The Engineer & The Physicist

Chapter 3: Collision

JANNE

Janne casually lifted the spoon and put it in his mouth. The noise of the cafeteria was tolerable enough for him to observe what was around him. At the nearby table, a group of students were enjoying their meal while talking about their integration techniques; while on the other table, a duo was flexing their newly created robot.

Everything around him seemed to have interactions with the people they were with, except for Janne. He stared at Candance for a second, and then into her lunch and then back to the bespectacled curly-haired girl. She didn't seem to notice Janne's stares. She was busy chopping her Beef Tapa without even eating a single bite ever since they sat down.

"Are you okay?" Janne asked. Cadence flinched and looked straight at Janne. She blinked her dark brown eyes and quickly turned away. She lifted her glasses.

"I..um.." she stuttered. Janne's eyebrows twitched. "This girl is acting differently now compared to the girl I met in the pub." he thought.

"What is it?" he asked. Janne's eyes watched closely as Cadence gently gripped her spoon and fork. The girl didn't even bother to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked with a sigh. Janne wrapped his fingers on his glass of water and sipped a little bit from it then licked his lips, "You're acting weird."

"I am not." Cadence quickly replied, frowning. Janne didn't look convinced and smirked.

"Is this about territories?" he asked. Cadence looked puzzled and unconsciously jerked her head towards Janne, only to be welcomed by a smug face.

"I don't really get what you mean by that." Cadence said.

"Well," Janne said and casually reached for his food, "When we met at the pub, you were such a...free soul. You get what I mean?"

"Free soul, huh?" Cadence said with a bitter smile and gulped her water, "And?"

Janne furrowed his eyebrows upon Cadence's tone.

"And, the way you are acting right now is the exact opposite. Is it because we're in University now and not in a pub?" Janne said without even holding back his words. Cadence's dark brown eyes stared at him in awe.

"So you're saying that the pub is my territory?" Cadence asked that earned her a nod from Janne.

"And you're implying that I am a party girl who gets uncomfortable when it comes to academe shit?" Cadence added, squinting her eyes as if she looked offended. Janne shook his head.

"Well, I didn't say that." Janne said, "Your words, not mine."

Cadence sighed, "Look, smart dude. I was not expecting this at all okay. I didn't think we would ever meet again. I was not prepared for it." Cadence said. Janne took the last bite of his peach mango pie.

"It already happened. Do you really need to be prepared for everything?" Janne countered. Cadence rolled her eyes.

"You don't understand. I took advantage of the fact that I won't see you again so I thought, 'yeah, let's make it an interesting night.', only to see you again and that made me feel so....awkward." Cadence explained.

Janne pointed out her food, "Well, don't be. Now, pay attention to your food." he said.

Cadence shook her head slightly but still complied with Janne's statement. She ate her beef tapa and her stomach instantly growled. She quickly turned to Janne who was staring at his tablet screen at the moment. She released a sigh of relief when the guy didn't seem to hear it.