Ren's eyes were locked into hers.
And for a second, everything in the world went still.
Serin blushed—gently, beautifully.
Like her cheeks were kissed by the softest shade of spring.
Ren's hands trembled under the table.
His fingers, usually jittery from overthinking, now barely knew how to exist.
His breath felt caught between panic and fascination.
This wasn't just pizza anymore.
This was… something else.
Serin graceful even in silence pulled another slice from the box.
Her movements were so slow, so gentle, it was like watching a painter stroke the final details on a masterpiece.
She brought the slice near Ren's lips.
His heart stumbled.
His brain screamed.
His body froze.
He tried to say something witty. To deflect. To retreat into sarcasm.
But her eyes—calm, unwavering, beautifully unreadable—were louder than his fear.
And so, with a blush that looked like a full moon dipped in strawberry light, he leaned forward...
...and took a small bite.
Tiny.
Hesitant.
Like a squirrel accepting a forbidden treasure from a goddess.
She smiled.
And he—he turned the color of melted cherry ice cream.
They both reached for their Pepsi at the same time.
A synchronized sip, like they were hiding behind fizzy shields from the blush that was swallowing them whole.
The air between them shimmered.
Pizza Hut didn't feel like Pizza Hut anymore.
It felt like they were inside a movie.
Or
A dream someone once promised them as children but forgot to deliver until now.
The noise from other tables faded.
The windows glowed in soft tones.
Cherry blossom petals, invisible but present, felt like they were floating between them.
Only they existed—inside this tiny, glowing moment of warm crust, sparkling soda, and unspoken feelings.
"...So," Ren whispered, lips still sweet with cheese and nerves,
"Do you believe in love now?"
Serin blinked once.
And then slowly….her expression softened.
"Well… my whole childhood, love was a word wrapped in barbed wire.
My parents warned me : Don't fall for anyone. It's weakness. It ruins lives. My siblings believed it too. I did. We all grew up thinking love was just a kind of pretty lie."
She looked down for a moment.
Then straight into Ren's eyes.
"But... that night. When you explained it to me... I don't know. Something cracked inside. And now?" she paused, voice a little breathless, "I think I do believe in it. I really do."
Ren's lips curved into a smile.
Not out of charm.
Not out of habit.
Just raw, peaceful joy.
"What's your dream, Ren?"
He leaned back.
Let out a breath.
And for once, he wasn't dramatic.
He was… honest.
"Well... I want to be a doctor. Because everyone dies someday. But the good we leave behind… that's what matters. If I can heal even one life, maybe that's something worth leaving behind."
He paused again.
Looked up, more starry-eyed now.
"But even more than that... I want a family. Not dramatic. Not awkward. Not broken.
Just... peaceful. A warm little world.
A wife who's my best friend. A kid who doesn't grow up afraid to talk. A home where we laugh without trying. No excuses. No pretending. Just... love."
Serin didn't say anything.
But her eyes… sparkled like she just saw a future she never believed in before.
"God," she murmured, "you're so... innocent."
"What?!" Ren gasped, blushing. "Excuse me?? I'm a mature adult."
"You're a Drama Queen ," she replied.
"Yeah? Well, you're a calm goddess ."
They Both giggled.
Her phone buzzed.
"Hey, Mom... yeah... I'm still eating... uh-huh, with the girls... I'll be home soon."
Ren watched something shift in her face. Was that... panic?
"You okay?"
She stiffened.
"Dude. Check the time."
4:15 PM.
They'd been here for four hours. And yet... it felt like ten minutes in a universe that belonged to just them.
They both sat there, realizing the dream bubble was about to pop.
Serin reached for her purse.
And Ren—
Ren exploded internally.
"OH GOD. WAIT. THE BILL. THE MONEY. FIRST DATE. I'M THE GUY. I'M SUPPOSED TO PAY."
His hands went to his forehead in slow-motion agony.
"I HAVE THIRTY. JUST THIRTY . I AM... OFFICIALLY A BROKE ROMEO."
He mentally blacked out.
"Should I wash dishes?"
"Should I call my ancestors?"
"Should I fake fainting?"
"Escape through the air vent?"
Serin raised a single eyebrow, sipping the last of her drink.
"What's wrong, Drama Queen?"
Ren mumbled. "I had money... but this grumpy class guy snatched it back TODAY. Now I only got 30 bucks... and we're literally in public... and I am... dying."
Serin chuckled.
Calmly pulled her wallet and said:
"Dude. Chill. Just pay me whenever you're alive. Your money, my money—same difference."
She patted his head like she was the boyfriend. And Ren?
Fell. Again. Harder than before.
"Yeah… she's my boyfriend." His mind whispered it over and over like a warm, safe prayer.
At the counter:
Bill: 500
She paid: 470
Ren: 30
Ouch !
His soul screamed.
"Is she a mommy? Or am I just... inferior?"What kind of man doesn't pay on the first date?!
Back at the table, while finishing a last bite of pizza—
She looked up with that unreadable expression again and said,
"Should we kiss goodbye before leaving?"
And that—was it.
Ren choked on his crust.
Pepsi flew down the wrong pipe.
His entire bloodstream became carbonated.
She burst into laughter.
Not polite giggles.
Real, doubled-over, eyes-shutting laughter.
And Ren, choking and blushing and dying on the inside...
Felt something strange bloom in his chest.
A warmth.
A flutter.
Something soft.
And in that instant, somewhere between Pepsi and blushes and pizza sauce...
Ren realized he wasn't falling in love anymore. He had already landed.
She laughed so hard she almost snorted.
He recovered, still tomato red, still stuttering, still violently blushing.
She walked toward the restroom.
The moment Serin looked back from the washroom door, something unspoken passed between them.
No words.
No signals.
Just… an invisible thread pulling them toward each other.
She tilted her head. Motioned gently.
Ren's heart skipped.
The washroom had a shared entrance and somehow, right now, it felt like a portal to another world.
"Mirror pics,"
he told himself.
Totally innocent.
Totally normal.
Totally ignoring the rapid heartbeat screaming through his chest.
Inside the washroom...
The lighting was soft, like the sun leaking through thin clouds.
The mirror reflected everything — the blushes, the tension, the unsaid emotions.
Serin leaned slightly toward the mirror, applying lipstick in gentle strokes.
But she didn't need it.
Not a bit.
To Ren, she was already too beautiful.
Lipstick or not, her presence was something holy.
He pulled out his phone, opened the camera, switched to selfie mode.
She leaned in beside him.
Their cheeks brushed just slightly, like electricity wearing a silk robe.
She smiled.
He blushed.
Their eyes didn't meet the mirror, They met each other.
Then, without a word, she reached for his phone, gently taking it from his shaking hands.
She placed it against the sink, angling it perfectly.
A full frame.
Just the two of them.
She walked back.
Wrapped her arms around him again, like it was always meant to be.
His heart was no longer pounding.
It was thundering.
He didn't know if he was going to explode or float.
They smiled for photos.
Made silly heart signs.
Laughed at how stupidly in love they looked. Because in that moment? They were.
And then—
"Hey Ren..."
He looked up,
"Yeah...?"
She turned slightly toward him, eyebrows raised, voice impossibly calm:
"Should we kiss?"
And time… stopped.
He blinked.
He swallowed.
He stuttered.
"I—uh—yeah—I mean—I'm—"
His brain short-circuited.
His knees almost gave out.
His hands were trembling like paper in a storm.
But before he could finish.....
She stepped closer.
One slow, confident step.
She looked straight into his eyes,
not searching for permission, but reading his heart like a favorite book.
And gently... pressed her lips to his.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't wild.
The kiss.
Soft.
So soft it almost didn't feel real.
Her lips met his like a whisper.
Like a secret passed between two soulmates.
They weren't rushing.
They weren't trying.
It was slow.
Honest.
Like the world had waited for this one kiss… and now that it happened, it could finally exhale.
His heartbeat erupted, but in the silence, he could hear hers too.
Their bodies didn't move.
They didn't need to.
The air around them shifted.
The temperature changed.
It felt like… falling into something warm and infinite.
It wasn't a movie kiss.
It wasn't dramatic.
It was real.
And it melted every last piece of fear that ever existed between them.
When they pulled back, they didn't say anything.
Their eyes spoke the language only two people in love can understand:
"I'm here."
"I felt it too."
"This is real."
And Ren? He didn't just feel kissed.
He felt,
Seen.
Chosen.
Wanted.
For the first time in his life…
He wasn't overthinking.
He was simply, stupidly, impossibly… in love.
" And also maybe slightly dead. Because—holy crap—she actually kissed me."