It was a Friday not long after the semester had begun. Do Jihoon and I had been invited to Gye-myeong High School to give a lecture.
Saying it like that makes it sound incredibly grand, but it wasn’t anything special.
Yeon Yuri and Do Jihoon were honor students who had entered Hanguk University, one of the top-tier universities in the country. In other words, we were returning to our alma mater as seniors who had successfully gotten into a prestigious university, to encourage the high school juniors to stay motivated in their studies.
Do Jihoon and I stood in front of the Gye-myeong High School building, chatting about old memories.
“Do you remember taking a picture here?”
“I remember.”
“Our Doji was so prickly and sensitive back then. You were like a hedgehog.”
“……”
Do Jihoon closed his mouth. It seemed he had nothing to say. That was understandable. Back then, I’d never even imagined that the sharp-tempered Do Jihoon and I would end up in a relationship like this.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Yuri. You’re supposed to go to the East Building. Why are you coming to the West Building?”
“I got assigned to the class with the alpha underclassmen too, same as you.”
“What?”
Do Jihoon asked back in shock. His reaction startled me, and I stammered out an explanation.
“No… the first and second periods are in the West Building, and the third and fourth periods are in the East Building. Isn’t it the same for you?”
“Looks like a lot of students signed up from the College of Business track. I’m staying in the West Building the whole time.”
“Nice. I was worried our Doji is so handsome that the omegas might see you and start confessing or something. Good thing.”
“……”
Do Jihoon looked like he had a lot to say. I just shrugged and dragged him into the building. Even with his face stiff in a sulky expression, he trotted along after me like a cute little follower.
“I’m in Class 2 for third-years. What about you, Doji?”
“……Class 4.”
“Right. You were humanities and I was sciences. Makes sense we’d be in different classes. Then I’ll see you after first period ends.”
Smiling, I opened the front door of Class 2 and stepped inside.
The noisy classroom fell silent instantly.
I’d been worried that being in a room full of alphas might make the pheromones overwhelming, but it seemed they’d been instructed in advance—everything was controlled so well that I could barely sense anything. There was even pheromone neutralizer prepared near the blackboard.
I figured I could easily endure two hours.
Standing confidently at the podium, I began.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Yeon Yuri from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Hanguk University. I’ll put up the PPT, so please wait a moment.”
By the time students reach their final year of high school, they usually fall into one of two categories. Either they’re uninterested enough in studying that an event like ‘meeting seniors’ is just fun, or they’re so serious about studying that they feel it’s a waste of time. And both types of students usually react the same way—no response.
“Yeees!”
But the kids answered much more loudly than I expected.
There was only a one-year age difference, yet maybe because I didn’t have younger siblings, they looked ridiculously cute to me.
I put up the PPT and looked around the classroom of seniors.
Then a very familiar face entered my field of vision.
“……”
Seo Hee-gyeom.
What the hell?
My face practically rotted like dried pollack. Maybe this year was just cursed for me. It felt like my life had been jinxed lately. Maybe Yeon Yuri’s fortune had a peach blossom curse or something. Having Do Jihoon alone was more than enough for me, yet situations that would make Do Jihoon unhappy kept popping up, and it was irritating.
But I was a career man of this era. I couldn’t half-ass the work I’d been given.
“Everyone, please look at the table of contents. Today’s lecture will proceed in this order. First…”
As the person inhabiting a body that had gotten in through the “grass field” admission track, I honestly didn’t have the conscience to talk about how I’d studied. Instead, I explained what engineering school was like. I also talked about the Hanguk University campus.
While going through the explanations, first period ended quickly.
“Wow, 50 minutes have already passed. Like I mentioned in the outline earlier, I’ll take questions after the break. Let’s all rest and meet again in ten minutes.”
The classroom became noisy.
I started heading toward the door to go see our Doji-doji.
“Yuri sunbae!”
But I failed spectacularly at leaving the classroom.
Five or six students rushed over and blocked my path.
“What is it? Something you want to say?”
After passionately lecturing for fifty minutes, I was completely drained. I needed a Doji recharge. But I couldn’t ignore the bright-eyed seniors looking up at me.
“Can we ask a few questions?”
“You have second period anyway. Ask then. Is it urgent?”
“……Actually, we just wanted to talk to you, Yuri sunbae.”
“Honestly, me too.”
“……”
The kids blushing as they spoke were unbelievably cute.
It was honestly fascinating—there was a much bigger difference between wearing a school uniform and not than I’d expected. Even though they were alphas easily over 180 centimeters tall, wearing uniforms made them look like nothing but kids.
Maybe I really was becoming an old man.
In the end, during the first-period break, I ended up having one-on-one conversations with the seniors and couldn’t go see Do Jihoon. But he probably wasn’t much different. With that handsome face, tall height, family background, and academic prestige—there wasn’t a single thing lacking about him.
I could easily imagine alphas swarming him with questions.
“The bell for second period has rung. Now I’ll start taking questions. If you have a question, please raise your hand.”
“Sunbae! Me! Me!”
“Yes. The student wearing the zebra-pattern clothes over there.”
Snickers spread across the classroom.
The zebra-shirt senior straightened his shoulders confidently and asked his question.
“Sunbae, do you have someone you’re dating?”
“Yes. Not someone I’m dating—I have a fiancé. He’s giving a lecture in Class 4 right now.”
“No way. Do Jihoon sunbae?”
“Yes. Our Jihoon.”
I answered calmly.
Murmurs spread throughout the classroom.
And the students’ questions didn’t stop.
“What clubs are there at Hanguk University?”
“Is Hanguk University big?”
“My grades are around 1.8—do I have a chance at Hanguk University?”
“Can you tell us a dating story?”
The range of questions was incredibly diverse.
I’d thought the ion drink on the podium was for the teacher, but apparently it was meant for the lecture mentors. I kept talking nonstop, and my head started spinning.
“Sunbae, can you give us your number?”
“Why?”
“So we can ask if we’re curious about something.”
“I’m bad at responding to messages. Ask the mentor for third and fourth period for their number.”
“We won’t message often, so please give it to us. Okay?”
The students started chanting for my number like a chorus.
The passion of nineteen-year-olds was intense. It looked like they’d whine endlessly until I gave in.
Well… the pressure they must be under as seniors in high school must be huge if they wanted to rely even on a senior they’d only met once. Besides, my messenger was already in a 999+ state anyway.
Overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, I wrote my KakaoTalk ID on the blackboard.
“No phone number. Contact me here instead. But like I said, I’m busy so I can’t reply often. It’ll probably be better to ask the mentor in third or fourth period. If there are no more questions, should we spend the remaining twenty minutes quietly as break time?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Just don’t get too loud. The class next door might still be in session.”
After the question session ended, two or three students came up to the podium to ask for one-on-one advice. I listened carefully to the seniors’ concerns.
It brought back a lot of memories from the past. I couldn’t help thinking it must be hard for them.
Then, with about five minutes left before the break ended—
Seo Hee-gyeom came up to the front.
“What is it?”
He fidgeted nervously, curling his lips inward.
“I just… wanted to talk to you, hyung.”
“Really? We talk on KakaoTalk sometimes.”
Seo Hee-gyeom and I checked in about once a week.
[Seo Hee-gyeom: Hyung, what are you doing?]
[Seo Hee-gyeom: Are you busy today?]
[Seo Hee-gyeom: Hyung, you know… today…]
[Seo Hee-gyeom: Hyung hyung!]
It felt like my head was filled with nothing but hyung. Even though it was only once a week, it felt like he contacted me every day.
Surprisingly, Do Jihoon didn’t seem upset about it. When I asked why, he said it was “because he’s like a puppy.” That guy really was weak when it came to animals.
“Hyung. Um… would it be okay if we had lunch together today?”
“Lunch? Don’t you eat school lunch?”
“You’re giving lectures until fourth period too, so you could just eat school lunch and leave afterward, right? Please?”
“……Hold on. I’ll ask Do Jihoon.”
“Yes, hyung.”
[Baby, Seo Hee-gyeom wants us to eat school lunch together today. Is that okay?]
But there was no reply from Do Jihoon. He must still have been in the middle of his lecture.
“I’ll let you know if he replies. Keep checking your phone.”
“Yes! I’ll wait.”
Almost the moment Seo Hee-gyeom answered, the bell rang signaling the break before second period. I stood up to head to the East Building.
“Then I’ll get going now. I hope we meet again at Hanguk University as seniors and juniors. Study hard.”
When I stepped outside, pretty Do Jihoon was standing there.
After telling him to check his phone, I sprinted toward the East Building. The damn school was unnecessarily huge, so if I wanted to arrive comfortably before break ended, I had to run.
“Hello, everyone!”
With two minutes left in break, I barely made it safely into the West Building classroom. Catching my breath, I checked KakaoTalk.
[♡My Doji♡: Sure. Let’s do that.]
[Okay then, see you in the cafeteria later. Ppyong]
[♡My Doji♡: Bear sticker throwing an “OK” gesture]
