, I immediately bowed my head to both Senior Yeonjae and the surrounding students.
"I'm really sorry, Senior."
"It's okay. You were just trying to prank your friend."
Instead of getting angry at the idiot who had attracted everyone's attention, she smiled kindly and comforted me.
...Is she an angel?
No.
No, I couldn't just let it end there.
"Senior, I can't just leave it at that. Please let me buy you a meal."
"A meal...? You really don't have to..."
"No. I feel terrible about it. Please let me."
"Th-That... um..."
Senior Yeonjae fell into deep thought.
Fortunately, it didn't last long.
"Th-Then... today... please buy me something..."
"Thank you very much...!"
"No... thank you, junior..."
I was thanking her for allowing me to make up for my mistake with a meal.
She was thanking me for buying her one.
This ridiculous duo was finally saved by the professor's arrival.
"Alright everyone, please check in through the app. Class will begin in three minutes~"
After class ended, Senior Yeonjae and I began walking toward the cafeteria.
Stretching her arms, she spoke.
"Ugh~ That professor's explanations are definitely interesting..."
"But his voice is really soothing."
"Exactly! That's exactly it."
Apparently our evaluations of the professor were identical.
The explanations were interesting.
The voice was soothing.
A little too soothing.
Easy to listen to.
So easy that it made you sleepy.
Was this what people meant by a human sleeping pill?
"Still, the lecture was fun, wasn't it?"
"Definitely~ He explains things really well, and even the group project felt more like having fun than doing homework~"
"...Honestly, it really did."
What did we do for the project?
We watched and enjoyed a video the professor had made.
That was basically it.
Sure, there was an assignment related to it.
But compared to most projects, it was incredibly easy.
"As I mentioned earlier, I'll handle the research materials. Could you make the PowerPoint? I'll do the presentation."
"That would help me a lot...!"
The project lasted two weeks.
Senior Yeonjae wasn't confident about presenting.
I, on the other hand, wasn't confident about making slides but felt perfectly comfortable researching and presenting.
A reasonable division of labor.
After talking about classes and assignments for a while, we eventually arrived at the restaurant.
But...
"Senior."
"Yes, junior?"
"Are you really sure you're okay with this?"
"Of course~ Do you know how much I like this place?"
"Even so..."
"If you keep worrying, then I'm really not going to let you buy me anything."
She'd even resorted to threats.
So I finally surrendered.
Where were we?
"Daddy Touch is really okay? We could go somewhere nicer. A barbecue place. A buffet."
"It is okay~ Hurry and come inside!"
It was Daddy Touch.
The same place we'd eaten together one week ago.
About fifteen minutes later, our burger sets arrived.
Senior Yeonjae ordered a White Garlic Burger.
I ordered a Fillet Burger.
Taking a bite of my burger, I asked:
"Come to think of it, why do you always order the White Garlic Burger?"
"The white sauce is sooo good. The garlic flavor is exactly my taste. Why do you order the Fillet Burger?"
"Good balance of protein, carbs, and fat."
"Really?"
"The patty is chicken breast. Yours is chicken breast too. Did you not know?"
"Oh... I had no idea..."
-Nom
After taking another bite, Senior Yeonjae set her burger down.
Then she picked up a french fry with both hands and started eating it.
Was it because her hands were small?
Or was it just a habit?
Either way, it didn't matter.
Even little actions like that were unbelievably cute.
The more I thought about it, the more jealous I became.
Jealous of the guy whose girlfriend was someone this pretty, kind, and adorable.
I let out a deep sigh.
Senior Yeonjae blinked and looked at me.
"Um... is something wrong?"
"No...? Not really. Why? Did it look like something was bothering me?"
"A little? Well, if nothing's wrong, that's good."
-Nom
She grabbed another fry and smiled after tasting it.
"Daddy Touch really does have great fries~"
"I agree."
Nodding, I reached for a fry myself.
-Tap
At that exact moment, our hands touched.
-Whoosh!
The soft sensation made me immediately pull my hand away.
Senior Yeonjae also withdrew her hand and began carefully watching my reaction.
The conversation that had flowed nonstop until then suddenly disappeared.
Silence settled between us.
After that, both of us quietly finished our burgers while carefully watching each other's reactions.
...They were incredibly soft and warm.
Small, cute hands that felt completely different from a man's.