ETP Ch 67

“Well, he wasn’t completely silent about it……”

“R-really?”

The sound of Seoleun swallowing was loud. Her shoulders fidgeted restlessly, curious about how Hwang Yoohyun had reacted.

Since Seoleun was in the same group as the famous Hwang Yoohyun, she had hoped to satisfy her curiosity if possible. But unexpectedly, he ended up being the presenter, and an opportunity to separate Yoohyun from the group very easily arose.

It wasn’t that she was going to do anything to Bokseung now that he was away from him. It was just that Bokseung was more comfortable to ask the things she was curious about.

If Yoohyun were next to him, she’d probably end up with crossed eyes from just trying to read the situation to dig into their relationship.

Seoleun gestured with her head, urging Bokseung to say more.

“He just said he didn’t understand why we were meeting without him when it’s a group project.”

“Huh? Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim said that?”

“Yes, so I told him since he’s the presenter, he doesn’t need to participate from the research stage, and he said he understood.”

Of course, Yoohyun hadn’t expressed his complaint in such a gentle and sensible manner. Sungyeon had just trimmed off all the miscellaneous branches and conveyed only the core of the conversation.

The way he had sneered at the other group members while saying that made Sungyeon’s fingertips itch with the desire to pinch his lips.

Sungyeon thought that Yoohyun was surely also unhappy that the three of them had made a group chat without him. How petty.

“Yes, yes, I guess he really wanted to participate in the group project. I think he was just upset that we promised to meet on our own, so he said something.”

“Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim……?”

“Yes! He probably would have participated today if he didn’t have a class, you know?”

Seoleun recalled the Hwang Yoohyun she sometimes ran into in other business administration lectures. The him she knew was not someone who would appeal that he wanted to participate in something or actively exchange opinions with others.

Rather, he was the type of person who would reluctantly keep his seat with an annoyed expression, or after watching the group members struggle for a long time, would just toss out the correct answer in a single remark.

Naturally, the look in his eyes as he watched the struggling group members was quite infuriating.

That’s why among the business administration students, Hwang Yoohyun was a person people were clearly divided on wanting or not wanting in their group.

So, what Bokseung was saying now was either a fabrication, or he only showed that kind of attitude specifically to Bokseung.

In any case, it was hard for Seoleun, who knew Yoohyun’s usual attitude, to believe Bokseung’s story.

“Hello! I’m sorry, my class ended a bit late!”

While Seoleun was organizing her thoughts on what to ask next, Lee Jihye arrived.

Ah, she could have come a little later. Seoleun inwardly clicked her tongue and put on a smiling face.

“Jihye, welcome!”

“Yes, yes, Unni, have you been waiting long?”

“No, no. I just got here too.”

Watching the two cute female students exchange greetings, Sungyeon smiled contentedly.

It reminded him of his friends, the Beagle Trio, and also of Juhyun-saem and Minjung-saem from the center chatting away.

In any case, it was a good thing to see people who radiated bright energy. Just seeing them, that is. He absolutely did not want to get involved in that.

After the two girls’ chatter subsided to some extent, the group project research slowly began.

The three of them first started by sorting through materials from research papers and news articles about companies. After searching for over an hour, they had gathered quite a large amount of data. It was when they were once again sorting through it, picking out the useful stuff and discarding the ones with weak evidence.

Jihye, who seemed to have lost her focus and was fiddling with her phone on the table, suddenly sparkled.

“Unni, Unni, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Hmm? A boyfriend?”

At the sudden question, Seoleun’s eyes widened as she looked at Jihye. She shook her phone and giggled.

“I have a boyfriend that I just started dating 20 days ago. I didn’t believe that you get a boyfriend when you go to college, but what do you know! I really got a boyfriend.”

Jihye said with a completely relaxed expression. It seemed that since it was the early stage of her relationship, she was full of desire to brag to anyone.

Seoleun, watching her, also smiled slightly and replied.

“I have one too. But we started dating in our first year of high school, so now we’re just family, family.”

“Wow! Unni, that’s amazing! So how many years have you been together?”

“Umm, has it been 5 years? He’s in the army right now.”

“Ah! I see. Gasp, my boyfriend will probably go to the army next year or the year after! Heeing.”

It had only been three weeks since they started dating, but it seemed she was already worried about her boyfriend going to the army next year. Sungyeon’s lips curled up slightly at Jihye’s reaction. It was then.

“What about Bokseung?”

“Huh?”

Jihye’s face, which had been busy bragging about her boyfriend to Seoleun, turned towards Bokseung.

“Bokseung, do you have a lover?”

Sungyeon was flustered by Jihye’s question. A lover? No, doesn’t he obviously look like he doesn’t have one? Sungyeon was about to answer that of course he didn’t.

However, before Sungyeon could open his mouth, Jihye’s own answer followed.

“Ah! That’s right, you’re dating that Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim, right?”

Excuse me? Who?

With a more flustered expression than before, Sungyeon looked at the two female students.

However, not only Jihye but also Seoleun seemed to be on the side of believing the hearsay that the two were dating, as they were only staring at Bokseung’s lips.

The two of them were inwardly praying for a word of affirmation to come out of those small, cute lips.

“Wh-why is Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim suddenly coming up?”

“Huh? Am I wrong? Bokseung, aren’t you an omega?”

“That’s right, but.”

Sungyeon answered Jihye’s question with a flustered expression. The fact that Bokseung was an omega was something everyone knew. However, he couldn’t help but frown at the words that followed.

“Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim is an alpha, isn’t he? Seeing you two stick together every day, aren’t you dating? I heard omegas and alphas date regardless of gender.”

Jihye’s eyes looked as if she was the one who was more surprised. She was a beta so she didn’t know well, but she had heard many stories that among people with secondary genders, they often dated based on their trait pheromones rather than their apparent gender. So, she naturally assumed that since the two people with different traits were always together, they were in a relationship.

“N-no, we’re not!”

Sungyeon made a troubled face at the renewed misunderstanding.

In the last group project, he had heard such nasty remarks because of a misunderstanding about his and Yoohyun’s relationship, and it was the same in this group project. Of course, it wasn’t an unpleasant reaction like last time, but it was still a firm misunderstanding of their relationship.

“You’re not?!! No way! Really not?!”

This time, Seoleun asked in a loud voice. Sungyeon, who had been quiet until now, looked at Seoleun suddenly shouting and numbly nodded his head. Then, she bowed her head deeply and let out a sigh.

Did I say something wrong……?

Sungyeon felt guilty even after telling the truth. No, not quite guilt, but it felt extremely uncomfortable.

An alpha and an omega hanging out together must mean they’re lovers. The narrow-minded thinking of people naturally made a “tsk” sound escape him.

“I-I’m not interested in alphas or men.”

“Eong?”

At the words coming from Bokseung’s lips, Jihye’s and Seoleun’s eyes widened again.

Bokseung isn’t interested in alphas or men? No, why?

“I may be an omega, but I want to marry a woman. Oh, and I do hang out with Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim, but we’re really, really not in any kind of relationship.”

Bokseung looked so wronged that it seemed like tears would fall if you poked him. Since he was still 20, his values could certainly change, but judging by his current state, it really seemed he disliked alphas and men.

That meant that he didn’t have a speck of interest in Hwang Yoohyun, who was an alpha among men, and a dominant alpha at that.

Seoleun felt her massive curiosity deflate with a pssh sound in an instant. Then, the tension left her tightly wound shoulders, and they slumped down.

In the end, the relationship between the two, which had been the subject of so many rumors, was nothing at all.

Of course, putting Bokseung aside, there’s no way Hwang Yoohyun would be skin-to-skin with someone. They must just be somewhat close. Or maybe to Hwang Yoohyun, Kim Bokseung wasn’t an omega but just a cute animal or something.

The reason their relationship wasn’t a completely baseless rumor was because there had been people who witnessed Hwang Yoohyun taking care of Bokseung several times. That’s why they thought it had credibility, but to think it wasn’t based on affection.

The light in Seoleun’s eyes, who had been excited at the thought of breaking the scoop, faded. Boring.

Seoleun, with an openly expressionless face, focused her energy on searching for materials again.

However, Seoleun was the only one who found it boring. Jihye, looking at Bokseung’s round, white face, giggled as if she had thought of something else fun. Her fingers were once again excitedly dancing across her phone screen.