Chapter 6: The First-Year and the Unspoken Feelings

“Hey, you’ve been hanging around that first-year kid a lot lately, haven’t you?”

It was break time, five minutes before the lecture was set to begin. Hyun-jun approached and settled into the seat beside Yoonwoo, jabbing his arm without a greeting.

“First-year?”

Yoonwoo, who had been engrossed in his textbook, reading ahead for the day’s lesson, lifted his head. He looked at Hyun-jun with a puzzled expression, prompting him to hesitate before finally offering a familiar name.

“That, uh, Oh Yeon-chae, I think. The one with a name like a girl’s.”

“Ah, Yeon-chae? It’s a pretty name, isn’t it?”

Yoonwoo nodded with a satisfied air.

“He’s pretty-faced, too. The name suits him well.”

“Is he your son? Why are you looking so pleased?”

Hyun-jun scowled, retorting sharply. Yoonwoo clicked his tongue in disapproval, wondering if Hyun-jun was actually jealous of a younger student.

“Can’t I say someone pretty is pretty?”

“He’s just fairly decent-looking, why are you exaggerating? Is that your type?”

“My type? No, he’s probably popular with the girls.”

Yoonwoo waved his hand, finding it amusing that Hyun-jun was suddenly talking about his ‘type’ in reference to a male student. Hyun-jun then cautiously observed Yoonwoo before hesitantly asking,

“So you’re not… interested?”

Startled by the unexpected question, Yoonwoo was momentarily speechless. Hyun-jun subtly avoided Yoonwoo’s gaze, yet his face clearly conveyed his eagerness for an answer. After a brief silence, Yoonwoo finally spoke, his tone tinged with disbelief.

“Why would I like a guy?”

“He’s an Alpha, you know. It’s not just girls who might like him.”

Perhaps because he himself was an Alpha, Hyun-jun touched upon something Yoonwoo hadn’t even considered. Yoonwoo, who had been feeling that their conversation was subtly veering off course, finally burst into laughter.

“Ah, you’re right, I suppose.”

As a Beta, Yoonwoo had only ever dated women. He had completely forgotten that Alphas and Omegas could date regardless of gender, even though his own brother, Seowoo, was about to marry a male Alpha. Hyun-jun himself might end up with a male Omega. For Yoonwoo, however, it was a completely different world.

Yoonwoo shook his head.

“That’s a thing among Alphas and Omegas, isn’t it? I’m a Beta. I haven’t even thought about it.”

“You two have been practically glued together lately, so I thought you and that first-year were, you know, a thing…”

Hyun-jun jumped to conclusions with a sulky expression. If the bright, promising first-year heard such a baseless fabrication, he would surely protest vehemently. Concerned that unwarranted rumors might spread, Yoonwoo deliberately hardened his expression and spoke with seriousness.

“I’m not an Omega, I’m a Beta male. Alpha or not, why would I be ‘a thing’ with another guy?”

“So he’s really not it?”

“It’s not ‘him,’ it’s *any* guy. I’m not dating a guy. Satisfied?”

“…How can you be so certain about how things will turn out in the world?”

“Even if the world turned upside down, that wouldn’t happen. Don’t go around spreading such nonsense, got it?”

“Fine… whatever…”

Hyun-jun grumbled, his face pouting. Yoonwoo couldn’t understand why he was so dissatisfied; everyone should just live according to their own preferences.

So absorbed were they in their bickering that Yoonwoo had not even registered the presence to his left. He was about to offer a few more words when someone lightly tapped his left arm with a finger.

“Senior.”

“Uh…”

Yeon-chae was sitting in the seat opposite Hyun-jun, with Yoonwoo between them, calmly watching him. Like two people caught gossiping, Yoonwoo and Hyun-jun froze in silence, only their eyes blinking.

“You, what are you doing here? Class is about to start.”

“I know.”

Yeon-chae nodded. Unlike his usual smiling self, his expression was devoid of emotion, making him appear rather cold. Yoonwoo felt a chill creep down his neck, wondering if Yeon-chae had overheard everything. Had Hyun-jun’s tactless talk of a ‘thing’ upset him?

They hadn’t said anything truly bad, and Yoonwoo had even told Hyun-jun to keep quiet, yet he felt a pang of undeserved guilt. The sudden appearance of the very person they had been discussing made Yoonwoo inexplicably nervous.

“Yeon-chae, what we just said…”

“I’m taking this class too.”

“Huh?”

Without so much as a blink, Yeon-chae looked directly down at Yoonwoo as he spoke. Yoonwoo, who had been fumbling for an excuse, was utterly bewildered by Yeon-chae’s abrupt declaration.

It was already mid-April. Quite a bit of time had passed since the beginning of the semester, and midterms were fast approaching. The sudden appearance of Yeon-chae, who had never been seen before, claiming to be taking this lecture, filled Yoonwoo with worry.

“You haven’t been skipping all your classes, have you?”

If his attendance score was too low, he could fail the course regardless of his exam results. Feeling as though he needed to make him withdraw from the course immediately, a flustered Yoonwoo stammered his question, taken aback by Yeon-chae’s brazen, unconcerned declaration.

Yeon-chae silently looked down at Yoonwoo, then glanced up at the ceiling, squeezed his eyes shut, and lowered his head again, letting out an abrupt sigh. His handsome face looked particularly weary today.

“…I decided to audit it. I got the professor’s permission yesterday.”

“What? Suddenly? A required major course?”

It was a major course that third-year students were required to take anyway. As a first-year, there seemed no particular reason for Yeon-chae to audit it.

“Exactly. You’ll have to take this again later even if you audit it now. Why bother?”

Hyun-jun, sitting across from Yoonwoo, grumbled his question, but Yeon-chae offered no reply. He merely cast a fleeting glance at Hyun-jun. The look in his eyes was uncharacteristically cold, surprising Yoonwoo slightly. Hyun-jun, for his part, wore an annoyed expression.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?”

“Because I like it.”

“What?”

Hyun-jun repeated in a stunned voice.

Yeon-chae, who had been glaring at him, snapped his head around to face Yoonwoo. His pale eyes stared intently at Yoonwoo. The sharp gaze flustered Yoonwoo momentarily. It was Hyun-jun who had pressed for an answer, yet Yeon-chae spoke without tearing his eyes from Yoonwoo.

“I like this subject, so I’m auditing it. Is that not allowed?”

“Huh? No, it is… Why wouldn’t it be…?”

Startled by the sheer force of his words, Yoonwoo nodded vigorously.

After class, Yeon-chae vanished without a word. Hyun-jun struck up a conversation, and after exchanging a few sentences, Yoonwoo turned to look, only to find Yeon-chae’s seat already empty.

“Oh, Yeon-chae already left.”

“He left without saying goodbye? What a strange kid.”

Hyun-jun grumbled with a disgruntled expression. Finding his trivial complaints grating, Yoonwoo subtly furrowed his brow.

“Are you two close? You don’t even know his name properly.”

“Hey, even so, I’m his senior in the same department; he should at least say goodbye.”

“There are 200 seniors in the Business Administration department in just one year. What’s with all this talk of seniors? I’m leaving first.”

“Hey, Eun Yoonwoo…”

Yoonwoo pretended not to hear the voice calling from behind him and exited the classroom.

The conversation he’d had with Hyun-jun before class—the one Yeon-chae seemed to have overheard—had been bothering him incessantly. Consequently, he was unable to properly focus during the lecture, replaying their discussion in his mind, but he found nothing particularly problematic.

However, Yeon-chae didn’t even glance in Yoonwoo’s direction throughout the entire class. This remained true even when Yoonwoo kept casting glances at Yeon-chae’s slender profile, trying to catch his eye. By the time class was almost over, Yoonwoo had grown a little dejected and stopped trying to attract Yeon-chae’s attention. Though it had been a trivial conversation, Yeon-chae might have been upset just by the fact that they were talking about him in his absence.

‘Where did he go?’

A baseless guilt gnawed at Yoonwoo, and he felt compelled to appease Yeon-chae gently. Yoonwoo hurried his steps, looking around. Yeon-chae probably hadn’t gone far yet.

As he stepped out of the building, a biting chill swept in. It was already mid-April, yet the air was still like this. The campus, nestled in the foothills, experienced seasons a step later than other areas. Even on days with bright sunshine, it would be comfortably warm, but on cloudy days like today, a cold embrace would envelop the body. Yoonwoo, who was sensitive to the cold, shivered involuntarily, pulling the lapels of his department jacket—which he wore almost like a uniform—tighter.

Before he could take a few more steps, Yoonwoo spotted the familiar figure he was searching for. Yeon-chae was on the lawn overlooking the sports field, standing beneath a tall cherry tree, gazing at the bench where he and Yoonwoo had sat recently. Yoonwoo quietly approached and stood beside him.

Up close, Yeon-chae’s face had sharp, well-defined features and a prominent nose. His downcast eyes held a cool detachment, making his thoughts unreadable. His calm, composed profile was like that of a protagonist in a black-and-white film.

Feeling an inexplicable urgency, Yoonwoo instinctively reached out and grasped Yeon-chae’s wrist. Yeon-chae slowly turned his head towards him. His previously unfocused, hazy gaze sharpened with a sudden, startled clarity. Thick, dark lashes fluttered with his blinking eyes.

“Senior Yoonwoo…”

Yeon-chae’s voice trailed off. Then, Yeon-chae suddenly let out a soft chuckle. His long, curved eyes formed a crescent smile.

A long gust of wind swept through, scattering the clouds overhead. A sliver of sunlight grazed Yeon-chae’s radiant cheek. His delicately sculpted features seemed to shimmer with a newfound brilliance. The sunlight was golden. Such was the sunlight that day.

In the cool, dim campus, only this space where Yeon-chae smiled felt like the very heart of spring.

“What’s wrong, Senior? Is something the matter?”

His low, steady voice was gentle. Yet, his pale eyes held a hint of melancholy, and Yoonwoo suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to grant his every wish.

So, he impulsively spoke.

“That thing you asked me to do last time.”

“Last time?”

“Yes, what you mentioned back then…”

Yoonwoo recalled how Yeon-chae had pestered him to exercise together, and how he had brushed him off and refused, claiming it was too much hassle. He couldn’t understand why he had pushed him away over such a trivial matter. A fresh wave of regret washed over him.

“Let’s do it.”

“Pardon…?”

“When are you free?”

“…”

Yoonwoo looked up at Yeon-chae. Yeon-chae had stiffened, his pale face blinking slowly. With no answer forthcoming, Yoonwoo tilted his head in confusion.

“You, you said you wanted to exercise together.”

“…Exercise, Senior…”

“What kind of exercise do you want to do?”

Their eyes met, and Yeon-chae managed a strained smile. The corners of his lips, awkwardly upturned, trembled slightly.