The content was light-hearted, but the tone was earnest. Wooyeon gently rubbed his ear and lowered his gaze. He grew up so beautifully. It wasn’t incorrect, but hearing it from someone else felt awkward.
“So, don’t worry. First Moon Garam, and now you; I didn’t realize I was the type of person that people didn’t trust.”
There was a thorn hidden in his soft voice. It was something he never showed in conversations with Wooyeon. Minjeong asked, ‘Garam?’ but then casually continued as if it didn’t matter.
“I shouldn’t say this since I’ve only seen him twice… but Wooyeon is a bit… peculiar. My heart strangely goes out to him.”
“…”
“I’m not saying I’m interested, so relax your face. Didn’t Yoonwoo Oppa say your face says everything?”
She felt for him but also found him peculiar. Contrary to the nonchalant tone, the content was overflowing with affection. Even Dohyun, who quietly listened to Minjeong’s words, responded lightly.
“Well, if he’s pretty in my eyes, he must be pretty in others’ too.”
Wooyeon felt even more embarrassed than before, and got up from his seat. He would rather not hear praise like this; it just didn’t sit right with him. With the conversation seeming to have ended, he thought to pretend not to notice and return inside.
But Wooyeon couldn’t just leave the two alone and go back inside the bar. Just as he took a step, the phone rang. Ding—a vibration startled Wooyeon, causing him to flinch.
“Ah…!”
He didn’t fall, but he couldn’t prevent dropping the item he was holding. Before he realized it, the phone had flown and made a dull thud as it hit the ground. Wooyeon stared with wide eyes as the device tumbled on the asphalt.
“Did you just hear something?”
Why did phones always fall with the screen facing downwards? He hoped against hope, but if he heard a sound, there was a good chance the screen had been badly cracked. Not being able to confirm it with his eyes only amplified the fear.
“Huh? What sound?”
“I heard something falling…”
Without even considering picking up the phone, Wooyeon stiffened. Thud, thud—the sound of footsteps slowly approaching. With a start, Wooyeon turned his head and saw Dohyun coming out of the alley.
“…”
“…”
Dohyun looked surprised, his eyes wide even in the darkness. Wooyeon appeared to be on the verge of tears and spoke with a sad voice.
“Sunbae…”
“…Yeon-Ah.”
As Dohyun approached, he bent his waist to see eye-to-eye with Wooyeon. His eyes were filled with various complex emotions. Neglecting that fact, Wooyeon hastily spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
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.
“…What?”
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“Cybea ktja…”
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“…”
A long silence ensued. Dohyun stared at the phone until Minjeong came out of the alley. Then, he slowly picked up the phone.
“Huh? Since when did Wooyeon…. No, what’s wrong with that?”
As expected, the screen was cracked. At the sight of the shattered screen, Wooyeon’s face paled. Dohyun sighed softly and muttered in a low voice.
“…What am I supposed to say?”
It felt oddly relieving, though it wasn’t something to be relieved about; the phone was broken.
Wooyeon couldn’t bring himself to look at Dohyun’s face and continued to apologize, extending his hand.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I came out to bring it to you because you got a call…”
“It’s okay.”
Dohyun calmly replied and pressed the button on the side of the phone. Aside from the cracks, the screen remained intact. After briefly eyeing Wooyeon, Dohyun put the phone back in his pocket.
“It can be fixed. Don’t worry about it.”
His tone was truly nonchalant. He could’ve expressed irritation, but there was no sign of it. Wooyeon closed his mouth and looked up guiltily.
“There were continuous calls.”
“Hmm, you didn’t have to take it.”
Even if there were two calls, could he really not answer them? He didn’t know if it was the same caller, but if it was, it could’ve been something urgent.
“Who was it?”
Dohyun chuckled slightly as he rummaged through the plastic bag he was holding. It seemed he had bought various flavors of Jju Jju Bar ice cream for everyone. Dohyun picked out the chocolate flavor and handed it to Wooyeon after unwrapping it.
“It’s just spam calls.”
Wooyeon held the ice cream in his hand and took a bite from the end. It was slightly melted, making it easy to eat. Now that he looked, Minjeong also had ice cream in a different flavor in her hand.
“But….”
A hesitant voice interrupted. Dohyun narrowed his left eye as he examined Wooyeon’s face. From his soft lips, a slightly stiff voice emerged.
“How much did you hear?”
***
Upon returning to the drinking session, Wooyeon immediately began drinking non-stop. The drinks poured by the teaching assistant smelled fresh, with a hint of grape, and upon hearing that Taegyeum was trying fruit soju for the first time, he ordered various types of alcohol.
Thus, a total of twelve bottles. After taking photos of the splendid scene, the real drinking session began.
“This one…and this one are delicious.”
His fully dilated eyes blinked rapidly. It was an attempt to focus, but no matter how much he blinked, his vision remained blurry. Plum, and then grape. Alternating between the two, Wooyeon nodded slightly and bowed his head.
“Other ones are delicious too…”
“Is Wooyeon drunk?”
The teaching assistant asked with a worried tone. Dohyun, who was quietly standing by Wooyeon’s side, pursed his lips ambiguously. Minjeong also drank silently from her glass.
“I’m not drunk.”
Wooyeon spoke rhythmically as he held onto his glass again. Despite his precise pronunciation, his pupils looked dazed. Unless someone looked closely, he seemed sober enough, but his mind was already clouded.
‘…I heard it from the beginning.’
Having answered like that earlier, Wooyeon left the perplexed two behind and headed back to the bar. He wasn’t particularly angry; he just had nothing more to say.
However, upon seeing the teaching assistant and Taegyeum, his heart sank an indescribable amount.
“It’s really okay.”
It was his first time experiencing love, so he didn’t know. He might’ve seemed okay upfront, but he wasn’t as okay past that. Discovering traces of another person was such an unpleasant feeling. Even though he knew that Dohyun’s current feelings were different, just the fact that there were emotions he hadn’t known about made him angry to the core.
“Yeon-Ah.”
Wooyeon hesitated, stopping himself from lifting his glass. It was because Dohyun had cautiously grabbed his wrist. Dohyun gently placed the glass on the table, then spoke kindly.
“Stop drinking now.”
“…Why?”
He knew he shouldn’t be angry with Dohyun. People’s hearts didn’t always do as they wanted, and it wasn’t his place to interfere with anyone he liked. Since Dohyun said he liked him now, he shouldn’t have asked for anything more. Despite thinking that way, his stomach churned with anger.
“Because if you emit pheromones, it’s a big problem.”
Wooyeon bit his tongue upon hearing Dohyun’s words. Even though he was drunk, it wasn’t difficult to understand what he meant. Taegyeum and Garam were sitting across from him; he couldn’t emit pheromones in a situation like this.
“Let’s stop drinking, okay?”
The affectionate tone acted as a brake. Reluctantly, Wooyeon leaned his head against Dohyun’s chest. He felt Dohyun flinch when he buried his face in his neck.
“I… tonight…”
He sensed pheromones at the tip of his nose. Dry but strong, it was the scent of Alpha pheromones. As Wooyeon breathed deeply, he spoke, almost urging.
“I want to sleep at your place.”
Before the drinking session ended, they headed home. The teaching assistant offered to drive them, but Dohyun immediately declined. Wooyeon didn’t want to ride in the same car as Taegyeum either.
During the journey home, Wooyeon lost consciousness intermittently. At first, he was piggybacked by Dohyun, then he stood in front of a claw machine, and finally, he held a white doll in his arms. Wooyeon whined, begged, and rejoiced, then clung to Dohyun’s waist and demanded,
“Please hug me.”
“…”
Upon saying those words, Wooyeon remembered the thick scent of Dohyun’s pheromones. He also emitted pheromones in response to the overwhelming scent.
Dohyun sighed and hugged Wooyeon, whispering in his ear.
“Yeon-Ah, patience is a virtue.”
When he opened his eyes, it was dawn. Wooyeon blinked while looking out the window, colored with a bluish hue. It was dark all around, and all he could see was the faint light of dawn shining through the gap in the curtains. Dreams and reality. The hazy sensation gradually regained its sense of reality.
“…!”
It was like being splashed with cold water. The lingering drowsiness disappeared as soon as he realized where he was. Although his vision was still dark, he could manage to see his surroundings.
The problem was that he was in someone’s embrace.
Wooyeon very cautiously removed the arms wrapped around his waist. He didn’t need to confirm who the owner of those arms was, or where he was lying. The only thing that mattered was the fact that he had once again gotten drunk.
‘This is crazy…’
Finally, Wooyeon managed to free himself from the arms and sat up. He planned to leave quietly, without making a scene, as if nothing had happened.
But before he could fully sit up, an irresistible force pulled Wooyeon back into the embrace.
“…”
With a thump, he collapsed back onto the bed. The arms that had been removed wrapped around his waist and, once again, Wooyeon found himself enveloped by another pair of arms. The warmth that enclosed him from behind, along with the pheromones, pulled Wooyeon closer.
“Yeon-Ah.”
Wooyeon stiffened his entire body, forgetting to breathe. The voice in his ear was overly stimulating. The arms wrapped around his waist seemed to tighten, as if unwilling to let Wooyeon go.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
AAAA! They’re so cute. Thank you for the update ❤️✨
AHHH HOW CAN THEY BE SO CUTEEEEEE 😭❤