“What……? You said you saw it!”
“You think I just let it slide after seeing that? When a dog was being sexually harassed?”
“No! Ah, maybe it’s because I called it sexual harassment…… But if you really think about it, it is sexual harassment. Because they were doing that when he said no.”
“Right, that’s sexual harassment.”
“Right! But why are you suddenly getting angry?”
“What kind of crazy bastard would sexually harass a cute puppy and not make anyone angry?”
“What?”
“You said a puppy was sexually harassed!”
“No! Him! That guy……!!”
And Woojae shut his mouth tight. How many minutes had he wasted on nonsense, like they were Dumb and Dumber? Suddenly feeling heated, Woojae shouted out.
“Hey! You need to speak properly!”
“Wow, who’s yelling at who? I spoke perfectly clearly, you know?”
Seeing Minwook huffing and puffing, Woojae lost his fighting spirit. Anyway, there was no point in arguing about who was wrong here. Since he still needed to look for part-time jobs, he wanted to stop wasting any more time.
“Start over from the beginning.”
“You didn’t listen to me properly, did you?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Sorry. You kept saying useless things.”
“Jeez. I can’t even argue with that……”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks for apologizing……”
Minwook sulked for a brief moment, then soon asked, “You know you’re really similar to my cousin noona, right?” Woojae didn’t know Minwook’s noona so he didn’t answer, and a defeated Minwook brought up the main point first.
“That alpha whose difficult scene you witnessed, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“His name is Gye Sajun, okay?”
“Gae Sajun? Is there a Gae surname?”
“Gye-Sa-Jun. Gye.”
Minwook slowly enunciated ‘Gye’ with an exaggerated mouth shape. Watching Minwook diligently using his facial muscles, Woojae nodded roughly. And spat out his honest impression.
“……That’s a fucking weird name.”
Minwook shrugged his shoulders once and continued.
“Anyway, you fought with him without even knowing his name?”
“If you saw dogs mating on the street, would you want to know their names?”
“Dogs……”
“How do you know him?”
“He’s so famous, that’s why. I feel like the best friend in a shoujo manga explaining the Four Heavenly Kings to the female protagonist.”
“Why are the Four Heavenly Kings coming up here?”
“Ah, there is. Not that. You know, the ones at temples.”
At Woojae’s expression that seemed to know what he was thinking, Minwook waved his hands.
“Anyway, be careful around him. You know Gyesu Group, right?”
“Is there anyone in Korea who doesn’t know that? What do you take me for, an idiot?”
“He’s the youngest of that family. Chairman Gye Yeongim’s grandson.”
At those words, his eyes couldn’t help but widen.
“The youngest of Gyesu Group……?”
“Ah, I really feel like the friend of a shoujo manga heroine……”
Must have read a lot of shoujo manga. Woojae sighed at the fact that he’d learned about Minwook’s tastes, which he hadn’t been particularly curious about.
“Photos of their family’s three siblings circulated on the internet for a bit.”
“Ah, how would I know that kind of thing? I was busy solving past exam questions. We don’t even have a TV at home.”
“That’s harsh. Anyway, don’t go saying things like public indecency or whatever, just pretend you don’t know and get along well from now on. It seems like he’s also the freshman representative for Liberal Arts.”
At that moment, Assistant Im’s last words flashed through Woojae’s mind.
– Did you by any chance not get contacted by Sajun? He’s this year’s freshman representative, so I separately told him about it just in case.
– That’s the freshman representative’s name. It would be good if you got along well.
‘Sajun,’ ‘freshman representative.’
– That alpha whose difficult scene you witnessed, you know.
– His name is Gye Sajun, okay?
‘That alpha,’ ‘Gye Sajun.’
As key words became underlined, the existence of that unlucky alpha became clearer in Woojae’s mind. Ha, as the puzzle pieces fit together, his anger toward that bastard boiled over. In other words, that notification this morning was an excuse that he’d done his job in his own way.
“Why should I care? What a fucking unlucky bastard.”
“Right. It might actually be better not to get involved. Wow, that Gye Sajun lives in the room next to mine, it’s so fucking amazing.”
That must be why he ignored him so blatantly. Woojae gritted his teeth as he recalled Gye Sajun’s unlucky appearance once again. From head to toe, he was full of hateful elements. Even his background. Woojae glared at his phone stamped with the KS logo. Even this old phone belonged to that bastard’s family, so there was no way he could feel good.
“Ah, it’s already 6 o’clock. Are you going to go eat dinner? I’m supposed to meet with classmates first at 6:10.”
“Yeah, go. I’m not really hungry today. I must have eaten too much breakfast.”
His appetite had completely dropped. One person is an alpha and the youngest son of a chaebol family, while the other is a beta and a basic livelihood recipient. What an absurd situation. Woojae had always thought the world was unfair, but today especially left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Right, hey, you ate three servings from the morning. I’m going first. See you later.”
As soon as Minwook left, Woojae forcibly shook off his feelings of inferiority toward Gye Sajun. And he entered the library homepage to review the recruitment conditions for the night part-time job. Fortunately, the night part-time job didn’t seem to be a scholarship concept, so even people who were work-study students could apply for both. The school guaranteed wage payment and working within campus meant a short commute, so it was beneficial in many ways.
That day, Woojae went around the convenience stores in the dormitory and even applied for part-time jobs. It was with the mindset that something would catch. Of course, at this time, he never dreamed that he would receive acceptance notifications from every place he applied to.
***
Even by the next day, there was no contact from the student council. He learned that half of his Liberal Arts classmates were in the classes he was taking, but they also never spoke to Woojae. So what if they didn’t? He hadn’t gone to university to build friendships in the first place. Woojae ignored his classmates chattering amongst themselves during lecture breaks. Though it was more accurate to say he was being ignored.
However, if there was something different from yesterday, it was that today there was a bastard named Gye Sajun in the lecture hall.
‘Looking at me all unlucky and shit.’
The fact that their eyes kept meeting probably wasn’t his imagination. The continuing lecture was a required liberal arts course called “Marriage and Family in Modern Society.” A thin-framed male professor staggered up to the podium.
Woojae also didn’t dislike the lecture topic of “Marriage and Family.” Someday he too would meet a good woman and get married. Of course, for that to happen, he would have to become a good man as well. Woojae was confident. Even though he’d never dated, he could tell. He was confident he’d even give his liver to someone he liked.
“Uh, since you’re all freshmen…… And you just started the semester so you’re probably not close, so, I’ve arbitrarily formed groups. I’ll put it up on the screen so check it and make sure to sit together from now on. Please.”
The problem was that it was a two-person project. Woojae cursed inwardly. The fact that he had to perform the project paired with an alpha or omega who would obviously dislike him was unpleasant. Moreover, having to sit together every time, what is this, elementary school?
Woojae didn’t bother looking at the screen. Whoever it was, they would obviously say they didn’t want to do it with him. This feels like being ostracized.
“The lecture schedule, assignments, and grade calculation method are no different from what’s in the syllabus, so let’s end class here for today. Exchange contact information with each other before you leave.”
Professor Nam left only those words and left with his bag, looking tired. Though he hadn’t confirmed who his partner was, Woojae was planning to do the project alone anyway, so he packed his bag as well. At that moment, someone approached Woojae’s side and the buzzing noise stopped.
“Do you have something urgent? Or are you planning to come find me in my room at night?”
At the low voice that felt familiar, Woojae whipped his head up. A large figure with the fluorescent light behind him was looking down at Woojae.
“That would be a bit burdensome.”
Fuck. This bastard is my partner?
“……”
More unpleasant than the content was the presence that the bastard’s voice conveyed. After brief consideration, Woojae stood up from his seat. Of course, it was to leave the lecture hall. But Gye Sajun was faster.
“Where are you rushing off to?”
At the broad chest blocking his way and the Adam’s apple at eye level, Woojae’s lips twitched. It was because curses were rising up. He wasn’t short either, but this was deeply humiliating.
“Move.”
“Don’t pointlessly antagonize me. I’m not exactly satisfied either.”
“You’re not moving?”
In Woojae’s mind, he was having a tense battle of wills. What’s he going to do if someone like him blocks the way? Woojae ignored the many gazes pouring in this direction and pushed past Gye Sajun.
At that moment, glances like ‘how dare you?’ followed from the surroundings, but it wasn’t his concern. But momentarily, he felt like a court lady who had ignored His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It left a bitter taste. Certainly, if it were a class society, the gap would be about that much. To be precise, he was a prince and Woojae was a commoner. Fortunately, thanks to it not being a class society, he could blatantly ignore him like this.
The problem was that Gye Sajun followed Woojae out. As Gye Sajun closed the distance with large strides, Woojae’s anger rose to the top of his head and he couldn’t hold back, shouting at the end of the hallway.
“Won’t you fuck off?!”
“I’m also on my way to the next lecture, your delusions are a bit severe.”
It was a deflating answer. What the hell is with him? Gye Sajun just passed right by Woojae. Left alone in the hallway, Woojae clenched his fists tight. What was infuriating was the fact that Gye Sajun was in the next lecture hall he entered, and the one after that too. He even waved at the end. Woojae blatantly ignored him, but that didn’t resolve his irritation.
