# Chapter 18
“So you must be Do Jihoon’s fiancé?”
The absolute last thing I wanted to hear reached my ears. I nodded glumly in response. My vision blurred and swayed slightly as the alcohol began to take effect.
“That’s right.”
“Wow. First time I’ve seen a chaebol in person.”
“A college student with a fiancé. Totally chaebol style. Lucky you.”
I laughed vaguely and mumbled something noncommittal. These were statements difficult to respond to. I drank the soju that Woo Hyunwoo had skillfully mixed, trying to change the subject.
We were in the middle of playing a drinking game when we heard the voice of the second-year department representative telling us to move tables. Shin Gihyeok and I got up again. As my vision swayed and I staggered, the still-sober Shin Gihyeok steadied me.
While I was looking around trying to figure out which table to go to, I heard a voice that shouldn’t be coming from our department.
“Yuri, over here!”
Thinking I might be drunk, I blinked hard and shook my head.
But a familiar apple scent wafted from the table next to ours. I thought it couldn’t be, but it was Ki Taeyoung.
“Senior! How did you end up here?!”
When I shouted in surprise, the seniors sitting next to Ki Taeyoung explained. There were many student council members from the Engineering Department and seniors who were close with Ki Taeyoung, so they had invited him to take advantage of his good looks.
“Two years ago, no matter how much we asked him to come, he wouldn’t. But after coming back from military service, he must have caught a late-life wind because he said he’d come.”
Ki Taeyoung nudged the senior sitting next to him. Shin Gihyeok and I awkwardly took our seats at Ki Taeyoung’s table.
Ki Taeyoung rested his chin on his hand and stared at me intently. With my face flushed from the alcohol, I stared back at him blankly.
“I’ve been waiting. For your call.”
He cutely expressed his disappointment, pouting his lips.
“…Oh.”
When the senior next to Ki Taeyoung offered me a drink he had mixed, I awkwardly turned my gaze away from Ki Taeyoung and accepted the drink. Even though they were just a year older, seniors were seniors, and all the drinks they mixed tasted delicious.
“If I had known this would happen, I should have asked for your number when we first met. I’m regretting it now. I feel like I missed out on my ideal type because I was trying to be polite.”
Ki Taeyoung’s apple-scented pheromones gradually changed from a sweet smell to a more bitter one. When Ki Taeyoung handed me his phone, I typed in my number for him.
“I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately…”
Perhaps because of the alcohol, my emotions were heightened, and I bowed my head apologetically. A fragrant rose scent filled our table. An exclamation escaped from one of the seniors.
“…Wow. A dominant is a dominant. Look at that scent.”
“No, I didn’t say that to make you apologize.”
Ki Taeyoung seemed to realize through my pheromones that I was genuinely sorry. With an expression suggesting he was the one who should be sorry, he gently stroked my hair. For some reason, it felt warm and nice, so I leaned my head into Ki Taeyoung’s hand. His hand paused momentarily before moving downward.
His rough fingers brushed my forehead. He touched my blinking eyes and fiddled with my round nose bridge. His touch was so ticklish, almost but not quite touching my skin, that I made an “mmm” sound and shrank my body.
At that, Shin Gihyeok, who was sitting next to me, grabbed Ki Taeyoung’s hand and pulled it away from me. Shin Gihyeok looked at Ki Taeyoung while sharply emitting pheromones.
“…Senior. He has a fiancé.”
“Is that so?”
Despite the somewhat impolite behavior, Ki Taeyoung’s expression remained gentle. He looked at me with curiosity and spoke.
“When we met before, you said you weren’t in a relationship. Were you lying?”
“Mmm. No. I wasn’t lying…”
“Then what is it?”
As I shook my head and spoke, Ki Taeyoung stared at me with a smile, as if looking at a newborn puppy. I was getting more and more drunk.
“With him, we’re not anythi…”
Just as I was about to say that Jihoon and I weren’t anything to each other, a large hand covered my mouth. It was Shin Gihyeok. He seemed flustered and was emitting lychee-scented pheromones abundantly.
“Yeon Yuri. You’re drunk right now.”
One of Shin Gihyeok’s hands was holding my shoulder, and the other was covering my mouth. Feeling stifled, I shook my body around.
I tried to tell him to let go, but muffled sounds were all that came out through his hand. Ki Taeyoung watched Shin Gihyeok and me, resting his chin on his hand, then quietly spoke.
“Didn’t he say he has a fiancé?”
His voice directed at Shin Gihyeok carried a somewhat forced sense of disbelief. Ki Taeyoung’s gaze was fixed precisely on Shin Gihyeok’s hand holding me.
“…Yes.”
Shin Gihyeok sighed like someone who had stepped in poop, then let me go. With my mouth freed, I started mumbling again in distress.
“With him… with Jihooni…”
As I talked about Jihoon, sadness suddenly washed over me. I remembered the sensation of his pheromones stinging my skin. The cold gaze and the harsh words from his pretty lips.
“That bastard…”
Crude words escaped my lips. Tears welled up in my eyes and streamed down. My nose was blocked, and I sniffled.
“Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Ki Taeyoung gently lifted my lowered head with his hand. He cradled both my cheeks in his hands and wiped away my tears with his thumbs.
“…Thank you.”
His touch was warm. In contrast to Jihoon’s pheromones that had stabbed at me, tears flowed even more like a waterfall. Ki Taeyoung continued to wipe away the flowing tears as if handling something very precious.
“Yuri seems a bit drunk. Should I go to the convenience store and buy some ice cream while checking on other freshmen?”
“That would be great for us.”
After briefly talking with the student council senior sitting next to him, he looked at me and asked.
“Will you come to the convenience store with me?”
“Conbenience store…?”
“Yes. Convenience store. I need to buy ice cream, but I don’t have enough hands, so I need help.”
His voice was as sweet as cotton candy. Perhaps it was because of his apple-scented pheromones. I nodded as if entranced.
‘Will you be okay?’
Shin Gihyeok looked at me and mouthed with concern. I nodded firmly, indicating I was fine. Ki Taeyoung wrapped his arm around my shoulder and helped me up. I walked towards the convenience store, blinking my eyes and leaning my staggering body against him.
Though it was the beginning of spring, the weather was still chilly. As I was rubbing my shoulders with my hands due to the cold, Ki Taeyoung took off his outer garment and wrapped it around me.
I turned my head to look at him. He was wearing only a single layer of knitwear.
“Umm… You don’t have to give it to me. I’m not cold…”
I tried to take off the clothes and return them to Ki Taeyoung.
“I know. I’m hot. Would it be okay if you wore it?”
“…”
“Is it burdensome?”
At those words, spoken while awkwardly scratching his cheek, I groaned and nodded. I also didn’t forget to express my gratitude in a small voice.
“Thank you…”
“It’s nothing. I’m the one who should be grateful.”
As I was feeling the cold wind, the alcohol began to wear off a bit. My swaying vision gradually stabilized, but it was impossible to regain my mental faculties that were halfway gone. I smiled foolishly.
“Do you have a favorite ice cream?”
“Um… Papico.”
We arrived at the convenience store and bought ice cream. Since we had to buy enough for everyone at the after-party, the amount was substantial. Ki Taeyoung carried all the bags and left the convenience store.
“Shall we go now?”
“Give me one of the bags… I came to help carry them.”
“It’s not that heavy, so it’s fine.”
“Still! I feel uncomfortable!”
“…Here. Thank you.”
Ki Taeyoung handed me the smallest bag. I returned to the pork restaurant with Papico in one hand and an ice cream bag in the other.
“Let’s eat ice cream!”
When Ki Taeyoung handed over the ice cream he had bought to the student council seniors, they went around the tables distributing it. The tables must have rotated once more while we were gone, as Shin Gihyeok was no longer there.
Ki Taeyoung sat next to my empty seat. He continued to sit beside me, playing with my hair.
“Your hair is really soft. Is it naturally curly?”
“Yep.”
I enjoyed the pleasant buzz of alcohol as I chatted idly with Ki Taeyoung. By now, the time had passed midnight.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
