The professor stood at the podium.
"Students," he began, voice stern and crisp, "today's seminar will decide your future. A judging panel is seated behind the glass partition."
He pointed toward the side wall, where the large glass panel separated the hall from the observation room. "Executives and recruiters from different companies will be watching your presentations. If they like your thesis and performance, they may offer you a job contract."
The students sat straighter.
Their spines suddenly remembered discipline.
"If any student receives multiple offers," the professor continued, "you are free to choose. Results will be announced after lunch."
Everyone nodded.
The air was thick with nervous excitement.
The professor's eyes narrowed. "Any questions?"
"No, sir."
"Good." His voice sharpened. "We will begin. From this moment onward, no late students will be allowed into the hall."
Eve felt her soul sweat.
I almost died.
The lights dimmed. The projector whirred to life.
The professor glanced at his list.
"Eve."
Eve jolted. "Yes, sir!"
She stood up too quickly, and her knee slammed into the desk.
"Ow!"
A few students snickered.
Clarissa shut her eyes and silently prayed for her friend's survival.
The professor's voice cut through the laughter like a whip. "Silence."
Instantly, everyone straightened.
His gaze fell on Eve.
"Eve. You are first."
Eve nodded, clutching her file like it was her newborn child.
She walked to the front.
Her hands trembled for a moment.
Then she inhaled, lifted her chin, and clicked to the first slide.
The room quieted.
Her voice steadied.
She began.
*
Behind the glass partition, a man sat in the shadows.
His posture was relaxed, but his presence alone made the air colder.
A black suit. A calm face. Eyes that didn't blink much.
The same man.
The one Eve had called a miracle.
His gaze followed her every movement as she spoke, as she pointed at the screen, as she explained her thesis with a confidence that didn't match her clumsy body.
For a moment, his eyes drifted down to his own hands.
He remembered the way she had grabbed them and shaken them so hard.
As if she wasn't afraid of him.
As if she didn't realize what kind of person he was.
His expression didn't change, but his fingers flexed slightly.
Then he pulled out his phone.
A Messenger was already pinned at the top.
He typed.
Theo: I met her.
The reply came almost instantly.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: You can read my username, right?
Theo: Yes.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Then what does it mean?
Theo: No disturbance or else die.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: So why do you still have the audacity to message me?
Theo: I want one answer.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Get lost.
His thumb paused.
Then he typed anyway.
Theo: She shook my hands. She patted my shoulder, too.
Silence.
One minute passed.
Two minutes.
The Mafia Overlord stared at the screen as calmly as if he were waiting for a corpse to cool.
Finally, the reply came.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Why are you telling me you cut off her hands? I don't care.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Theo: I didn't cut off her hands.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: So you killed her. Great. Bring her body to me. I want to do experiments.
Theo: I didn't kill her.
A pause.
Then the next message arrived like a slap.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Come. To. The. Point.
His fingers moved again.
Theo: I want to know why I didn't kill her.
For a long time, there was no reply.
Then, finally…
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Who do you think I am?
Theo: Doctor.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Are you planning to die today?
Theo: No.
DoNotPingMeandLiveLonger: Then shut up. If you ping again, the next body I dissect will be yours.
The status changed to offline.
The Mafia Overlord stared at the screen for two seconds.
Then he calmly locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket, as if he hadn't just been threatened by someone equally insane.
His gaze returned to the girl on stage.
*
On Eve's side, the presentation flowed smoothly.
Slide after slide.
Her voice was clear.
Her explanations were sharp.
Her confidence grew with every sentence.
Even the students who had laughed earlier were forced into silence.
By the time she reached her conclusion, the hall was completely still.
Eve bowed. "Thank you."
The professor nodded once, expression unreadable.
"Next," he said. "Leslie."
As Eve returned to her seat, Clarissa grabbed her sleeve like she was holding onto a celebrity.
"You were AMAZING!" she whispered fiercely. "Your thesis was insane! You're definitely getting offers!"
Eve grinned, cheeks glowing. "I don't need many. I just need one. Then I'll finally earn money!"
"Greedy," Clarissa muttered, but she was smiling too.
One by one, the presentations continued.
Soon, lunch break arrived.
Clarissa clung to Eve's arm like a drowning person. "Eveaa… I stuttered! I'm finished! I'm so finished!"
Eve patted her head. "Your thesis was good. Nervousness is normal. Stop overthinking."
Clarissa groaned. "You're too calm."
"I'm not calm," Eve said, eyes drifting dreamily. "I'm just… distracted."
Clarissa narrowed her eyes. "By the handsome guy."
Eve coughed. "Maybe."
*
After lunch, the students gathered again.
The executives spoke about their companies.
They praised the students.
They smiled politely.
They talked about policies and work culture and future opportunities.
But no names were announced.
No direct offers.
The excitement slowly turned into tension.
Whispers filled the hall.
Then the door opened.
And the room fell into absolute silence.
A man stepped in.
Tall.
Cold.
Elegant.
The air itself seemed to retreat for him.
Every head turned.
Every heartbeat skipped.
Eve's throat went dry.
It's him.
The godly handsome guy.
Clarissa grabbed Eve's arm so hard it nearly broke. "Eve. WHO IS THAT?!"
Eve's eyes were wide. "That's… him."
"Him who?!"
"The one I told you about."
Clarissa stared like she was witnessing a Angel descend onto the Earth
"Is he even real?" she whispered. "Do we live in the same universe as him?"
Eve felt her scalp go numb.
He's one of the recruiters?
Her face paled.
He saw me crash and drop my papers.
Her budding romance died instantly.
She felt like crying.
Forget love.
Forget destiny.
Forget butterflies.
This was humiliation.
Clarissa leaned closer and whispered, "Eve… he's ridiculously handsome."
Eve sighed like a girl mourning her dreams. "He is."
Then she added sadly, "But… he can't speak."
Clarissa froze. "What?"
Eve nodded with a tragic expression. "Mute."
Clarissa's eyes widened. "That's… that's horrible."
"Right?" Eve whispered. "God is so unfair."
The man walked to the podium with unhurried steps.
Eve watched him, her heart aching.
How lonely must it be?
She clenched her fists.
I should've learned sign language.
If no one understands him, doesn't that hurt?
The man reached the microphone.
The entire hall held its breath.
His gaze swept across the crowd like a king inspecting his territory.
Then his eyes stopped.
And locked onto one person.
Eve.
Her stomach dropped.
The man raised his hand slowly.
Pointed directly at her.
And then, in a deep voice that sliced through the silence like a blade, he spoke into the mic.
"Eve."
Eve, who had been leaning lazily on her elbow in an attempt to calm her nerves, instantly slipped forward as if the entire desk had betrayed her
She almost tumbled right off her chair in front of everyone, her mouth falling open into a wide, trembling "O" while her eyes widened so much it looked like her soul was trying to escape through them.
Her heart didn't beat.
It exploded.
The godly handsome guy… spoke?
Not only did he speak, but he spoke her name, clearly and precisely, as if he had been calling it his whole life.
Beside her, Clarissa slapped her own forehead so hard that Eve heard the sound and felt secondhand pain.
"Are you stupid?" Clarissa hissed in disbelief, staring at her as if she had grown an extra head. "In what possible way is that man mute?"
Eve pointed shakily toward the podium, still looking like she had been struck by lightning and left behind to smoke.
"H-he… he just…" she stammered, voice cracking as her mind struggled to process reality. "He spoke…"
Clarissa's eyes narrowed into a cold, unimpressed line, and she leaned closer, her voice dripping with disdain.
"Yes," she said slowly, emphasizing every word like she was teaching a child basic arithmetic. "Everyone. Heard. Him. Even the walls heard him. Not only did he speak, but he called your name. Do you realize how insane that is?"
Eve swallowed hard, her cheeks burning, and she muttered helplessly, "But… earlier, when I was talking to him outside… he didn't respond at all…"
Clarissa stared at her in stunned silence for three full seconds, and the disappointment on her face grew so heavy that it felt like it could physically crush Eve's brain.
"Eve," Clarissa whispered, sounding genuinely exhausted, "did it ever occur to you that he might just be… quiet?"
Eve blinked.
Clarissa leaned closer, her expression sharp. "You didn't even consider that possibility, did you? You just jumped straight to the conclusion that he was mute, like your brain took a shortcut and fell off a cliff."
Eve shrank in her seat, embarrassed beyond words, and mumbled, "When you say it like that… it sounds really stupid."
"It doesn't sound stupid," Clarissa snapped. "It is stupid!"
Before Clarissa could continue tearing her apart, the professor's stern voice cut through the whispers and murmurs that had begun spreading through the hall like smoke.
"Eve," he said coldly. "Stand up."
Eve shot up instantly, her spine straightening so stiffly it was as if she had been trained in the army.
She replied in a panicked voice that sounded far louder than she intended.
"Yes, sir!"
The moment she stood, she felt dozens of eyes pierce into her from all directions.
Curious, amused, and judgmental, but none of those gazes mattered as much as the one coming from the podium.
Because the godly handsome guy was staring directly at her.
Not vaguely in her direction.
Not casually scanning the room.
He was looking at her like she was the only person present.