Pink Aura Overwhelms the Silence
‘……The very act of sitting so close to each other was a lot to process in my head, huh?’
If she had found me, her senior, sitting in this narrow study room alone with her uncomfortable or pressured or stressed out, the murky purple haze and those sharp crimson thorns that had exploded from me earlier at that rude guy in the cafe should have been vomiting out of her body right now.
But the color gently wrapping around Seo-yoon’s whole body right now was the complete opposite of that dirty purple.
Just looking at it, it felt endlessly warm, cozy, and sweet, an iridescent pink aura flowing so beautifully.
I caught myself unconsciously blooming into a silly smile and hurriedly fixed my expression.
I still couldn’t perfectly straighten it out.
I needed clearer data on what this pink meant.
But one clear fact hit me: even in this quiet study room, the distance between the two of us was too much for me to ignore by myself.
Once I realized that, I found it harder to focus on the assignment than before.
Every time Seo-yoon reached for the mouse with her white arm extended forward to input edits, her cardigan sleeve softly brushed over my t-shirt sleeve.
When she turned her head to ask for feedback, her faint scent drifted over, and from one side of my vision, pink mist kept swirling endlessly.
That said, shoving the chair back awkwardly now and creating distance would look weird and funny.
If I had been sitting naturally just a moment ago giving feedback and suddenly pushed the chair away, it would only make it seem like I was overthinking this narrow space myself.
I calmed my racing heart and forced my eyes onto the presentation slides.
“……And for this conclusion part, if we add just one more objective statistical data point, it would be perfect.”
“Oh, my senior seems to think the logic is a bit weak too, huh?”
“Yeah, from just the text on the slide right now, I can’t tell if this is your personal opinion or generally accepted academic theory. Given Professor Kim’s picky personality, he’s definitely going to grill that part.”
“Wow…… You’re really sharp. Then I’ll Google some more government agency congressional library paper data tonight and add a quote to back it up!”
Seo-yoon wrote her feedback on her notepad with sparkling eyes.
I scrolled the screen to the last slide with the mouse wheel.
Her assignment materials were gradually getting refined and logical after all these revisions, cleanly organized.
I boldly removed the unnecessary information clutter and grouped similar statistics into one neat category, and the story flow of the whole presentation started to come together clearly at a glance.
But while the assignment was getting completed, the focus of the two of us sitting at the table wasn’t as sharp as it had been at the beginning.
“……Hey, senior. Your concentration seems a little low. Want to take a quick break and finish later?”
I startled and pulled out my phone from my pocket to check the time. Since I sat down in the study room, two long hours had flown by without a break.
“Ah…… It’s already this late. Yeah, let’s cool our heads a bit.”
“I’m getting eye strain just staring at the monitor all this time. Senior, are you thirsty? Want some refreshing iced coffee?”
“I’m actually thirsty right now. Perfect. Since you bought lunch, I’ll buy coffee.”
The two of us headed to the cafe on the first floor of the Student Union Building.
It was a weekend, so it wasn’t as crowded as weekdays, but the tables were already about half full with students staring at their laptops piled with assignment work.
Four or five students were lined up at the counter waiting for orders.
“What do you want?”
I asked, gazing at the menu overhead.
“Iced cafe latte.”
“Mm. This heat calls for iced.”
I moved toward the counter for the order.
Right then, someone quietly called Seo-yoon’s name from the shaded seats inside the cafe.
“Eh, Seo-yoon?”
Seo-yoon’s expression instantly stiffened.
I looked in the direction the voice came from too.
It was the guy who had been pestering Seo-yoon here in this very cafe a few days ago.
The moment he spotted her, he approached with an obvious cheerful face.
At the same time, the gentle gold and shy pink around Seo-yoon’s aura melted like a mirage, and dark murky purple quickly invaded the space.
“Here again?”
The guy naturally blocked Seo-yoon’s path.
“Out at the university on a weekend too?”
“Yes. Because of the assignment.”
Seo-yoon’s answer was as dry as ice. But the guy didn’t seem ready to back off.
“I came to study too. Want to grab dinner together if you’re free later?”
“No.”
“Just for a bit after the assignment is done.”
“I have plans.”
“What plans?”
Seo-yoon’s brows furrowed slightly, and the purple around her grew heavier.
Sharp crimson light shot up between the slithering purple like thorns.
I stepped forward.
I was about to jump in but hesitated for a second, but I couldn’t watch anymore the guy blatantly ignoring her clear refusal.
Seo-yoon was already sending out rejection signals with her whole body, but the guy didn’t seem smart enough to take no for an answer.
“I said no, and I need to order coffee, so move.”
Finally I stepped in and blocked Seo-yoon’s path solidly.
“Hah… what the hell are you doing?”
The guy glared at me with obvious irritation.
Seo-yoon seized the moment and said firmly, her arm looping around mine like a hammer.
“My boyfriend. You said to get out.”
My vision felt distant for a second.
My eyes snapped to Seo-yoon. The guy blinked in total confusion at the sudden turn.
“Your boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
Seo-yoon answered. My body turned to stone right then.
Under my thin t-shirt, her soft touch and warm body heat pushed through clearly.
Her faint scent hit my nose from much closer than before.
“This is my boyfriend.”
Seo-yoon said it firmly.
Her voice was determined and bold.
But something else showed in my eyes.
The murky purple swirling around her was instantly pushed away.
And what replaced it was none other than pink.
It was clearer than any emotion I had seen before.
The pink burst around Seo-yoon’s face and slender shoulders and quickly filled the narrow space between us.
And it rippled like gentle waves following the hand firmly gripping my arm.
Even inside that brilliant pink, a faint red light mixed in subtly.
I suddenly forgot how to breathe as if my lungs were tightening.
The guy scanned me up and down with disgust, and I calmly accepted the stare.
I had no intention of threatening.
I was just overwhelmed by the incoming feeling and standing there speechless.
But the silence of me looking down at Seo-yoon’s arm without a word seemed enough pressure for the guy.
The guy’s expression twisted subtly.
“You had a boyfriend, huh.”
“Yes.”
“Then you should have said it earlier.”
His brazen smile made Seo-yoon’s eyebrow lift slightly.
“I thought you would accept that I said no.”
This time, the voice had sharp thorns.
Sharp purple shards shot up between the pink waves.
“Just having a boyfriend doesn’t mean you can reject someone.”
The guy’s face flushed hot.
He opened his mouth as if to retort, but then noticed the stares from around and quickly closed it.
“Fine.”
The short guy turned and walked out of the cafe.
Seo-yoon didn’t let go of my arm until his back disappeared from view.
I stayed rooted too.
The touch on my arm was too vivid.
I usually exercised steadily, so my body felt proud, but my arm had never felt as hard as stone today.
After a while, Seo-yoon slowly loosened her grip on my hand.
The spot where our warmth had been was painfully empty.
“I’m sorry.”
Seo-yoon said while looking at the floor without meeting my eyes, her voice creeping in.
Her white neck and earlobes were bright red.
The pink aura around her was still thick.
“If I said it suddenly… I thought you might back away…”
“Ah.”
I couldn’t find a better reply.
If I said it was fine and not to worry, it would be simple. But for some reason, my lips stayed sealed.
The overwhelming touch from that short moment when Seo-yoon had hugged my arm stayed imprinted like a brand.
“Was it uncomfortable?”
“No.”
This time the answer came too fast.
Seo-yoon startled and looked up, our eyes locking in mid-air.
In that instant, the pink around her flared again.
“It wasn’t uncomfortable.”
I added quietly, a bit late.
Seo-yoon bit her lip and nodded obediently.
“Still, I’m sorry. I didn’t say anything beforehand…”
“It’s okay.”
“Yes.”
The awkward silence cut the conversation thread.
The two of us stood awkwardly side by side at the counter.
Just a little earlier we had been casually chatting about what to order, but now both of us had completely forgotten the names of the drinks we wanted.
The tired staffer spoke first.
“Ready to order?”
I stared blankly at the menu.
“One iced cafe latte and…… one iced americano.”
Even while waiting for our drinks with the vibrating bell in hand after payment, we didn’t say a word.
Seo-yoon stared at her phone screen intently, but her fingers didn’t move at all.
I just watched the staff behind the counter touch the cups meaninglessly.
But in one corner of my vision, Seo-yoon’s pink kept flickering.
It would calm down and then, every time my eyes barely reached it, the light would thicken again as if waiting.
Finally the two drinks came out in a carrier.
I took the cup and handed it to Seo-yoon.
“Thank you.”
The moment Seo-yoon’s slender fingers gripped the cup, my fingertips brushed her skin.
We pulled our hands back reflexively.
The pink rippled again from that electric contact.