Chapter 19: Unwavering Protection and Unsettling Realizations

Mine. My own side. My hyung.

“That little brat grew up without parents, so he never learned any manners!”

“Well… it’s better than growing up under people who don’t deserve to be parents.”

It had always been like that. Even when Haejun fought with a friend his age and got unfairly scolded by the friend’s parents, Sijin held his hand. He still remembered the baffled faces of those who watched Sijin drive in needle-sharp words with a smile.

Even in the middle of that, the parents quickly scanned which school Sijin’s uniform belonged to. The uniform of a school famous for being prestigious was by itself a way to prove one’s status.

His mother died early, and his father was a good-for-nothing who hardly came home, so he lived with just his grandmother. They decided there was no way someone like that had family attending a prestigious high school, and they raised their voices, telling him not to meddle in a passing stranger’s business.

“Who are you to step in, student! Are you his brother or something?”

In that moment, Haejun tightened his grip on their joined hands. Sijin bit his lip hard, looked down at the round crown of Haejun’s deeply bowed head, and then nodded readily.

“Yes. I’m his hyung.”

A child without a guardian didn’t even have the right to feel wronged. But Sijin patiently listened to Haejun’s tearful, stammering explanation.

It was like this: while playing soccer at school, after Haejun scored a goal on him, the other kid held a grudge and kicked Haejun’s shin, starting the fight. The parents, who had gotten angry after only hearing that Haejun hit first, had no choice but to shut their mouths when they learned the truth that their own child had started it.

“You should apologize. If you know that other people’s children are precious too.”

Sijin made an adult much older than himself apologize to Haejun. Because they had raised their voices and drawn attention, the mood left them no choice but to apologize. Even though it was an apology no different from forcing a bow, Haejun felt like crying.

A very complicated mix of emotions welled up, but a young child’s ability to express it had limits. He simply thought the tears were coming because his unfairness had been resolved.

“Seungmin.”

Haejun, who had been lost in the past, snapped out of his thoughts at the voice calling the name of the man who had just pushed him. Just as he wondered how Sijin knew his name, the man seemed to have the same thought as Haejun.

“How do you know my name…?”

“Why wouldn’t I know? There’s a rumor going around that your personality is rotten, and that you pick on people like this whenever you get the chance.”

Sijin picked up Haejun’s phone from the floor and muttered calmly. Unlike when Haejun did the same thing, the man couldn’t do anything. He just swallowed dryly as he watched Sijin frown down at the shattered phone screen.

The person who understood least why Moon Sijin was here was Lee Seungmin himself. He knew they were acquainted because he had seen them at a recent department gathering, but that was all. Moon Sijin was known for never letting anyone specific into his life, and after that day, he had seemed to have little connection with Baek Haejun.

Seungmin snorted and shrugged his shoulders. Even half out of his mind, he knew there was nothing good about provoking Moon Sijin. Setting aside that Sijin was famous for wrapping professors around his finger, Seungmin had no confidence he could win against an Alpha with a better build than his own.

“I get that you know him, sunbae, but Baek Haejun ignored me first, and I held it in until I finally exploded.”

His pronunciation was slurred because he was still soaked in alcohol. Even if he forced his brow and spat it out like he was about to cry, it didn’t work on Moon Sijin at all. Even when Sijin said, “Seungmin,” in a friendly tone, Seungmin felt sweat pooling in his palms.

“If Haejun ignored you, there must have been a reason.”

He didn’t know where Sijin had heard what rumor, but Moon Sijin seemed to believe there was no way Baek Haejun would ignore Lee Seungmin without reason. Seungmin was startled by his sudden appearance, but he fumed at Moon Sijin for blindly taking Haejun’s side.

Sijin let out a long sigh and pressed his forehead.

“When you glare at people with your eyes like that, spout bullshit, and cling to them.”

When the hand that had lightly wiped his eyes was removed, Sijin’s eyes flashed more murderously than ever.

“f*ck, Seungmin. Who would want to deal with you?”

As he said that, Sijin cast a doubtful look at the group around them. His eyes said he didn’t understand why they hung around with a bastard like this. Maybe birds of a feather flock together.

It was when their eyes shifted and everyone’s attention briefly scattered. Sijin reached out with a long arm, grabbed Seungmin by the scruff of the neck, and made him lose his balance. At the same time, he kicked out and struck the side of Seungmin’s knee, then let go. Seungmin, unable to withstand the sudden force, collapsed and fell flat on his backside. He looked up at Sijin with a bewildered face.

“If you barely got in after three tries, you should at least graduate. Is your dream for the future to be a worthless son who doesn’t support his parents? Want me to help you drop out within a month?”

Haejun, standing behind him, was just as startled by Sijin’s words. The murderous aura was completely dissolved into Alpha pheromones. But since Seungmin and his group were all Betas, Haejun was the only one affected. Haejun felt relieved that Sijin couldn’t see him and straightened up by tensing his thighs.

Then his eyes met Seungmin’s. Seungmin, watching Sijin’s mood, glared at Haejun as if he wanted to kill him. Sijin lightly kicked his chest with the tip of his foot, as if to ask where he was looking, and only then did Seungmin raise his head toward Sijin, who was far above him. He still looked wronged somehow.

“You came all the way to college to play at being a school bully?”

“Yeah. Because of bastards like you, I’m going to do something childish for once.”

“……”

“As long as I’m here, you won’t leave a single mark on this school. Judging by the way you’re acting now, you’re already on track to ruin your life on your own, but still.”

Sijin knelt down in front of the man sitting on the floor, as if to meet his eye level, and just that posture naturally gave off a delinquent air. Sijin whispered quietly enough that Haejun, behind him, couldn’t hear well.

“If you want to at least get a degree, keep your head down and live, Seungmin. Don’t go around advertising that you’re a blockhead.”

He couldn’t feel the Alpha pheromones, but the pressure reached even a non-Alpha. A clear vein stood out on Seungmin’s neck as he swallowed dryly. He looked like he might hiccup at any moment.

“If you open your eyes like that one more time, I swear…”

As Sijin muttered that, his two fingers shot toward Seungmin’s eyes as if to poke them.

“Ugh!”

The corners of his eyes, squeezed shut in fear, wrinkled deeply. Sijin sneered at that ugly face and pressed hard on his forehead. Under the pushing force, Seungmin’s body tilted back, and he barely propped himself up with his arms, standing at an angle.

“I might poke them without meaning to. Let’s live with kind hearts. Okay?”

“……”

“Hey, guys.”

As if he had seen all he needed from Seungmin, Sijin called over the two people still standing awkwardly nearby. Then he pointed at the floor where liquor bottles were rolling around.

“Our Haejun cleaned this place up, and you guys made it messy again. Isn’t it polite for the people who made the mess to clean it up themselves?”

Leaving Seungmin sitting there dumbfounded, the two moved in perfect order. They picked up the liquor bottles and even wiped the floor with the mop Haejun had been holding until just now.

After confirming they were doing the ordered work fairly well, Sijin finally approached Haejun’s side.

“Haejun, come with hyung to change clothes.”

His tone was like he was caring for a small child, but Haejun couldn’t say anything and had no choice but to follow him to the employee break room.

As soon as the break room door closed, Haejun collapsed into a chair still in his uniform. Even though he knew Sijin, who had acted like he would change his clothes for him, was silently watching, his limbs wouldn’t listen.

The smell of alcohol and the drunk crowd that had been making Haejun dizzy were nowhere to be seen or smelled, and Sijin’s Alpha pheromones had also been completely contained without a trace. But Haejun’s breathing was still dangerously ragged.

He had been scared that the man might really hit him. Violence had stopped after he ran away from the shack, but Haejun still felt his legs go weak whenever he faced the nightmares from that time.

“Were you scared?”

As if reading Haejun’s mind, Sijin carefully reached out both arms.

“I’m sorry hyung was late.”

It felt like it took a very long time for his body heat to reach Haejun. Only when the familiar warmth embraced him did he feel relieved. He wanted to cry loudly in his hyung’s arms, but Haejun held back his tears out of habit and shook his head.

Sijin patted Haejun’s back. When he felt through their touching skin that Haejun’s body was still trembling, Sijin muttered in a slow drawl.

“Why are you shaking like this…?”

He didn’t look very curious; it was closer to talking to himself.

The Alpha pheromones had been withdrawn, but it seemed a little still remained on the pulse at his neck. Haejun unconsciously took a deep breath and felt his vision blur for a moment.

The area below his navel tingled again. It wasn’t such an unfamiliar sensation anymore. He even thought that the reason his body wouldn’t calm down might not be the men outside the door, but his hyung’s Alpha pheromones.

When did he take his suppressant again? Counting the time, Haejun recalled that it had already been over six hours since he last took his medicine. When he raised his hand to push Sijin away, Sijin was pushed back but didn’t let go completely.

“Haejun. Are you having trouble controlling your pheromones?”

His tone was so calm that Haejun habitually nodded without thinking.

“Should I get your suppressant?”

The suppressant he had bought new yesterday for five thousand won was in his bag. Sijin reached out, opened the metal cabinet door, pulled out Haejun’s bag, rummaged through the front pocket, and took out the familiar medicine case. He looked around for water.

“……?”

Only after a long moment did Haejun realize something was strange, and his face began to turn white with bewilderment.

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