Jo Won hung up the phone, asking Wooyeon to keep their conversation a secret. It seemed like he was worried about sparks flying, but Wooyeon didn’t have the energy to care. He simply pretended not to know and left another message in the group chat, stating that the PPT still hadn’t arrived. Tension rose in his throat, but there was nothing else for him to do but continue what he was doing.
Up until now, his group members still hadn’t contacted him. Even the member who had called Wooyeon seemed to have shut his mouth as if their task was finished. Wooyeon, watching the numbers disappear in the silent chat room, once again felt the eerie silence.
‘Did I betray my country in a past life?’
With that thought in mind, Wooyeon turned the doorknob of the club room. Worried that it might be locked, he was relieved to feel it open. Wooyeon assumed Garam had arrived a bit early and opened the door.
“….”
“….”
Their eyes met abruptly. Startled, Wooyeon stopped moving. The person who seemed to have just arrived and was about to open the window looked at Wooyeon with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you here so early?”
Wooyeon changed the thoughts he had just been having when he saw those innocent eyes. In reality, he hadn’t betrayed his country; he had certainly saved it. Otherwise, there was no way Dohyun would appear before him at such a surprising moment.
“What’s the matter?”
Ignoring Wooyeon’s lack of response, Dohyun slowly approached him. His expression was odd, and there was a worried look in his eyes. Wooyeon’s face twisted ambiguously, and he finally opened his mouth hesitantly.
“…Isn’t it your day off?”
As far as Wooyeon knew, Dohyun didn’t have classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. If there were no lectures, there was no reason for him to be in the club room so early, especially at such a well-timed moment.
“I have something to submit regarding the club.”
Dohyun casually responded and bent down slightly As he adjusted his eye level to look at Wooyeon’s face, his expression seemed to turn a bit bitter. In that state, Dohyun, with narrowed eyes, spoke in a soft voice.
“You seem tired. Your eyes are bloodshot.”
Wooyeon instinctively took a step back. Rubbing his eye with his fingertips, he felt a stinging sensation. He knew his complexion wasn’t great when he looked in the mirror this morning, but he didn’t expect it to still be like that.
“Ah, I’ve been looking at the laptop for a long time.”
“Laptop?”
“For the group project.”
Dohyun furrowed his brows. Then, he turned away from Wooyeon and approached the window again. As he opened the window, a refreshing breeze swept in.
“Preparing for the presentation?”
“Well, sort of…”
Wooyeon replied vaguely as he entered the room. Outside the window, the spring breeze carried a clear scent, reminiscent of autumn. The dry, lingering pheromones in the air seemed to make his stomach heat up with every waft.
“Then get some more sleep. Why did you come so early? You don’t have Monday classes either.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I couldn’t sleep…and, I couldn’t concentrate at home.”
Trying to appear nonchalant, Wooyeon sat on the sofa and rummaged through his bag. When he took out his laptop and wireless mouse, Dohyun had already moved closer. In an instant, the pheromones were almost tangible now, and Wooyeon took a deep breath.
“Turn on the PPT. I’ll give you some feedback.”
Wooyeon moved the mouse with his back straight. As he plugged in the USB and opened the file, Dohyun leaned in, focusing on the screen. Every one of Wooyeon’s nerves was on edge as if all senses were highly tuned in to Dohyun.
“…Pass it on?”
“You can pass it on.”
“….”
“Well… to the next one.”
The surrounding silence was so profound that it seemed like the sound of breathing could be heard. The clicking sound of the mouse, the sound of him saying ‘next,’ and the occasional rustling of clothes—all were heightened by the overly sensitive senses.
“Nicely done.”
Dohyun praised briefly and took the mouse. He didn’t look at Wooyeon as he went through the presentation from the beginning to the end. Without uttering a word, Dohyun focused on the content.
“The script?”
“Here it is.”
Wooyeon took out a notebook from his bag and unfolded a section. It was a rough outline of the presentation he had put together after creating the PPT. Reading the smoothly written English, Dohyun nodded in approval.
“You wrote this well too. How long is the presentation, a few minutes?”
“Five minutes.”
“Have you tried with a timer?”
“No, I haven’t done that yet.”
The sound of Wooyeon’s pounding heart was overwhelming. He wanted to place his palm on his chest, but with Dohyun present, he couldn’t. Hoping that this sound wouldn’t reach him, Wooyeon nervously watched as Dohyun casually waved the notebook.
“Well… it’s all good, but…”
Dohyun’s lingering voice was so captivating that it sent shivers down his spine. For the first time, Wooyeon realized how strangely alluring his languid and gentle voice felt. As Wooyeon swallowed dryly, Dohyun tilted his head slightly.
“Why are you doing this alone?”
“… “
The pitch-black eyes looked gently at Wooyeon. The attractive eyes, free from any irregularities, seemed to be rigidly fixed on something.
Wooyeon felt his mind go blank as he blinked. It was a seemingly simple question, but oddly, he found it difficult to answer. If he were to explain the situation and say that he did it alone for certain reasons, it felt like Dohyun would perceive him as foolish.
An inexplicable silence lingered. Dohyun didn’t press for an answer, but Wooyeon felt himself growing increasingly uneasy. Observing Wooyeon gradually lowering his head, Dohyun spoke casually.
“Usually… there are a few things that professors expect when they ask teams to work together.”
Wooyeon looked up again to meet Dohyun’s gaze. Dohyun was now focused on the laptop screen rather than Wooyeon.
“Leadership, teamwork, things like that.”
It was already an element included in the evaluation criteria the professor had mentioned. Everyone, including Wooyeon, probably thought it was just nonsense. Dohyun seemed to share a similar sentiment, letting out an insincere burst of laughter.
“It’s not about actually achieving those.”
His straight finger tapped the laptop lightly. Wooyeon reflexively looked at the screen and then back at Dohyun.
“When the submissions are at a similar level, the group where all five members participated gets a higher score.”
“…”
“I’ve heard that, in this professor’s case, even if you do really well, it’s around a C+.”
Wooyeon’s eyes widened. He wasn’t doing it alone because he wanted to. Junseong left him out like that, and the other group members were silent, so what was he supposed to do?
“The essence of what I’m saying is,”
Dohyun touched the laptop again. He looked at Wooyeon, who expressed dissatisfaction and laughed breezily. Then, he pointed to the part that read ‘Group 1, Seon Wooyeon’ and spoke gently.
“If you’re going to exclude someone, just exclude one person.”
Wooyeon thought he might have noticed everything. The fact that he didn’t force an answer, the gentle continuation of the conversation, and the way he was looking at him now. Perhaps all of it was the groundwork for this one statement.
“Who should we exclude?”
Dohyun smiled slightly, furrowing his brows. The thin double-eyelid of his left eye crinkled slightly as he moved it casually.
“The one with the yellow hair from back then?”
As if enchanted, Wooyeon told Dohyun everything. He didn’t reveal everything about his dealings with Junseong, only explaining the cafe encounter and the current situation. Dohyun blinked without saying anything, and when the story was over, he responded casually.
“It seems like he doesn’t want to go to college.”
Although his voice was extremely gentle, Wooyeon thought he was angry. His expressionless face changed subtly, looking like he was contemplating something. Dohyun let out a short sigh and then stretched his lips into a longer smile.
“Let’s do it this way.”
***
For two days, they met in the club room whenever they had a chance. Sometimes it was just the two of them, other times Garam was present, and occasionally Seongyu joined them, making it a group of four. During this time, the story of Wooyeon’s group assignment became known, and Garam and Seongyu went on a rampage.
“Is it today?”
In response to Dohyun’s question, Wooyeon nodded while eating tteokbokki. He’d been restless since last night due to the group project scheduled for the afternoon. Seeing Wooyeon looking particularly tired, Garam personally added sausages to his tteokbokki.
“Did you memorize the script?”
“Yeah, well….”
Wooyeon trailed off, lowering the paper cup. His slightly crumpled face looked more complex than usual. Garam and Seongyu, who were earnestly eating tteokbokki, looked at Wooyeon with concern.
“But I’m not sure if it’s okay to do this.”
Even though he followed Dohyun’s suggestion, Wooyeon felt a lingering discomfort he couldn’t get rid of. It wasn’t because he felt guilty, or that he was going to do something dubious; it just seemed like he was doing the same thing as Junseong. Of course, he was also anxious about trying something for the first time.
“Hey, Wooyeon. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Garam and Seongyu immediately countered Wooyeon’s words. Wooyeon quietly swallowed his laughter at their inability to hold back their worries. Weak-hearted, huh? It wasn’t particularly for that reason.
“People like that won’t listen to words.”
Dohyun said firmly as he poured sausages into Wooyeon’s paper cup. Wooyeon, holding the paper cup absentmindedly, glanced at Dohyun. Dohyun’s lips drew a graceful curve.
“You have to act like a fox.”
Dohyun said it with a truly fox-like smile, and Wooyeon unknowingly blushed. If Dohyun was a gumiho and asked for his liver and heart, Wooyeon would willingly give it to him.
“Don’t worry. It’s okay.”
Once again, Dohyun’s words managed to erase the unease Wooyeon felt. He felt a sense of relief in his heart as he quietly replied, “Okay,” to Dohyun’s short encouragement.
***
Wooyeon arrived a bit early at the classroom and, as expected, Junseong was already there. Sitting in the same place as last time, he looked annoyed as soon as he saw Wooyeon. Wooyeon put his bag down near the liberal arts section and confidently approached him.
“Kang Junseong.”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Junseong had an unusually calm face, to the point that it felt unpleasant. Crossing his legs and sitting arrogantly, he looked down at Wooyeon with a sneer. His confident expression wasn’t a pleasant sight.
“What about the PPT?”
Wooyeon brought up the main topic without hesitation. Although he heard about it from a team member, for now, he pretended not to know. In response, Junseong sealed his lips with an uncomfortable expression.
“Wow, this guy is pretending not to know.”
TL/N Gumiho = Nine-Tailed Fox
I wish this rando would just F off. Thanks for the update btw
there’s no way dohyun doesn’t know… i’m glad he’s helping wooyeon out at least 😭 thank you for the chapter!
I agree. My theory is that Dohyun never deleted wooyeon’s number so when Wooyeon gave it to him after the MT he sa w and realised.