“Did someone hit you or anything……”
“Do I look like the kind of person who goes around getting beat up?”
“If you’re in this condition, the other person must definitely be headed to the hospital, so I’m worried……”
“……”
The swelling had subsided quite a bit. As soon as Woojae confirmed that Gye Sajun wasn’t there, he’d rushed out and tried to find his key in the front yard of the dorm, but ultimately failed. When he explained the situation to the security guard ahjussi, the man lent him a spare key while lecturing him a bit about disposing of the card key.
“Anyway, I’m sorry about this. They said we have to change your room key too, but I’ll pay for that, so don’t worry.”
“I’m not really worried. How much is it?”
“100,000 won each……”
“That’s not as expensive as I thought.”
No, it’s expensive. Woojae only groaned inwardly at the sudden expenditure of 200,000 won. Still, he didn’t want to show it to Minwook. Although he was doing a lot of part-time work, his paycheck wouldn’t come until next month anyway. He couldn’t go around without a key right away, so it had really become a situation where he’d have to skip lunch.
“So where did you sleep last night?”
“……Just,”
“Just?”
“In Gye Sajun’s room……”
Woojae decided to tell only Minwook the truth without needing to lie. Sure enough, Minwook’s mouth fell open and he asked Woojae as if shocked.
“You guys……, when did you get so close? No wonder Gye Sajun’s scent was all over you……”
At those words, Woojae’s eyes widened. Come to think of it, they could smell those kinds of scents among themselves. The moment he realized that last night he’d used Gye Sajun’s bath products, slept in his bed, and moreover was still wearing his clothes until now, Woojae’s face turned bright red. It was probably at a level that even someone who wasn’t an alpha or omega could smell.
“I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier but I couldn’t say anything in case you got mad! ……No, wait a minute. You guys don’t tell me……”
Woojae, who’d been blankly watching Minwook’s expression change dynamically, turned pale and widened his eyes. What the hell is he imagining? Because of Minwook’s agitation, it felt like his perverted thoughts were unfolding before Woojae’s eyes too.
“What do you mean ‘don’t tell me’! It just happened to turn out that way!”
“Wow, that’s totally dirty talk. ‘It just happened to turn out that way.’ Isn’t that a classic line?”
“Hey!”
“Wow, they say a quiet cat climbs on the stove first, but crazy Go Woojae got on Gye Sajun’s bed first, eek!”
“He just lent me clothes and let me sleep because I got caught in the rain yesterday, that’s all!”
Woojae hit Minwook’s forearm hard at his endlessly advancing imagination. His cheeks, flushed red from breathing heavily, were burning hot all over.
“Wow, look at your face turning red. Ah, okay. I’ll stop teasing. Don’t hit me. I’m in pain right now.”
Minwook was exaggerating even though it wasn’t his arm that hurt. Woojae hurriedly stripped off Gye Sajun’s clothes and threw them away. Even the underwear, all at once.
“Hey! Even if we’re both men, that’s too— oh. That’s pretty big.”
“Don’t look!”
“Wow, Go Woojae flustered is hilarious.”
Minwook chuckled as he watched Woojae frantically changing clothes. Because it was fun to see Woojae flustered. Enough to want to tease him more.
“No wonder the clothes were fucking huge.”
“Stop talking……”
“Let me see the underwear size. How big is Gye Sajun’s?”
“Are you crazy?”
His face flushed red with shame, Woojae roughly bundled up Gye Sajun’s clothes and stuffed them into the laundry basket. After changing into his worn-out clothes, he brought a perfectly fine new towel and covered Gye Sajun’s clothes.
“But when did you guys get so close? I’m jealous.”
“We’re not close.”
“I thought I was the only one who could handle Go Woojae’s temper, but I guess not.”
“I’ll kill you, seriously.”
When Woojae, whose patience had run out, raised his fist, Minwook covered his mouth with both hands and nodded his head vigorously. Either way, Woojae had heavy hands. His expression suggested that if he hit one more time, there would be no strength control.
“Well, it’d be good if you got close. Gye Sajun seemed like he wanted to be friends with you anyway.”
Normally he would have snapped that it was ridiculous, but in any case, it was true that Gye Sajun had shown him kindness last night.
“Still, it’s amazing. Gye Sajun must really like you.”
“It’s probably just a whim.”
“Hey, let’s watch the movie together! Since it’s come to this and it’s a group project anyway, can’t we do it together?”
It wasn’t wrong. There was barely enough time until the assignment due date, but it wasn’t like there was no time at all. But somehow he’d incurred a debt of gratitude. Last night he’d definitely made a fool of himself in front of Gye Sajun. He’d even borrowed various things.
“Shouldn’t I, like, pay him back somehow?”
“……Buy him a meal?”
But his wallet situation was terrible for that. He also couldn’t feed him something like a convenience store expired lunchbox. When he recalled the menu Jeong Minho had bought, it seemed he’d need to spend that much to feel like he was treating him properly. For now, Woojae changed clothes to go to class. After finishing the day’s schedule, going to the laundry room to wash Gye Sajun’s clothes and return them to him came first.
“But how did you end up eating with Jeong Minho?”
“Ha, that’s what I’m saying.”
At the frustrating memory just thinking about it, Woojae sighed while packing his bag.
“Usually seniors do buy meals for freshmen. But normally juniors are supposed to contact them asking for a meal—did you tell Jeong Minho to buy you food?”
“Would I have done that?”
“Of course not, I assume. Did I ask something unnecessary?”
“……Like you said, I have to adapt to school life, so I couldn’t refuse. I can’t act according to my temper either, it’s so frustrating I could go crazy.”
There was more he wanted to say, but Woojae deliberately held it back.
“Well, yeah. He’s not just any senior, he’s the vice president of the student council. He has a good image among freshmen too. I heard he goes around buying a lot of meals.”
“He’s a walking wallet. But why are you so well-informed about other people’s departments?”
“I’m good at networking, you know.”
Minwook laughed cheerfully.
‘That bastard is completely crazy!’
Woojae kept forcibly holding back the urge to complain to him. Minwook, who would listen to that story, was also an alpha. Could he empathize even if he brought up Professor Min’s story? What if Bang Minwook answered like Jeong Minho here? Then what should I do? With a subdued expression, Woojae gestured with his chin toward Minwook’s injury and said,
“Get better soon. So you can go meet Juhee noona.”
“Of course. I’ll feed you noodles at the wedding soon.”
“What kind of twenty-year-old kid sounds like an old bachelor desperate to get married. As if you’ll get married.”
“Hey, I’m going to marry Juhee noona.”
“Yeah, sure. Sure. Do it for sure. I’ll officiate.”
“You serious? You promised. Let’s write a contract!”
What ambition. How long have they even known each other? Does he think marriage is easy? Even couples who can’t live without each other—you can’t know until they enter the wedding hall. Besides, they’re not even dating yet, so I thought he’d get hurt at this rate.
“Do you like that noona that much?”
“Yeah. I like her so much. We were definitely connected in a past life. And the life before that too.”
“Crazy. Why are you so sure?”
“You wouldn’t know, but we have this thing called intuition. When you meet your fated partner, you know right away, you know? Hey, just in case, this isn’t racial discrimination or anything like that, right?”
“……Got it.”
This made Woojae feel a bit sorry for Minwook. He was someone who looked out for him like this, yet if he knew that he’d drawn a line just because he was an alpha, he’d be very upset. Woojae decided to keep his mouth shut. Even if he brought it up now, perhaps Bang Minwook could be hurt just by the fact that he’d doubted his intentions.
“Anyway, I knew as soon as I saw noona. Noona is my love, my destiny, my life.”
“Why are you talking like that……”
“Hey, you should read some romance manga too. There’s a lot of this stuff in them. You need to know this stuff to succeed at dating.”
“That noona doesn’t hate you even when you’re like this?”
“……”
Looking at Minwook who hadn’t answered for a while, Woojae patted his shoulder.
“Hey, don’t feel sorry for me. I’m really doing well.”
“It’s just a feeling. I’ll listen, so go ahead. Tell me about your love business.”
“So there’s this thing……”
The story that began with that sentence continued endlessly until Woojae entered the International Studies building. Since So Juhee and Bang Minwook had only met three times, it was a repetition of the same stories, and then another repetition. But he didn’t regret it. Because he had sins he’d committed.
***
The damp bathroom was, amusingly enough, unfamiliar to Gye Sajun. It was the first time in his life using the bathroom after someone else had used it. He could see the effort to try to straighten things up in his own way, but even so, a small laugh escaped at the sight of the messy bathroom. It was the doing of the man who would be lying on his bed.
“What a cute thing to do.”
He’d worried whether he might knock over the shampoo bottle or something out of spite, but instead it seemed he’d been mindful. When he imagined the sight of him carefully trying to align things the way he’d set them up, it was hard to hold back laughter. A twisted desire surged up from his stomach, wanting to point out that fact and make him wear an awkward expression. Gye Sajun recalled again Go Woojae’s wavering eyes as he’d looked at his face.
The moment when those eyes that always seemed to hate him as if seeing something they shouldn’t see had loosened as if enchanted kept remaining like an afterimage. The navy blue toothbrush stuck in the toothbrush holder harmonizing with his own looked quite pleasant to see.
“I should be distancing myself……”
He tried muttering the words to himself like a resolution, but there was no strength behind them at all. Because it was something he didn’t want to do either.
