Our First Kiss in ARCA

After that day, they kept meeting like usual.

Neither of them brought up holding hands on the glass bridge for the next few days. Still, whenever they walked down a narrow path together, their fingertips seemed to brush naturally. In crowded places, Logan would sometimes reach out first and lightly take Mia by the wrist.

When confirmation windows kept appearing every time they touched, they both changed their settings to allow ongoing contact for things like holding hands or touching an arm. After that, the same prompt no longer appeared every time they logged back in.

The day they first kissed was supposed to be another ordinary meeting.

Mia told herself not much had changed. They still worked separately, then met when they had time to eat or walk together. If they held hands, it was because the street was crowded or the path felt unstable.

As long as there was a reason, it was easy to pretend it meant nothing.

That day, Mia arrived twenty minutes late.

A client had suddenly decided to redo an ad project from the beginning, even though all it needed was final approval. Mia reopened the contract, added an extra fee, and set a new deadline. She handled it the way she always did.

It didn’t make her feel any better.

By the time she finally finished, she hadn’t even eaten lunch, and rain was pouring outside her hotel.

It was raining in ARCA too.

Old buildings lined both sides of a narrow stone street. Streetlights reflected off the wet ground. Logan was waiting beneath an awning.

Instead of asking why she was late, he looked at her face first.

“Rough day?”

“No.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I told you, you can’t trust facial expressions in here.”

“I don’t believe that anymore.”

Mia looked away.

Explaining what had happened would feel like living through it all over again. Logan didn’t push. He opened an umbrella and suggested they walk.

“You know we don’t actually get wet in here.”

“I know. But it’s nice to walk with an umbrella in a place like this.”

Normally, he was the kind of person who would ask why anyone bothered doing something unnecessary.

The umbrella was small. They had to walk close together to stay beneath it. Mia’s shoulder brushed Logan’s arm. Even with the sensation level turned down, she could feel a faint warmth through their clothes.

They walked slowly through the rain.

Usually, Mia would be the first to fill the silence with something—anything. Today, she didn’t have the energy.

She simply walked beside Logan.

And the silence wasn’t awkward.

At the end of the alley was a small square with a fountain and benches. Hardly anyone was there because of the rain. Logan stopped beneath the wide awning of a shop.

“Did you eat?”

Mia shook her head.

“I’ll send you something.”

“I’m fine.”

“Mia.”

His voice was the same as always, but she could tell he wasn’t going to let it go.

“I’ll eat in a little while.”

Logan stopped insisting and simply looked at her.

It became difficult to hold his gaze, so Mia turned toward the alley. Rainwater ran down the stone street.

“My client suddenly decided they wanted to change everything today. Right before we were done.”

“Did you charge them extra?”

Normally, that would have been the first thing Mia asked too.

Today, it irritated her.

“Getting paid more doesn’t mean it wasn’t exhausting.”

She regretted the words immediately. She wasn’t angry at Logan.

“Sorry.”

“I know.”

Mia watched droplets fall from the edge of the awning.

Until now, she had always believed that if work was difficult, she just needed to get paid enough for it. If it took more time, she charged more. If something unexpected happened, she rearranged the next thing on her schedule.

She thought that once everything was accounted for, she was supposed to feel fine again.

“But today I’m just tired.”

Once she said it out loud, that was all there was to it.

If she told her family, they would worry. If she complained to someone she worked with, she was afraid they might think she couldn’t handle the job. So she always said she was doing well. Making good money. Nothing was wrong.

Logan didn’t tell her to work less.

He didn’t tell her to take a break either.

“Then just stay here today. You don’t have to do anything.”

Something in her loosened at those words.

Maybe here, she didn’t have to pretend she was fine.

Logan closed the umbrella. A stray drop of rain splashed beneath the awning and landed on Mia’s cheek. It wasn’t real water, but it still felt cold.

Logan lifted his hand.

It stopped just before her cheek.

Mia didn’t move away. A small contact prompt appeared. She approved it.

His fingertips touched her cheek. Logan’s thumb slowly brushed over the place where the rain had landed.

Her cold skin warmed beneath his touch.

When Mia looked up, Logan’s face was right in front of her.

“Is this for safety too?”

“No.”

Logan didn’t manage to say anything after that.

Mia’s heart was beating fast.

Was that because of what ARCA was transmitting? Was her real body reacting like this too?

The more she thought about it, the less certain she became.

Logan lowered his head slightly.

Mia watched his face move closer and didn’t step back.

Just before their lips touched, a small notification appeared near the bottom of her vision.

`Would you like to feel the sensation of a kiss?`

Of all times to ask.

Mia burst out laughing and turned her head.

Logan had the same notification in front of him.

“I haven’t pressed it yet. You started laughing.”

Their faces were still close as they looked at their separate screens. The tension from a moment ago had softened, but Logan’s hand was still against Mia’s cheek.

“Should we cancel it?”

His voice sounded normal.

The fingertips against her cheek trembled slightly.

“No.”

Mia pressed allow first.

Logan followed a moment later.

This time, Mia stepped closer.

Their lips touched.

It was softer than she expected.

Rain sounded all around them, but the place where their lips met felt warm. Her heart pounded. Her fingertips tingled.

Mia knew ARCA was sending signals through the chip in her body. The warmth of his lips, the feeling of contact—it was all being created that way.

But when Logan pulled back for a moment and leaned in again, she didn’t think about any of that.

The second kiss was shorter.

Logan was the first to step back. Mia took a breath too.

She had been looking at his face from inches away only moments ago, but now she found it difficult to meet his eyes.

Logan spoke first.

“Did you finish everything you needed to post today?”

Mia stared at him, wondering if she had heard correctly.

“That’s what you’re wondering about right now?”

“No. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”

It was such an honest answer that Mia pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

She didn’t want to look too happy.

She laughed anyway.

Only after she calmed down did Mia order dinner. While they waited for the food, they talked about work for a while. A notification said her delivery had arrived, but Mia only checked it and closed the window because she didn’t want to interrupt the conversation.

They talked about changes to payment rules, the times automated posts went live, and countries where exchange rates had risen. It was all ordinary conversation for them.

Except now, she could feel both of them choosing their words.

When it was time to leave, Logan said her name.

“What happened earlier wasn’t a mistake.”

Before Mia could answer, he disappeared.

He really said that and left her there alone.

Annoying.

She still couldn’t stop smiling.

Back in reality, rainwater ran down the windows of her hotel room too. Her untouched dinner sat beside the sofa.

Mia stood to get some water, then lifted her fingertips to her lips.

The place Logan had kissed still seemed warm.

She sent him a short message.

`It wasn’t a mistake for me either.`

The read receipt appeared immediately.

His reply took much longer.

`Good.`

Mia read that one word several times before finally eating dinner.