Chapter 35: The Unyielding Tree

The first date was fortunate in many ways.

Yeon-chae secretly smiled, sipping an americano while sitting beside Yoonwoo by the campus lake.

Yoonwoo seemed to enjoy the mixed coffee affogato Yeon-chae had bought for him. ‘Subtly buy them their favorite food.’ The blog’s second piece of advice had proven quite accurate.

However, as they returned from the date, Yeon-chae realized this approach wouldn’t suffice. ‘Spend as much time together as possible.’ It was proving difficult to follow the blog’s third piece of advice.

Merely waiting in the department office to ‘accidentally’ run into him, or frequenting the café where Yoonwoo worked part-time, had its limits. ‘If only they had a class together.’

Pondering this regretfully, a thought suddenly struck them: auditing a class was an option.

It was a eureka moment.

After receiving permission from the professor to audit, Yeon-chae ambitiously entered the same class as Yoonwoo, only to encounter an obstacle on the very first day.

It happened when they overheard Yoonwoo’s conversation with his peer, Hyun-jun.

“You two have been practically inseparable lately, so I thought you were, you know, flirting with that freshman…”

Yeon-chae’s heart lurched once more.

Living in such constant trepidation felt like it would eventually lead to disaster. ‘How on earth did he know?’

Yeon-chae huddled behind the students gathered near Yoonwoo and Hyun-jun, holding their breath.

However, Yoonwoo’s reply utterly shattered Yeon-chae’s hopes.

“That’s never going to happen, not even if the world turns upside down. Don’t go around spreading rumors like that, got it?”

Yeon-chae felt such a profound sense of injustice that tears nearly welled up. ‘He was the one who suggested marriage first…’

The first day of auditing, which Yeon-chae had anticipated so much that they hadn’t slept properly the night before, seemed to be ending in disappointment.

Yeon-chae had given up many expectations ever since Yoonwoo couldn’t recall their childhood. While a little disappointed, they believed new memories could always be forged.

However, they never imagined being completely excluded from Yoonwoo’s romantic interests simply for being a male Alpha. They had always lived by the motto that no tree could withstand ten strikes, but it felt as if Yeon-chae held a utility knife instead of an axe.

That tree seemed destined never to fall.

After class, Yeon-chae, feeling dejected and melancholic, gazed down at the main sports field from the lawn in front of Building 58.

It was the very spot where they had recently ‘accidentally’ encountered Yoonwoo and watched him eat ice cream. Despite Yeon-chae’s heavy heart, the cloudless, windless weather remained brilliantly sunny.

The midday sun, sharp and clear in the center of the sky, made it a day like a painting rendered in watercolors.

“Yeon-chae, that thing you wanted to do together the other day.”

Yoonwoo, who had approached unnoticed, suddenly spoke.

“Let’s do it, you and I.”

“Pardon…?”

“When are you free?”

‘Anytime at all.’

Suppressing the urge to say that, Yeon-chae covered their face with their phone, pretending to check their schedule. It was to hide the smile that was threatening to break through.

That entire day, it was incredibly difficult to suppress the ticklish sensation, like a swarm of butterflies suddenly taking flight within their stomach.

As a child, Yeon-chae and Yoonwoo took tennis lessons together at the apartment complex’s tennis court.

The lessons continued for almost a year until Yoonwoo abruptly moved away, as if fleeing.

At that time, unlike Yeon-chae, who was an only child, Yoonwoo had three siblings, so Yeon-chae didn’t have much time to monopolize him. The youngest, Jinwoo, especially, was barely past toddling but would cling to Yoonwoo whenever Yeon-chae tried to play with him, refusing to let go.

Every time Yeon-chae had a staring contest with the two-year-younger baby, they felt like a baby themselves, just like Jinwoo, which wounded their pride.

It was during this daily struggle of competition that Yeon-chae discovered tennis.

Seowoo, who usually took Yoonwoo to exercise, had no interest in tennis. Jinwoo and Kangwoo were still too small to even hold a racket.

When they went for lessons or practiced tennis, Yeon-chae could, on rare occasions, have Yoonwoo all to themselves. Because of this, Yeon-chae relentlessly pestered Yoonwoo to play tennis with them around that time.

Standing on the tennis court with Yoonwoo, Yeon-chae was overcome with emotion. Yoonwoo seemed to be enjoying himself too.

Yoonwoo even brought coffee he had brewed himself and offered it to Yeon-chae. It was a perfect date.

Afterward, Yeon-chae would seize Yoonwoo’s free periods every day to go on tennis dates with him. It was fortunate that the tennis court was conveniently located on campus.

They believed they had finally found a hobby that aligned with the blogger’s advice: ‘Share the same hobbies.’ The dates were always smooth.

That is, until Yoonwoo, having been hit by Yeon-chae’s ball, collapsed onto the tennis court and pretended to be dead. Yeon-chae hoisted Yoonwoo onto their back and sprinted towards the campus infirmary.

“I wasn’t unconscious. I was just pretending. Because I didn’t want to play tennis…”

Yoonwoo, dangling on Yeon-chae’s back, confessed. Yoonwoo actually disliked tennis. ‘Why didn’t he tell me sooner?’

Yeon-chae thought this resentfully but couldn’t utter a single complaint towards the sturdy tree that wouldn’t even get a scratch after a hundred strikes.

That day, a spring rain, much like a sudden shower, fell. That spring, such rains were frequent.

The sun still disappeared early and rose late. Carrying Yoonwoo on their back, Yeon-chae walked along the old path that led past the tennis court, around the lake, and towards Building 58.

Listening to their own plodding footsteps, Yeon-chae thought of their Yoon-hyung, whose hand they had held while heading to the tennis court. Memories of their shared past flowed forth.

A wave of melancholy and sadness washed over them. Yoon-hyung, whom Yeon-chae had last seen well over ten years ago, had grown into an adult alone as time flew by.

A day, two days, a year, two years… As time passed like wilting blossoms, Yeon-chae yearned for Yoon-hyung. Yet, it seemed only Yeon-chae was still bound by those old memories.

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

At that moment, Yoonwoo, still clinging to Yeon-chae’s back, suddenly reached out and stroked Yeon-chae’s cheek. The touch on their cheek, which Yeon-chae hadn’t realized was wet, felt warm.

Yoonwoo gently wiped Yeon-chae’s tears with his bare hands for a long while. Then, he tightened the arm wrapped around Yeon-chae’s neck and pulled them into a hug.

His warm skin softly enveloped Yeon-chae’s nape.

Yeon-chae clenched their eyes, swallowing back a torrent of tears that threatened to erupt. The past and the present mingled, flowing as leisurely as the breeze.

In that moment, Yeon-chae realized. There was truly no going back now.

Yoonwoo might have seemed different from Yoon-hyung, but he was still kind, still gentle… and even more beautiful than before.

Twenty-two-year-old Yoonwoo permeated Yeon-chae’s heart like a ray of sunshine breaking through the dreary, hopeless drizzle of mid-spring.

‘I was supposed to be the one permeating *his* heart…’

Yeon-chae truly believed they were doomed now. They were utterly trapped, forced to be the subordinate, to prostrate themselves completely.

“Yeon-chae. You know Yoonwoo *sunbae*.”

Yeon-chae was doing homework in the department office, hoping for an ‘accidental’ (yet planned) encounter with Yoonwoo.

Yeon-chae had felt a prickling sensation on the back of their head for a while, and then Da-eun, a classmate, suddenly appeared from behind. She hesitated briefly, then launched into conversation without even a greeting.

Yeon-chae had a bad feeling.

“You’re close with him, right? Really close?”

“No, we’re not.”

Yeon-chae narrowed their brows, crossed their arms, and stared intently at Da-eun. Da-eun, despite Yeon-chae’s stinging, expressionless gaze, remained undeterred.

“Oh, come on, you are close. You’re always together.”

“…”

A silent, almost confrontational exchange of glances ensued. It was only a staring contest from Yeon-chae’s perspective; Da-eun merely looked bewildered.

Da-eun’s next words were exactly as expected.

“Could you introduce me to him? He’s a Beta, right? And he doesn’t seem to have a girlfriend.”

Hovering around Yoonwoo, Yeon-chae had experienced many such moments. Yoonwoo, kind and gentle to everyone, was very popular.

If he hadn’t always been so busy with part-time jobs and studies, he would have had several girlfriends by now. ‘He probably has enough ex-girlfriends I don’t know about to count on both hands.’

Yeon-chae’s mood plummeted, and they spoke curtly.

“…I’ll ask him.”

“Really? Thank you, truly! Could you also give him this?”

Yeon-chae sighed softly as they accepted the gift box Da-eun offered. The box, neatly tied with a ribbon, contained chocolates.

‘Has it already spread that Eun Yoonwoo likes chocolate?’ Yeon-chae, feeling conflicted, tucked the chocolate box into their bag, thinking.

But what Yoonwoo truly liked was something else entirely. Despite their sharp thoughts, a slightly pathetic feeling settled over them.

It would be nice if Yeon-chae could casually make an excuse and refuse such requests, but that wasn’t their nature. Da-eun, overjoyed, flitted away, leaving Yeon-chae’s mood in a nosedive.

A little while later, Yoonwoo arrived. Yeon-chae glumly presented the chocolate box.

“What’s this? Chocolates?”

“Yes… My classmate, Da-eun is her name. She asked me to introduce you.”

Their words stumbled and tangled as they tried to force out an explanation despite their reluctance. Yoonwoo, who had taken the chocolate box and was tilting his head in confusion, looked up.

The moment their eyes met, Yoonwoo let out a small laugh. He playfully pinched Yeon-chae’s cheek with his fingers, stretching it out to the side.

“But Yeon-chae, why the long face? Are you jealous?”

“No…”

It was a lie. In truth, Yeon-chae was envious. Not of Yoonwoo, who received the confession, but of Da-eun, who was able to confess.

Despite his bold pronouncements, Yoon-hyung hadn’t presented as an Alpha. If only he had presented as an Omega, but that wasn’t the case either.

Of all things, he was a Beta. And a heterosexual Beta at that. Yeon-chae had hoped he would be open-minded, without prejudice against Alpha-Beta relationships, but Yoonwoo was a conservative man who believed Betas should only date Betas.

Yeon-chae was out from the start.

Yeon-chae felt utterly wronged. ‘If this was the case, why did he ask me to marry him?’