YHP 4
by CherryIn that one moment, everything faded to white.
The rest of today’s schedule, future plans, the emotions he hadn’t gotten over, the pain in his shoulder–he forgot everything.
He had encountered countless beautiful people at countless events with celebrities, but none had ever struck him with such awe at first sight.
That person was truly stunning. Ho-jin studied the man beneath the eaves with enchanted eyes. The neckline of his light-colored sweater was clean, and his flawless skin was as white as finely crafted porcelain. While the colors of all the world’s trees and grass deepend with the rainwater, he shone brilliantly, untouched by even a hint of moisture.
Ho-jin took a step toward him. The captivating hue that had caught his eye from afar became clearer, and he scanned the man’s sharp features.
His eyes were downcast as he watched the rain, and his tightly pursed lips glistened with a clear, healthy color.
And for some reason, he looked a bit sad.
“…”
The beauty who had been staring into the air with a face that seemed as if it would collapse at any moment took a deep breath. It was a strangely unrealistic sight. Then, with a soft exhale, he stepped into the rain. Drops fell onto his soft sweater.
“Excuse me.”
Ho-jin dashed toward him without a second thought.
As Ho-jin tilted the umbrella in his hand over the other’s head, the lowered eyelashes lifted lightly like a sigh, and that person’s clear gaze turned toward him.
The beauty, now much closer, smelled like a flower garden–a fragrance reminiscent of stepping into a place full of fresh spring flowers.
“…”
His light brown eyes were fully focused on him. Amidst the thundering rain, Ho-jin stood with his mouth agape, unable to utter even a simple greeting. In that moment, the pale, young beauty’s expression changed.
As if watching a scene frame by frame of a broken film, Ho-jin didn’t miss a beat as clear wariness rose on their beautiful cheeks.
“What is it?” the beauty asked, now neatly under the umbrella.
“Ah, um, hello.”
Even his voice seemed to falter.
“Well, I… It’s raining a lot… Your clothes look thin. I’ll take you to where you’re going.”
Ho-jin didn’t even know what he was saying. As he blurted out whatever came to mind, the pretty person’s brows furrowed.
“I’m fine.”
He answered coldly and tried to pass by Ho-jin, but he quickly reached out and held the umbrella over the other person again.
“But still…” Ho-jin added, almost pleadingly without realizing it. “You’ll catch a cold.”
***
Jeong-in felt very uncomfortable.
The man who had appeared out of thin air with an umbrella was now standing in the rain with his arms outstretched to cover Jeong-in. As he smiled, revealing his neatly aligned teeth while getting drenched with thick raindrops, Jeong-in felt his headache intensifying and he tried to look away.
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, the heavy, damp air filled with the scent of soaked grass pressed into his lungs. Only then did Jeong-in realize that the man in front of him was an Alpha.
The side effects of the suppressant must have dulled his senses a bit. Encountering an Alpha in such a vulnerable state was quite unfortunate.
Jeong-in quickly scanned the surroundings. There was no one else passing by on the narrow path–it was just this Alpha and him. Realizing this, his body began to stiffen, and he clutched the book in his arms.
“Don’t bother.”
Jeong-in immediately stepped out from under the umbrella. He heard him say “Excuse me,” but he didn’t look back.
“Ha…”
Once he caught a whiff of the Alpha’s pheromones, the smell refused to go away no matter how deeply he exhaled. Instead, the pheromones seemed to dig deeper into his lungs. His breathing gradually grew more haggard and turned into a shrill sound circling inside his mouth. Before long, it felt as if he had been holding his breath all along.
Suddenly, his vision went black, and a piercing scream echoed in the air. Jeong-in realized it was his own voice, bouncing off the empty ceiling as he screamed with all his might.
‘You haven’t manifested for long, have you?’
A dark, distant landscape shot into his head.
‘If you scream, I’ll kill you.”
His body began to feel heavy, as if someone were grabbing his limbs and pulling him down toward the ground. Even though he knew it was just an illusion, every sensation felt horrifyingly real, as if he were being dragged back into that moment.
It felt like a seizure was about to start. Jeong-in gritted his teeth and barely managed to come to his senses.
It’s nothing. This is all just my imagination. Nothing happened to me.
Trying his best to breathe evenly to avoid hyperventilating, his legs suddenly gave out.
“Are you alright?”
He didn’t end up collapsing clumsily onto the wet ground. When he blinked, the gray sky had disappeared, and he saw the face of the Alpha who had hurriedly caught him as he was falling. The umbrella he had been holding was stuck far away in the mud.
“Ugh…”
The Alpha’s scent piercing through Jeong-in’s heightened nerves unfiltered. Terrified, Jeong-in tried to push the man away, but his frozen body couldn’t do anything. Exhaling shallow breaths, he lost consciousness. His trembling fingers hovered helplessly over the man’s chest, then dropped.
***
Save me.
He felt as if he were falling from a great height, his body jerking violently as he came back to his senses. Jeong-in was half lying on a chair covered with someone’s clothes.
What am I doing here?
With a dazed mind, he carefully retraced the events. It started raining suddenly, and he was about to call the hospital when…
“Are you awake?”
Right. He encountered this guy. Judging by how his whole body was still damp from the rain, it didn’t seem like much time had passed since he lost consciousness.
Drink some water.”
He must have fetched some water from the cooler, as he offered a tumbler with condensation on it. He had a concerned expression on his face, and the clothes covering Jeong-in probably belonged to him too.
“…”
He wanted to say something like “I’m fine” or “You can go now,” but he had no strength at all.
“I’m going to touch you for a second.”
The Alpha knelt in front of Jeong-in, placing his hand on Jeong-in’s forehead before he had a chance to respond.
“Ugh…”
Instinctively, Jeong-in swatted his hand away. It was a primal reaction born from fear.
With a slap, the man’s hand was left hanging in the air, He withdrew his hand calmly–only Jeong-in seemed to be the only one surprised by this situation. His face stiffened, embarrassed by the fact that he had just hit someone. While that person’s actions were indeed unpleasant, he hadn’t intended to go that far.
Regardless, the man asked calmly, “You seem to have a bit of a fever. Do you want to go to the infirmary?”
Jeong-in didn’t really want to answer. He silently got up from his seat and leaned against the wall. He could sense the man’s persistent gaze following him, but he ignored it and started walking toward the lobby.
After getting past a major hurdle, his breathing stabilized considerably. Though he wasn’t sure when it might flare up again, it seemed he could by enough time to roughly dry off and buy an umbrella.
If he had known this would happen, he should have bought an umbrella earlier even if it meant collapsing inside the building. Recalling the list of commercial facilities in the lobby, he headed down the stairs. He soon came across a shop selling jackets and T-shirts with the school logo on them. In the display case was a set of fluffy towels.
As he entered the quiet store, the shopkeeper’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Jeong-in, who looked like a drenched rat.
“A towel… and an umbrella too, please.”
He took out his card.
“Student, I’m sorry, but…”
The shopkeeper made a troubled face and pointed to the paper hastily taped to the front of the counter. The A4 paper had the words ‘Card reader out of order’ awkwardly written on it.
Jeong-in quickly rummaged through his wallet, but it was unlikely there would be anything in it. He felt a bit annoyed at himself for using up all his cash in the morning.
“Hello. I’d like to pay with this, please.”
Suddenly, a large hand suddenly reached out from behind him, handing over some bills. The shopkeeper let out a small exclamation upon receiving them. Following the sparkle in the owner’s eyes as if something impressive had happened, Jeong-in turned around.
“…”
By now, he was too dumbfounded to even laugh. The one who had paid on his behalf was the Alpha from earlier. Jeong-in walked out of the shop, and hurried footsteps followed closely behind him.
“Hey.”
Jeong-in turned around impatiently to find the Alpha a step behind him with a new umbrella and towel in hand.
“Do you know me?”
“Excuse me?”
“Since you keep insisting even after being rejected multiple times, it seems you really can’t take a hint while I’m being nice about it.”
Jeong-in glared coldy at the Alpha.
“I’ll make it clear. I’m not interested in your kindness, so get lost.”
However, the Alpha didn’t seem willing to back down. He offered the umbrella nd towel to Jeong-in once more.
“I’m only doing this because I think something really bad might happen if I leave you like this.”
“…”
“Please take them. I promise I won’t follow you anymore if you do.”
“Really?”
Fine, then. Jeong-in smirked as he took the items, and then promptly threw them into a nearby trash can.
The loud thud drew the attention of other people, glancing in their direction. Ignoring them, Jeong-in climbed the stairs again. Figuring it wouldn’t matter if he got wet twice when he was already soaked, this time he left the building through the main entrance.
The rain was still cold, and by the time he finally reached his car through the downpour, he felt like he might collapse. For a moment, he thought maybe he should have accepted the towel at least, btu he still felt it would be better to die of illness than to accept anything from an unfamiliar Alpha.
“It’s cold…”
As soon as he got in the car, he turned on the heater because he was shivering. He buried his face in the steering wheel. It seemed this time, he would be sick for a while.