With his mind in turmoil, Sangho couldn’t continue speaking and hesitated for a long while. It was funny to wedge himself between Wonha and Kyungoh. But Han Kyungoh just, like, pounced on him in the gym storage room too. Wonha is really pretty so… he might. F-forcibly. Pounce on him.
‘Wonha said he likes me.’
Suddenly, a different feeling raised its head. Sangho’s lips trembled before he finally spoke.
“O-okay. Then I’ll live with you too.”
“Hyung! Really?”
“After the rehab is done. Just until the heat cycle stabilizes…”
“There’s one more room left, so I’ll clear it out.”
He seemed to be talking about the room that had exercise equipment. When Sangho nodded helplessly, both Wonha and Kyungoh’s faces brightened simultaneously.
“Hyung. Then shall we move your stuff starting today? I’ll help you.”
“Then I’ll have it cleared by this evening. You don’t have much to take from your studio apartment anyway.”
At things happening like lightning, Sangho felt uneasy but let out a faint sigh as if there was nothing he could do.
***
“Ha… So, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll endure it until we find the bastard who imprinted him.”
When Wonha, who had sent Sangho back to the hotel room with various excuses, asked, Han Kyungoh answered with a very unwilling expression. He hadn’t intended to bring Jang Wonha into his home either, but the only person Sangho actively reacted to was Jang Wonha.
‘Pissing me off.’
Kyungoh clenched his fist as he recalled Sangho’s expression blocking him from Wonha. Of course he’d be stronger than Jang Wonha, but Jang Wonha with his huge physique over 185cm was definitely no pushover. How exactly did Jang Wonha appear in the eyes of Sangho, who was as scrawny as a sheet of paper?
“Anyway, Sangho needs to be given regular pheromone showers. Otherwise, he’ll gradually weaken from the imprinting and become really dangerous.”
“Fuck… Like I said earlier, don’t do it forcibly. I’m only tolerating it because it’s necessary for hyung.”
“You talk as if you have some kind of relationship with Sangho.”
This time at the somewhat threatening voice, Wonha also hardened his expression coldly.
“When the imprinting is released, I’ll cleanly step back according to what hyung chooses. Got it?”
“Who do you think he’ll choose?”
“Me, of course.”
“We’ll have to see how things go, won’t we?”
Sparks flew between their eyes again.
“See you in the evening then.”
Kyungoh was the first to break the silence. Standing up from his seat, Kyungoh left the room with a parting remark that he’d have it cleared by evening.
Wonha stood there with a displeased expression, then sighed and made a phone call somewhere.
“Yes, Secretary Kim. How have you been? Pureum General Hospital is one of our foundation’s sponsored hospitals, right? …Yes. Yes. No, I have something to look into. And please also quietly look into a secondary trait surgeon. I need to test for a specific alpha pheromone. Yes. Thank you then.”
Beep, Wonha pressed the end call button and muttered with a cold expression.
“Fucking gnats.”
The Man Named Nam Dohyun
— Beep, clocking in.
Monday came around again. The early dawn air in early May had completely shed its cold, but a slightly cool breeze blew. It was about time to get a contract renewal call from the landlord. For now… I should say I’m moving out, and slowly look for another studio apartment, right?
The day before, Sangho had roughly moved his belongings from his apartment to Kyungoh’s with Wonha. All the furniture was included as options, so he only needed to move a few clothes. The computer he’d bought with great determination was awkward to move, so he decided to leave it for now and take it when he moved out.
So Sangho ended up packing only a simple backpack-sized amount of luggage. He tried to pack old daily necessities too, but Wonha said to throw all that stuff away. We can just buy new ones. At Wonha speaking as if it was obvious, Sangho felt a bit embarrassed. I see. These things don’t cost much, so we can just buy new ones.
Han Kyungoh gave the remaining room to Wonha, then told Sangho to use his room. Sangho refused this and naturally spread out bedding in the living room to sleep. Wonha said several times he’d sleep in the living room, but Sangho said if that was the case, he’d just go back to his studio apartment. Then somehow the two seemed dejected.
‘They said the competition is at the end of this month. I’ll just stay until then, and I’ll find another room in June.’
Sangho, holding his cleaning tools, quietly watched the wrestling team students gathering on the first floor of the indoor gym. The students who had returned from the training camp were working hard preparing for the competition ahead. As always, Han Kyungoh didn’t participate in the rough training and did band exercises on the side. …Would he be okay? The rehab exercises should have been finished long ago, but the recovery time seemed to be getting longer, which was worrying.
“Sangho-ssi!”
Just then, the cleaning supervisor and several others rushed into the gym. Something, there was a situation like this once before. Sangho bowed in greeting with a face wondering what was going on.
“Hello.”
“This is sudden. But starting today, you’re being transferred to a different area.”
“Pardon?”
“They complained from above that the workload here is too high. Now there’ll be an area change to the student dormitory. Building B.”
At the sudden workplace transfer, Sangho made a surprised face. The student dormitory was where Korea University students lived, and it was an area with far lower work intensity than other areas that was monopolized by supervisor-level staff. Inside the dormitory, students cleaned on their own and threw out household waste at nearby recycling stations on their own, so there was almost nothing to do. The cleaning staff only needed to manage common lounges, hallways, and stairs.
“C-can I go there?”
“Well, that’s what’s been decided. Follow me. Right now there’s no dormitory manager for Building B, so a Computer Science TA is doing it. I’ll introduce you around lunchtime. Sometimes when problematic students move out, you have to clean their rooms, so you should at least exchange contact information.”
“Yes.”
He answered with a bewildered expression. Sangho glanced once at Han Kyungoh exercising, then turned and followed the cleaning supervisor out.
The dormitory work really was nothing much. The cleaning supervisor kindly explained the cleaning supply closet and assigned areas, gave him some simple precautions, and left. When he finished cleaning the dormitory in order according to the work schedule, it was still morning. The work intensity suddenly decreased so much it felt empty.
‘Did Wonha arrange this?’
Since Wonha said he was a relative of the school foundation’s chairman, there was a possibility he’d done something. Having finished work and organized his cleaning tools, Sangho sat in the corner of the dormitory in the janitor’s break room and sat blankly for a moment. The dormitory even has a break room just for janitors. It happened to be empty, so he felt comfortable.
“…”
Feeling somehow tired, Sangho briefly lay his head on the table and closed his eyes.
It’s really strange. It feels like nothing is flowing according to that BL webtoon. The variety show ended with one episode, and Wonha and Han Kyungoh are… getting a bit closer now, but thinking about last night’s atmosphere, they seem to be bickering again. Shouldn’t I originally be working at the Academic Affairs Office? But suddenly the dormitory.
The break room was very quiet, with only the occasional sound of the refrigerator spinning. Sangho felt his consciousness gradually fading as he fell asleep.
Sangho was walking somewhere like a hospital corridor. In the distance, in front of a hospital room, he could see someone in a patient gown sitting with their head down. Walking slowly down the corridor, Sangho stopped in place when he got close to the person sitting in the chair. Scrawny arms and legs and pale skin. The shabby tousled hair was familiar.
‘That’s me.’
Sangho couldn’t just pass by that person and stared quietly. Soon the man’s head slowly lifted and stared directly at Sangho. It was a tired, exhausted face that looked exactly like himself.
“I’m going to die now.”
“…?”
“Don’t summon me. Just forget everything and run far away and live.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the stalker Lee Sangho, right? Why did you possess me?”
“…I didn’t summon you.”
“What?”
“I created you.”
Clang!
The moment he felt ‘Sangho’s’ empty pupils were scary, Sangho flinched and woke from his sleep.
Ding, diri-ding!
“Hello?”
— Sangho-ssi. Come to the 3rd floor of Building B now~. I’m with the TA in charge, but he says he has to go to class soon?
“Yes.”
Looking at the clock, it was about 10:30. He seemed to have slept for about 10 minutes, but it was a strange dream. Sangho wiped away the drool that had dripped down, scratched the back of his head, and left the break room.
