* * *
“……I need to use the restroom.”
“Hurry back!”
The second round was at a nearby beer hall. Fatigue washed over him as he sat there, forcing himself to go along with stories he had no interest in. It was only natural that he wasn’t excited—he’d joined this drinking session out of anger because of Choi Seokwoo.
He didn’t particularly enjoy these kinds of gatherings to begin with, nor did he enjoy drinking. Perhaps it was because life kept him too busy to have the leisure for such things.
His head throbbed from the alcohol he’d consumed after such a long time. The restroom at this university-area beer hall wasn’t particularly clean, but with nausea rising up, he wasn’t in a position to be picky about such things.
Wooyeon pushed open the old restroom door and collapsed right in front of the toilet. He dry heaved, but all that came out was thin liquid. Unable to find relief from the nausea, Wooyeon bit his lip.
[……That bastard, isn’t he an omega?]
At the voice from outside, strength entered Wooyeon’s fingers as they gripped the toilet. Though he didn’t know who it was, it was definitely a voice he’d heard at the drinking table earlier. At the word “omega,” all his nerves focused entirely on what was outside.
[My instinct is totally…….]
Though parts were muffled by other noise, Wooyeon instinctively realized they were talking about him. His life had been too brutal to live with complacent thoughts like “surely not” or “I must have heard wrong.” With another wave of nausea rising up, stomach acid dripped into the toilet.
[Even if he’s a beta…… he’s hot enough…… doesn’t really matter.]
The sound of running water continued—they must have been having their conversation with the faucet on. Should I just go out there? After hesitating, Wooyeon just held his breath. He thought it might be better not to know about these kinds of rumors surrounding him.
Through the flimsy restroom door, cigarette smoke seeped in from outside. The smell of cigarettes made his head hurt.
[What do you think? You’d know, wouldn’t you.]
There was the sound of someone spitting phlegm, then the water that had been running continuously stopped.
[I’m not sure.]
Wooyeon pressed down on his damp lips with the back of his hand. He couldn’t distinguish the other voices, but this time it was unmistakably Kwon Jeonghan’s voice. His vision went dark—perhaps from the alcohol.
He’d forgotten. If what Wooyeon knew was correct, Kwon Jeonghan was definitely a dominant alpha, and he could figure out that Wooyeon was a recessive omega more easily than snapping his fingers. Even though he attended school pretending to be a beta, rumors that he might be an omega were already rampant—if it became certain that he was a recessive omega, it was questionable whether he could properly attend school at all.
[I really don’t know.]
[Really?]
Behind Jeonghan’s voice, disgustingly obscene words of disappointment followed. Wooyeon quietly raised his hands and covered both ears with his palms. For now, he didn’t want to think about anything.
Why had Kwon Jeonghan said he didn’t know? Did he really not know?
Wooyeon tried to comfort himself that it might be true. His scent was faint enough that most alphas wouldn’t notice, and even though it was an illegal cheap drug, he was taking it regularly.
Even though he knew it was unlikely, Wooyeon wanted to believe it. That maybe Jeonghan didn’t know.
Bang bang bang!
How much time had passed? When the flimsy door shook, startled, Wooyeon opened his eyes. His tension was brief—a voice that seemed urgently in need of the restroom flowed out pitifully. He could no longer hear their voices.
[Excuse me, is someone in there?]
“I’m sorry.”
“Ah, seriously.”
As soon as Wooyeon opened the door, the person outside rushed into the stall, and Wooyeon was pushed out to face the sink. He turned on the water to rinse his mouth, and when he raised his head, Wooyeon’s face appeared in the dirty mirror. His lips in the mirror were swollen bright red, so Wooyeon wiped his lips with the back of his hand for no particular reason.
“What are you going to do?”
At the voice from behind, he shifted his gaze slightly, and through the water marks remaining on the mirror, he could see a person’s silhouette. It was Kwon Jeonghan.
“About what.”
“It seemed like you heard.”
That leisurely smile that made people feel inferior was still there.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
As Wooyeon passed by Jeonghan, who was standing at the restroom entrance, Jeonghan’s voice followed from behind.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m leaving now, so don’t worry about it.”
“Doesn’t Boram sunbae have your phone?”
Wooyeon’s fairly quick pace stopped right there.
Hah. He’d forgotten. They’d collected everyone’s phones at the start of the drinking session.
“If you go right away, everyone will probably figure out you were there.”
“…….”
“I just thought that might happen.”
When he turned around, Wooyeon and Jeonghan’s eyes met directly.
As the tall body that had been leaning against the wall approached, he felt threatened even without pheromones. With a large frame that must easily exceed 190cm, Jeonghan smiled gently while fiddling with a Zippo lighter.
“You.”
Wooyeon’s eyes as he looked up at Jeonghan were sharp.
“You seem unnecessarily interested in me?”
In his unwillingness to back down, he’d misspoken. Knowing he couldn’t take it back, Wooyeon didn’t avoid Jeonghan’s gaze. Though it was a statement without much meaning, thinking about it differently, it was something that could draw attention that hadn’t existed before. Even though he didn’t want to get any more involved with Kwon Jeonghan, who knows why he made such a mistake.
“Yes.”
“……What?”
“I’ll go in first, sunbae-nim.”
With the face of the world’s kindest junior, Jeonghan smiled brightly at Wooyeon, pocketed the Zippo lighter he’d been playing with, and left.
Why did I do that.
He suddenly felt buried in noise. Wooyeon ran his hand through his hair for no reason, then leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh. He must be drunk.
* * *
Even past 2 AM, the drinking games showed no sign of ending. Wooyeon had never known there were this many drinking games. One by one, people’s eyes glazed over, and quite a few had left after becoming completely wasted. And Wooyeon was now one of those people desperately wanting to go home.
“Hey, hey. Let’s play one round of penalty drinks and then everyone go home.”
Someone with a slurred tongue mixed the remaining beer, soju, and cola haphazardly into a 500cc glass. If he drank that, he definitely wouldn’t make it home properly. The blank stares of the people gathered on that single 500cc glass.
“What are we doing?”
“Image game.”
It was the voice he’d heard in the restroom. The man’s hand snatched up the remaining soju bottle, and sure enough, the alcohol overflowed from the glass and wet the table.
Seeing this, Wooyeon sighed and raised his head, making eye contact with Jeonghan, who was sitting diagonally across from him. Was he drunk or not? His face looked too clear to tell.
“What’s the category?”
“Person who seems like they’ve kissed the most.”
Hehe. The man laughed, drunk on alcohol, after saying it himself.
The color drained from Wooyeon’s face as he watched. It was so transparent, such an obvious move. The target had already been decided. And Wooyeon wasn’t unaware that he was that target.
“Cheers!”
His eyes met Jeonghan’s again. Jeonghan slowly closed and opened his eyes while resting his chin on the table.
“I say Seo Wooyeon.”
The man sitting next to Wooyeon didn’t miss the opportunity and voiced the first opinion among the cheering people. His slimy smile was disgusting. Since he knew the intention, he should get angry and storm out, but that wasn’t easy. Wooyeon had been imitating a beta all this time, and because an ordinary beta male wouldn’t feel threatened in this situation.
“These quiet-looking types are secretly…… you know?”
The tip of the fork the man was holding pointed at Wooyeon. Wooyeon raised his hand, grabbed the tip of that fork, and lowered it below the table. The man giggled again as if something was so funny. In his briefly passing gaze, Jeonghan was still there. Jeonghan kept watching Wooyeon.
“This is obviously Jeonghan sunbae, isn’t it?”
“He must be really super popular. I also say Jeonghan.”
From where the girls were gathered, Kwon Jeonghan’s name was clearly in the lead. Whether drunk or embarrassed, their flushed faces even seemed shy whenever they named Jeonghan.
“I also say Seo Wooyeon.”
“Wooyeon sunbae is surprisingly getting a lot.”
“Doesn’t it feel like he’s done it a lot?”
“It’s like…… rather than having done it a lot, more like an image of someone who’s been on the receiving end a lot?”
Giggling laughter burst out. About to respond sharply, Wooyeon decided against it, worried even that might look unnatural. A female student sitting next to the club president seemed to sense the strange atmosphere and looked at Wooyeon’s face with a flustered expression.
“Ugh, sunbae! Why would you say it like that? Making Wooyeon sunbae feel bad…….”
“What did I do?”
Wooyeon was just waiting to be erased from the center of the conversation. Feeling like sweat was seeping into his palms, Wooyeon rubbed his palms on his thighs for no reason. Though not entirely unfamiliar, the unpleasant feeling made him sick.
“Hey, hey! She’s making me into a weird bastard again. When did I say it with that meaning? Women can’t kiss men first? Men can’t be kissed? I may look like this, but I’m a gender equality advocate.”
“Why is gender equality coming out of there? I don’t know how you got into college…… Ugh, seriously. Fine, let’s stop this talk.”
Even while saying that, he was giggling. The female student who had tried to defend Wooyeon looked at his face again, embarrassed by the collision with his illogic, then held back her words.
Wooyeon could only pretend he hadn’t heard and maintain a composed face. But beneath the face that looked as peaceful as if molded from porcelain, complicated feelings were raging. They planned to get him drunk to the point of unconsciousness. And then they would undoubtedly take him away to confirm whether he was a beta or an omega.
