What did that even matter, anyway? In truth, how popular and well-known he was within the department wasn’t especially important to Won-hyeok. As long as no one found out his true nature, that alone was enough for him. Popularity and reputation were just incidental byproducts that came along in the process.
“What… happened between me and that guy?”
Still, apart from that, he was a little curious. For all three years since entering university, he had done a perfect job hiding his true nature. He had acted thoroughly enough that there wasn’t even the slightest opening for anyone to figure it out. Well, it wasn’t as though there had never been cases where admiring looks turned into jealousy, and those arrows ended up flying at him for no reason.
He had heard petty talk behind his back before, things like how he was too perfect, so that actually made him unlikeable, or how he didn’t seem human. But if even Sun-woo, the one who hung around him the most, remembered the guy well enough to recall his name directly, then it didn’t seem like it had been something that simple.
“Was it at the second round of last year’s end-of-semester department dinner? We were drinking with the first-years, and that guy grabbed you by the collar right there. You seriously don’t remember?”
“Ah, now that you mention it….”
With that much said, something did vaguely come back to him. It definitely must have been last year’s end-of-semester gathering. Usually there was a strong expectation that first- and second-years were basically expected to attend, so Won-hyeok, who had been a second-year then, had gone too.
As always, he had sat in the very center, humoring all kinds of trivial, pointless conversations, and in the end he’d been dragged along to the second round too. At that point, some first-year kid had suddenly butted into the spot where Won-hyeok was sitting.
The guy had abruptly asked him for a drink, and as always, Won-hyeok had cursed inwardly while outwardly playing along. Then, while they talked, the mood took a strange turn, and eventually that first-year junior, now furious, had gone as far as grabbing Won-hyeok by the collar.
“He grabbed you by the collar? Why?”
Han-ul asked as he scooped up the last of the broth, though he didn’t actually sound all that surprised. After all, he was someone who had witnessed Won-hyeok’s other side about twice before.
“Who knows. Why did he do that again?”
“It’s kind of amazing that you don’t even remember. He definitely said it then. That you stole his lover.”
Sun-woo clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Oh… so I guess you really have been living up to that face of yours?”
“Want to die, you little— …no, I mean, I haven’t dated anyone in college except Han-gyeom, Han-woo.”
“It’s Han-ul. Then why did that person say that?”
Ignoring Han-ul’s correction, Won-hyeok picked up his phone again. It had never been an important memory, so he had long since forgotten it, and right now Han-gyeom—who had stopped contacting him as much—was a much bigger concern.
“Later we found out that this Han Su-hyeon guy was total trash. You know the type—someone who goes around meeting this person and that person just because he trusts his face. He was exactly that kind of player, and apparently the lover he was dating at the time suffered a lot because of it.”
Whether Sun-woo kept explaining beside him or not, Won-hyeok kept staring at the messenger chat, his leg even starting to bounce.
[Are you still drinking? Should I come pick you up later?]
[You’re not answering? You promised you’d keep in touch.]
[Don’t you miss me?]
“But that lover—was it someone from the Japanese Department? Anyway, they were in the College of Humanities like us, and on the day of some college event, Do Won-hyeok happened to help them out.”
“Then that person fell for sunbae, and in the end those two broke up?”
When Han-ul made the apt deduction, Sun-woo nodded vigorously. Han Su-hyeon might not have liked his lover that much, but getting dumped because their heart had been stolen by someone else must have been a real blow to his pride, and he took it out on poor Won-hyeok.
It painted a very clear picture.
“That’s completely hypocritical. Not even thinking about what he himself did.”
“Exactly. So after that happened, I think there were a ton of bad rumors about him in the department too. There were even rumors going around that he supposedly had some kind of prior offense, but since there was no proof, it kind of just faded out. Still, one way or another, he definitely seemed like bad news.”
As if recalling what had happened then, Sun-woo shuddered and shook his head.
“Anyway, do you know how much of a scene he made at that department dinner after grabbing Won-hyeok by the collar? He said he’d definitely get revenge or something. Anyway, I thought I was going to die trying to stop him….”
“Hey.”
Up until then, Won-hyeok had only been looking at his phone, but now he called out to Sun-woo in a cold voice.
“What did you just say?”
“Huh?”
“He said he’d get revenge on me?”
“Wow, I guess your memory really is wiped. How do you forget that? He was drunk too, and he made a huge scene. He was cursing and saying he’d pay you back exactly the same way, and all the other upperclassmen there started cursing too, so it turned into total chaos.”
At the words How could you forget that? Won-hyeok suddenly shot to his feet.
“I need to make a quick call.”
Clutching his phone tightly in his hand, Won-hyeok hurried outside. For some reason, the sight of his back looked urgent. The other two, who had no idea what was going on, just exchanged glances and shrugged.
***
“No wonder you were drinking so much. If you’re having a hard time, lean on me.”
Realizing that the blurry figure in his field of vision was Han Su-hyeon, Han-gyeom stared straight at him.
“Hm?”
“So, you know… is there something you want to say to me?”
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Han-gyeom firmly removed Han Su-hyeon’s hand. Then he didn’t forget to take a step to the side either.
“What is this, are you asking because you caught on, or because you didn’t?”
“I-I asked first. Don’t answer a question with a question.”
He put force into every syllable as he spoke, trying to pull himself together. Whether Han Su-hyeon noticed that or for some other reason, he let out a small laugh and bent at the waist until their eyes were level.
“What reason would I have to act like this toward a drunk classmate? Obviously, because I’m interested in you.”
Han Su-hyeon raised his hand. He was about to touch Han-gyeom’s cheek, faintly flushed red, but Han-gyeom smacked his hand away.
“…That’s not it.”
“…”
“There’s another reason, isn’t there?”
At that one sentence, Han Su-hyeon’s face went cold. It felt like watching a villain in a movie take off the mask he’d been wearing while pretending to be nice. The loose, grinning smile he had been wearing until moments ago vanished without a trace, and he looked at Han-gyeom with an entirely different gaze.
“Hey, you’re quicker than you look, huh? I thought you wouldn’t notice since you act kind of dense compared to how you look.”
Well, he didn’t especially feel like denying that. Han-gyeom had heard all his life that he was oblivious, and because of that he had ended up unintentionally making people dislike him quite a few times during his school years. At first, Han Su-hyeon’s behavior had felt less suspicious than simply strange.
Before they had moved spots, Han Su-hyeon had been subtly trying to touch him and sticking close beside him while talking, and Han-gyeom had thought maybe he just wanted to be friends. But after hearing what Ye Ji-won said, he had started wondering whether, maybe, Han Su-hyeon was actually interested in him.
Still, something felt strangely off. That explanation alone didn’t fully make sense. Something he couldn’t quite grasp kept needling at his mind.
“How did you figure it out? I’m actually pretty good at reeling people in.”
“Your eyes….”
“My eyes?”
“I-I can’t really explain it well, but it made me feel kind of bad.”
At that blunt answer, Han Su-hyeon burst out laughing.
“Ah, sorry. Was that too harsh? It’s just that your eyes looked like you didn’t really like me.”
He had read in a book once that love and sneezes were impossible to hide. But Han-gyeom believed there was one more thing human beings had trouble hiding.
That was dislike and aversion toward someone. Going even further than that—disgust.
Maybe, for just a fleeting instant, he had seen that in Han Su-hyeon’s gaze.
“And thinking about it, I’m not really the type of person people would have much reason to like anyway.”
Han Su-hyeon, who had been rummaging inside his clothes for a cigarette, paused.
“You’re seriously funny. Are you doing this on purpose? These days people say acting humble is annoying as hell.”
“Huh? Humble? I don’t really know what you mean….”
But Han Su-hyeon didn’t answer any further. He just put a cigarette between his lips and skillfully lit it with a lighter. The crackle of the cigarette burning echoed strangely loudly through the alley.
“Well, it’s not exactly wrong, but it’s not completely right either. If you really read that kind of thing in my eyes, it wasn’t directed at you.”
He took a deep drag on the filter, then blew the smoke out with a soft hoo right in front of Han-gyeom’s face. As the pale smoke spread and scattered before his eyes, Han-gyeom coughed lightly.
“Hey, are you really dating Do Won-hyeok?”
“Yeah.”
Why is this guy younger than me and talking down to a senior? The words got stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out. Maybe it was because he still didn’t know Han Su-hyeon’s intentions.
“Why are you dating that sunbae?”
“Huh?”
“Because he’s handsome? I’ll give you that, but I’m pretty decent too, aren’t I? Honestly, if you look at just our faces, I think he and I are about the same.”
The conversation was drifting in a direction he couldn’t get a handle on. Han-gyeom could only feel confused about what exactly Han Su-hyeon was trying to say. Why was he suddenly talking as if comparing himself?
“Ah, or if not that, is he good at sex?”
“Sex….”
At the brazenly explicit words—so crude he could barely even repeat them—Han-gyeom covered his mouth with his hand. It felt like the drunkenness he had already breathed out into the night air was rising back up again. Han Su-hyeon, watching the back of Han-gyeom’s flushed hand, kept smoking and snickered.
“So he is good? Well, I guess that makes sense. He’s a dominant alpha, right? Omegas like you must go crazy for that.”
“Huh? Um, I’m….”
He was about to say, I’m a beta, but Han Su-hyeon suddenly threw the cigarette to the ground, seized Han-gyeom’s hand, and yanked him forward, breathing out the remaining smoke. The expression visible through the pale smoke looked so desperate that it was a little creepy.
“But I’m good too. I’m not dominant, but I’m still an alpha. I can make you feel even better than that sunbae can, so what do you think?”
“W-What do you mean, what do I think? What are you talking about…?”
“I’m asking you to sleep with me. I can pound you so hard you won’t even be able to think straight.”
Han-gyeom blinked slowly. The words were humiliating enough to make his ears feel like they might burn off, but at the same time something strange rose up somewhere inside him.
It was discomfort.
“Sorry, but why would I sleep with you?”
“Huh?”
“I’m dating sunbae. Are you telling me to cheat right now?”
Han-gyeom’s tone changed slightly. At that coldness—sharp enough to overpower even his drunkenness—Han Su-hyeon, a little flustered, slowly let go of his hand. He was startled by how different Han-gyeom now felt from the one inside earlier, who had only been smiling innocently the whole time.
“Hey, everyone’s like that. People with traits like ours all lose their minds once they’re soaked in pheromones, don’t they? People can talk all day about fated partners and whatever, but in the end, people like us can’t beat pheromones, can we? I’m telling you, I can make you feel good. Pheromones are all about compatibility in the end. Who knows? Maybe you and I would match better.”
Right? Han Su-hyeon once again curled his lips into an unpleasant smile and reached out to touch Han-gyeom. But at Han-gyeom’s straight, unwavering stare—so intense it seemed to bore through him—he faltered for some reason.
“You… I think you read too many dirty novels. They say if you read too much of that stuff, your bones r-rot….”
“…What?”
And then came words he had never expected in the slightest. Han Su-hyeon’s jaw dropped open.
