[Short Story] All About Youth #SpringPirikaGrandPrix2023

It is said that more and more young people are getting QR codes tattooed on the pinky finger of their left hand. They say that if you scan that QR code with an app called "The Red String of Fate," it will tell you whether the person you met is connected to you by a red string.

Before falling in love, young people have started using the app to first verify if the other person is their soulmate. They won't fall in love if it's not their soulmate, but if it is, they start a relationship easily. Young people who don't want to waste energy on romance have used the app to find partners efficiently. Its accuracy is astonishing, and now 90% of young people who get married do so through this app.

"Why aren't you using the app?"

There are no QR codes on the pinky fingers of the pair sitting in the cafe. She is sipping coffee, and he is munching on an old-fashioned donut.

"Why about you?"

She sets down the coffee cup, which still has a trace of lipstick on it.

"Because I prefer to gradually figure out the things I don't know."

"But I think it's better to know from the start who your 'mate' is, so you don't end up getting hurt for nothing."

He wonders if she might be an agent sent to popularize the QR codes. A sort of dating scam, if you will. After all, they only ended up in this cafe because he bumped into her while she was walking with a cafe latte, spilled it, and came here to apologize. He decides that's fine, and reaches for a French cruller as well.

"So, are we going to get hurt soon? Once we find out that you aren't my 'soulmate'?"

"Want to check? I'll try getting a QR code too."

He replied, "I'd rather you didn't."

"Do I look suspicious?"

She rests her cheek on her left hand and stares straight at him. He says to her with a gentle expression,

"Because that left pinky finger of yours is beautiful. Whether you're holding a coffee or resting your cheek like that. If possible, I'd like to keep looking at it."

She looks startled and realizes she has been staring at him for five seconds.

"If it had been six seconds, it would have been love, but that's a shame," she murmurs. "That is a shame," he says, sounding regretful. She laughs softly and says she will tell him the reason.

"You see, I can see red strings. The red strings of any person. I can see who they are connected to from their pinky finger."

"And that person isn't me, is it?"

"Yeah, it's not you. But this is a first. You and I are connected by an orange string. I don't know what that means, and it makes me a little uneasy."

Hold out your pinky, he said. As she did as she was told and held out her pinky, he said, "Beautiful," while linking his pinky with hers as if to make a promise. She could see orange threads tangled together.

"I prefer it when things I don't understand gradually become clear."

The tangled orange slowly deepens in color.

Will it eventually turn red?

The two of them stared at each other for six seconds.

(1187 characters)

I have written this as an entry for this contest.
Thank you for your consideration.

[Postscript]

This work was selected as a winning entry in the Spring Pirika Grand Prix. Thank you very much!