As soon as he heard those words, Wooyeon stood up from his spot. His head felt foggy, and he felt strange. Although he couldn’t hear anything inside anymore, an unknown rumbling continued to echo in his ears.
“Hey, you…”
As soon as Garam opened her mouth, his legs started moving. Without stopping, his pace gradually quickened, and when Wooyeon came to his senses, he was already darting out of the building as if he were running for his life.
***
His head empty, Wooyeon wandered aimlessly around the campus. The moment he heard Dohyun’s last words, an ominous sense of foreboding rushed over him. If he were to listen further, he felt he wouldn’t be able to stand on two feet and pretend that nothing had happened.
‘I like you, seonsaeng-nim.’
In his youth, Wooyeon’s confession was more akin to resignation than courage. When he realized he couldn’t harbor the emotions that had already bloomed, he let go, basically discarding them.
Naturally, miracles didn’t happen, and Wooyeon had suffered indescribable pain.
What was the pain of that senseless heartbreak? Afterwards, no matter what happened, it seemed like nothing could make his heart ache. He was fine even if Junseong cursed at him; he was accustomed to his mother’s indifference; he remained composed when he went to the United States alone.
It wasn’t the typical kind of change where the ground would harden after a heavy rain, or one would gain strength after overcoming adversity. It was just that the wound inside him was so deep that he couldn’t even feel a scratch.
But no matter how numb he became to pain, there was no way touching the wounded area wouldn’t hurt.
“Oh, Wooyeon, over here!”
After finally reaching the classroom, Seongyu, who was sitting in the middle of the room, greeted him warmly and cleared the bag next to him. As Wooyeon approached hesitantly, Seongyu’s eyes widened.
“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
Wooyeon put down his bag and lightly slapped his cheek. He knew his expression had hardened, but he didn’t realize it was enough to be noticeable. Once again, he thought he was fortunate not to have gone into the club room earlier.
“I just couldn’t sleep well.”
“I thought I saw Kang Junseong again.”
Seongyu absentmindedly played with his phone without any suspicion. Wooyeon covered his mouth with his hand and rested his chin on it. It was good that he had received the injection. Even when his emotions were turbulent like this, pheromones didn’t come out even a bit.
“Hey, Wooyeon. Let’s order something to eat in the dorm after class. Garam Noona said she wants to buy something.”
As Seongyu relayed messages, Wooyeon still responded grimly with his chin resting on his hand.
“I’m not feeling well today, so I’m going straight home after class.”
“Not feeling well?”
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.
Seongyu turned his head to Wooyeon with a disappointed look. When their eyes met, he hinted at something.
“Gbtsec Lsecu rjlv tf mjwf ab rmtbbi yfmjerf bo atf wjxfeq mijrr, yea jgf sbe gfjiis ublcu ab pera ifjnf?”
Qbbsfbc yla tlr ybaabw ilq jcv ibkfgfv tlr ujhf. Ccskjs, tf’v mbcolgwfv klat ybat fjgr atja Gbtsec kjr lc atf miey gbbw, jcv atja kjr atf gfjrbc tf kjcafv ab ub ragjluta tbwf. Lf vlvc’a xcbk kts Vfbcuse rjlv atja.
“…What does sunbae being here have to do with me?”
“Oh.”
As if realizing something, Seongyu furrowed his brows. Then he put down his phone and pursed his lips. He looked around vaguely and whispered.
“You like Dohyun Hyung, right?”
“….”
Ah, why was his luck so bad today? Having to confirm the feelings he’d expressed not only once, but now twice through someone else’s words. And all this while in such a low state of mind.
“It didn’t seem like you had any intention of hiding it…. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
Seongyu admitted his mistake belatedly and apologized. He also said he would pretend not to know in the future. Wooyeon forced himself to smooth out his expression and replied calmly.
“It’s okay. It was pretty obvious, so I guess you figured it out.”
It would have been obvious to anyone, especially to the observant Dohyun. Despite knowing everything, he’d still helped him, hugged him, showed him movies, and behaved kindly. If the reason behind it was to ‘see how long he’d keep thinking it was pretense,’ it was overly sincere.
“Let’s go to the club room together. I’ll just stop by for a moment and then go home.”
“Is that so? Then, are you saying you understand for now?”
Seongyu quickly sent a reply to Garam. When asked what he wanted to eat, Wooyeon casually replied to eat whatever she wanted. There was a high probability that tteokbokki would be prepared in the club room.
“Ugh, I don’t want to attend class.”
The professor, who entered five minutes later, skipped attendance and started the class. Wooyeon mechanically wrote down the professor’s words and erased the thoughts that came to his mind. The words he heard in front of the club room earlier, and Dohyun’s figure from their tutoring lessons long ago.
In Wooyeon’s memory, he was an endlessly compassionate teacher. He hadn’t scolded him for forgetting his homework, and didn’t correct his mistakes harshly. When Wooyeon couldn’t focus in class due to his condition, he’d softened his voice and patiently explained things again.
Once, Wooyeon had hoped that such kindness was exclusive to him. Because it was his first time getting tutored, because he was young, because he was bullied at school. He took solace in the thought that if it were someone else with hidden feelings in their heart, whether it be sympathy or something else entirely, they might not have experienced it.
But he was kind even to his juniors. He bought meals, helped with studies, and even drank unwanted alcohol on their behalf. So, Wooyeon unconsciously began to think that he would fulfill all his requests.
‘I’ll do everything you ask for.’
From course registration to petting his head, hugging him, and even more than that. Wasn’t not stopping someone from coming and not holding onto someone leaving what he meant by saying this?
Rather than feeling like he was being toyed with, he realized that there was no possibility. Even if it were someone else, Dohyun would have shown the same reaction. Wasn’t it foolish to mistake the kindness given to everyone equally as a privilege?
Wooyeon repeated this thought until the end of the lecture. At some point, even his hand stopped taking notes, but he didn’t have the capacity to care about it.
Packing up his things, grabbing his bag, and moving to the front of the club room, he kept wandering aimlessly until Seonggyu opened the club room door.
“We’re here!”
He had to give up. No, he had to stop. If he kept looking ahead and running, his leg might be caught in the trap called love. Resisting and getting hurt everywhere would eventually lead to being at the mercy of fate.
‘If it’s going to be like that anyway…’
“Well, since we ordered tteokbokki, might as well sit down.”
While Wooyeon was organizing his thoughts, Garam suddenly stood up, grabbed cigarettes, and went outside. Seongyu also pushed Wooyeon inside and followed him slowly. With the sound of the door closing, Wooyeon finally realized that Seongyu had been avoiding him until now.
And that Dohyun’s gaze was directed at him.
“Where does it hurt?”
Dohyun asked in his usual affectionate tone. The emotion reflected in his pure eyes was a sweet type that Wooyeon knew well. Upon realizing that Dohyun was worried about him, his lips inevitably twitched.
“I’m in pain.”
Immediately the pheromones became closer. Dohyun’s autumn-like dry pheromones approached gently, swaying warmly nearby. Due to Wooyeon’s suppressed pheromones, only Alpha pheromones were particularly clear.
“Look at me.”
Dohyun slightly lowered his head and met Wooyeon’s gaze. He was about to reach out his hand, seemingly trying to check for a fever, but hesitated. Wooyeon grabbed the hand that had stopped in midair and brought it to his forehead. His hand trembled faintly.
“You don’t have a fever…”
Murmuring like that, Dohyun gently caressed his lukewarm forehead. As he had been exposed to the outside wind, Dohyun’s hand was warmer than Wooyeon’s. With his eyes tightly closed, Wooyeon buried his face in Dohyun’s hand.
“Can you take me home?”
He didn’t need to beg for such a request; Dohyun would fulfill it regardless. If his junior was sick, the kind-hearted Dohyun wouldn’t pretend not to know. As expected, he held Wooyeon’s hand to prevent him from feeling unwell.
“Let’s go.”
Without even eating tteokbokki, they headed straight to the parking lot. Dohyun seemed to be messaging Garam, but Wooyeon didn’t notice as he lowered his head.
Dohyun personally opened the passenger side door and even fastened his seatbelt this time.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“No, not really.”
Wooyeon, clutching his bag, leaned his head against the car window in silence. Even though Dohyun didn’t let just anyone in the passenger seat, he casually let Wooyeon sit next to him. How could he not have any expectations?
“I’ve sat in the passenger seat three times already.”
Instead of answering, Dohyun raised his eyebrows. After starting the engine, he turned his head and met Wooyeon’s gaze. Wooyeon blinked without avoiding it.
“…I see.”
It was a curt reply. Dohyun shifted gears as if nothing had happened. The expectation, which had been overflowing with such indifference, gradually settled into calm.
“…….”
“…….”
The way home felt particularly long today. Although it was a distance that could be walked if necessary, he felt anxious for some reason. Moreover, with the conversation coming to a halt, even breathing felt conspicuous eventually.
“You must have taken suppressants.”
They were almost at the doorstep when Dohyun cautiously spoke up. Wooyeon mumbled a vague reply and rested his chin on top of his bag.
Dohyun, who entered the underground parking lot smoothly, parked the car near the entrance.
“…We got here quickly.”
Wooyeon muttered words he didn’t really mean as he unfastened his seatbelt. Dohyun, without turning off the engine, silently stared at him.
After a short pause, Dohyun slowly spoke up.
“Rest. If you’re in a lot of pain, tell me.”
“…….”
Wooyeon took a deep breath. His heart was pounding, and it felt like he was forcibly suppressing his pheromones. Although he inhaled several times, his mind didn’t easily calm down. Eventually, Wooyeon just turned his body to face Dohyun.
“I don’t want to be alone.”
Time still felt early and ambiguous. Dohyun had a makeup class, and Wooyeon’s heat cycle started in five hours. Despite knowing all these facts, a heartfelt voice flowed from Wooyeon’s lips.
“Let’s go sleep, sunbae.”
Woi Woi my Lord do u see this 🙌🙌🙌👏👏👏🫸🏾🫸🏾🫸🏾