The chime ringing at lunchtime sees hordes of students rushing in, chatting and laughing in glee as they engage in a joyous mid-day break. Emi was a favorite among the crowd, as always, and people gained an unquenchable urge with her outgoing personality and spirited energy. It felt no different today, as Emi and her pals walked in, amidst laughter and for-teasing, their trays comfortably piled with food. Emi led the way, casting her eyes at the tables to stake a claim for the hour. Her friends excitedly chatted about some upcoming student council event, and Emi, more or less, heard the conversation passing through her. First, her concentration was disrupted by the bright lights and loud sounds of the cafeteria; then, her gaze, like a magnet, was attracted to a far corner of the room where she spotted something—someone—rather out of the ordinary compared to the usual hive of activity.
A guy was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, buried up to his nose in a book. His black hair was rather untidy, but he had such a way about him that was charming. It was almost like the casual confidence with which he sat was the cherry on top of a straight back and undivided focus being aimed at the book in front of him. For some reason, Emi felt a strange gravitational pull toward him. The boy was now so engrossed in the chess book that he was reading that he appeared to be utterly oblivious to his surroundings—so completely lost that an atom bomb could have exploded in the cafeteria, and he still would have remained blissfully within his world.
At that moment, Emi became frozen, the air caught somewhere at the back of her throat. She was quite accustomed to gazing at handsome males on account of her popularity, but this one in particular—he was different. A sort of calm air, almost mysterious, surrounded him, making Emi feel an urge to know more.
"Emi! EMI! Are you listening?" Her friend called her back from a daze she hadn't even known she was in, forcing her to blink back into reality and realize she had probably been standing for an embarrassing amount of time.
"Huh?" Emi blinked once more, feeling slightly out of her element with her face flushing; she couldn't decide why. She could not remember the last time she had felt like this merely by looking at someone. She in turn turned to her friends, trying to hide the gentle blush that was creeping onto her cheeks.
"Did you see something?" Her friend teased with an impish grin. "You were staring at him like—"
"No, no!" Emi interrupted, rather flustered, too much for her usual self-assured demeanor. "I was just...thinking."
Her friends exchanged looks of knowingness, but Emi shrugged it off, even though she was equally unable to shake off the fact that her heart was racing.
"Are you sure?" another friend asked with raised brows. "He looks...interesting."
Emi's eyes flicked back to the boy in the corner of the room, her heart racing for reasons she could not fathom. She took a deep breath, made up her mind, and declared triumphantly, "I'll go talk to him," throwing on a disarming smile as if to prove that she could handle whatever this strange attraction was.
Before she could move, though, one of her friends grabbed her hand. "Emi, wait! What if he's the type to be shy or... doesn't want to be bothered?"
Emi smiled, a little lopsided now, still distracted by glances toward the boy. One could say that this was still his mark of difference. There was something special about him that stood apart- not only looking handsome in his kind of disheveled way, but of a rare air, absorbed into his world, seemingly uninterested in anything but what lay at hand.
"You know what? I'm curious," Emi said, shaking off her friends' points. "I'll be right back."
She walked away from the girls toward the boy in the corner. Whatever she was expecting, when she started walking toward him, her heart began hammering even faster. She took a moment to compose herself before sitting down across from him.
Ren didn't look up. He was too buried deep in his chess book to notice anything happening beyond its cover. Emi's heart raced looking at his features up close - the strong jawline, the intense concentration, and that quiet energy radiating from him.
"Hey," Emi said, almost lightheartedly, despite her racing heart. She tried to avoid looking into his eyes for too long for fear of losing composure again.
Finally, Ren's eyes left the pages of the book, and for a minute, he looked into Emi's eyes in silence. They shared an instant. And then he spoke: "Hmm?" His voice came calm, even slightly distant, nothing indicating he'd noticed Emi up until this point.
Emi blinked, still taken aback by his calmness. She had imagined he'd at least be momentarily taken aback; after all, what boy would not, at least for a second, be shocked at being approached by an attractive girl? This was what Emi was thinking; however, Ren was different.
"I, uh, noticed you were reading a chess book," Emi said, smiling despite herself. "Are you into chess?"
Ren nodded, glancing briefly at her face before looking away, his small interest even lessened by the distraction of the book. "Yes, it is... relaxing." His attention escaped back to his reading, and although there was no reason for Emi to stay, the magnetism he cast held fast onto her, refusing to let go.
"Are you really good?" Emi pressed, attempting to keep the conversation alive.
Ren looked up again, passing her somewhat of a glance. He gave a slight smile and said, "I try."
Emi really liked the soft charm in his voice and was drawn farther into him by the calmness in his manner. In truth, she hadn't expected to feel this way; the more she looked at him, the more difficult it was to pull back.
For a moment, Emi just stared at him, her cheeks on fire. Why was she acting like this? This boy named Ren was just someone who liked chess. Yet, every nerve in her body was commanding her to stay and to find out more about him.
But in the split second that she gained clarity of thought, the realization struck: Ren was totally oblivious of the hold he had on her. He looked like he noticed nothing at all—not anything about her staring at him but the page beyond the book. The moment felt utterly mundane.
Feeling the blush creeping farther up her cheeks, Emi stood up, trying to excuse herself. "Well, I'll let you get back to your book," she said, slightly breathless. "Maybe I'll join you for a game sometime." Ren nodded without much enthusiasm, his gaze already falling back to his chess book as if the conversation had never happened.
Emi's heart was still pounding as she walked back to her group of friends. She didn't look back at him, but the image of his calm face, so indifferent to her presence, stayed with her.