Chapter 11: Under the Spring Sun

“Hey, you scared me!”
“Why are you even here?”

“It’s a rare day off, so I came to see you, and this is the welcome I get?”

Unlike in high school, when they were inseparable every day, it was hard to even catch a glimpse of each other in college.
The Humanities building and the Social Sciences building were a fair distance apart, and with their schedules rarely lining up, running into each other on campus without planning ahead was almost impossible.
I mean, it’s not like we have to meet at school, right?
Woo Seon-kyung tilted his head, looking genuinely unconvinced.

In the meantime, students were pouring out of the lecture hall like a flood.
Seeing the auditing student chatting so casually with someone seemed to pique everyone’s curiosity, and people kept stopping to stare.
The excessive attention clearly irritated Kwon Mu-yeol, who snapped in annoyance.

“Hey, what, is this a sightseeing spot?”
“Don’t you people know moderation?”
“Stop staring already!”

“That’s enough.”
“Let’s just get out of here first.”

Woo Seon-kyung grabbed Mu-yeol’s arm and pulled him back.
Even as Mu-yeol barked at the crowd, he allowed himself to be dragged along obediently by Seon-kyung’s hand.

They passed through the corridor and headed for the stairs.
But the stairwell was just as crowded as the area outside the lecture hall.

No matter how many eyes clung to him, Woo Seon-kyung didn’t even blink.
Meanwhile, Kwon Mu-yeol continued grumbling under his breath, glaring daggers with his wide eyes.

Only once they were outside did Mu-yeol’s face finally relax back to normal.
He clicked his tongue, sounding fed up.

“Is it always like this for you?”

“Didn’t you see earlier?”
“It’s like being a monkey in a zoo.”

“I can imagine.”
“But you really don’t give a damn, do you?”
“Whether people stare or not.”

He’d been used to attention since middle and high school.
Everyone was curious about how a kid from a chaebol family might be different.

Kids had no sense of tact or restraint.
They openly pointed, stared, and used Woo Seon-kyung as a topic of conversation, laughing among themselves.

After going through that kind of thing over and over, his face naturally grew a thick skin.
He became immune enough to withstand most stares and baseless rumors without flinching.
Back then, too, Kwon Mu-yeol had always chased off those annoying flies with his eyes blazing.

“Let me guess.”
“You don’t talk to anyone in your department, do you?”
“Do they even know who you are?”

“Is there a need to explain?”
“I didn’t come to college to make friends like you.”

“Oh, wow.”
“Must be nice.”
“Keep proudly living the voluntary loner life.”
“It’s perfect!”
“No chance of getting into trouble!”
“At this rate, you might even finish in three years.”

It wasn’t even 1 p.m. yet.
The sun hanging high in the sky was dazzling, and the gentle spring breeze soothed their spirits.

Admiring the absurdly nice weather, Kwon Mu-yeol slung his right arm over Seon-kyung’s shoulder like a burden.

“Want to grab some food?”
“How about the cafeteria?”

It was a casual suggestion, but Seon-kyung’s face crumpled as if he’d bitten into sand.

“What’s with that expression?”
“Hey, food is food.”
“Don’t be a snob.”

“I don’t want to.”
“If you’re going, go by yourself.”

“So picky.”
“Then fine, you little punk.”
“You choose what we eat.”

He’d planned on that anyway.
Woo Seon-kyung pulled out his phone and narrowed down a few places.
Since he’d brought his car, maybe they could go a bit farther.

Keeping his eyes on the screen, he asked about Mu-yeol’s schedule.

“Are you done with classes for today?”

“Yeah.”
“But after eating, I’ve gotta study for exams—”
“Ah, shit!”
“Right!”
“There was something I needed to pick up!”
“Seon-kyung, let’s stop by the main library real quick.”

“The main library?”
“Where’s that?”

“The central library!”
“It’ll be fast.”
“Five minutes, tops!”
“Let’s just go quickly.”

Before he could even say no, Seon-kyung was dragged along in a blur.
The library, fortunately—or unfortunately—was nearby.

***

At first glance, the central library looked like an ancient temple.
Climbing the dozens of pale gray steps leading up to it, the entire campus spread out below in a sweeping view.

It was technically a scenic spot, but no one came here for the scenery.
Students only passed through, backpacks stuffed full of thick textbooks and notebooks, bulging like turtle shells on their backs.

In front of the library were benches meant for students to take a breather from studying.

Kwon Mu-yeol was about to tell Woo Seon-kyung to sit and wait when he spotted a man sprawled across one of the benches—and froze like stone.

The man was dozing under the blazing sun.
His face was hidden beneath a cap, but that build and outfit were unmistakable.

“Isn’t that… Woojin hyung?”

Quick on the uptake, Woo Seon-kyung also recognized the identity of the apparent vagrant.

Once confirmation hit, Mu-yeol recoiled in horror and grabbed Seon-kyung’s clothes.
In a tiny whisper, he signaled frantically.

“Let’s go.”
“We didn’t see anything.”
“Just pretend he’s a stranger!”

“Kwon Mu-yeol.”

The man who’d been lying there like a corpse called out to him.
One crossed ankle twitched.

“You rude little bastard.”
“You saw your hyung and were just going to walk away?”

Kwon Woojin braced himself against the bench and sluggishly pushed himself upright.
When the cap slid off his face and hit the ground, he casually picked it up and pressed it back onto his greasy hair.

Woojin yawned wide enough to split his mouth.
His sallow, grimy face was steeped in exhaustion.

Clearly embarrassed by his own blood relative, Kwon Mu-yeol kept glancing around.
With his lips nearly touching, he hissed furiously.

“Seriously, this is humiliating!”
“Why are you dressed like a bum out here?”
“How many days has it been since you went home?”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be a fourth-year med student preparing for both the national exam and midterms?”

“Just look at yourself.”
“You know what you look like right now?”
“Like a mole crawling out of a coal mine.”

“Enough.”
“Go buy me some coffee.”

Kwon Woojin lifted his left hip slightly, pulled his wallet from his back pocket, and tossed it wholesale.

Catching it neatly, Kwon Mu-yeol clenched the wallet in his fist.

He was clearly full of complaints, but unable to voice them, he just huffed and puffed.
Then he aggressively ruffled his own hair instead.

There was a clear hierarchy between the Kwon brothers.
And on top of that, Kwon Woojin—currently preparing for the Korean Medicine national exam—was the household’s supreme authority, more revered than even a senior-year test-taker.

“I’m charging at least a hundred thousand won.”

“You really never shut up.”
“You could’ve gone and come back already with all that talking.”
“And Seon-kyung, why are you just standing there?”
“Don’t strain your legs.”
“Sit here.”

The difference in how he treated his real brother versus the neighbor kid was stark.

Kwon Mu-yeol swallowed the curses threatening to spill out of his throat.
Instead, he threw a punch into the air and sprinted toward the library.
In the meantime, Seon-kyung calmly claimed the seat Woojin had offered.

The sky was unusually clear today, not a cloud in sight.
Kwon Woojin leaned back against the bench, arms draped over the backrest, and lazily tilted his head.

In a softer, drowsier voice, he asked,

“Seon-kyung.”
“Do I look really pathetic?”

“Yes.”

“It can’t be helped.”
“If I don’t photosynthesize like this once in a while, I might actually die.”

That’s what life as a Korean medicine student is like.
The muttered words sounded close to a lament.

At that, Seon-kyung let out a small laugh.
Hearing it, Woojin glanced sideways, his gaze naturally checking his complexion first.

“How have you been lately?”
“Managing okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief.”
“I heard you adjusted without any major issues.”
“It must’ve been rough.”

At the cautious concern, Seon-kyung smiled and nodded in agreement.
Even he had to admit the past two weeks had been an exhausting string of tedious, draining moments.

Ever since the day he’d received that unexpected proposal at his grandfather’s annex, Woo Seon-kyung had needed to prepare many things to attend school.

The first thing he did was hire a pheromone specialist.

To meet all kinds of people, he needed absolute control over his own body.
He received intense one-on-one training from a professor with a special trait, considered the best in the field.

What most people learned naturally over time, Woo Seon-kyung had to master in a short span.

At first, he learned how to suppress and control the pheromones his own body produced.
Once he achieved a certain level of perfection, he moved on to adapting to other traits—especially alpha pheromones.

Since he’d never been exposed to alpha pheromones before, this training was particularly grueling.
Still, determined to attend school no matter what, he clenched his teeth and endured.

Thanks to that relentless effort, the training yielded good results.
Once he was cleared to move around alone, his grandfather finally gave permission for him to begin studying.

That made it one week since he’d started auditing classes.

By the time a fair amount of time had passed, Kwon Mu-yeol pushed open the library’s glass doors with his shoulder and came back out.

He must’ve handled his errand as well, because his left hand held a heavy shopping bag, and his right carried a coffee tray.

Marching up to the bench with a face plastered in dissatisfaction, Mu-yeol practically threw the coffee and wallet onto the seat.

“Careful.”

Kwon Woojin chided lazily as he took his iced coffee and slid the straw between his lips.

In one breath, nearly a third of the drink vanished.
As caffeine hit his system, Woojin let out a low, satisfied groan.

“Ahh.”
“Coffee really is the best potion.”

“Then we’re heading out.”
“Good luck.”

“Where are you going?”
“Classes already over?”

“Yeah.”
“We’re going to get lunch.”

“What?”
“It’s not even 1 p.m. and you’re done?”
“You guys are totally skating through college…”
“Well, I guess I had days like that too.”
“I had my good times.”

“…Why is he talking to himself like that?”

Muttering that his hyung must’ve gone crazy from studying, Kwon Mu-yeol tugged on Seon-kyung’s arm.

As Seon-kyung was forcibly pulled up from the bench, he hesitated, worried about Woojin’s condition, and suggested eating together.

“It’s fine.”
“Right now, sleep is more urgent than food.”

“Then maybe go home, shower, and take a nap?”

“When would I even get home?”
“Better to sleep here than waste time going back and forth.”

“I brought my car.”

“Really?”
“Where’d you park?”
“Hyung can leave right now.”

The sluggish body sprang to life.
Kwon Woojin slurped down the rest of his coffee and headed down the stairs first.