YHP 7

It’s that person.

“…Ah.”

Today marked exactly one week since the last time he had seen the beauty.

Given the circumstances, it seemed the beauty was a student who had classes in this building around this time. Since Ho-jin also had a class at the same time, he hoped that if he wandered around the building around this time, he might run into them.

However, he couldn’t believe that they were in the same class. His heart raced as if it had been set on file. Staring at the neatly styled hair at the back of his head, Ho-jin covered his mouth.

The beauty looked straight ahead with an impressive upright posture. His long neck and his exceptionally pale complexion remained the same. Given how fair-skinned he was, and the fact that it had been raining that day, it might have been a bit more visually striking. But seeing him under the bright lights instead of an overcast sky left Ho-Jin speechless. It didn’t seem like Ho-jin was the only one who felt that way. Everyone passing by glanced at him, unable to help but take a second glance.

Ho-jin had been fixated on him the entire time, and he unconsciously mumbled his name.

“…Jeong-in.”

How could his name be Jeong-in?

The pronunciation of his name evoked the image of the serene summer rain and brought about the image of expensive Hanji paper neatly folded and bound.

Ho-jin wondered what life must be like for someone with such a name. He also had so many questions beyond that, such as what characters were used for that pretty name, how beautiful his parents must be to have produced such a person, what he liked and disliked, and where his hometown was. He seemed very sick before, but was he feeling better now?

And why did he look like he was about to cry that day?

“…”

The beauty had left, saying that Ho-jin’s kindness was unwelcome. However, even after he left, Ho-jin couldn’t forget him for a long time.

It was probably because of the gap he had noticed that day. He still couldn’t shake the image of him suddenly turning cold, as if flipping his palm upside down to hide his vulnerable side.

The moment he saw it, he felt that he had to act. He felt compelled to rush in and shield him from the falling rain, to not let him sink alone in the lonely, cold downpour.

Perhaps the reason he was so bothered by that image was..

“…”

Ho-jin habitually turned one shoulder slightly. The pain that had persisted all week still lingered on his shoulder for no apparent reason, despite all his attempts to alleviate it.

***

The seemingly endless PowerPoint presentation finally reached its last slide. Jeong-in let out a sigh of relief at last.

According to Hyo-jun, general education classes were supposed to be easy to pass without much effort, but seeing the relentless flood of information, it clearly wasn’t easy to breeze through the class. Jeong-in’s hand ached from frantically jotting down the names and works of psychologists he’d never heard of before.

In any case, based on this vast preliminary knowledge, the core message the professor seemed to be conveying was “love yourself.” Jeong-in just wasn’t sure if that was possible or not.

“Please fill out what I’m handing out now and submit it to the front,” the teaching assistant said as they passed out the sheets of paper.

Jeong-in picked up his pen again. The paper just had a few simple questions written on it, without any spaces for his name and student number.

What do you like?

What do you dislike?

Clicking his pen, Jeong-in scribbled down some quick answers. Things he liked: family, and all the dogs in the world. Things he disliked: nothing in particular.

What kind of person am I?

Pausing for a moment, Jeong-in began to recall the evaluations that had brushed past him.

Only son of a rich family, heir to TH, Omega, the kid who quit sports, the one who’ll never have to worry for life, enviable, lucky, but he has a rare disease.

“…”

Blinking slowly, he wrote down a short sentence.

Spoiled brat.

He stood up from his seat.

Whatever their concerns were, people were intensely gripping their papers in front of a question that seemed so simple. He walked past them, submitted his paper, and turned around. Then, the carp-faced man who had been following Jeong-in tapped his shoulder and asked:

“Hey, if you’re free, wanna go eat together? I know a great place for kimchi stew.”

The brown-eyed man just smiled faintly with an expression of utter resignation. Perhaps because he had spent the class periodically shaking the other guy awake, and at some point he had taken a nap while rotating his head 360 degrees like a spinning top, he looked a bit more lively than when he first entered the class.

“Ah…”

They were one of those rare people who seemed 100% harmless, without the slightest hint of malice. Above all, they were both unmistakably Betas. For a moment, Jeong-in thought it might be okay to have lunch with them, but then he remembered that he had planned to revisit the real estate office at that time.

“I’m supposed to go sign a lease today.”

“Then let’s eat together next time. Can I have your phone number?”

“Uh… Sure.”

It happened quickly. The carp-faced student, or rather Go Su-hak, whose swelling seemed to have gone down a bit, swiftly grabbed Jeong-in’s phone and dialed his own number.

“What’s your name?”

“Choi Jeong-in.”

“ Hmm… My name is Su-hak. If you don’t mind, can I save it?”

“Yes.”

When Jeong-in reluctantly agreed, he swiftly typed in “Korean Literature God Su-hak” as his contact name. Jeong-in didn’t know what it meant, but he decided to just roll with it.

Finally, Su-hak typed “Jeong-in” into his own phone and asked, “You’re a freshman, right?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Jeong-in answered, Su-hak moved his fingers rapidly. Jeong-in stared in bewilderment as his name was being typed in as “Jeong-inngiing.” With a quick glance, he saw that the entire contact list looked like that. Not a single name was properly formatted.

“I’m a freshman too.”

“Ah…”

“Since we met like this, I’ll definitely contact you on Sledding Day. It’s more fun than you’d expect.”

“Okay… wait, what?”

Su-hak’s tone was so casual that Jeong-in almost nodded along, but he managed to catch himself. Sledding in March? What nonsense was that? Did all Korean Literature majors speak so (to put it nicely) poetically?

They turned away from the perplexed Jeong-in, waving their hands. They didn’t forget to say, “See you next week!” with a voice much more energetic than when they first entered the classroom.

It seemed like he was losing his mind, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Jeong-in found himself smirking as he left the lecture hall. Suddenly, someone blocked his path. Jeong-in looked up. He saw a face that was somehow both familiar and unfamiliar.

“Hello.”

The man standing with his back to the sunlight greeted him with a smile.

“How are you feeling?”

Jeong-in soon recognized him as the Alpha he had met on the rainy day.

Jeong-in wasn’t pleased. He thought he’d never see him again after Jeong-in had snapped at him last time. But here they were, running into each other in the middle of the lecture hall. It seemed that this guy was also taking the same class.

In fact, it wouldn’t be unusual to have a few Alphas or Omegas among the crowd filling a large lecture hall. The problem was the aura this young man was emitting.

Depending on his condition, Jeong-in could sometimes smell others with extreme sensitivity, sometimes detecting them easily, while at other times he could be so dull that he wouldn’t notice even if someone with a strong presence stood right beside him. This was due to his hormonal disorder.

However, even though his physical condition wasn’t particularly bad right now, he could strongly sense the Alpha’s scent. If he had to guess, this Alpha seemed to have quite a strong trait. Inevitably, his voice came out prickly.

“I’m pretty sure I said it’s not your concern.”

He was well-built. The loose-fitting jersey hugged his broad shoulders perfectly. It was clear that he had spent a lot of time developing his physique, but he didn’t look like someone who trained purely for aesthetic purposes. At the very least, he could be a physical education major, or in the worst case, a professional athlete. The very fact that he was in the same space as an Alpha, someone likely to be physically active at any moment, made him uneasy.

“How can I not be concerned when someone is sick? You looked really unwell that day…”

“Is this how you usually are?”

Jeong-in cut him off and snapped back. The good mood he had been in until just moments ago was now thoroughly ruined.

“Do you always act like this with strangers? Pretending to know them, acting friendly. Is this your style?”

Jeong-in deliberately continued in a tone that suggested he found it pathetic. Despite receiving such an attitude in response to his kindness, the other man showed no signs of being upset and just quietly looked at Jeong-in.

“…”

In the face of that composed gaze, everything suddenly felt tiresome.

How long would he have to cower? Just how long would he have to keep up his defenses like this? Jeong-in knew it was impossible to go through life without encountering an Alpha, but he still hated it. Just facing one made him uneasy.

To put it bluntly, he was terribly afraid.

He pressed once more. “Or is there something you want from me?”

Then the young man asked, “Do I need a reason to be worried?”

Was he shameless or just naïve? Despite everything, Ho-jin showed no sign of being offended and seemed genuinely curious instead. That attitude grated on Jeong-in’s nerves.

“So what are you trying to do now?”

“What?”

“What’s the point of worrying if you’re just going to hold on to me like this?”

Ho-jin didn’t respond. Just as Jeong-in was about to turn away, he said, “I’d like us to get closer.”

His statement was straightforward, without any calculation or hidden agenda. Though there was no malice evident, it was such nonsense that Jeong-in couldn’t help but scoff.

“I don’t want to.”

“…”

“So if you have nothing else to say, get lost.”

Jeong-in nonchalantly turned his back on him and started to walk away.