“Hey. I think they’re looking at us.”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“You’re unbelievable, you bastard….”
Do Jihoon’s face was calm as if he truly didn’t give a single damn. That bastard’s facial skin had to be made of stainless steel.
Just as we were about to enter the lecture hall, listening to the whispers trailing behind us—
“So what, some omega is going around with Do Jihoon right now?”
A voice drifted from beyond the door. I grabbed Do Jihoon by the collar and stopped him.
“Suppress your pheromones.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Just listen to me.”
Though he looked puzzled, he did as I asked.
“Isn’t Do Jihoon Chairman Do’s son?”
“Yeah. Kipyeong. It was even in the news. Same department, same year as us. I heard from a student council sunbae—out of the 160 people in our department, there’s only one Do Jihoon.”
Well, shit. It looked like Do Jihoon’s love life wasn’t going to be smooth sailing. I gazed at him with pity. His expression, like he’d just chewed on shit, was a bonus.
“Then is the omega next to him Do Jihoon’s fiancée?”
“Probably? My friend was nearby and said after catching the scent, they think it’s a dominant omega.”
“They only know Yeon Yu-jeong from Bumong Pharmaceutical. If that person’s surname is Yeon, then it’s basically confirmed.”
At that, my face turned pale. At the same time, I lamented how foolish I’d been to ask him to give me a ride just because we had class together.
“I’m already basically married off….”
“Yeah. You’re already married off.”
“Don’t pour oil on a burning fire.”
I gave the snickering bastard an uppercut, then grabbed Do Jihoon’s arm as he pretended to groan in pain and simply walked into the lecture hall.
The moment we entered, the noisy room fell silent.
“I’m screwed, fuck….”
I stood there stiffly, muttering a curse under my breath as I dragged a hand down my face. Do Jihoon looked at me for a moment, then took my hand and led me to a seat. I followed quietly.
“Did you really have to confirm-kill it too, honey…?”
“Try calling me honey one more time. Let’s see what happens.”
Judging by how seriously Do Jihoon’s expression hardened, it didn’t seem like it was a good thing for our relationship to be exposed. Which made me wonder why this bastard’s words and actions never matched.
Once we sat down, the whispering started again. The decibel level was noticeably lower, though, so I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
The professor came in and started roll call. When he called “Yeon Yuri,” I couldn’t not answer. I replied, “Here.”
Dozens of eyes turned toward me. It was utterly miserable. After today, the campus forum would probably be plastered with posts. “Do Jihoon’s fiancée is Yeon Yuri,” “The second child of Bumong is named Yeon Yuri,” stuff like that.
My plan had fallen apart. The plan to quietly hide my relationship with Do Jihoon, let Ha Min-young and Do Jihoon get together and live happily ever after, then slip away unnoticed. It had shattered completely.
I needed a new plan. Since it had come to this, I’d move to Plan B.
***
The second plan was as follows: stop Ha Min-young and Do Jihoon from ever meeting. Before proceeding, what mattered was whether Do Jihoon had already met Ha Min-young. I nudged him.
“What?”
“Do you know someone named Ha Min-young?”
“Who’s that?”
“No, no. It’s nothing.”
Do Jihoon frowned and turned his gaze back to the professor. The condition for Plan B was perfect. A creeping worry rose up—surely Ha Min-young wasn’t in the College of Business? But there was no point in worrying over something that hadn’t happened, so I forcibly erased the thought. Surely God didn’t hate me that much.
“Yuri. It’s over.”
“Yeah…?”
The writing class orientation had flown by before I even knew how it went.
“I didn’t hear a single thing. Share the notes with me.”
Do Jihoon looked at me like I was hopeless but still nodded. Kind bastard. I patted him on the back.
Checking the time, it was only 9:30 a.m. I went on the campus forum to check the others’ schedules. All three of them had no morning classes today. They were probably still asleep. Lucky bastards….
Do Jihoon grabbed my absent-minded shoulder and dragged me outside. I let myself be pulled along comfortably and asked him,
“You’ve got class today?”
“Intro to Business Administration, periods five and six.”
“So you can’t go home either. What should we do?”
“How about walking around nearby?”
“Not a bad idea, but….”
I’d already walked a ton yesterday, so I wasn’t exactly thrilled. A sigh slipped out.
“Ah!”
Something suddenly came to mind. An announcement I’d seen popped up—during the first week after the semester starts, clubs are allowed to set up promotional booths on the lawn.
“You scared me. Yuri, watch your volume.”
“Let’s go look at the club promotion booths. If I remember right, they said they’d be near the lawn.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“On the announcement chat.”
Chatting idly, we headed toward the lawn. We found our way by asking people we passed. Maybe because we were wearing ’21 department jackets, the sunbae were mostly kind in giving directions.
“Wow… it’s dizzying.”
The wide lawn was packed with all sorts of booths. There were so many clubs it was hard to even count. Each club member was pouring their heart and soul into luring passing freshmen.
“Want to join our recreation club? We’re basically a club for eating and playing!”
“Anyone like watching baseball!”
“If you love instruments, join the band!”
Do Jihoon looked horrified at the chaotic scene of club recruitment and muttered that it was too loud. Figures. Every time I texted him during break asking what he was doing, he’d reply that he was reading a book. There was no way this bastard liked stuff like this.
Shaking my head, I scanned for any club that caught my interest—
“Huh…?”
“Yuri. At this point, every time you open your mouth, I get nervous.”
Ignoring Do Jihoon’s jab, I narrowed my eyes. The man wearing a ’19 department jacket looked extremely familiar.
As I stared at him, Do Jihoon tapped my shoulder.
“What are you looking at? Let me see too.”
“No, that sunbae over there. I think I know him.”
I pointed at the man who looked like Ki Tae-young. Do Jihoon raised one eyebrow.
“You knew someone at Hanguk University?”
“Yeah. But it’s kind of awkward to run into him.”
“Why?”
“He gave me his number.”
Do Jihoon stared at me, unable to hide his disbelief. When I shrugged, his face twisted.
“But I never contacted him. It wasn’t on purpose—I just forgot….”
“So?”
“He’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Same college as me. And I think he’s in the student council. During the freshman orientation trip, I tried so hard to avoid running into him—seriously!”
“Lower your voice, Yuri.”
Do Jihoon cut me off firmly as I passionately explained the situation.
He started releasing pheromones like he was in a foul mood. Heat washed over my entire body, like I’d stepped into a sauna.
“Hey, why’re you getting pissy? We weren’t even close enough to have that kind of conversation.”
He said nothing. This bastard had a habit of suddenly throwing fits when things were going fine.
I grabbed his hand and patted it.
“Alright, alright. I forgot about your pitiful social skills and got way ahead of myself. My bad.”
Despite my effort, his stiff expression showed no sign of softening. If anything, it felt like we’d gone from a sauna gemstone room to a full-on clay kiln—I started sweating in the middle of winter.
“Jihoon. I’m going to steam to death.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
Do Jihoon answered curtly. Fine. When he was like this, the answer was to just leave him alone. I released my own pheromones, neutralizing his, and grabbed his hand to pull him away.
“Anyway, let’s just pass by this side. It’ll be awkward if we run into him for no reason….”
Just as I turned away from Ki Tae-young—
“Huh? You over there!”
Apparently, God was not on my side. I felt cold sweat trickle down my back as I turned around. Ki Tae-young was there, breathing a little heavily as if he had just run over.
“I thought you came to campus for summer classes last time….”
He smiled brightly at me.
“So you were a freshman.”
“…….”
Even I, who had gotten used to Do Jihoon’s face, momentarily lost my senses. He was insanely handsome.
“What’s your name? I didn’t get to ask back then.”
Refreshing. In the middle of this sweltering heat, a crisp apple scent wafted through the air, and a weak smile slipped onto my lips.
