Chapter 13: Recognition

The cramped professor’s office carried a strangely familiar scent.
The warm yet slightly musty smell unique to old books and aged paper.

As Seon-kyung looked at the law books filling the room, he realized it resembled his uncle’s study at home.

The bookshelves were packed so tightly there was hardly any empty space.
Thick legal tomes too wide to grasp with one hand and volumes crammed with dense Chinese characters filled every shelf.
Similar books were stacked haphazardly on the desk as well.

His uncle was seated at that chaotic desk, clutching his forehead while intensely reviewing something.
He was so absorbed that he had already forgotten he’d answered the knock.

Even after Seon-kyung entered and finished looking around the office, his uncle still hadn’t noticed someone had come in.

Go Jong-hwan was scribbling corrections onto the paper he was reading when he finally sensed a presence and belatedly looked up.
“Oh, right. Someone came— huh? What the—!”

“You look busy, Professor.”

Only then did his uncle recognize him, and Seon-kyung smiled faintly.
Startled, Jong-hwan banged his knee against the corner of the desk drawer as he hurried out.
Even while limping, he made it over and grabbed Seon-kyung’s arm.

“What happened?

You should’ve called first!

I would’ve come to get you.”

“I was just passing by and stopped in for a bit.”

“Well, look who decided to grace me with his presence.

I’ve been waiting every day wondering when you’d come.

How’d you even find my office?

You didn’t get lost, did you?”

Seon-kyung frowned at the way he was being treated like a child.
“You can find everything if you look it up.”
“Oh, wow. You’ve really grown up, Woo Seon-kyung. An adult now, huh?”

Beaming with pride, Jong-hwan pulled his nephew into a tight hug.
Ignoring the obvious resistance, he coaxed him over to the leather sofa against the wall.

While Seon-kyung sat and slowly looked around, Jong-hwan turned on the coffee machine by the window.
He took out a mug reserved for guests and carefully brewed coffee.
The faint aroma of beans filled the closed office.

“It’s messy, isn’t it?

I’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“It’s fine.

I just came to see your face.

If you’re busy, go ahead and work.

I’ll just drink the coffee and leave.”

“Hey—!

Where do you think you’re going?

Absolutely not. You’re having dinner with me tonight, no excuses.”

Jong-hwan pulled out his phone to check his afternoon schedule.

He didn’t have any lectures today.
There was a meeting scheduled with a graduate student he supervised later.
It was a simple thirty-minute session, nothing problematic.

After estimating the time while staring into space, Jong-hwan made a call.

– We’ll serve you with utmost care. This is Melting Dining.

As soon as the bright greeting came through, he rattled off his request as if he’d been waiting.
“Hello. I’d like to make a reservation for two at 5:30 today.
We’ll take the wine pairing course.”

Seon-kyung looked over in surprise at the mention of wine.
Jong-hwan scrunched his nose and grinned.

Seon-kyung let out a dry laugh.
If only he put half that effort into dating.
If he treated his girlfriends even half as well as he treated his nephew, his uncle would’ve married long ago and had kids by now.

For a full-time law school professor, Jong-hwan was relatively young.

Thirty-seven years old.
And still unmarried.
When he went out with Seon-kyung, people sometimes mistook them for brothers with a big age gap.

After finishing the reservation, Jong-hwan leaned back against the sofa with a satisfied smile.
He clasped his hands over his stomach and leisurely studied his nephew’s face.
Even knowing he was being watched, Seon-kyung didn’t meet his gaze once, as cold and prickly as ever.

“How’s your health?”

“I’m fine.

Nothing uncomfortable.

I eat well.

My weight’s back to normal.”

It was something he heard everywhere these days, no matter who he met.

Seon-kyung was used to answering by now.
As if following a prepared script, the same automatic response flowed out again.

“What about the suppressants?

You’ve stopped completely now?”

At the worried question, Seon-kyung nodded calmly.

He no longer needed to take pheromone suppressants every morning.
Doctor Kim had said he only needed them when his heat cycle started.

But since Seon-kyung hadn’t experienced his first heat yet, it left him slightly on edge.
Heat cycles usually came every three to six months, yet there was still no sign.

It felt like a time bomb that could go off at any moment.

“How’s school? Is it manageable?”
“Classes are interesting. The professors are really good.”
“Made any friends?”

“…..”

Instead of answering, Seon-kyung sharply turned his head away.
Blatantly dodging questions he didn’t want to answer still felt childish.
Jong-hwan chuckled with a deflated sigh.

Just then—
Knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.
The clock had reached the hour.
It seemed the student for the meeting had arrived.

Standing up from the sofa, Jong-hwan looked down at Seon-kyung.
“It’ll take about thirty minutes. You can wait, right?”
“Okay.”

Jong-hwan personally went to greet the student and asked for understanding.
He explained that his nephew was visiting and asked if it was alright for him to stay.
Fortunately, the answer was that it didn’t matter.

A tall man followed in behind his uncle.

Seon-kyung had opened a textbook to pass the time.
Sensing someone enter, he casually looked up—
and froze the moment he recognized him.

It was the man from yesterday.

He’d only seen the man’s upper body and back then, but he was certain.

Alpha pheromones were like fingerprints.
Even from that brief scent, there was no mistaking it.
And seeing him up close confirmed it.
He was a dominant alpha.

“Ji-seok, have a seat there for a moment.
I’ll just send one email quickly and we’ll start.”
“Yes, take your time, Professor.”

The polite young man sat down.
Unfortunately, it was directly across from him.

While Seon-kyung recognized him instantly, Han Ji-seok paid little attention to the unfamiliar person.
He clearly wasn’t the type to be nosy or overly friendly.

Ji-seok fiddled with his neatly trimmed nails while looking down at the floor.
His slightly tilted face, as if lost in thought, kept drawing Seon-kyung’s gaze.

The delicacy of his features was unexpected.
Without realizing it, Seon-kyung observed him closely.

I didn’t expect him to look like this.

Judging only by his solid build, Seon-kyung had assumed his face would be purely rugged and masculine.

Instead, the man looked like someone stepped out of a classical painting.

Like a faded sepia photograph, his hair, eyebrows, and eyes were all a soft brown.
Beneath the smooth forehead revealed by swept-back bangs were pronounced brow bones, a high, straight nose, and a sharp jawline— masculine, yet subtly sensual.

And those long eyes were almost puppy-like.
Thin double lids framed almond-shaped eyes whose corners drooped slightly, giving him a faintly sad look.
It made no sense that someone that big could trigger protective instincts.

Devastatingly handsome.
Were all dominant alphas like this?

Maybe he’d stared too openly.
Ji-seok lifted his head.
Their eyes met directly.

The softness vanished.
Those eyes sharpened, piercing and alert, as if seeing straight through him.
Having done nothing wrong, Seon-kyung didn’t look away.

Anyone would’ve broken eye contact out of awkwardness,
yet the silent stare-down continued until Jong-hwan returned.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.
Ah— this is my nephew.”

Seated naturally at the head position, Jong-hwan added a brief introduction.

“…..”

It was too late for proper introductions, and a handshake felt awkward.
The two simply exchanged a silent nod.

“Haha, this feels like I’m setting you two up on a blind date.”

Jong-hwan cracked a pointless joke to break the tension.

Though they’d gathered for entirely different reasons and only coincidentally shared the space,
their seating arrangement really did make it look like a setup.

Ji-seok, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke.
“You said nephew, so I assumed he’d be a much younger student.”

“He is a student. He goes to Korea University.
He’s twenty this year, so…
Should I call him a freshman?”

Jong-hwan dragged out his words uncertainly.
An auditing student without a class year or student number was hard to explain clearly.

Ji-seok crossed his arms and straightened his posture.
His eyes curved slightly.

Only then did the image of Seon-kyung sitting in the driver’s seat of a foreign car yesterday— looking utterly bored— surface in his mind.

“Twenty…
Yeah, that’s young.”

“He’s technically an adult now and a bit more mature, but still prickly.
I’m basically holding him hostage so he won’t run off.
If I don’t, he won’t even eat with me.”

At the added commentary, Seon-kyung scowled deeply.
As if declaring himself done with the conversation, he roughly flipped the page of his textbook.