ETP Ch 55

Sungyeon walked aimlessly until he arrived at the PC bang. Seeing students in uniform while wandering around made his heart ache again.

Thump, thump.

Even if he hit his chest hard with Bokseung’s small fists, there wouldn’t be any impact. Sungyeon felt frustrated and cursed inwardly.

Fuck, you idiot, Lee Sungyeon. What did taking care of him even mean, and what did paying more attention to him than others even do? He was just cluelessly smiling, and what did he actually do when Bokseung needed help?

“Ha…”

Sungyeon crouched in front of the PC bang building.

He felt like he couldn’t do anything in this state, but he couldn’t skip work either. He decided to think about Kim Taeon after he finished his shift today. Sungyeon tried to calm himself down, lifted his head, and was about to stand up when…

“Kim Bokseung!”

He heard an urgent voice calling Bokseung’s name. Turning his head towards the voice, he saw Yoohyun getting out of his car and running over.

“Uh…”

Right, there was this guy too.

One of the reasons Sungyeon’s stomach had been in knots lately. He wondered what extraordinary way Yoohyun would find to make him anxious today.

Sungyeon unconsciously frowned. Of course, it wasn’t intentional. It was just an unconscious reaction.

Perhaps misinterpreting it, Yoohyun asked abruptly,

“Are you sick?”

Then he bent his long legs to meet Bokseung’s eyes.

Yoohyun was startled to see Bokseung’s pale and trembling face. The precarious scenes Bokseung had shown him flashed through his mind.

The first thing that came to mind was the pheromone issue. But even with Yoohyun’s sensitive senses, he couldn’t detect anything unusual.

Was that a good thing?

Yoohyun breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Of course, even putting that issue aside, Bokseung being unwell was a big deal.

“No, I’m not sick.”

The answer came a long time after the question.

“Why are you so slow to answer?”

“It wasn’t that slow.”

The boy’s small lips pouted.

Yoohyun barely suppressed the urge to touch those lips and asked again,

“Are you really not sick?”

“Yes, I’m not sick.”

“Did you drink?”

“Huh?”

Sungyeon exclaimed loudly at Yoohyun’s absurd deduction. What did this guy think of him?!

“No, why would I drink? I have to start work now, what are you talking about?!”

“Then why are you like this?”

“My legs just gave out for a moment. I walked a bit today.”

“How much?”

“About three hours?”

Sungyeon said, looking at the time on his phone. He had left the counseling center a little before 3 p.m., so it was true that he had walked for almost three hours.

He felt his calves tightening.

Now that he had said it out loud, his legs felt stiff all over.

“You walked a ridiculous amount.”

Yoohyun said shortly and then grabbed Bokseung’s arm.

He was so light that Yoohyun could easily lift him with one hand. He clicked his tongue inwardly, displeased by that as well.

Meanwhile, he thought it was cute how the boy, dangling in the air, looked flustered. Why was he cute no matter what expression he made?

“Ah! Sunbae-nim! Don’t treat me like luggage!”

“Well, you’re blocking the way, just like luggage.”

Sungyeon was about to retort to Yoohyun’s annoying remark, but he stopped. He felt inexplicably tired.

Perhaps annoyed by that, Yoohyun gave him a sideways glance.

“Why do you stop mid-sentence? Do you know how frustrating that is?”

“I really have nothing to say.”

“You have a weird personality.”

Look who’s talking. Sungyeon pulled his arm away from Yoohyun’s grasp and turned towards the stairs leading down to the basement.

“Where are you going?”

Yoohyun grabbed the back of Bokseung’s neck. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but a choked sound escaped Bokseung’s lips.

Startled, Yoohyun quickly released his hand and checked Bokseung’s face.

The face that had been pale earlier was now flushed with annoyance. Feeling guilty, Yoohyun coughed awkwardly. Bokseung’s glare was sharp.

“If you don’t like me, just say it. Why are you being like this?”

“When did I…?”

“Just now! Right now!!”

Bokseung’s white finger pointed at his neck. It wasn’t visible now because he was wearing a t-shirt, but a yellow bruise still lingered on Bokseung’s neck from the recent incident.

Remembering that, Yoohyun got angry again and took a deep breath.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah! …Huh? Yeah?”

Sungyeon, who had been yelling at Yoohyun, made a dazed sound.

What, what was this? Why did he apologize so easily? It felt so awkward.

Sungyeon stared at Yoohyun, who seemed strangely dejected.

No, dejected? Wasn’t that a word that absolutely didn’t suit Hwang Yoohyun? But right now, there was no other word to describe his expression.

“Anyway, come here.”

Yoohyun led Bokseung, who was stammering after receiving his apology. They soon arrived at a pharmacy.

“Welcome.”

The pharmacist greeted them with a friendly face.

Yoohyun explained the situation while Bokseung stood next to him, bewildered as to why they were at a pharmacy.

“Medicine for body aches, muscle pain, fatigue recovery, and indigestion.”

“Who is it for?”

At the pharmacist’s question, Yoohyun looked at Bokseung, and Bokseung’s gaze shifted to Yoohyun. As they faced each other, Bokseung tilted his head.

Don’t tell me….

“Is it for me?”

Yoohyun nodded. Yes, it’s for you.

Yoohyun pushed Bokseung forward.

“It’s for him. He’s a variant.”

“Ah, I see.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the pharmacist asked several questions as if understanding the situation between them.

“Is there any chance of pregnancy or an upcoming cycle?”

“What?! Uh, no! No!!”

Sungyeon quickly denied it, his face burning at the pharmacist’s question. Yoohyun, standing next to him, remained nonchalant and silent, which Sungyeon found very unpleasant.

The pharmacist said they understood and turned around to prepare the medicine.

“Sunbae-nim, I’m not sick.”

“You are. You almost collapsed earlier.”

“When did I almost collapse?”

“Is your memory that bad?”

Sungyeon was speechless at Yoohyun’s question.

Did he mistake crouching down for being sick? No matter how small and precious he was, Bokseung wasn’t that weak. He was just a little stiff.

He felt embarrassed by Yoohyun’s excessive concern. It seemed clear that to Yoohyun, Bokseung was as fragile as a piece of paper.

If he could grab another alpha by the collar and lift him, it would make sense that he would think that about Bokseung.

Sungyeon felt strangely convinced and awkward at the same time. It was hard to get used to receiving this kind of concern.

Actually, Sungyeon’s mental state was worse than his physical condition. But there was no way to explain that to him.

“Don’t take them all at once. Just take the muscle pain reliever and this one for now. Take the others depending on your symptoms. And please read the precautions for variants on the back before taking them.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Sungyeon looked at the pile of medicine.

He didn’t understand why Yoohyun was acting like this. Last time, he bought all kinds of hangover cures, and now he was buying all kinds of medicine.

What, was he going to brew him some herbal medicine next?

Sungyeon imagined Bokseung getting acupuncture at a Korean medicine clinic and shuddered.

Yoohyun, somehow noticing that, looked at Bokseung.

“Are you sick?”

The same question again.

Sungyeon shook his head. He had been saying he wasn’t sick, but it didn’t seem to register.

“Take your medicine quickly.”

“Okay, I’ll just take this then.”

Sungyeon opened the muscle pain reliever the pharmacist had recommended. Yoohyun only left the pharmacy after confirming that Bokseung had swallowed the pills.

He really loves medicine.

Sungyeon shook his head, recalling the conversations he had with Yoohyun every morning and evening about suppressants.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

Oh, it works?

Sungyeon marveled at his lively legs, pedaling even during a particularly busy time.

His legs, which had felt incredibly heavy when he started his shift, now felt as light as feathers. It was a first-time experience for Sungyeon, who had never taken muscle relaxants in his life.

He had just finished cleaning with his light steps when he saw Yoohyun looking at the microwave with a serious expression.

“Sunbae-nim?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?”

Sungyeon looked inside the microwave. Then he yelled, “Ack!”

“Th, this is!!”

The inside of the microwave was a horrifying sight. The plastic wrap that had covered the fried rice had shriveled beyond recognition, and all the ingredients were splattered on the walls. In a word, it was a disaster.

“Sunbae-nim!! I told you to cut the plastic wrap with scissors before microwaving it!”

“Yeah.”

“‘Yeah’ is not the answer! What good are answers if you don’t follow them! Clean this up, Sunbae-nim!”

“Ah…”

Yoohyun frowned. He clearly looked like he didn’t want to clean.

But Sungyeon pointed firmly at the sink.

“The rubber gloves, sponge, and everything are over there.”

“Okay.”

Sungyeon stifled a laugh as he watched Yoohyun’s dejected figure trudging towards the sink.

Although his frustration with Bokseung’s situation was now compounded by Yoohyun’s mistake, strangely, it wasn’t that tiring.

Perhaps it was because he was confident that he could take responsibility for and clean up Yoohyun’s mess.

It seemed like this big oaf of an alpha needed his help to even function half-heartedly as a part-timer.

Sungyeon thought, Who else could handle him but me?, but then quickly snapped back to reality, thinking it was too much.

The important thing right now was to revive the ruined microwave. The late-night snack rush was starting.