“Well then, I’ll contact you later. I have class.”
“Yes!”
After heading back inside campus, Won-hyeok parted ways with Han-gyeom just like that. When he turned around, he saw that Han-gyeom was still standing there, staring fixedly at his retreating figure as he grew farther away.
As soon as he entered the general education lecture hall, Kang Yubin raised his hand. Having saved him a seat in advance, he moved his bag aside and shot him a playful glare.
“Hey, I ate lunch alone because of you.”
“Sorry.”
“So what was so urgent, anyway?”
“It got sorted out.”
Won-hyeok gave a different kind of answer, then shifted the subject with a nuance that made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it any further.
Earlier at the student cafeteria, the first person to spot Han-gyeom standing blankly in front of the kiosk hadn’t been Kang Yubin, but Won-hyeok. Since Han-gyeom had been staring fixedly at one particular spot, Yubin noticed the direction of his gaze and approached him.
With the menu up in front of him and that vacant look on his face, he didn’t seem like someone trying to decide what to eat. Won-hyeok’s insight being better than most people’s played a part too, but Han-gyeom’s lie about having plans had been painfully obvious in how clumsy it was.
Even though he knew he had no reason to care, those drooping shoulders as Han-gyeom left the cafeteria again kept bothering him. Irritated by his own state, Won-hyeok still ended up making an excuse about having something urgent to do, leaving Yubin behind and tailing Han-gyeom.
The moment he stepped into the club room and saw Han-gyeom holding nothing more than the wrapper of a triangle kimbap in his hand, eyes widened into circles, the irritation flared even harder.
And on top of that, the way he blushed shyly at the sight of him like some dog wagging its tail at its owner grated on Won-hyeok’s nerves even more.
“All right, class will begin now.”
The professor came in and brought up the PowerPoint on the screen. Already exhausted, Kang Yubin propped his chin on his hand and stared ahead.
For Won-hyeok, noticing when someone else liked him was about as easy as pretending to be a good person. Usually, that interest fell into about two categories: one was the vulgar sort of interest from people hoping to cling to the rumors that he was a dominant alpha with money and at least pick up whatever crumbs fell their way; the other was sexual interest.
Honestly, it would’ve been harder not to realize that the kind of interest Kang Han-gyeom showed toward him was closer to the latter. Maybe because his skin was so naturally pale, but every little thing Won-hyeok did made his face flush shyly, and it showed very clearly.
To be honest, he couldn’t say there was absolutely no fun in watching that. It was different in texture from all the people who had approached Won-hyeok so far with naked desire as their objective. Most people tried to come at him brandishing some kind of weapon to catch his eye; they didn’t act like Kang Han-gyeom, like some country puppy wagging its tail happily the moment its owner arrived.
“In that sense, human beings can also be seen as creatures of purpose.”
Amid the dull lecture, a phrase caught his ear. For the first time since class had started, Won-hyeok focused on the PowerPoint.
“We naturally have a tendency to move forward in order to achieve something. For example, like how all of you come to listen even to my boring class in order to graduate from college.”
At the professor’s witty joke, laughter spread through the lecture hall.
Won-hyeok tapped his finger lightly on the handout.
For a purpose.
Yeah, maybe even suggesting that absurd little dating game to Kang Han-gyeom could be seen as an extension of that.
Han-gyeom was, unintentionally, the only person who had witnessed Won-hyeok’s true nature. Twice, at that. Once in the alley behind the snack bar during the club dinner, and the other time during his recent rut.
Given Han-gyeom’s personality, he didn’t seem like the type to spread it around maliciously, but he was so hopelessly oblivious that there was a need to stay wary and keep an eye on him in case something slipped out in the wrong place. Besides, the rut incident was one thing, but what had happened in that alley behind the hof bar especially required caution.
And if he was being honest, it would be a lie to say what happened during the rut didn’t bother him at all. If Kang Han-gyeom went around saying that Do Won-hyeok had forced him into sex during rut and then tossed him aside after, it could put cracks in the tower Won-hyeok had carefully built up until now.
The one thing that caught at him was the fact that it hadn’t only been his that had gone in and out of that back hole. No matter how he looked at him, Han-gyeom didn’t have that kind of promiscuity written on his face, but Won-hyeok had seen something with his own eyes.
Yesterday, when he’d been taking Han-gyeom home, he’d failed to stop him after Han-gyeom left first and had just stood there blankly for a while, then followed after him because he felt like he ought to clear up the misunderstanding.
“It’s late already, so let’s go up for now. Even though it’s March, it’s still cold at night, right?”
But then Won-hyeok saw a man entering the one-room building together with Han-gyeom, his arm draped familiarly over Han-gyeom’s shoulders, and turned back around.
“They say it’s always the quiet cat that climbs up on the kitchen hearth first.”
Won-hyeok ground his teeth and muttered under his breath. Just then, Kang Yubin poked his arm a couple of times.
“Hey, why are you crumpling the paper?”
“Ah…”
He’d been sure he was just tapping it lightly with his finger, but before he knew it, Won-hyeok was clutching the paper in his hand and crushing it. Without even realizing it.
The thought of Han-gyeom panting with that same face in the arms of countless one-night partners somehow twisted his mood in a strange way.
Now that they’d ended up dating anyway, he intended to find out just how promiscuous Han-gyeom’s life really was. Though surely he wouldn’t still be doing that sort of thing now that he had a boyfriend.
In short, this relationship with Kang Han-gyeom could be called a setup Won-hyeok had laid out in order to accomplish several different purposes. Besides, it wasn’t as if there was absolutely no fun to be had in playing around with Kang Han-gyeom when he acted cute in front of him.
“I, I want to date you, sunbae.”
He’d answered that quickly just because Won-hyeok had said they should date. Those eyes, sparkling like ripples of light copied straight off a lake’s surface, kept flickering through his mind.
“Hey, Do Won-hyeok. Class is over. What are you doing?”
Yubin tapped on the desk, drawing Won-hyeok’s attention back again. Just as he said, when he looked around, the screen that had displayed the lecture materials had long since gone dark, and the professor was nowhere in sight. Students were busy dragging their chairs back and packing up to leave the lecture hall.
“Guess so.”
Won-hyeok packed up his things too. Watching his classmate like that, Kang Yubin narrowed his eyes.
“What’s with you? Since when does the great Do Won-hyeok not even focus in class?”
“Me? No way.”
“No way, my ass. Amazing that you can say that while looking at this.”
Kang Yubin reached out and pointed squarely at Won-hyeok’s handout. The lecture printout, which hadn’t advanced even a single page past the first, proved that he was right.
“What, do you seriously have something going on?”
As they came out of the lecture hall, Kang Yubin asked with an expression full of interest, but Won-hyeok only smiled and answered no.
“Kim Sun-woo’s done soon too, apparently. Want to grab dinner before heading back? That dak-galbi place up front is having a promotion until the end of this month.”
Hmm. Won-hyeok fell into brief thought.
“No, leave me out.”
“What, you’ve got plans?”
“I think I might.”
At that vague answer—I think I might—Kang Yubin tilted his head, but Won-hyeok merely waved a hand. His puzzled gaze followed him from behind, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest.
Won-hyeok pulled out the phone he had tucked away in his bag. When he’d parted with Han-gyeom earlier, he’d said he would contact him later, but with a pretty high probability, hadn’t Kang Han-gyeom already sent a message first? Well, that prediction had been a reasonable one.
When does your class end, let’s have dinner together, something like that, maybe. With a faint snort of laughter, Won-hyeok opened his messenger app, but there was no message from Kang Han-gyeom anywhere.
“……”
Won-hyeok, who had been going down the stairs, came to an abrupt stop, and one of his brows twitched slightly. After thinking for a moment, he soon sent Han-gyeom a text.
[Han-gyeom, where are you? Are your classes all done?]
Maybe he was in the club room. Since Won-hyeok didn’t know his schedule properly, he might still be in class. If that was the case, it made sense that he hadn’t sent a message.
Thinking he ought to find out Han-gyeom’s timetable first, he waited for the “1” on the message to disappear, but even as time passed, nothing changed. With his displeasure rising sharply, Won-hyeok immediately pressed Han-gyeom’s number and called him.
If he was in class, he’d hang up on his own. Won-hyeok had no desire to show him any consideration. After a few seconds of the ringing continuing, just as an incredulous sigh was about to slip from Won-hyeok’s mouth, there came a clicking sound, and the other person answered.
“Hello?”
“It’s me. You weren’t answering my text.”
The corners of the smile he had forced up creaked.
“Did you text me? I just got out of the shower, so I guess I didn’t see it.”
“Shower? Where?”
“Huh? I-I shower at home.”
At Han-gyeom’s words, Won-hyeok let out a low sound in his throat. Even as he found himself absurd for having let his thoughts run ahead, the word home instantly seized his ears.
“Han-gyeom, you’re home?”
“Yes. I went straight back after seeing you, sunbae. I didn’t have any classes after that.”
His prediction had missed the mark beautifully. Even if Han-gyeom had no class, he’d assumed he would wait around on his own.
“Did your class just end now, sunbae?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you must be tired.”
“No, not really…”
“Hurry home and get some good rest!”
He answered unconsciously, “Uh, yeah,” and Han-gyeom hung up with a bright goodbye, saying they’d see each other next time.
The words Call ended on the black screen looked unusually clear. Standing there awkwardly in the middle of the stairs, Won-hyeok stared blankly at his phone for a moment before letting out a breathy, incredulous laugh.
