“Ah… I’m Yeon Yuri.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you.”
“What department?”
“Chemical Engineering.”
“Same college as me. But how come I didn’t see you at the freshman orientation trip?”
Ki Tae-young and I were smiling as we exchanged introductions when—
“What do you think you’re doing with someone standing right next to you?”
A voice thick with displeasure cut in. At the same time, he grabbed my hand tightly. I tried to pull away naturally, but Do Jihoon wouldn’t let go. Ki Tae-young quietly observed his behavior.
“So you didn’t contact me because you were seeing someone, huh, hoobae-nim.”
“No. It’s not like that.”
At Ki Tae-young’s words, I waved my head side to side playfully but answered seriously.
“Hey. Let go. You’re making him misunderstand.”
“…….”
After I kept signaling him with my eyes, Do Jihoon reluctantly released my hand. He was definitely acting strange today. From what I could tell, he and Ki Tae-young didn’t even know each other, yet he was being excessively hostile.
“Then why didn’t you contact me? That makes me even more hurt.”
Ki Tae-young turned his gaze away from Do Jihoon and back to me. I hesitated before answering.
“I didn’t think we’d meet again… and back then, I was still in high school. I hadn’t graduated yet.”
“Really…? I had no idea you were a high school student, hoobae-nim. I’m serious.”
He’d tried to tease me, but ended up more flustered himself, waving his hands in denial. I giggled and told him it was fine.
“You must get hot easily. You’ve got sweat on your forehead.”
As he said that, he placed a hand on my forehead. He was just about to wipe away the beaded sweat with his sleeve—
Do Jihoon suddenly yanked me toward him.
“……?”
His arm wrapped around my shoulders. His expression was stiff.
Do Jihoon definitely had sharp features. Back in high school, he used to smile all the time, but these days—maybe because he smiled less artificially—his sharp impression stood out even more.
His pheromones coiled around my neck. My throat burned. I stared at him, dazed.
Ki Tae-young naturally lowered the hand he had raised. Looking embarrassed, he scratched his cheek. Just then, someone called out to him from behind.
“Hey! Ki Tae-young! Stop slacking off and get your ass back here already?!”
Ki Tae-young looked at me with regret. I smiled awkwardly.
“I guess I should go. That friend of mine is pretty scary.”
“Yes. Goodbye.”
“If you get the chance later, contact me. I don’t have your number, hoobae-nim.”
“Ah, okay!”
“Next time, let’s drop the formalities. Got it?”
Sunbae gently ruffled my hair. I could feel the apple scent seeping between the strands. He flashed a cool smile, waved, and returned to his club booth.
As I blankly touched my hair with my thumb and forefinger, Do Jihoon poured his pheromones all over it. It felt like my hair was on fire.
“Hot, hot—hey! What’s your problem?!”
He didn’t answer.
It must have been several minutes like that. Only after enduring his pheromones long enough for sweat to bead on my forehead in the middle of winter did I finally manage to break free from Do Jihoon.
“I’m telling you, your personality is seriously messed up….”
At my blunt remark, he spat out something unrelated.
“You really are good at acting.”
His tone was unusually cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“…….”
He said nothing. His lips parted slightly as his tongue swept over his teeth. His head tilted to the side, then returned. He repeatedly drew in and released deep breaths.
I crouched slightly, watching his mood. He was the one throwing a fit, yet I was the one tiptoeing around him. And I didn’t even know why he was angry.
As Do Jihoon remained silent, the sweat that had soaked me cooled, and my body began to shiver. Shit, it’s cold.
Strangely, the silence between us felt awkward.
Fine. The adult gives in, right? Carving the character for patience into my heart, I opened my mouth first.
“Did you glue your lips shut? Open your mouth, baby.”
Do Jihoon’s eyes, which had been looking elsewhere, snapped toward me. Irritation and anger filled his dark gaze.
His pheromones stabbed at me aggressively. My entire body prickled as if fire had been lit right beside my skin.
“Hey. That hurts! What’s wrong with you?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to use that disgusting term?”
Do Jihoon said, turning his neck.
This bastard.
I felt irritation surge. Like he was the only one who could release pheromones. I wrapped mine tightly around his body. He flinched. It was satisfying.
“Was it really that unpleasant?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess I’m sorry?”
“There’s not a single ounce of apology in your tone.”
“Cut the bullshit. You were already pissed before I called you baby.”
“…….”
He shut his mouth again like a clam.
“Fuck, how am I supposed to know if you don’t talk? I get that you’ve got a shitty temper, but am I your punching bag? Every little thing and you snap, glare, spray pheromones everywhere. There’s a limit, you bastard!”
The dam broke.
Once I started talking, it wasn’t hard to keep going. From the first time we met, all the pent-up hurt I’d felt toward him spilled out like weeds after rain.
“It was like that when we first met too. Looking down on people. Then suddenly making the atmosphere freeze. I thought we were finally getting closer, but I guess I was the only one digging on my own.”
“…….”
“I don’t really feel like talking to you right now either. Seems like it’s mutual. Let’s both cool our tempers until the weekend and talk then.”
Leaving Do Jihoon behind, I walked across the lawn. I could feel people staring at us. We’d probably end up on the campus forum again. ‘Do Jihoon and Yeon Yuri had a huge lovers’ quarrel.’ Not even close to the truth.
With a bitter feeling trailing behind me, I put distance between myself and Do Jihoon.
***
In front of me sat albap—one of my absolute favorites. But staring at the red flying fish roe only reminded me of Do Jihoon’s pheromones, and a wave of sorrow surged up.
The food wouldn’t go down, and I was just poking at it when—
My kind friends, who had all kept silent while I sulked, finally opened their mouths, apparently unable to hide the fact that I’d made it onto the campus forum.
“Yuri… you’re on the hot posts on the forum.”
Lee Daeju started it.
“Figured… I was yelling and spraying pheromones in the middle of the wide-open lawn.”
“Are you okay?”
Kwon Jisoo asked with concern.
“Are you guys okay? I got completely drenched in Do Jihoon’s pheromones. I bought neutralizer at the convenience store and sprayed it, but it wasn’t the dominant-grade kind.”
“Daeju and I are fine, but Shin Gi-hyeok is…”
“I feel like my stomach’s turning inside out….”
As omegas, Lee Daeju and Kwon Jisoo had relatively less aversion to alpha pheromones, but Shin Gi-hyeok, an alpha, was pale as he chewed his pork cutlet.
In that same vein, there was about a two-meter radius around me with no one in it. I felt like a public nuisance human cockroach. Thinking Do Jihoon was probably feeling the same way made me feel slightly better—until I remembered how ridiculously thick-skinned he was, and my mood soured again.
“…When do our schedules overlap again?”
“Thursday. We both have a free period from one to three.”
“I’ll buy lunch then. Tell me whatever you want to eat.”
Even though we’d only met during the freshman orientation trip, none of them asked me anything. They seemed thoughtful. Unlike that son of a bitch Do Jihoon.
Feeling guilty for ruining the mood, I spoke up.
“I feel bad, so if there’s anything you’re curious about, ask me. I’ll answer as much as I can.”
“Really?”
Lee Daeju reacted first. The others, apparently curious too, stopped eating and looked at me.
“Yeah. Ask anything.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
After a brief moment of thought, Lee Daeju asked,
“Why didn’t you tell us your birth secret?”
“Birth secret…?”
“Bumong Pharmaceutical.”
“Think about it the other way around. What exactly am I supposed to say about my family being rich? Wouldn’t it be weirder to go around bragging about it?”
“…That’s true.”
Lee Daeju nodded. Next was Kwon Jisoo.
“What about the fight? Why did you fight?”
I had so much to say about that. About Do Jihoon’s personality, about our relationship. I could’ve talked endlessly if I wanted to explain it all.
But exposing his shitty personality didn’t sit right with me. Even though we’d fought, I still liked Do Jihoon. If I truly wanted to become complete strangers, I wouldn’t have opened up to him in the first place—I would’ve just cut off private contact altogether.
