Chapter 27: The Morning After

Yoonwoo gasped, then swallowed hard as the potent floral scent filled his lungs. The memory of Yeon-chae’s gaze made him tremble involuntarily. Again, he heard a low voice utter a string of curses.

“Hey, you……. Hngh, don’t, curse…… Aagh……!”

His attempt to ward off the fear with a complaint was cut short. A sudden, overwhelming sensation stole his breath, and his vision went white. His lower abdomen stiffened, and his limbs locked up. He felt as though his body might tear apart.

“Breathe, just… breathe. It’s okay…….”

“Hey, what the f*ck is ‘okay,’ ah, ugh!”

“You told me not to curse.”

“Ah, do I look like I can, stop? Aagh!”

“Just a little more…….”

A heavy, crushing pain engulfed his entire body. Yoonwoo struggled, trying to move, but Yeon-chae held him fast. Yeon-chae tightened his grip, lifting Yoonwoo slightly higher.

Yoonwoo yearned to escape, yet he couldn’t even scream, let alone move. His vision blurred.

“Sunbae…… Yoonwoo Sunbae…….”

A distant, watery voice called Yoonwoo’s name, but his ears and eyes were equally hazy. Yoonwoo swayed like a puppet on a string.

Tears welled in his burning eyes. He wanted to sob and beg, but he didn’t know what to plead for.

A subtle, sweet fragrance, mingling with the rich, vibrant scent, stimulated his nostrils. He felt as if he would drown in the tsunami of cherry blossom scent.

As the sensation intensified, Yoonwoo cried out, a sound like a scream, utterly lost.

“Yoonwoo hyung…….”

From a distant place, someone called Yoonwoo. It was a tender, desperate voice. He poured out his pathetically fervent emotions and his utterly helpless heart.

It was nostalgic, beautiful, and lovely. But before he could answer, another wave crashed over him. His entire body trembled violently.

An icy sensation shot through him like lightning, from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. All his senses ran wild, as if in a frenzy.

“No……!”

Finally, his vision plunged into complete darkness. His whole body felt as though it had exploded, then instantly dissolved.

Just then, arms wrapped around his chest and abdomen, swiftly flipping Yoonwoo over.

“H-h-Yeon-chae……”

Facing the longed-for face, Yoonwoo wept, almost sobbing.

Raw emotion flickered in Yeon-chae’s cool, striking features. Heat simmered in his clear, brown eyes, threatening to melt and consume Yoonwoo entirely.

Thus, the long night began.

The next morning, Yoonwoo awoke in Yeon-chae’s embrace, held tightly against him. His cheek rested on the firm muscles of Yeon-chae’s chest, his head pillowed on Yeon-chae’s bare arm.

“…….”

Morning sunlight dappled Yeon-chae’s pale cheek, shimmering like a net. His long eyelashes fluttered faintly with each soft breath. Beneath the sun, his features sharpened, so exquisitely beautiful they seemed sculpted, dazzling Yoonwoo.

After a long while of watching Yeon-chae’s sleeping face, Yoonwoo hesitantly reached out and gently stroked Yeon-chae’s cheek.

“It really is Yeon-chae…….”

The soft feel of his cheek beneath Yoonwoo’s fingertips, the high bridge of his nose, his plump lips, and the smooth line of his jaw—all felt vividly real. He had spent the night in Yeon-chae’s bed, comforting him during a sudden rut.

“Mmm…….”

“Huh?”

Yoonwoo, who had been absently touching his burning earlobe while recalling last night, was jolted awake by Yeon-chae’s low groan. He startled, peering closely at Yeon-chae’s face.

Yet, Yeon-chae remained asleep, eyes still closed. It seemed he was merely stirring in his sleep.

“Ah……. This is crazy, truly.”

Yoonwoo murmured, gazing down at Yeon-chae with a blank expression. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened. If not for the stiff muscle aches that made moving his limbs difficult, he would have believed it was all a dream.

However, his body was covered in red marks. It seemed he had been subjected to more long after he had collapsed into an unconscious sleep. Yeon-chae, who had barely slept, had a swollen, puffy face, resembling a steamed dumpling submerged in water.

“Yeon-chae, wake up. What’s going to happen now?”

Yoonwoo leaned over Yeon-chae, poking his soft cheek with a finger. One side of the sleeping ‘dumpling’ crinkled under Yoonwoo’s touch as he continued to breathe softly with closed eyes.

Yoonwoo chuckled to himself, then awkwardly buried his face in the pillow. His ears felt fiery hot, as if they were ablaze.

Last night, strictly speaking, had been a mistake.

Indeed, there was no need to strictly speak; it was a clear and undeniable mistake. Yoonwoo had been completely drunk, forgetting entirely how strained his relationship with Yeon-chae had become recently.

Moreover, Yeon-chae had been in rut. Though Yoonwoo wasn’t a pheromone-sensitive individual, he knew well how alphas in rut could lose their reason and become utterly out of their minds.

They spent days consumed by the heat of the rut, driven purely by instinct. Consequently, many often couldn’t recall what happened during that period. So, perhaps Yeon-chae might have forgotten last night’s events as well.

The thought brought a slight pang to his chest.

In any case, it was something to consider after Yeon-chae woke up. Yoonwoo lay on his side next to Yeon-chae, propped on one arm, and began observing him.

Yeon-chae had always been cold towards Yoonwoo, but after such a monumental incident, their relationship was bound to change. His heart pounded like a plaintiff awaiting a verdict.

Yet, no matter how long he waited, Yeon-chae didn’t stir. Yoonwoo grew a little bored, grumbling about how much a ‘kid’ slept, then giggled to himself, reasoning that perhaps kids just slept a lot.

As Yoonwoo made a commotion so close by, Yeon-chae’s dark eyebrows twitched. ‘Is he waking up?’ Yoonwoo’s eyes brightened with interest. Just then, Yeon-chae stirred, muttering in a sleep-roughened voice.

“Hyung……”

‘Hyung?’

Yoonwoo blinked. The unfamiliar address sounded strange to his ears.

Yeon-chae had never called Yoonwoo ‘hyung.’ No matter how close they became, the honorific had always been ‘Sunbae,’ and recently, it had been a very polite, almost irritating, ‘Sunbae-nim.’

“Yoon-ie hyung…….”

This time, the pronunciation was clearer. Yoonwoo bolted upright. His eyes, sharp from staring intently at Yeon-chae, trembled faintly.

“Yoon-ie hyung, don’t go…….”

“…….”

“I like you…….”

Pretty lips mumbled, uttering an unknown name. And then, a word followed that he couldn’t deny, no matter how positively he tried to think.

Yoonwoo blinked again. His head ached as if struck by a hammer, and his vision blurred, making it impossible to clear his mind.

Yoonwoo slowly lowered his gaze. Yeon-chae’s neat features and pale skin were as innocent and tidy as ever. His faintly trembling eyelashes were noticeably damp.

Moisture gathered at the corners of his long eyes, then, unable to bear its weight, streamed down. His clear cheeks became wet with transparent tears. His voice, lowered by sleep, whispered again.

“I like you, truly…….”

Only then did the reality truly sink in for Yoonwoo.

How big a mistake last night had been. And how much bigger a mistake it would be to wait for Yeon-chae to wake up right here.

Yoonwoo had been drunk last night and had accidentally had an incident with an Alpha junior in rut. That junior liked someone else.

He didn’t know if it had been before they knew each other, or during the past winter when they had lost contact. Either way, it didn’t matter.

He didn’t know how he would face Yeon-chae from today onwards.

There was even a class they were taking together this very semester.

Yoonwoo stretched out his trembling arm and gathered the clothes scattered around the bed. He hastily pulled on his T-shirt and jeans, thinking, ‘Last night was a mistake. It had to be treated as if it never happened.’

Would Yeon-chae remember last night? Yoonwoo recalled the common knowledge about Alpha ruts that he had thought of upon waking. Alphas often didn’t properly remember what happened during rut.

Yeon-chae had been in immense pain, his eyes unfocused as if he had lost his reason. He couldn’t have been in his right mind.

Indeed, if he had been in his right mind, he wouldn’t have done such a thing with Yoonwoo.

“Yeon-chae. Last night was a dream, okay?”

Yoonwoo kneaded Yeon-chae’s cheek, murmuring as if casting a spell. The end of his voice trembled, wet with emotion, but he pretended not to notice.

Perhaps Yoonwoo’s breath tickling his ear, Yeon-chae furrowed his brow and groaned.

‘Please, don’t remember,’ Yoonwoo desperately prayed, his heart pounding. If Yeon-chae didn’t remember, there would be no need or reason for their relationship to change significantly.

Yoonwoo wished for the situation not to become even worse than it already was.

‘Please, let’s just stop here.’ Returning to their awkward state from yesterday—exchanging glances and silent acknowledgments when their eyes met, pretending not to know each other—that was the best they could do.

After summoning every deity from God to Buddha and finishing his prayers, Yoonwoo swiftly got up and exited the bedroom.

He hesitated for a moment as his hand grasped the doorknob of the officetel’s front door, wondering if it was acceptable to flee like a hit-and-run driver. However, even if Yeon-chae vaguely recalled something, he felt he needed to get away from there first if he was to insist that nothing had happened.