“Fuck, what the hell movie is it? I can’t figure it out.”
Even during the time Gye Sajun had disappeared, time had been flowing steadily along. Which meant the deadline for submitting the assignment was approaching. In the meantime, Woojae had mobilized all his connections—though that only amounted to Bang Minwook, Teaching Assistant Im, Jang Yeonju, and Yeon Sojeong—and made tireless efforts to find out the title of the movie.
– A romance movie? There are only one or two of those? I think it’s been three years since I’ve watched a movie. And you shouldn’t be asking such questions to a pitiful grad student. Does our professor know? The fact that it’s been 30,000 years since I watched a movie…
Teaching Assistant Im had been lamenting whenever he had a spare moment these days, so that was a failure, and,
– A movie? I don’t watch stuff like that. I’d rather watch sports in that time.
Jang Yeonju answered with a frown, and,
– Woojae, you watch romance movies too? That’s unexpected. Want to go to the movies with me this weekend? There’s something that looks interesting among the recent releases.
Sojeong’s eyes lit up as she tried to make plans. In the end, there were no meaningful results.
“Where the hell did that crazy bastard go?”
At this point, he was going crazy with curiosity. To humiliate and provoke someone like that and then just completely disappear? It was ridiculous. And naturally, the vivid sensation of the tongue that had touched his nape came back to life.
“Aaagh! I thought of it again! I’m going to kill him!!”
“Woojae!!”
The moment Woojae announced murder, his name was called and the door slammed open with a bang. Predictably, it was Bang Minwook, the other owner of the room.
“What, Bang Minwook…”
“I, I, I have a d-date, a d-date scheduled, I, my breath, seriously I’m not lying, my breath, huk, I can’t bre—”
Minwook was literally breathing strangely. It seemed he had finally arranged a date with So Juhee-nim from the Department of Biotechnology. She was exactly one year older than Minwook and was said to be the only daughter of a leading domestic pharmaceutical company. He’d been forced to learn information about how her hair was in a sharp bob cut, her personality was cool, and blue sweaters looked absolutely amazing on her. A couple in a red padding and blue sweater—was that the Korean flag or what?
He’d only listened to a few words since Minwook had been clinging to his phone and whining all week, but before he knew it, he’d become this guy’s romance counselor. Woojae, already irritated as it was, scolded Minwook for making a fuss.
“Stop freaking out. Are you crazy?”
“With Juhee noona, on Saturday, huk, ah, I’m so nervous I think I’m going to throw up…”
“Didn’t I tell you not to talk about vomit?”
“Sorry… But I’m really so nervous that I feel queasy…”
When Woojae’s face hardened at the mention of “vomit,” which had become a landmine, and he warned him, Minwook quickly apologized. Bang Minwook, who had been saying he’d expand his social circle and whatnot, urging him to go on group blind dates, had at some point become a prisoner of love and was now tormenting him.
“Go to the infirmary, you bastard. Take some Cheongsimhwan or something and go on your date.”
“Ah, should I? That’s a fucking great idea. Woojae, you’re a really smart friend. As expected of the first Beta freshman. Keu. I give you applause and cheers.”
“You’re dead. Seriously.”
Woojae showed his fist. Minwook had no immunity to violence, so he quickly tucked his tail. It seemed not all Alphas were aggressive. If you looked closely, Minwook was delicate, and unlike the Alpha characteristic of being physically exceptional, his athletic ability wasn’t great either. He’d said he couldn’t even drive. Then, at a thought that suddenly occurred to him, Woojae’s eyes lit up like a detective who’d discovered a clue.
Seoul First University was located in a remote area even within the capital, and because of that, most students used vehicles. Although they stayed in dormitories by regulation, they didn’t have to work part-time jobs like him, so they often went out. It seemed they went home even on weekends. Even if they didn’t drive themselves, many students brought along drivers, so the parking lot was always crowded. If Gye Sajun was on campus, his car would also be in the parking lot.
“Do you happen to know what car Gye Sajun drives?”
He desperately needed the help of Minwook, who knew all sorts of news on campus. At Woojae’s question, Minwook rolled his eyeballs around.
“Ah… Yeah. But I’m not his stalker, okay? I was just curious what the youngest of the Gyesu Group drives around in—”
“Never mind that, do you know his license plate number?”
“Yeah. I remember it.”
His head must be pretty good. Woojae tried to extract the clue he’d barely obtained from Minwook.
“Tell me.”
***
The parking lot was located near the school’s main gate. Woojae gave a bitter smile at the sight of expensive-looking cars lined up everywhere. Everyone’s money must be rotting away. This is why I get accepted for every part-time job I apply for on campus. There was no way people who drove around in cars like these would be desperate for campus part-time jobs.
When Woojae asked about the license plate number, Minwook had told him right away, but then suggested a faster and more certain way to find his car.
– He has an assigned parking spot. So you don’t even need to know the number. First, go to the parking space I told you about, and if it’s not there, it’s as good as him not being here.
– Assigned parking?
– Yeah. You know those VVIP parking zones at department stores or university hospitals? They have one here too. When Gye Sajun enrolled, there was talk that Gyesu donated tens of billions in the name of scholarships, and there’s the Gyesu International Building here too. That’s a building Gyesu built.
– Crazy… Isn’t that fraudulent admission?
– I don’t think so? He had good grades at his school.
– How do you know that?
– I went to an arts high school under the same foundation as him, so I heard some rumors.
If he’d at least been admitted with insufficient qualifications by laying down turf or something, he could curse freely. But thinking that the scholarship his family donated might have become his own tuition made his mouth taste bitter.
“…This is exhausting enough to kill me.”
Even with streetlights, it was night. His eyes hurt from straining to find the parking space where Gye Sajun’s car would be. The spot he finally found was empty. Even without knowing much about driving, he could tell it was a good parking spot. Just as he was sitting down in disappointment, he saw a black car smoothly entering the parking lot entrance.
“Fuck.”
It was getting closer and closer. At the license plate number that exactly matched the number Minwook had told him, Woojae jumped up from where he was sitting. This proved it. The fact that Gye Sajun had been away from school for several days. This crazy bastard pulled that shit and then ran away? At the memories flashing by, Woojae ground his teeth hard enough to make a distant sound.
Woojae approached the vehicle that had finished parking and shoved his face against the driver’s seat window.
“You bastard! I caught you!”
Because of the heavy tinting, he couldn’t see that annoying face even when he pressed his forehead close. But the moment he pressed his face against it, he heard an uncool scream of “Eek!” so laughter slowly bubbled up. It was because the fact that Gye Sajun, who always maintained a haughty, pretentious, and blunt attitude, had screamed was amusing. While Woojae was drunk on shallow victory, the back seat door suddenly opened.
“Did you come out to greet me? Your welcome is unique.”
“What the, crazy…”
The pale face revealed under the streetlight was definitely Gye Sajun’s. That low, heavy voice too. Woojae, frozen in place, only rolled his eyes to look at the driver’s seat. Then, whose scream was that just now?
“Are you the young master’s friend? I apologize for my unseemly behavior from being startled…”
“Ack!”
At the unexpected voice, Woojae screamed. And shame began to wash over him at the fact that the speaker was a living person.
“Ahaha, this is a tie then.”
“I’m, I’m sorry…”
The driver was definitely older than him, so Woojae apologized first with his startled face still intact. It was because he newly realized that he himself was the culprit who had startled him.
“It’s fine. Young master, if he’s your friend, I’ll drive you both to the dormitory entrance.”
“No. We’ll walk from here, so you can take the car and go. I won’t be using this car for a while anyway.”
“Yes, understood. Please contact me if you need anything.”
Gye Sajun blocked the conversation, not allowing Woojae any chance to talk with the other person. This is because he’s an employee he hires. Woojae glared at Gye Sajun with unfriendly eyes. Though he had no intention of riding in that car anyway.
“…I’m going.”
“Huh?”
He spoke quite affectionately, so Woojae thought he might try to have a conversation, but unexpectedly, Gye Sajun started walking, leaving Woojae behind. Somehow the roles had been reversed.
‘What the hell, what kind of bastard is this?’
Gye Sajun acted unfamiliar, like someone who didn’t remember what happened between them, no, like someone who didn’t remember him at all. No, that’s not what’s important right now. He needed to ask about the movie, but it was hard to chase after the guy striding away. His strides were so large and fast that it seemed like he might be using some kind of teleportation technique.
But it also wasn’t a situation where he could say something cringeworthy like let’s go together first. Right now, Woojae had business with Gye Sajun; he wasn’t trying to foster friendship. Following Gye Sajun’s shadow along the dark path lit only by streetlights, Woojae muttered endlessly to himself.
‘Should I tell him to tell me the movie title first? No, but why does this guy walk so fast? And is he ignoring me right now? No, who’s the one who should be ignoring whom? That crazy sexual harasser bastard. Just thinking about that day makes me furious even in my sleep. That fucking bastard. He bit me. Is he really a dog? Where had he been? Did he go home during that time? Going home when it’s not even the weekend, skipping classes? Isn’t he crazy? But why is his face so pale? Was he sick?’
When his thoughts had bounced that far, something bumped against his forehead. It was Gye Sajun’s back. Because Gye Sajun had stopped, he, who had been walking mindlessly, had collided with him. Woojae jumped back in shock and shouted.
“Wh-what! You crazy bastard, why did you stop walking?!”
“It’s funny when the one who crashed says that. Isn’t it the fault of the one who didn’t maintain distance?”
Woojae closed his mouth. There was nothing wrong with Gye Sajun’s words. If this had been a car accident, it would have been one hundred percent his fault. But he and Gye Sajun weren’t cars, and this wasn’t a road either, was it?
“That’s because I didn’t know you’d stop suddenly!”
“If you’d maintained distance, even if I’d stopped suddenly, you wouldn’t have touched me.”
At the answer that was even cold, Woojae’s expression hardened. Though he’d always said things that got on his nerves, he’d never seen him draw such a sharp line like this before.
