Chapter 23: An Unspoken Confession and a Winter’s Chill

Hyun-jun finally lifted his head, his face vacant. Though his expression remained unfocused, the earlier venom had drained away. Yoonwoo wondered if he had been drinking heavily somewhere.

Indeed, the pungent, acrid smell that had been unpleasantly clinging to his nostrils might have been alcohol, after all.

“If you’re drunk, just go home and sleep! Why are you here causing a scene?” Yoonwoo snapped, his tone sharp with irritation.

“I didn’t drink….”

“You didn’t? Then what’s that smell?”

“I really didn’t. What smell are you talking about…?”

Hyun-jun hung his head, his face crestfallen. Yet, the unidentified stench intensified, filling the small cafe like an insidious smoke. His head throbbed as if pierced by countless needles.

His stomach churned, threatening to revolt at any moment. Simultaneously, his body was consumed by a fever, and his lower back ached as if it would break.

It felt like a severe flu had taken hold. Struggling to regulate his breathing, Yoonwoo nudged Hyun-jun’s leg with the tip of his shoe.

“Hey, get up! I’m closing the shop and going home.”

“Yoonwoo….”

“Why that cloying tone again? And what’s with your eyes?”

Hyun-jun’s drunken habits were truly atrocious. Yoonwoo wanted nothing more than to leave Hyun-jun in the cafe, drunk or not, and simply go home.

He would have, had Hyun-jun not been his peer, whom he’d seen almost every day for three years.

Yet, the atmosphere felt strangely off. Hyun-jun no longer wore that harsh expression, but his gaze, half-lidded, merely stared blankly at Yoonwoo. An awkward silence settled, too heavy to break.

This was not the look Yoonwoo knew from Hyun-jun. Yoonwoo swallowed hard, a dry knot in his throat.

‘Surely not…’

“I didn’t intend to say it like this, Yoonwoo, but I can’t hold it in anymore.”

The voice was far clearer than before. The color drained from Yoonwoo’s cheeks. The ‘surely not’ he had briefly feared was indeed about to materialize.

“Hey, just a moment….”

“Yoonwoo, the truth is, I’ve liked you since before—”

“Hey, Ha Hyun-jun, stop it! Stop, stop!”

“Huh? Why?”

“‘Why’?”

Yoonwoo squatted before Hyun-jun, his eyes darting around with an utterly bewildered expression. A sudden confession, here in the cafe where he worked on Christmas Eve, was completely unexpected.

Instead of a safe path, he was facing an unexpected bombardment. He felt utterly dumbfounded.

“Don’t do it. I can’t accept you.”

“Oh, why not!”

Hyun-jun’s face flushed as he flared up in a sudden burst of anger. He had insisted he hadn’t been drinking, but it was clear he had been heavily intoxicated.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t suddenly pounce on Yoonwoo or attempt a hysterical confession in such an inappropriate setting.

Yoonwoo chose his words carefully. After all, they had seen each other daily for three years and would continue to do so until graduation. Yoonwoo certainly didn’t want their relationship to become awkward.

‘It’s not a mortal sin to develop feelings for a friend, after all…’

As he tried to conjure an excuse for Hyun-jun, Yeon-chae’s handsome face unexpectedly flickered before his eyes. When it came to ‘developing feelings for a friend,’ Yoonwoo wasn’t entirely free of guilt either.

Feeling a sense of kinship with Hyun-jun’s predicament, Yoonwoo wanted to reject him as gently as possible, hoping they could remain on good terms.

“Hey, do I look like an Omega to you? I’m a Beta.”

Hyun-jun furrowed his brow, staring at Yoonwoo. His expression plainly asked, ‘What does that have to do with anything?’

While Yoonwoo had largely shed his prejudices about Alphas and Betas recently, it was undeniably a convenient excuse to gently reject the Alpha, Hyun-jun.

Yoonwoo continued slowly, “I’ve only ever dated Beta girlfriends. I’ve never once, uh, thought about it that way with the same gender. It feels strange.”

The lie came surprisingly easily, as it was a thought he had held for about a year. No, he had probably thought that way until about six months ago.

“Hey, your brother married a man! What’s so strange about it?”

Hyun-jun, who had been sprawled listlessly, seemed to regain his senses, erupting in a fit of pique. Yoonwoo crossed his arms and clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“That’s because my brother is an Omega. I don’t see Alphas as romantic partners at all. I’ll never date an Alpha.”

“Hey, put aside your prejudices and let’s talk seriously….”

“Talk about what? I told you to stop. I don’t want things to get awkward between us.”

“What, why, why would it get awkward?”

“An Alpha liking me… just thinking about it feels weird. It’s even… a bit repulsive.”

This wasn’t aimed at all Alphas, but there was no need to elaborate to Hyun-jun. As expected, Hyun-jun’s face crumpled with hurt.

“Hey, why are you being so harsh?”

“And I’m going to reject you. Can you still get along with me after this? I can’t. We’ll become strangers who can’t even look each other in the eye.”

“…Really? You won’t even look at me?”

“Yeah, really. I’ll cut ties. Completely.”

“You heartless bastard.”

‘Could he really sever their friendship entirely?’ Yoonwoo wondered. Still, he couldn’t accept Hyun-jun’s feelings, so it was best to be as cold as possible in this situation.

As if he had finally understood Yoonwoo’s words, Hyun-jun dropped his head dejectedly, asking in a voice heavy with lingering hope, “Hey, if I wasn’t an Alpha… would you have accepted me then?”

“What part of what I said didn’t you understand? I told you I only date girlfriends.”

“You’re truly heartless.”

“One more word and I’m cutting ties right here.”

“Alright, alright!”

Hyun-jun scowled, holding up both hands in surrender. Yoonwoo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was relieved that things had concluded relatively well, a voice pierced his ears.

“Oh? Oh Yeon-chae, when did you get here?”

“…Just now.”

“Ah, just arrived? Why are you standing there like a ghost, without a sound?”

Hyun-jun chuckled awkwardly, glancing at Yeon-chae.

It was an unexpected situation. Yoonwoo’s shoulders twitched. He stiffly rose and turned around to find Yeon-chae standing by the door with an unreadable expression.

Perhaps because the entrance was open, letting in the outside air, a refreshing scent gradually diffused, pushing back the lingering, unpleasant odor that had filled the cafe.

He anxiously observed Yeon-chae, wondering how much he had overheard, but found nothing unusual in Yeon-chae’s expression.

If he had heard their conversation, he would have surely said something. And even if he had, Yoonwoo hadn’t done anything wrong by rejecting Hyun-jun.

Nevertheless, a strange tension coiled within him. Yoonwoo clenched and unclenched his fists, then took a deep breath.

A sweet, opulent fragrance suddenly permeated his lungs. It was a potent aroma, far more than mere fresh air. Yoonwoo paused, staring intently at Yeon-chae.

‘Did he spray perfume?’

Come to think of it, Yeon-chae looked a little different than usual. Yoonwoo raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Yeon-chae from head to toe.

His neat forehead was cleanly revealed, his bangs styled up and fixed with wax. Beneath his luminous features, a glimpse of his white nape appeared almost innocent.

Unlike his usual hoodie and jeans, today he wore a dark gray coat over a white sweater and black jeans, emphasizing his small face and long legs. His broad shoulders, enveloped by the coat, looked firm, and the contours of his chest were subtly defined beneath the white sweater.

Yoonwoo unconsciously licked his parched lower lip with the tip of his tongue.

His chest ached with a dull throb, his heart pounding. But it wasn’t merely Yeon-chae’s attire that caused it.

Yeon-chae held a bouquet in his left hand. It was a simple bouquet, containing only red roses, yet its very simplicity made it more striking and eye-catching.

And in his right hand….

“Oh, isn’t that the handmade chocolate set sold at the cafe up ahead?” Hyun-jun interjected, utterly oblivious and out of context. He was still sprawled in front of the table.

Yoonwoo felt a surge of embarrassment in front of Yeon-chae. He glared at Hyun-jun, then reached out a hand to him. Shameless Hyun-jun promptly grabbed Yoonwoo’s hand, stood up, and brushed off his pants.

“That’s what Eun Yoonwoo likes, right?”

While there was a semblance of context now, he was still incredibly tactless. Yoonwoo frowned, waving his hand dismissively in front of Hyun-jun’s eyes.

“Hey, you can go now. You’ve said everything you needed to, right?”

“That’s harsh. Are you really kicking me out like this?”

“Be grateful I’m even talking to you.”

Hyun-jun hesitated, then headed towards the door. Yeon-chae stood silently, his lips sealed, before stepping aside to let him pass. As Yoonwoo watched him, he finally understood the true reason Yeon-chae seemed so different.

Yeon-chae’s face was utterly devoid of emotion. His gaze, chillingly cold, bypassed Yoonwoo and fixed on the empty space beyond him. Yoonwoo’s heart sank instantly.

He had never seen Yeon-chae wear such an expression.

“Yeon-chae….”

Just as he was about to call out to him, Hyun-jun, who seemed to be leaving, turned back to Yeon-chae and asked curiously, “Hey, how did you get that chocolate set? They were sold out when I went to buy them today.”

Yeon-chae slowly lifted his head. His gaze lingered on Yoonwoo for a moment, then moved away. His well-formed red lips parted slowly.

“…I received it as a gift.”

It was an unexpected answer. Yoonwoo felt as if he’d been doused with cold water, his mind snapping awake. He whipped his head up to glare at Yeon-chae, but Yeon-chae did not look back at him. His bloodless cheeks looked starkly pale.

Surprised by Yeon-chae’s answer, Hyun-jun’s voice, wide-eyed and probing, echoed through the cafe.

“What, really? That was a limited edition ‘proposal set,’ wasn’t it? Wow, Oh Yeon-chae. Did you get confessed to on Christmas Eve? By whom?”

“Some….”

“Huh? Some? Some who?”

“…A Beta.”

“What? A Beta?”

Yoonwoo’s legs threatened to give out, but he forced himself to remain standing. It was a strange reply.

Not ‘someone from a certain year’ or ‘a student from a particular department,’ but ‘some Beta’? It felt as though Yeon-chae was speaking specifically for his benefit, sending a chill down his spine.

An ominous premonition seized him, filling him with a sudden dread. Yoonwoo looked up at Yeon-chae with anxious eyes.

“Oh, really? Well, that’s great! But why didn’t they come with you? You should be on a date on Christmas Eve.”

“What for?”

“Huh? You’re not going to meet them? Was it someone you weren’t interested in?”

“Why would an Alpha and a Beta meet?” Yeon-chae paused, then added, “…There’s no reason for us to date.”

His pounding heart turned to ice.

“Oh, come on, don’t say things like that. You never know what might happen.”

‘While someone else is getting rejected and going home alone,’ Hyun-jun grumbled, but the rest of his words were lost to him. Yoonwoo felt the color drain from his cheeks, but he couldn’t say anything, clenching and unclenching his fists.

No warmth returned to his fingertips. The headache he had momentarily forgotten surged back, accompanied by nausea.

“But why did you come here?”

“…I just stopped by while passing. I’ll leave right away.”

“Then let’s go together. Hey, Eun Yoonwoo! We’re leaving!”

Hyun-jun patted Yeon-chae’s back and opened the exit door.

Yeon-chae suddenly turned his head. Their gazes met in the air. A shadow fell over his usually gentle, luminous eyes. No emotion could be discerned from his dark brown eyes.

“I’ll be going now, Senior.”

“…Oh.”

Those were the last words. Yeon-chae soon left the cafe, and the door closed before Yoonwoo’s eyes.

Yoonwoo stood there for a long time. When he finally came to his senses, an hour had already passed. The sky beyond the cafe’s glass wall had been overcast all day, and now snow, which had begun falling silently at some unknown time, fluttered down.

He managed to move his swaying body and stepped out of the cafe. The area in front of the school was deserted late at night. The snowflakes grew larger, blurring his vision.

Yoonwoo thought of Yeon-chae. Not of his cold face today, but of the way he usually smiled deeply, his eyes gentle and shadowed. The smile that spread across his not-yet-healed nose bridge and the line of his lips was always beautiful.

However, his thoughts abruptly ceased, cut short. His eyes had fallen upon a trash can by the roadside in front of the cafe.

Inside the large, cylindrical bin, a familiar bouquet and chocolate set had been discarded.

Snow piled up on the red bouquet. It was a heavy snowfall. The red petals, visible just moments before, were now scattered beneath the white snowflakes. Soon, the thick snow swallowed the entire bouquet.

The trash can, standing alone on the street, was completely white, as if the bouquet and chocolate box had never been there, leaving only pristine snow.

Every news report had declared that Christmas that year would be a white Christmas.

Snow fell on Christmas Eve, but Yoonwoo never knew if a white Christmas actually arrived the next day. He had collapsed onto his bedding as soon as he returned home alone and suffered from a high fever for nearly a week.

And so, from Christmas until the New Year, Yoonwoo lay ill alone in an empty house.

There was no contact from Yeon-chae. This remained true even after the long winter finally passed and the new semester began.

Then, a full season turned, and it was spring once more.