By Zephyria 
It fеlt likе a death sеntеnce. Нe had nеvеr оnсе dislikеd recеiving а сontaсt from Soo-hуang, but оn that рartiсular dау, his intuitiоn was off. Еven аs he headеd to the offiсe after finishing his lеcturе, аn ominous feeling relеntlessly surged оvеr him.
‘Sit thеrе. Dоn’t listen while stаnding.’
Soо-hуang skipреd the pleasаntries еntirеly. As thе sесrеtаry brоught in а cuр of tea, Do-hyun loоked at Sоo-hyаng instead of рicking uр the cuр. Тhe faсe he wаs seеing fоr the first timе in fоur yеаrs hadn’t сhаngеd much from fоur уeаrs аgо.
‘Yоu know why I called you, don’t you?’
It was a direct question. Unable to answer for a moment, Do-hyun shifted his gaze ambiguously. It wasn’t as if he had committed a crime, but the timing was unfortunately not the best.
‘Well… roughly.’
At that answer, Soo-hyang spoke calmly.
‘Four years ago, after you left like that, Woo-yeon was very sick.’
‘…He was sick?’
This was news to him. It was only natural, as he had no way of hearing about his current status. Soo-hyang remained indifferent to Do-hyun’s surprised expression.
‘They called it a kind of lovesickness.’
Do-hyun was speechless. The Woo-yeon he saw yesterday and the Woo-yeon he saw four years ago flickered and overlapped in his mind. He still remembered vividly the look on the boy’s face at the moment of their parting.
‘He barely ate and just slept like a sick chicken. It’s no wonder he fell ill when he cried so much he wouldn’t even drink water.’
The cold voice drove a dagger in without mercy. The tone was certainly monotonous, but listening to it made his skin sting. Perhaps it was because Soo-hyang’s pheromones had settled heavily in the air.
‘The reason I sent him to America was in the hope that a change of environment might help him forget you.’
Now that he thought about it, that was true. Woo-yeon’s goal had been to enter a foreign language high school, and there had been no planned study abroad. There had been no reason whatsoever for him to suddenly leave Korea.
‘And a child like that has come back to Korea after four years.’
‘….’
‘Tell me in your own words.’
Pheromones were laced into the voice. A heavy atmosphere clung stubbornly to his shoulders. Soo-hyang stared at Do-hyun with a chillingly cold gaze.
‘If you were me, could you let someone like you stay by my child’s side?’
Do-hyun lowered his head like a sinner. His mind went blank; he didn’t know what to say. Even if the intention wasn’t to reprimand him, simply listening to this was agonizing.
‘It was my mistake to pair you together in the first place.’
Even though Do-hyun didn’t answer, Soo-hyang continued. After slowly casting his eyes down, he looked up once more.
‘But you were the one who ended it.’
Interlocked fingers rested on the desk. With his chin slightly tucked, Soo-hyang spoke in a gentle tone.
‘I truly hope that the tie between you and I does not end as well.’
It was a very euphemistic expression. It was also a warning that he would not be lenient this time. Do-hyun couldn’t answer, and the conversation ended there.
The probability of reuniting after four years is very low. With that level of wealth and having studied abroad, there was no particular reason to return to Korea. Coming to the Department of English Language and Literature, and asking Yun-woo, “Do you know a person named Kim Do-hyun?”—Do-hyun interpreted all of it as meaning one thing.
But in the end, it was a conclusion he had reached alone. In reality, Woo-yeon didn’t even acknowledge him, and recently, he had even shown signs of avoiding him. Perhaps he simply wanted to tidy up a past connection.
After long deliberation, Do-hyun decided to organize his feelings for him. He turned his back from a distance and took a different path, pretending he wasn’t looking. Then, on days when their lectures overlapped, his gaze would be helplessly stolen by the back of that small head.
He thought he could stop now. Since Woo-yeon was avoiding him, and since his own feelings were still in the beginning stages, he thought it would be okay. But before long, Do-hyun realized that it had been arrogance.
It was the day he bought hamburgers for the club members to encourage them for midterms. Since it happened to be Wednesday, it was also the day he had to study with Woo-yeon. Regretting that he shouldn’t have made such an appointment, Do-hyun still reserved a study room near the school.
‘Oppa!’
‘Hyung! I missed you!’
‘I can see right through you guys.’
There were unusually many people gathered in the club room. Everyone was eating hamburgers and greeted Do-hyun with welcoming faces. Do-hyun smiled habitually and looked around the room.
‘Only when you buy food…’
Woo-yeon was sitting on the sofa. A stark white, oversized hoodie made his pale face look even whiter. The sight of him holding a hamburger with both hands, his mouth shut in a pout, was so welcoming that it stole Do-hyun’s gaze for a long time.
‘Oppa, what’s wrong?’
Because he was cute, and because his heart ached. Because it was funny how he was having a staring contest with an innocent hamburger.
However, Do-hyun soon ignored Woo-yeon, who was looking at him, and averted his eyes.
‘It’s nothing.’
They had merely locked eyes. It was just a glancing look, so brief it was embarrassing to even call it “locking eyes.” Yet, his quiet heart began to blaze as if a fire had been lit.
Pretending otherwise, Do-hyun took a seat as far from Woo-yeon as possible. And pretending otherwise, he secretly watched Woo-yeon. The young master, who likely had never even seen fast food, kept his head down and forced the hamburger down.
‘I’m sorry, but I’ll head out first.’
Do-hyun felt certain that he had indigestion. His expression was poor, and his complexion had turned pale. Since he had roughly swallowed something that didn’t suit his palate, there was no way he could digest it properly.
‘The, the study room…’
‘I’ve already reserved it.’
But Do-hyun couldn’t ask if he was okay. He couldn’t offer words of concern, nor could he meet Woo-yeon’s eyes. He simply feigned composure as usual with a soft voice.
‘They say there are seats left at the cafe in front of the school. Just come toward the main gate after your lecture.’
He felt a sorrowful gaze. The fresh pheromones became as gloomy as the weather. Woo-yeon left the club room, saying he would see him later, and Do-hyun couldn’t even look back at his retreating figure.
During his free time, Do-hyun headed to the convenience store as if possessed. It was because the gathering dark clouds looked as if rain would pour down at any moment. He bought the digestive medicine in a glass bottle simply because he was buying an umbrella anyway.
‘You guys go to the cafe first.’
He had felt anxious the whole time, and indeed, Woo-yeon did not appear at the main gate even after the scheduled time had passed. The lecture should have ended long ago, but there was no contact on his phone. Do-hyun sent Ga-ram and Seon-kyu to the cafe and strode across the campus.
It was a movement dictated by instinct. He opened his umbrella as raindrops fell and walked wherever his feet led him. ‘Global Leadership’—the name of the lecture Woo-yeon was taking floated in his head as if engraved.
As expected, Woo-yeon was sitting on a bench near the lecture hall building. His curled-up body beneath the scattering cherry blossoms looked exceptionally fragile. One step, then another. As he approached him, his heart began to beat irregularly.
‘…I wondered why you weren’t coming.’
If asked when it started, he would want to answer that he didn’t know. It had seeped in before he noticed, and by the time he came to his senses, it had become uncontrollable. Whether it was from four years ago or from the moment they met again, he couldn’t even distinguish that properly.
‘You’ll catch a cold.’
He likes him. He likes the clear gaze, he likes that blind affection, and he loves the clumsy and youthful Seon Woo-yeon.
‘Tea…’
Teacher. He missed the voice that called him that. He couldn’t forget the warmth of being embraced while shedding tears. Even though this much time had passed, Do-hyun was still tamed by Woo-yeon.
‘…Seonbae.’
That one word became the catalyst that awakened him to reality. Soo-hyang’s face came to mind, and the story of how Woo-yeon had been hurt by him resurfaced.
‘Sometimes.’
Sometimes, a single moment’s choice governs the future. Whether to reach out his hand or withdraw it—the crossroads of their relationship remained difficult even now, four years later.
‘It’s not easy.’
Woo-yeon silently turned his gaze away from Do-hyun. He placed his hands on his lap and rested his chin quietly upon them. Raindrops slid down the bridge of his nose, visible from the side.
‘Want a piggyback ride?’
‘….’
It was an impulsive remark. But as soon as he uttered it, his heart tilted. He felt that giving up, ignoring, and pretending not to know was enough for what he had done four years ago.
‘I’ll take you home.’
Without hesitation, he knelt and practically forced Woo-yeon onto his back. Perhaps because of how much rain he had been exposed to, the thighs touching his fingers were cold. Was it a relief that at least the body heat embracing his neck was warm? He didn’t want to miss anything—the occasional breath he felt, or the voice whispering in his ear.
‘Why are you being so nice to me?’
Woo-yeon’s pheromones were as fresh as if juice would burst out upon taking a bite. There was still a scent of raw greenery, and because of that, it calmed his heart even more.
‘I just want to be nice to you.’
Saying he was sorry was merely an excuse to hide his feelings. The desire to fasten the first button correctly again was a greed he couldn’t quite hide.
Do-hyun simply didn’t want to lose this precious connection again.
‘…Then please keep being nice to me.’
He didn’t want to make him disappointed. He didn’t want to hurt him, make him cry, and consequently be abandoned. He hoped the relationship that had barely been reconnected would not break like it did the first time.
‘I missed you.’
The single phrase wrapped in a joke revealed its entire contents through the gaps. Gladness, longing, soft affection, and an unfinished confession.
‘…That’s a relief.’
Despite having hurt him so much, despite how difficult it had been, he still said he missed him. How could Do-hyun not reach out his hand to him?
That day’s event became a turning point for the two of them in different ways. Woo-yeon opened his heart as he had four years ago, and Do-hyun admitted the fact that he would ultimately be unable to let him go. And that there was something he had to resolve first in order to do so.
‘I will make sure nothing happens to hurt Woo-yeon.’
Soo-hyang did not kick out Do-hyun, who had visited unexpectedly. He simply asserted with dry eyes, ‘I cannot trust you.’ Do-hyun took a deep breath and spoke softly.
‘I intend to tell him everything.’
He had to confess the truth before it was too late. He planned to tell everything honestly and even beg him not to abandon him. Woo-yeon, who was secretly soft-hearted, might just let it slide.
‘Quite the confidence.’
Soo-hyang dismissed Do-hyun’s courage with a single sentence. To Do-hyun, who fell silent, a toneless question was thrown.
‘Do you think Woo-yeon will still like you even after knowing everything?’
It was the part he had always lacked confidence in. As if he had expected this, Soo-hyang clicked his tongue lightly.
‘If it’s some clumsy playing at romance, I have no intention of stopping you. However, regardless of the result, the burden will be yours to bear.’
He didn’t know why he considered those words as Soo-hyang’s own version of permission. Perhaps it was because the reaction was gentler than expected; he felt certain that Soo-hyang would at least not interfere.
However, the final words were as cold as frost.
‘Because I will do whatever it takes to protect my child.’