YHP 9

Jeong-in had been briefly watching the Alpha diligently shoving rice into his mouth when he felt the prickling sensation of being watched. When he looked up, he met the eyes of people who had stopped in their tracks and were glancing in their directions.

People stared at the Alpha as if he were an exhibit at a zoo, and they quickly averted their eyes when they met Jeong-in’s gaze, pretending as if they hadn’t been looking at all. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to be very interested in watching someone else’s meal.

But seriously, how long was he going to keep eating? Jeong-in thought that the Alpha was eating fairly quickly, but even after waiting for a while, the meal didn’t seem to be over. Jeong-in looked back at the Alpha.

“What are you doing?”

It was odd. Just a moment ago, the Alpha had been inhaling his food, but now he picked up a single sprout and chewed it at an unusually slow pace, quite unfitting for his size. When Jeong-in asked what he was doing, the Alpha briefly set down the sprout he had barely nibbled on, back onto the tray.

“I think I should eat a bit more slowly.”

He’s really something else.

“I’m in a hurry,” Jeong-in said, recalling his upcoming appointment with the real estate agent.

At this, a look of concern spread across the Alpha’s neat features.

“I’m sorry. I’ll eat quickly.”

He started to clear the remaining food at a rapid pace again.

It took less than a minute for the tray to be completely empty. Confirming that he had finished his meal, Jeong-in stood up without hesitation, holding his empty tray.

“I’ll pay you back for the meal later.”

“No, you don’t have to…”

The Alpha suddenly stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth. Then he asked, “Later… when?”

Jeong-in could give it to him now if he just stopped by the parking lot to grab his wallet, but if he did that, he’d probably be late for his appointment.

“I’m not sure.”

“Would tomorrow afternoon be okay?”

Jeong-in mentally sketched out his schedule. Tomorrow, he only had classes in the morning, all in one building. So it should be fine to meet briefly in the afternoon to hand over the money.

As he nodded, the Alpha suddenly extended his hand cautiously. A seemingly small phone sat in his large palm.

“Um, then could you give me your phone number?”

It was an absurd attempt. When Jeong-in scoffed, he hastily added, “If we’re going to meet on this large campus, it might be necessary…”

“Let’s meet here at two.”

As Jeong-in was about to turn away after cutting him off cleanly, the Alpha suddenly grabbed the hem of Jeong-in’s shirt.

“Jeong-in ssi.”

It felt as light as a chick’s feather. Despite wearing a track top layered over his muscular frame, his grip was surprisingly weak.

“My name is Yoo Ho-jin.”

His voice trembled at the end of introducing himself.

“Just in case I miss seeing you tomorrow…”

Amidst the clatter of dishes and the chatter of people, the Alpha continued speaking in a deep, resonant voice.

“…Please call out to me, even if from afar.”

Wondering how he knew his name, Jeong-in looked into his eyes.

“Then I’ll run over to you quickly,” Ho-jin said.

What was so good about this? His goofy, almost broken smile looked incredibly foolish and strange. Yet, knowing he was an Alpha, Jeong-in found that he no longer felt unbearable dislike or fear toward him.

Maybe for the first time in years.

***

The real estate agent kept exaggerating about how difficult it was to find the building even as they stepped through the entrance.

“If I had started looking a month or two earlier, it would have been easier… It was really hard to find because all the students are already occupying the rooms. The current tenant is moving out soon, so the moving costs won’t be too high either.

Standing in the middle of a room, which looked like bugs could crawl out at any moment, Jeong-in looked around. Noticing the worried expression on his face, the agent tried to lighten the mood by forcing a bright smile and opening the stiff window with some effort. The window creaked loudly as it opened.

“See that building? That’s TH Building. It’s close, isn’t it?”

Outside the window, Jeong-in could see the corner of the TH Building. It did seem quite close to the school.

“This whole area used to be an empty field. There was a lot of talk about whether it was an abandoned land or not… Then Chairman Choi Hyun-wook of TH Group suddenly invested nearly 10 billion won and built that. Thanks to that, they even cleared out the abandoned houses.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, this year is just an odd year with no contracts, but up until last year, it was always full. It’s not far from the main gate’s commercial area either, so it’ll be a solid investment even after you graduate. Since we’re going to renovate the interior anyway, let’s just take a look at the building’s structure.”

“Alright.”

Since both of his fathers were involved in the construction industry, Jeong-in also had some interest in buildings and land. The judgment wasn’t difficult. To put it bluntly, unless they planned to do a major renovation, this place had no future as a residential property.

The deposit was suspiciously cheap compared to the overall market price, especially given its proximity to the school and the fact that there were only three or four tenants. However, with its current condition, everything made sense. The wallpaper was barely clinging to the walls with mold growing here and there and turning yellow, the ceiling had obvious traces of hastily patched leaks, and switches had been installed in nonsensical places.

Although he was planning to renovate the interior regardless of the condition of the room, it was still much more shocking than he had imagined, leaving him at a loss for words.

Judging by how it had been left in this state, it seemed the seller had no intention of fixing it from the start. No student would spend their own money to fix up a place they’d only live in for a year or two before moving out. If they had to live in this state without internal repairs, the slightly below-average monthly rent wouldn’t be appealing. It wasn’t as if there were no other options for student housing in this crowded neighborhood.

If they really wanted to attract tenants, they would have to slash the monthly rent to about half the market price. Therefore, the statement that there were no contracts “only this year” seemed like a lie.

“There are other buildings… but we’d have to go all the way to the rear gate of the law school, and there are quite a few students living there already. What do you think? Want to see more?”

The agent urged him again. Not knowing the layout of the campus well, Jeong-in didn’t have much to say. Jeong-in merely inferred that the next option would be quite far, and he roughly examined the structure of the building.

The studio layout was nothing special, but the building used construction techniques that were popular long ago. It had high ceilings, and there were no signs of forced expansion. Despite its current hellish appearance, nothing seemed to pose a major obstacle to renovations.

“No. I’ll just go with this one.”

“Good choice. Once you renovate the interior, they’ll all look the same anyway, right?”

The agent had been cautiously gauging Jeong-in’s mood, and he soon brightened. He said he would prepare the contract by tomorrow and got up, dusting off his clothes. Jeong-in transferred the deposit on the spot as promised. Soon, a confirmation message arrived from the seller.

“Then you can unpack and rest. I already told them that you’re a current student. They said they’d let you use it even before the contract is finalized… Here, take your luggage.”

“Thank you.”

The agent didn’t forget to bring in Jeong-in’s suitcase that was left outside.

Only after he finally left the room did Jeong-in sit on the “built-in-bed.” The springs screeched loudly as the center sank down.

“…”

Jeong-in’s new home would be the entire top floor of this building. If he had looked into it earlier, he could have completed both the purchase and interior renovation before the semester started, but now that he had signed the contract hastily, he would have to live like this for at least a month or two until the renovation was completed. This was the price of ignoring Hyo-jun’s advice to check out the school in advance.

The thought of returning to the office crossed his mind.

Right, enduring traffic for a month or two wouldn’t be too difficult. Just as he made up his mind and grabbed the handle of his suitcase again, he noticed something.

“What’s this?”

In a corner of what could barely be called a desk, he noticed a small folded note. Without much thought, he got up and unfolded it, revealing a sentence written in thick pen ink.

There’s a ghost here. Run away.

Jeong-in sat back down on the bed, still holding the note.

“…Hmm.”

Staring blankly at the note while fiddling with the suitcase handle, he eventually unzipped it. The few clothes and basic toiletries he had packed clattered out.

He quickly got to work, hanging clothes in the musty-smelling closet and arranging towels and toiletries in the grimy bathroom. After wiping down the spot where the note had been, he stacked some books there and shoved his luggage into a corner, making the place look somewhat lived-in. However, the bedding and pillow that had been tucked under the closet were completely unusable.

After roughly organizing the rest of his things, Jeong-in lay down on the bare mattress. When he pressed the switch on the wall, the room darkened, and a streetlight cast a white glow through the old window. He unfolded the note he had been holding all this time.

Whether it was a nasty prank or a kind gesture for a random stranger, Jeong-in gazed at the rounded corners of the ambiguous writing before letting go. The white paper fluttered down to the floor.

“What’s wrong with a few ghosts anyway?”

It was still too early to sleep. Outside the window, voices and footsteps echoed in the night.

“…l’ve killed a person, after all.”

Still, he decided to try closing his eyes.