By Zephyria 
Spring аrrivеd quickly. It fеlt as if not muсh timе hаd раssеd since thе Меmbership Тraining, but beforе he knеw it, it was Аpril. Flоwer buds fоrmеd оn the desоlatе trees, and frеsh green sprоuts began to рoр uр one by one. Lоoking out the windоw аt thе соlorful scеnerу, Wоo-yеоn felt a lingering regrеt that hе hаdn’t seen thе snоw lаst wintеr.
“Lеt’s cаll it а daу.”
The professor turnеd off the bеam prоjector аnd left thе classrооm without loоking back. Wоo-уеon skimmеd thrоugh the nоtеs he hаd just writtеn аnd took оff his glаsses. Аs hе gеntlу pressed his dry eyes, Seon-kyu let out a groan, slumped over his desk.
“Haa… the exam range is insane.”
Did someone say the language of cherry blossoms was midterms? Before he even had time to mourn the passing season, the exam scope was revealed. If the content was going to be difficult, the volume should have been small; if the volume was going to be large, the content should have been easy. Even for the subjects replaced by reports, the required length was enormous.
“But since when do you wear glasses? Is your vision bad?”
“No, they’re non-prescription.”
Having improved his vision through LASIK, Woo-yeon wore glasses like protective goggles whenever his eyes felt dry. He wondered what the point was, having gone through surgery because he hated glasses, but it was unavoidable when he had to read so much text lately. Since they had no prescription, his eyes didn’t shrink into tiny beads like they used to.
“The weather is cloudy today, but my eyes are so dry.”
His eyes had felt strangely dry from the moment he woke up. His dreams were restless, the sky was gloomy, and his shoulders were stiff, leaving him in a foul mood. Whenever he felt this out of sorts, something bad always happened. Pushing away the ominous feeling, Woo-yeon began packing his things one by one.
“Hey, Woo-yeon. Ga-ram Noona said to come to the club room; she’s buying Tteokbokki.”
Checking the watch on his wrist, Woo-yeon nodded. The mention of the ‘club room’ made him think of Do-hyun, but since it had just passed 12 o’clock, he would likely be in a lecture. He would probably be tied up in the College of Humanities until at least 1 o’clock.
“I’m planning to go study before 1, is that okay?”
“It probably doesn’t matter. She’s calling us because the portion is too much for her to eat alone anyway.”
Since returning from the Membership Training, Woo-yeon had been unconsciously avoiding Do-hyun. Every time they crossed paths in the club room, every Friday in the same lecture, or every time they met in passing, his heart would thrum and his face would flush.
Woo-yeon knew what this cold-like symptom was a precursor to. It was an emotion he had already experienced four years ago, and the only solutions were to pretend not to notice and to look away.
“Noona, we’re here!”
“Oh, you guys came?”
As expected, only Ga-ram’s pheromones were felt in the club room. Seeing the window half-open, it seemed she had remembered Woo-yeon belatedly and aired out the room. Woo-yeon instinctively scanned the interior of the club room and stopped moving when he spotted a figure sitting on the sofa.
“You’re here?”
Teacher was there. The face he hadn’t seen since Friday lunch glanced at Woo-yeon. The beige cardigan with large buttons suited Do-hyun’s neat appearance quite well.
“Hyung! I guess your lecture ended early?”
“Yeah, by about an hour.”
The drifting dark clouds cleared. Like the scent of spring wafting from outside, Woo-yeon’s mood was dyed in a different color. The surprisingly clean state of his condition was a sudden change that left even him bewildered.
“…Hello.”
Woo-yeon gave a brief greeting and stepped inside. He had avoided Do-hyun specifically to prevent this. The fact that they were in the same club eventually caught up with him. His heart felt so itchy that he almost wanted to scratch his chest vigorously.
“Are you studying for exams already? Daebak.”
“What do you mean ‘already’? It’s about time to start.”
Seon-kyu let out an exclamation and approached Do-hyun’s sofa. At the comment that he thought Seon Woo-yeon was the only one this diligent, Do-hyun let out a thin, faint laugh.
“He is diligent; he even attends the lectures he’s going to drop.”
For some reason, it felt sarcastic. Woo-yeon flinched instinctively and sat down next to Seon-kyu. As soon as he sat, Do-hyun’s eyes curved into a smile.
“It’s been a while.”
Awkwardly rubbing his ear, Woo-yeon scanned the notebook on the table. ‘We saw each other on Friday, though.’ When he replied thus, Do-hyun smiled silently. Watching the still-perfect handwriting, Woo-yeon clumsily leaned his back against the sofa.
“Hey, Kim Do-hyun isn’t the top of the class for nothing. He’s a crazy guy who finishes an assignment the day it’s given and submits it the next day.”
“Wow, Noona. If a professor tells this guy to read something, he actually reads the whole thing. He reviews what he learned alone even during breaks… I bet even students preparing for entrance exams wouldn’t do this.”
The tone wasn’t accusatory; they just seemed to find it fascinating. As they clicked their tongues, saying both of them were relentless, Woo-yeon spoke in a calm tone.
“I can’t keep up with the progress if I don’t do that. I’m not very smart.”
Do-hyun gazed intently at Woo-yeon’s ear. Because he had been fiddling with it for so long, the earlobe had turned red. Woo-yeon tried not to show his embarrassment, but the steady gaze did not waver until his expression distorted.
“Well… it’s good to work hard.”
Curling the corners of his lips, Do-hyun put down his pen. Only then did Woo-yeon breathe a sigh of relief and put his hands in his hoodie pocket. The warm temperature slightly stabilized his pounding heart.
“You guys should come study in the club room if there are no seats in the library. No one talks during the exam period.”
“Really? That’s a relief. He was actually saying there were no seats in the library.”
“…It’s not like there were absolutely no empty seats.”
Seon-kyu looked delighted, but Woo-yeon countered timidly. It was true that there were no seats in the library, but that didn’t mean he wanted to come to the club room. It was because he thought something truly terrible would happen if he kept running into Do-hyun.
“Eh, last time you went to the library, you just left because the person in the next seat was hitting on you. The club room is more comfortable and better.”
“What? Which bastard hit on our Woo-yeon!”
Ga-ram, who had been rolling around on the cot, bolted upright. Caught off guard, Woo-yeon let out an awkward cough. Do-hyun was also staring blankly at Woo-yeon.
“They weren’t hitting on me…”
Woo-yeon couldn’t find the words to make an excuse and shut his mouth.
A few days ago, Woo-yeon had visited the library and managed to secure a single empty seat after a fierce battle for space. And he left the library in less than an hour. It was because of a drink that had been placed on his seat while he was in the restroom.
“They said they even put pheromones on the note. That’s definitely hitting on someone.”
It was an object drenched in Alpha pheromones. He thought this kind of move only happened in movies or dramas, but experiencing it in person was quite unpleasant. Naturally, Woo-yeon left the library without even touching the drink.
“Ugh, there are always kids like that. Instead of studying like they’re supposed to.”
Ga-ram crossed her arms and shook her head as if she knew exactly how it was. Then, she pushed Do-hyun aside and sat in the seat next to him. Taking the notebook and pen as if they were her own, she grinned.
“Hey, while we’re on the subject, let’s start a study group.”
He couldn’t tell how she had reached that conclusion. All three of them gave her bewildered looks, but Ga-ram didn’t care at all and scribbled with the pen.
“The goal is… getting good grades.”
Grades. The large letters were crooked. Do-hyun, who was already getting good grades, looked appalled, asking, ‘Who is that for?’ Woo-yeon felt the same.
“We’ll just gather to study during the exam period. To motivate each other and share past exam papers.”
Ga-ram presented an uncharacteristically persuasive argument. While there was still no benefit for Do-hyun, Seon-kyu’s eyes sparkled with interest. It was clear that the difficult subjects were flashing through his mind.
“Kim Do-hyun, it’s good for you to study while teaching too. We can’t let our Woo-yeon suffer such an insult at the library, can we?”
“No, I’m not particularly…”
“Woo-yeon, this is a matter of this Noona’s pride.”
“Why is your pride involved in this?”
Woo-yeon let out a hollow laugh and rubbed the back of his head. No matter how he thought about it, he felt he was just being used. At that moment, Do-hyun curled his lips and took out another pen.
“If we’re doing it, set a long period and define the goal clearly. Like, a GPA of X or higher.”
Woo-yeon was flustered by the fact that he had readily joined the plan. It was closer to one-sided mentoring than a study group; he never imagined he would agree so easily. Meanwhile, Do-hyun was precisely writing down the target GPA.
“Hey, a 4.0 isn’t some random dog’s name.”
“If we gather half-heartedly, it’ll just become a place to play. We need a theme to study accordingly.”
Exact days, times, and subjects. With only the location left to decide, Woo-yeon suddenly snapped back to his senses.
“I’m not doing it.”
The three pairs of eyes turned toward Woo-yeon. Woo-yeon narrowed his brows and shook his head. A study group. If he did that, he would face Do-hyun every week. He absolutely could not do that.
“I’m more comfortable doing it alone.”
Do-hyun looked up. His dark pupils fully reflected Woo-yeon’s delicate face. Before Seon-kyu could persuade him to join anyway, a firm voice flowed from Do-hyun’s lips.
“You have to.”
Woo-yeon had thought for a while now that he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. He seemed the same as usual, but there was a faint thorniness to him. It felt as though Woo-yeon was the only one in the club room who noticed it.
“Do you think you can handle English Phonology alone?”
“….”
Woo-yeon didn’t answer and looked away. English Phonology was the only lecture he took with Do-hyun. Do-hyun had promised to help him study, and Woo-yeon had kept the course relying solely on that promise. Of course, Woo-yeon was currently avoiding the promise with Do-hyun using various excuses.
“There are quizzes every week. It seemed like you didn’t do well last week, so you should make up for it.”
He had no words to refute. As he said, he had completely messed up last week’s quiz. What were plosives, and what were fricatives? The problems he was seeing for the first time were so complex that even Daniel, who grew up in America, wouldn’t have been able to solve them.
“…Still…”
Woo-yeon couldn’t answer readily and rolled his eyes. It was at that moment that a bright smile appeared on Do-hyun’s face. Do-hyun gave a tender smile that seemed as if it would melt everything and began to speak in a soft voice.
“Woo-yeon.”
The moment their eyes met, Woo-yeon instinctively straightened his posture. Because even though he was smiling like an angel, it felt as if the surrounding temperature had dropped by about 5 degrees. Whether he knew Woo-yeon was nervous or not, an impeccably gentle voice flowed out.
“Am I uncomfortable for you?”
“I’ll do it.”
Woo-yeon shook his head quickly. It was an action devoid of consciousness, as if someone had grabbed his head and moved it. As if he had expected this, Do-hyun’s eyes curved in satisfaction.