ETP Ch 74

This is bad. Hwang Yoohyun was really, truly, completely, utterly serious.

It was only for a moment that he was patting himself on the back, laughing that Yoohyun must have fallen for Bokseung’s cute face. Sungyeon was in a very difficult situation due to Yoohyun’s relentless displays of affection that had been going on for days.

It wasn’t that he was being overtly clingy or constantly hitting on him in an annoying way. He was just subtly taking care of him from the side.

But the problem was that such actions made a person’s heart flutter even more.

If Yoohyun was doing it knowingly, it was about 60% successful. Sungyeon would often have to barely calm his heart, which was being swayed by him without even realizing it.

The remaining 40% was the conscience of ’33-year-old beta Lee Sungyeon’ barely holding onto reason.

“Huuu.”

Because of that, these days, sighs would escape his lips whenever he opened his mouth, and when he closed his eyes, Yoohyun’s languidly relaxed expression would float around, making it impossible for him to sleep properly.

Even now, to avoid Yoohyun, he had come to school on the pretext of having a class, even though it was cancelled.

It was an absolute secret that, because Yoohyun had insisted on driving him to school, he had to pathetically crouch in front of an empty classroom for five minutes until he went back home.

Who should I consult about something like this?

The Beagle Trio? Beep.

If he told them, they would surely whine and insist he play with them instead of dating.

Kim Hyunah? Beep.

She had a bigger misunderstanding about Sungyeon and Bokseung’s relationship than anyone else and didn’t think favorably of Yoohyun, so telling her about this would be like pouring oil on a fire.

Yoo Sunjung? Beep.

As Yoohyun’s closest friend, there was a 120% chance that the moment he consulted her, it would go directly into Yoohyun’s ears.

Wow, my social circle is a real mess.

Sungyeon sat on a bench and clutched his head.

Should I post on that secondary gender community I saw before? He thought people in the same situation would probably understand best.

Just as he was about to borrow the power of the community once again.

“Bokseung-ah!”

He heard someone calling the kid’s name from the side.

Startled, Sungyeon turned his head in the direction of the voice. There, Sunjung was standing with a bright smile.

“Oh, Sunjung-ah.”

“Yeah! Don’t you have class at this time? What are you doing alone?”

She asked affectionately and sat down next to Bokseung.

“Ah, I originally have a class, but it got cancelled. I was just sitting here for a bit.”

“I see! It was cold until yesterday, but it’s a bit warm today, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. What about you, Sunjung? Class?”

Sungyeon asked, subtly shifting his bottom to the side. Sunjung shook her head and waved the documents she was holding.

“I’m in the student council. I came out early for a meeting.”

“Ah, so you have to go to the meeting?”

“No! It just ended, and I was just wandering around to kill time. Then I saw a familiar face!”

Sungyeon gave an awkward smile at Sunjung’s words.

It was the first time they had met since the day of the blind date disguised as dinner, after which Sungyeon had sent a message of polite refusal.

Honestly, after exchanging messages like that, he thought they would at best just greet each other and pass by, but just as expected of Jihye’s friendly friend, Sunjung’s sociability was also formidable.

“Bokseung-ah, are you uncomfortable with me, by any chance?”

“Huh?”

“I want to be good friends with you. I have absolutely no other feelings, so don’t worry!”

Sunjung quickly added the last part to reassure the flustered Bokseung.

To be honest, in her heart, she wanted to get to know Bokseung for a long time as a cute friend, like a younger brother, rather than as a lover.

That day, when Bokseung had hesitantly brought up the topic in his message, far from being offended, Sunjung’s liking for Bokseung had actually increased.

But she knew if she immediately said she wanted to be friends, she would naturally be rejected, so she was thinking that if they happened to meet after some time had passed, she would definitely suggest they get along well.

And to think they would meet today of all days! The timing, the weather, the place, everything was perfect.

“Ah, ahh. Just friends?”

“Yeah, yeah! Just friends! I want us to be friends who can comfortably contact each other. If this is also burdensome, then I can’t help it… but can’t you just think of me as a classmate in the same department?”

“No! It’s not that! It’s just, uh, thank you. Please take good care of me from now on.”

Sungyeon forced a smile. He didn’t know how to refuse someone to their face when they were talking like that.

Fortunately, it seemed to be an acceptable answer, as Sunjung smiled even more brightly than before. Then, she nodded her head vigorously and got into a comfortable position to start a proper conversation.

“So, until what time are you free?”

“Me?”

“Yeah! You said your class was cancelled, how many hours was it?”

“A two-hour class.”

Sungyeon rolled his eyes.

No way……

“That’s great! I have about that much time free too, want to go to a café together?”

Just as he thought. It was Sunjung cheerfully suggesting they go talk. The afterimage of the Beagle Trio flickered over her. In the end, Sungyeon reluctantly agreed and stood up from his seat.

“Hey, the café in our department building is really nice. Let’s go there! There probably won’t be many people there right now.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go there.”

Sungyeon hurriedly followed Sunjung’s excited footsteps.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

The café they arrived at a short while later had a pretty nice atmosphere, just as she had said.

So each building has such a different feel. Sungyeon thought, looking around the inside of the café.

“What do you want to drink, Bokseung? I suggested we come to the café, so I’ll buy!”

“Oh, no! I’ll buy for you. I remember you had a vanilla latte last time, is that okay?”

Bokseung stood up first and ordered the drinks. Sunjung was slightly moved by the fact that he remembered exactly what drink she had had.

Bokseung came back with one americano and one vanilla latte and placed the drink in front of Sunjung.

“Isn’t student council work hard?”

“I’m still a freshman, so they don’t give me anything particularly difficult. Still, it’s tiring to keep up with how many meetings we have whenever there’s an event.”

“I see. Still, it’s amazing that you’re working so hard on school activities.”

Sungyeon genuinely saw Sunjung as a superwoman.

“Amazing, you say. This is why I don’t have time to date. This is for real.”

Sunjung said with a mischievous smile, observing Bokseung. Bokseung gave a small laugh at her words. He really had a round, cute face.

“What about you, Bokseung? Are you involved in any particular activities?”

“Nah, it’s hard to make time for anything else after lectures because of my part-time job.”

“Oh right! You said you work part-time at a PC bang, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Five times a week.”

“Wow, that’s practically the same as working a full-time job.”

Sunjung’s eyes widened in admiration. It couldn’t be easy to work part-time like that during the semester, not even during vacation.

“I’m used to it now, so it’s fine. Working part-time is fun.”

It was true. He would lose track of time watching Yoohyun’s bizarre behavior. It was also so much fun to see his service-mindedness increase by a teeny-tiny amount.

Ah, I thought of Hwang Yoohyun again.

Sungyeon furrowed his brow at the image of Yoohyun that naturally came to mind while talking about his part-time job.

Fun was fun, and confusing was confusing.

“Huh? But what’s with that expression?”

Sunjung asked, puzzled, as she saw the kid’s expression suddenly turn sour while talking about his part-time job. Sungyeon realized his mistake when he saw her reaction, but it was after he had already shown his discomfort for all to see.

“Well, you see…….”

He hesitated, wondering if it was okay to talk about this, but Sungyeon wanted to confide in someone.

There were already so many things he was hiding inside that his throat felt clogged up, and what Hwang Yoohyun had added on top of that was too heavy.

Sunjung didn’t press him by asking what was wrong, nor did she rush him to speak quickly.

She just waited for him to start talking while deliciously sipping her vanilla latte. Her attitude gradually made Sungyeon’s lips start to open.

His heart felt like it would pop out of his chest from the nervousness of consulting someone else about this, but once his mouth was open, it didn’t stop talking.

To summarize what Bokseung told Sunjung, it was a story of ‘I happened to get confessed to by a close alpha sunbae. Of course, at that time, I had no intention of dating at all. But from some point on, my heart seems to pound whenever I see that sunbae.’

“……so I’m wondering if it’s normal for me to feel this way, or if I’m just mistaking the reaction between our pheromones for an emotion.”

He didn’t go into the detailed parts. Still, he accurately conveyed the gist of the emotions Sungyeon was feeling right now.

Sunjung, who had only reacted by nodding her head occasionally while Sungyeon was talking, carefully asked.

“Uh, so, Bokseung, how do you feel after you react to that person’s emotions like that?”

“Huh?”

“When you’re talking with that confession guy and your heart pounds or you get a little shy, does it feel bad?”

At Sunjung’s question, Sungyeon thought deeply.

After encountering Yoohyun’s words, actions, and his ticklish pheromones… honestly, it didn’t feel bad.

In fact, it was a big problem because he felt a flutter of excitement to the point of feeling guilty.

Honestly, he wasn’t just any good-looking person, it was Hwang Yoohyun. Not only his face, but his well-proportioned body that drew admiration even when examined part by part, and his incredibly good pheromones that made his whole body tingle just by smelling them. He had an immense charm that could sway even Sungyeon, who had lived for 33 years as a beta male. Yoohyun’s presence had long since transcended the barriers of gender and secondary gender within Sungyeon.

Nevertheless, he just couldn’t tell if these were his own true feelings or just a trick of the pheromones.

“It doesn’t feel bad.”

“Then, don’t you think you’re somewhat okay with it too? It’s not a situation where you hate reacting to that person or want to get away quickly, right?”

“W-well, that’s true.”

That was the final confirmation.

Sunjung had accurately pointed out the fact that Sungyeon had been unsure about.

“Then does it seem like that person is joking with you, or hitting on you with light intentions?”

“No, I’m sure that’s absolutely not it. I’m certain.”

He didn’t think that Yoohyun’s actions or words were not sincere.

There’s no way that Hwang Yoohyun would be sincere enough in his relationships to show the same behaviors he shows me to others, no sir.

It made sense; a person who hated troublesome things and hated talking wouldn’t take care of someone with all their heart just to lightly hit on them. Thinking about it one by one, he felt Yoohyun’s sincerity again, and heat rose to his face.

Oh, for crying out loud!

Who would have known that he would have such a foolish heart at this age! Sungyeon really wanted to cry.