It was the period when first-semester grades were being released.
Thinking about the KakaoTalk message my sister had sent a few days ago, my hands trembled. Sweat prickled in my palms.
“I’m not asking for much. Just get at least a 3.0 average. Unless you want your card cut off.”
My card. I absolutely could not lose my card. The best thing about becoming Yeon Yuri had been the overflowing wealth! If the card disappeared, it would basically mean losing all joy in life.
“Yuri. Are you an electric motor or something? Why are your hands shaking like that?”
Ah. I should correct that.
The best thing about becoming Yeon Yuri was meeting Do Jihoon.
I was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in Do Jihoon’s arms. Resting his face against my shoulder, he grabbed my trembling hand firmly.
I turned my head and looked at him.
“Hey. I just hope my average is a B. Pray with me.”
“Your expectations are way too low.”
“This bastard. Like your grades must be so amazing.”
Do Jihoon only smiled without answering. What an annoying guy. Then again, he was the type who came home every day and reviewed his lectures like a high school student. His grades couldn’t possibly be bad.
“Let’s check yours first, Yuri.”
“Okay.”
With trembling hands, I clicked the mouse.
“Ah! No. I can’t look.”
I covered the screen with my hands. While I kept my eyes tightly shut and turned my head away, Do Jihoon said he’d check first and pulled my hand away.
“It’s fine. Look.”
Fine? Do Jihoon definitely said it was fine. Holding onto that hope, I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes.
The laptop screen filled my vision.
‘Average GPA: 3.62’
“Waaah!”
3.62! It was 3.62! I survived! I’m alive!
I jumped up from my seat.
My credit card was safe! Safe!
“Ah. Do Jihoon. So what about your GPA?”
He answered calmly.
“4.2.”
“…What?”
I thought I must have heard wrong. But his face looked completely serious. My mouth slowly dropped open in shock.
“4.2? You got a 4.2 out of 4.3?!”
“Yeah.”
“…Come on. Don’t lie.”
“I’m serious. Why would I lie about something like that?”
“…You bastard living life on easy mode.”
Do Jihoon truly lacked nothing. Face, height, body, brains. It was enviable, but it was also impressive since it was the result of his own effort.
With the grade check, the first semester—long yet short—came to an end.
Proudly, I took a screenshot of the grade page and sent it to my sister.
She was so shocked she cautiously asked whether I had cheated.
Only after I shouted that I hadn’t did she accept my grades and become extremely happy. Thanks to that, an allowance worthy of a scholarship dropped into my bank account.
In great joy, I sent my sister a KakaoTalk message telling her I loved her.
***
“Let’s date, Jihoon.”
It felt like I had confessed to Do Jihoon just yesterday.
But already a month and a half had passed since then.
Even so, not much had changed between us.
“Yuri, wake up.”
Do Jihoon woke me in a gentle voice. I felt him softly stroking my hair.
The touch felt so nice that sleep kept creeping back in. But even while sleepy, I wanted to see Do Jihoon’s face. Mumbling, I shifted around before finally opening my eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
Do Jihoon smiled brightly.
He’s pretty.
Seeing him in the morning sunlight, he almost looked like some kind of elf. I was being ridiculously gushy.
When I just stared blankly, Do Jihoon reached out toward my hair again. Expecting another gentle stroke, I closed my eyes.
“Ah!”
Instead, a flick sound rang next to my ear.
At the same time, a splitting pain shot through my head.
“Holy shit, you crazy—why are you acting up first thing in the morning?! Damn it, I think my skull cracked.”
“Are you a sunfish? Stop exaggerating and get up.”
There wasn’t even a trace of the earlier smile on Do Jihoon’s face. Instead, he smirked with one corner of his mouth raised, mocking my pathetic state.
“You could wake me up nicely. And yet you dare raise a hand against such a delicate and precious omega! I’m calling the police.”
“Didn’t you say before that you were tall and handsome? Yuri, do you have two mouths?”
“You bastard.”
“Quit the noise. Just get up and eat.”
Hearing that, I sprang up from the bed I’d been rolling around on. My eyes sparkled as I looked at him.
“You cooked today?”
“Yeah.”
“Aww. Thanks, Doji Doji.”
I hugged Do Jihoon tightly.
He hugged me back and patted my back lightly.
“So what’s the menu?”
“Omurice.”
“Nice. Let’s go eat right now!”
I wriggled out of his arms and ran to the table. I thought I could hear Do Jihoon sigh behind me.
On the table sat a beautiful yellow, fluffy omurice.
Maybe Do Jihoon had drawn it himself—there was a cute ketchup heart decorating the top.
Imagining that huge guy carefully moving his hands to draw that little heart made affection bubble up inside me.
So cute.
I clenched my fists and trembled slightly.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Yeah. Enjoy.”
“Mm. You too, my Doji.”
I spread the pretty ketchup heart over the omurice and scooped up a bite.
The combination of delicious kimchi and fluffy fried rice was perfect.
Just as I was happily savoring breakfast—
Something strange crunched in my mouth.
Oddly enough, the fried rice had a suspicious smell. I sniffed carefully, trying to identify the source.
Then I figured it out.
“You bastard! You put carrots in here!”
That disgusting smell was carrots.
Damn it, my nose and mouth felt like they were rotting. The fragrant kimchi scent from earlier was completely replaced by the horrific smell of carrots filling my mouth.
“Yeah.”
Do Jihoon calmly continued eating without even looking at me as I exploded in outrage. The corner of his mouth was still crooked upward.
“How could you do this to me?”
“Don’t be picky. Eat a balanced diet if you want to grow taller.”
“You’re poking right at a person’s sore spot…? Do you have issues with empathy?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Thanks for the compliment.”
No matter how much I pressed him, Do Jihoon only replied casually.
Gah! Gah! I was so irritated.
When had his sharp tongue gotten so good? I took a deep breath, trying to calm the boiling anger.
“So what’s the problem? Why are you messing with my breakfast first thing in the morning? We wrote a contract, remember?”
I glared at Do Jihoon and brought up the contract.
The day after we decided to date, we wrote a contract together. After realizing through conversation that we had liked each other for a long time, we felt stupid about all the pointless misunderstandings before.
I looked at the contract stuck on the refrigerator.
[Contract
Article 1. Talk every Sunday!
Article 2. If something bothers you, say it. Don’t keep it bottled up!
Article 3. Inform the other person in advance if meeting acquaintances with a different trait.
Article 4. If returning home late, send a message.
Article 5. When going out, leave a message every 30 minutes.
……
Do Jihoon and Yeon Yuri hereby agree to all the above terms.
Do Jihoon.
Yeon Yuri.]
It was a very neat and perfect contract.
[6/1. Yeon Yuri unreachable.
6/5. Yeon Yuri came home late without contact.
6/10. Do Jihoon ate with an omega alone!! Bastard.
6/16. This bastard Do Jihoon went drinking without me?
6/18. Yeon Yuri met another alpha. No contact.]
Except for the little notes added below.
I turned my head back toward Do Jihoon.
Whether a new entry for 6/21 would be added now depended entirely on him.
“If you have a complaint, say it quickly. Before I write ‘Do Jihoon sneakily stuffed carrots into omurice’ under today’s date.”
“Yuri, do you know the phrase birds of a feather flock together?”
“…You mean trash attracts trash?”
“Glad you understand.”
Instead of answering properly, Do Jihoon only mocked me again.
My face twisted.
He let out a long sigh. Only then did he stiffen his expression and finally speak.
“Yesterday you smelled like another alpha. That 19 guy’s scent.”
“What the hell! I told you, it was because of the report problem!”
It was true that I met Ki Tae-young yesterday.
For an extremely official reason.
In General Chemistry Lab, I’d gotten a C+. Not even a B-. That horrifying grade threw me into panic, so I asked the teaching assistant about it—and apparently two pages of my report were missing.
So I went to school with Ki Tae-young to check what had happened.
Of course, we separated right after meeting. It wasn’t like we had any chance to rub pheromones on each other or anything.
I had explained it several times already, but Do Jihoon had still stayed sulky.
And the result of that petty mood was messing with my sacred breakfast.
Sigh.
Letting out a long breath, I called him.
“Hey. Jihoon.”
“…What.”
Even while grumbling, Do Jihoon put down his spoon and looked at me.
His sulky expression was ridiculously cute. I must have been completely love-blind.
I stood up and walked over to him.
Then I pulled the seated Do Jihoon toward me and wrapped him in a tight hug.
