RCKS 23

17 years old

Meanwhile, Hwang Haekyung, who had received Lee Yoonsan’s “fighting” video, couldn’t control the corners of his mouth from rising, to the point that he was covering his lower face with one hand.

He had turned off notifications for most of his apps or set them to silent and no vibration, but the only notification he kept on was for DMs with Lee Yoonsan.

Ever since his social media account became known, he had been receiving a massive number of useless DMs, so Hwang Haekyung had disabled all DM notifications and set up alerts only for individual DMs from Lee Yoonsan. Because of this, he could check DMs from Lee Yoonsan almost immediately.

Of course, due to his practice and training schedule, he was unable to do so more than half the time.

Today, he was lucky. Lee Yoonsan had happened to send a DM while he was taking a break during practice. On top of that, it seemed he had sent the video by mistake. It was a video where it was obvious he was conscious of the camera the whole time, even as he set up his phone somewhere, opened the fridge, and took out a cola. So, he probably intended to film it all at once and then edit only the necessary part to send.

Hwang Haekyung could guess that the intended edit point was the final “Fighting” part of the video Lee Yoonsan sent.

Based on what he had gathered of Lee Yoonsan’s personality from exchanging DMs over the past year, there was no way he would have sent such a video on purpose. He didn’t know what had happened, but the child who had triumphantly shouted not to mess with him after winning an arm-wrestling match at the campsite when they were young had now become a shy and passive boy. Of course, from the last attitude he had shown when they briefly ran into each other in the woods a year ago, the young Lee Yoonsan was still visible.

Anyway, Hwang Haekyung could bet his entire fortune that the video Lee Yoonsan sent was not intentional. The unedited, clumsy length of the recording, and the way he kept glancing at the camera with a face so red it looked like it would burst—none of it would have been something he wanted to show. Of course, in Hwang Haekyung’s eyes, even that was just cute.

From the moment he played and saved Lee Yoonsan’s video, Hwang Haekyung couldn’t manage his expression at all. In the video, Lee Yoonsan was probably glancing at the camera, but due to the angle, it looked as if he was constantly glancing at him. Moreover, the hoodie Lee Yoonsan was wearing was something he couldn’t possibly not recognize. It was the very hoodie he had put on Lee Yoonsan himself.

To say it was just a similar one, it wasn’t Lee Yoonsan’s size, and it looked quite awkward even for an oversized fit. Anyone could tell he was wearing someone else’s clothes. The moment he realized that, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck.

The two had never once exchanged photos with each other. But in the video that was sent so suddenly, Lee Yoonsan showed signs of having grown a little more than last year, and yet it was still the face he knew. The way he acted as if he was gauging the situation was cute, and Hwang Haekyung’s clothes were covering Lee Yoonsan’s body as if to swallow it whole. It made Hwang Haekyung feel a very unfamiliar sensation.

He felt a little nauseous, and also absurdly excited, and it was a sense of elation that made it impossible to control his expression. It was similar to lying down after having exhausted all the pent-up energy through exercise for the first time after suffering from growing pains. The feeling of being pierced by something, yet his heart rate quickening to a pleasant degree, felt new and overwhelming.

Therefore, Hwang Haekyung concluded that he must really adore Lee Yoonsan a lot.

“What are you doing?”

“On my phone.”

“On Instagram again? That younger kid?”

“Yeah.”

As if he was done taking pictures on the other side, Lee Seokjae came over and plopped down next to him, showing interest. Hwang Haekyyung responded with a short reply. At the same time, he sent his number to Lee Yoonsan and begged him to send his number too. It was an impulsive act.

The reason they hadn’t exchanged photos or numbers until now was simple. They weren’t close enough for that. They had just happened to run into each other once during a field trip, and even though they had a connection from childhood, they hadn’t been on particularly good terms, so it wasn’t a relationship where they could act overly friendly.

When he was a child, Lee Yoonsan was taller and bigger than him, and he was a pesky, detestable little kid who even stole his parents’ affection. He even had the audacity one vacation day to beat him and his friends at arm wrestling and warn them not to mess with him. It was also the day in history when Hwang Haekyung’s pride was shattered to pieces for the first time in his life.

When they met again after a few years, Lee Yoonsan had grown from that detestable little kid into a boy, but in Hwang Haekyung’s eyes, he wasn’t much different from his childhood self.

The way he fell over easily and his clumsy movements, the way he didn’t call him hyung, the droopy eyes that monopolized the affection of adults, the expression that seemed to prick one’s conscience just by making eye contact, and even the temper that flared up as he said, “You should be the one careful around omegas.”

The only thing that had changed was himself, who had been too young to know how to take care of or adore a younger brother. Ever since the moment Hwang Haekyung first spotted Lee Yoonsan at that amusement park, he had thought Lee Yoonsan was cute.

So he had thought that numbers or photos weren’t necessary. Hwang Haekyung wasn’t the type to take the first step in relationships, and he had a disposition to get along well enough with friends who approached him, so it was more accurate to say he had never even thought of asking Lee Yoonsan for something private first.

But the moment he saw the video Lee Yoonsan sent, Hwang Haekyung thought that he wanted more of these things.

Though it was a thought close to an impulse, that impulse, once felt so strongly, showed no sign of disappearing. The image of Lee Yoonsan’s face, which he had seen once a year ago, kept lingering, and seeing his face in the video, which seemed to have grown a little since then, made him regret his own indifference as to why he hadn’t been greedy for something like photos before.

If they had been the type to exchange photos from the start, he would have been able to see how Lee Yoonsan had been growing over the past year. Hwang Haekyung had such a regret, and he wanted to stop that regret now.

Although Lee Yoonsan, on the other side of the screen, seemed flustered by his request and had yet to reply. But as his hyung, he can ask for this much, right? This is the first time he has ever given his number to someone and asked for theirs, but this isn’t like hitting on someone, right? To Lee Yoonsan, I’m a safe hyung whose family has known his for quite a long time, right?

Hwang Haekyung mulled over these thoughts as he waited for Lee Yoonsan’s delayed reply.

“Don’t do things you don’t normally do. If the director or the coaches find out, we’ll all be in trouble.”

And Lee Seokjae, who had been observing Hwang Haekyung from the side, said with a sigh and slumped against the back of the bench. Although Lee Seokjae lived and breathed social media, surprisingly, he had never caused any trouble with the opposite sex. This was because he knew well that in an alpha group consisting of minors, issues with the opposite sex would become grounds for collective responsibility.

And that had been the same for Hwang Haekyung. Perhaps because he was a former kid model, he was well-trained in separating himself from the person in the public eye. He, too, had never bothered to react to external interest. He had simply let slide the subtle suggestions of being introduced to an omega, or the remarks asking if he would at least contact an omega or family member who was a fan.

It wasn’t because he was truly uninterested in omegas, but rather because he was managed so tightly that he had no time for such things. And he didn’t want to become the cause of collective responsibility for the volleyball team due to issues with the opposite sex.

“You’ve been brushing them off just fine until now, even if they were omegas.”

“Are you crazy? Why would you talk about someone’s younger brother like that?”

At Lee Seokjae’s added mumble over Hwang Haekyung’s unfamiliar appearance of staring only at his phone screen without even replying to his words, Hwang Haekyung’s sharp voice shot back. He was looking at Lee Seokjae with his brow deeply furrowed, as if he had heard something utterly bizarre. Rather than being angry, it was a reaction as if he had heard something nonsensical. So, in turn, Lee Seokjae also wore a bewildered expression.

“Isn’t he an omega? Little Bunny.”

“Gender-wise, yes. But would it be okay if I referred to your noona as just ‘a woman’?”

“No, you crazy bastard, my mom’s daughter is my biological noona, and he’s not! You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

“He’s my younger brother.”

Hwang Haekyung replied curtly to Lee Seokjae’s words and fixed his gaze back on his phone. His expression even seemed somewhat anxious. However, it wasn’t long before the sound signaling the end of the break was heard. At that, Hwang Haekyung and Lee Seokjae, without dawdling, put down the phones they were holding, got up from their seats, and headed toward the court. It was an action that was almost chronic.

The indoor gymnasium for the volleyball team, said to have been separately built for a son from some wealthy alpha family in the past, was practically a small stadium. Befitting its reputation as a volleyball powerhouse, it was the main place where the volleyball team members trained all day long, and since it was a space they didn’t have to share with other school sports teams, it was a more familiar space to the players than a classroom.

The players would warm up by running around this gymnasium, and on the court drawn according to international regulations, they would practice and train according to a set program.

Usually, training began in the afternoon, and sometimes they would hold practice games by mixing or separating the grade levels. And today was the day for such a practice game. Due to the nature of the sports team, which was predominantly composed of alphas, the number of third-year students was the smallest, so the teams were usually divided centered on a few key third-year students for game practice.

Hwang Haekyung and Lee Seokjae had been assigned as a setter and a left, respectively, so they were often grouped on the same team, but starting this year, the situation had changed a bit. Hwang Haekyung had consistently been a player in the attacking line since middle school, and Lee Seokjae had played the role of assisting the libero¹) from the left position until last year, but starting this year, he changed his position to libero altogether.

A player who had been in an attacking position had switched to a completely defensive position. Due to the nature of volleyball, where the roles each player has to perform are standardized, changing positions was not an easy task, but it couldn’t be helped. The libero players, who had mostly been in the third year, had all graduated in large numbers this year.

Hwang Haekyung, too, was training to switch between positions following the graduation of the upperclassmen. It was a decision made by the director, who favored unconventional lineups, and also because he was an ambidextrous player with good power. So, during practice games like this one, he often alternated between playing as a left-side and right-side attacker.

Depending on the situation of the formed team, Hwang Haekyung would enter as a setter aiming for a pass feint²), or as a right-side or left-side attacker. Although the position changes occurred within the category of the attacking line, he was strictly being raised as an all-around attacker. Therefore, the director had been certain that Hwang Haekyung would complain about the burden of this position training.

As is the case with most alpha families, he had heard that Hwang Haekyung’s family wanted for nothing, so he expected to hear complaints from the parents about overworking the player and requests to fix his position. So, he had even prepared a heartfelt appeal in his mind to persuade the parents.

However, Hwang Haekyung, without any fuss, was growing into a player capable of switching positions between left and right attacks, as well as support, just as the director intended. This was not something that could be achieved with ordinary effort. Because of this, the director secretly hoped that Hwang Haekyung might have set his career path as a professional player, but unfortunately, neither Hwang Haekyung nor his parents gave a definite answer on that. It was unclear whether he would become a professional volleyball player in the future, but he was gritting his teeth and mastering the tasks given to him.

“Hwang Haekyung, focus!”

In this practice game, Hwang Haekyung was in charge of the attack in the front row, so he was slowly rotating his shoulders when a playful voice came from across the net. The owner of the voice was a player of the same grade and on the opposing team for this practice game, and he had probably seen Hwang Haekyung glance towards the bench where his phone was while slowly rolling his shoulders. Hwang Haekyung showed little reaction to such a provocation, just cracking his neck from side to side and scanning the opposing team. And then the game began immediately.

The ensuing game was a close one, with Hwang Haekyung’s team having the upper hand. Hwang Haekyung’s play was solid, and Lee Seokjae performed his role well. The opposing team’s receive was shaky, resulting in points, and Hwang Haekyung’s team also succeeded with a service ace³).

In the continuing flow, Hwang Haekyung attempted a quick open⁴). The ball was sent from the back row to the front, the center in front faked a jump as if to hit the ball, and then he immediately jumped up and slammed a C-quick (quick attack), leading to a point without a moment’s hesitation.

Next, an open attack came from the opposing side, but it was blocked and did not lead to a point. After the subsequent combination attack was also cut off midway, the opposing team slowly began to show signs of frustration. Even though they were teammates, whenever there was a practice game like this, the probability of Hwang Haekyung’s team winning was always high.

First of all, he was physically superior to his teammates, making him effective in blocking, and most importantly, Hwang Haekyung read the opposing team’s fakes well. This meant he was good at reading the movements of the players, including the setter, which was possible because Hwang Haekyung studied the plays a lot. In a way, it was natural. Hwang Haekyung was in a position to receive slightly more grueling training than other players so that he could handle both left and right attacks.

So, while having him on the same team was a very reassuring condition, it was not the case when he was on the opposing team. Fakes were all seen through, high-floating balls were stopped by Hwang Haekyung’s blocking, and low, fast-spiked balls were either blocked by other players or made mistakes by hitting the net due to being too conscious of Hwang Haekyung.

Most of all, the annoying thing about Hwang Haekyung was that he made the opposing team’s mentality anxious as the game went into the latter half. No matter how many attack opportunities they got, after having their attacks repeatedly cut down by his physically superior blocking, the opponent would start to feel resentful, and that emotion was bound to lead to mistakes.

Sure enough, this game also ended with a victory for Hwang Haekyung’s team. What was truly annoying was that even after the game was over, Hwang Haekyung didn’t seem particularly exhausted, as if he had been conserving his stamina. Of course, most of the Saemyeong High volleyball team were alphas, so most of them were like that, but still, Hwang Haekyung seemed to have become accustomed to his usual training load, as his breathing stabilized quickly after just a few deep breaths.

That was why. The other same-grade player who played on the opposing team made a provocation that was not quite a provocation.

“Ah, fuck. I was going to ask Lee Seokjae to introduce me to his noona if we won this match!”

Of course, it wasn’t a provocation aimed at Hwang Haekyung. It was more of a joke directed at Lee Seokjae, who had played on the same team as Hwang Haekyung. Lee Seokjae was a social media fanatic, but he was also famous for not getting angry due to his uniquely easygoing personality. So, he was famous for being close friends not only with Hwang Haekyung but also with Ham Sejin, the ace of the girls’ volleyball team.

“Fuck off. You’re not even a mouthful for my noona.”

Lee Seokjae lifted his shirt to wipe his face and tossed the conversation back with his characteristic flexibility. At a level where no one would be uncomfortable and that fit the atmosphere well. But the problem was the same-grade student’s follow-up question, not satisfied with that.

“What about Hwang Haekyung then? You said Hwang Haekyung has a younger sibling, earlier.”

“What?”

At the words thrown out casually in a trivial tone, Hwang Haekyung raised his head. Even in that moment, he was glancing out of the corner of his eye at the phone placed over there.

“I overheard you talking with Lee Seokjae earlier. You said you have an omega younger sibling. Is he pretty? Or handsome—?!”

However, the following words were not finished. Because Hwang Haekyung, who had been asking question after question with an excited, expectant expression, strode over to the same-grade student player and suddenly threw a punch.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!!”

At that, other players including Lee Seokjae rushed over and clung to Hwang Haekyung’s limbs to restrain him, and the opposing team’s players also swarmed in to protect their own player. It took less than five seconds to turn into a chaotic scene reminiscent of a bench-clearing brawl. And even in the midst of it all, Hwang Haekyung, with a terrifyingly blank face, threw several more punches.

It was a very rare occurrence in Hwang Haekyung’s life. He had only thrown a punch once or twice in middle school, when his mood swings were particularly erratic due to hormones from presenting as an alpha. Even at that time, because alpha boys of that age were so heavily influenced by hormones regardless of their original temperament, Hwang Haekyung had been considered to be on the milder side.