Chapter 3: An Unforeseen Detour and a Familiar Stranger

Hyun-jun seized Yoonwoo’s remaining left wrist. The alpha pheromones, now even closer, once again triggered a throbbing headache.

Yoonwoo, without realizing it, furrowed his brow, prompting the junior to glance up and over Yoonwoo’s shoulder. Hyun-jun, catching their gaze, wore a sullen expression.

“It seems like Yoonwoo sunbae’s wrist is hurting.”

“Ah. Was it hurting?”

Hyun-jun hastily released Yoonwoo’s wrist. As the aggressive scent faded, Yoonwoo could finally breathe a little easier.

Sitting next to the junior seemed to alleviate his condition somewhat, so Yoonwoo had planned to simply attend the lecture and then rush home. However, out of nowhere, both Hyun-jun and the junior offered to take him to the hospital. Yoonwoo merely blinked, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

He had intended to visit a hospital at some point. The pregnancy test results might not be definitive, and if they were, he would need to devise a plan. Yet, he certainly had no intention of arriving at a clinic with two alphas trailing behind him, one of whom was the unwitting father of the baby, completely oblivious to the ‘accident’ he’d caused.

‘What are these guys even talking about, seriously…’

Pushing away the two overly meddlesome alphas, Yoonwoo settled into his seat. He figured if he could just hold out until the lecture began, neither of them would be able to make a fuss any longer.

Yoonwoo opened his textbook with a look of indifference, and Hyun-jun, after gauging his mood, subtly took his seat as well. The junior, however, remained standing, silently gazing down at Yoonwoo. The gaze on his cheek felt piercing, but Yoonwoo pretended not to notice.

“…Hey, sit down quickly. What are you doing just standing there?”

Yoonwoo hesitated, his lips parting to speak.

Just then, the teaching assistant entered through the front door of the lecture hall. He stood before the podium, seemingly preparing to take attendance, when the junior raised a hand and called out to him in a low voice.

“Excuse me, TA.”

A sudden, ominous premonition washed over Yoonwoo.

[What’s wrong?] The TA, turning to face them and mouthing the question, received a calm reply from the junior.

“Yoonwoo sunbae collapsed just a moment ago. I think we need to take him to the hospital.”

“What, collapsed? Are you feeling very unwell? Go quickly and come back.”

“What? Hey! I said I’m fine! I’m really fine!”

Yoonwoo protested vehemently, but the TA, known for his kind nature, urged him on with an even more worried expression.

“Don’t argue, just go. Get a doctor’s note. Yeon-chae, take him quickly.”

“No, but I’m really fine…”

However, no one paid any heed to Yoonwoo’s faint protest. And so, in a daze, Yoonwoo found himself utterly unable to avoid going to the hospital with him.

The tall, handsome junior’s name was Oh Yeon-chae. Yoonwoo had first met him at the freshman welcoming party around the start of the first semester last year.

A year ago.

One day in early March, Yoonwoo, then a third-year student, attended the customary freshman welcoming party where new students were introduced. The business department, teeming with seniors, juniors, and peers, had an innumerable influx of freshmen, so much so that after the lengthy self-introductions, not a single name or face lingered in his memory.

The only freshmen whose faces he vaguely recognized were those who had coincidentally shared his table.

Students from the first, second, and third years were all intermingled, drinking together.

One freshman, who had been sitting some distance away, approached and took a seat opposite Yoonwoo. His small face, perched atop broad shoulders, stood out prominently among the average-sized students.

Even from afar, the junior’s features were so distinct and handsome that Yoonwoo remembered him. Up close, his delicate and refined features made him almost beautiful. Yoonwoo, secretly admiring him, returned the bow of the student who inclined his head towards him.

Despite looking like someone who would effortlessly attract crowds of peers and seniors alike, the freshman seemed unexpectedly shy. As he hesitated, attempting to speak to Yoonwoo, a faint blush crept onto his cheeks.

“Um, sunbae… Do you… perhaps not know me?”

“Hm? Of course I know you, Oh Yeon-chae. We were just introduced a moment ago.”

“No, not just now… No, never mind.”

Yeon-chae, who had seemed to hesitate as if he had something more to say, eventually trailed off, casting his eyes downwards. Beneath his long, thick eyelashes, his brown eyes held a transparent quality.

His well-formed lips parted and closed a few more times in hesitation. Yet, Yeon-chae ultimately remained silent, simply emptying the beer glass placed before him.

After emptying a few more glasses, he seemed to have mustered some courage. Yeon-chae, his voice a little louder than before, met Yoonwoo’s gaze directly from across the table and asked once more.

“Have we, by any chance, met somewhere before?”

“Me? Met you, junior? I don’t think so…”

Yoonwoo scrutinized Yeon-chae’s face, trying to dredge up any memories, but nothing came to mind beyond their recent mass introduction among the freshmen. More to the point, he mused, if he had ever seen a face like this before, how could he have forgotten it so completely? After pondering for a while longer, Yoonwoo eventually gave up and shook his head.

“No, I think you’re mistaken. We haven’t met.”

“Oh…”

Yeon-chae’s expression as he replied seemed so crestfallen that Yoonwoo felt compelled to offer some comfort.

“I have a pretty common face. That’s probably why you’re experiencing déjà vu.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Hm?”

Yeon-chae, who had once again been silently staring at his beer glass with downcast eyes, suddenly lifted his head. Beyond their meeting gazes, his light-brown eyes shimmered with a transparent light.

“No, it’s not a common face.”

“Ah, oh… Th-thank you.”

Yeon-chae’s earnest expression, insisting it wasn’t a common face—though Yoonwoo couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or not—remained vividly etched in his mind. That had been his first encounter with Oh Yeon-chae. Or so he thought…

Despite a two-year age gap, Yeon-chae readily followed Yoonwoo.

For a long time initially, Yoonwoo hadn’t even noticed it. While his circumstances had significantly improved now, up until last year, when he was a third-year, Yoonwoo had been too preoccupied with managing his own affairs due to his family’s difficult financial situation. He had been scrambling to maintain his scholarship and frantically working part-time during any spare moments, leaving him no interest whatsoever in who came and went around him.

It was several weeks after their initial meeting at the freshman welcoming party that they began to truly spend time together. Yoonwoo, caught up in his busy daily life, had completely forgotten about the handsome freshman he’d met there, but then his encounters with Yeon-chae suddenly became more frequent.

This began in late March of last year, the day Yeon-chae coincidentally stopped by the café where Yoonwoo worked.

“Oh? Yeon-chae. Did you come for coffee? Fancy seeing you here.”

Yoonwoo, who had been manning the counter, looked up at the sound of the door opening and was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face. Though they had only met once, his name already felt natural on Yoonwoo’s tongue.

Only after calling out so familiarly did Yoonwoo feel a slight awkwardness. Since their interaction at the welcoming party had been nothing more than a fleeting greeting, the handsome freshman might not even remember Yoonwoo’s face or name. To be fair, Yoonwoo had been particularly bored that day, as there had been hardly any customers.

“Yes… Yoonwoo sunbae.”

Yeon-chae nodded, his expression demure. The face that had stood out even within the drab business department building seemed to shine even more brightly once outside the campus.

“How did you even know about this place? It’s so tucked away that most of our department students don’t know it. They won’t come even if I offer a discount because it’s ‘too far.’ Isn’t that cold-hearted? But… you didn’t, by any chance, come to see me, did you?”

In his excitement, Yoonwoo had just babbled on, and then some truly random words slipped out. He had gotten carried away, but only after Yeon-chae widened his eyes in surprise did Yoonwoo close his mouth and laugh awkwardly.

“Ah, sorry. I’ve been working all day and haven’t had a single customer. I think this is the first time I’ve opened my mouth today.”

“Oh…”

“What do you want to drink? Since it’s your first time here, it’s on me. Come to think of it, I’ve never even bought you a meal. I was going to treat you anyway, so this is perfect. The cakes here are delicious, too…”

“Um, sunbae.”

“Hm?”

Yeon-chae interrupted Yoonwoo’s rambling. Yoonwoo, who had been gesturing towards the cakes, looked up as Yeon-chae hesitantly began to speak.

“Then… couldn’t you just buy me a meal instead?”

“Huh?”

“The school cafeteria is fine too. I heard the agricultural college’s cafeteria has good food…”

“Huh? The agricultural college cafeteria?”

Yoonwoo tilted his head, puzzled as to why Yeon-chae would suggest the agricultural college cafeteria, which was quite a distance away. Getting there required a long walk or a shuttle bus ride. Of course, the agricultural college cafeteria did have a decent view, and as Yeon-chae said, it had a reputation for reasonably good food.

For Yoonwoo, who had been at the school for several years, one cafeteria was much like another, and he believed proximity was best. But for a freshman, it might be different. He supposed it would be nice to visit once.

As Yoonwoo finished his thoughts and nodded, Yeon-chae, whose expression had been tense, now smiled brightly with a visible sense of relief.

His smiling face, with its long, curving eyes, was so radiant and beautiful that Yoonwoo’s gaze was momentarily captured. For no discernible reason, the tips of his ears felt warm. A strange tickle stirred somewhere deep within his chest. And so, Yoonwoo simply smiled back at him.

A few days later, Yoonwoo, as promised, headed to the agricultural college cafeteria with Yeon-chae.

“Let’s go down to the main gate and take the shuttle. It should be arriving any minute now.”

He spoke, tugging at Yeon-chae’s sleeve, but there was no sign of him readily following. Yoonwoo turned around.

Yeon-chae stood still in his spot, asserting his opinion with a gentle yet firm demeanor.

“Going all the way down there, waiting for the shuttle, and riding it will take about the same amount of time as just walking.”

“Huh? No, it won’t. I said it’s arriving soon. The shuttle is super quick. That’s much faster.”

Yoonwoo spoke with a hint of impatience, as the bus was due to arrive any moment. While the buses ran frequently, he knew they could end up waiting a long time if they were unlucky.

But Yeon-chae, that day, was acting like a disobedient puppy.

“We can just go this way instead. The weather’s nice today, and…”

“What? The weather?”

Wondering why he was suddenly talking about the weather, Yoonwoo looked up at the sky. It had been overcast and gloomy all morning, and now heavy storm clouds gathered, threatening rain. The cold dampness seemed to seep into his bones, causing Yoonwoo to pull the front of his baseball jacket, which he wore almost like a uniform, even tighter around him.

“Hey, it looks like rain. Do you have an umbrella?”

“It won’t rain.”

Yeon-chae’s reply was immediate, yet his voice carried a hint of petulance. Yoonwoo, thinking the junior seemed a bit odd today, nevertheless dutifully asked.

“How do you know?”

“The weather forecast said it wouldn’t rain. From 11 AM to 2 PM.”

“You checked the weather forecast just to go to the agricultural college cafeteria?”

“…That’s why we should walk. If you’re always indoors, you won’t synthesize enough Vitamin D, and you’ll get insomnia.”

“But I sleep perfectly fine…”

He grumbled his reply, but before he knew it, he was walking side-by-side with Yeon-chae. To suggest a twenty-five-minute walk just for a meal—he was an inefficient kid in the strangest ways.