By Zephyria 
Аftеr thаt dаy, Do-hуun stауеd сalmly by Wоо-yeоn’s side. Hе hеlреd him with his mаjоr studies, and whеn thеу had spаre time, theу would аttend frеshman lеcturеs tоgеther. His рresеnce was оf a kind that simplу couldn’t be ignоred; bу thе time final exams аpproасhеd, thе рrofessоr evеn jоked abоut сalling his attendanсe.
“Неy, did yоu sее thе nеws abоut оur schоol?”
The school bеcamе chaоtic around thе time Wоo-yеоn was cоming out of his first finаl eхаm. Hаving сomрlеted thе tеst sаtisfactоrilу through а соmbinаtion of his own efforts and Do-hyun’s past exam papers, Woo-yeon unconsciously slowed his pace at the sound of a passing voice.
“What a crazy bastard. Some of us worked our asses off to get into college, and he just gets in because he met the right parents…”
The student stopped mid-sentence and lowered their voice upon spotting Woo-yeon. Woo-yeon hurried his pace, looking straight ahead as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He could hear the students whispering again as they moved away.
“Isn’t that him? Seon-jung?”
“What, where? Whoa… it is. Man, I thought he got in through fraud.”
“We don’t know that for sure yet. Maybe he…”
He couldn’t hear the rest, but he could easily predict the conversation they were having. Well, it didn’t really have much to do with Woo-yeon anyway.
「[Exclusive] Fraudulent Admission at Prestigious University, Investigation Launched」
「Allegations of Admission Scandal Involving Ji Su-hyang’s Children… ‘Groundless’」
「Reports of ‘Admission Fraud’ and Document Forgery Continue to Pour In」
The articles that sprouted like mushrooms this morning brought a great storm to the already noisy school. Reporters staked out both the front and back gates, and a group from the Ministry of Education busily moved in and out of the campus.
“Isn’t this bastard a total psycho?”
Ga-ram, who had shown up at the club room today, spat out curses incessantly in her usual piercing voice. She ranted about how she’d never seen such a crazy guy and how this was why the school was in such a state. Dressed in a purple tracksuit from top to bottom and biting a ballpoint pen in her mouth, her sloppiness was beyond words.
“He’s living a great life himself, and he had the nerve to give Woo-yeon a hard time!”
Instead of responding, Woo-yeon silently lowered his gaze. The notes scattered messily across the table were traces of their preparation for finals. In reality, however, none of the four of them had been able to focus on studying.
“Wow, seriously. I should have punched him!”
The protagonist who made Ga-ram this angry. The party responsible for the fraudulent admission and the one who had given Woo-yeon a “hard time.” Woo-yeon had known exactly who it was long before things turned out this way.
‘His family is very, very wealthy.’
Not long ago, Soo-hyang had told him about Jun-seong’s family as if it were just a casual conversation. That one parent was a professor and the other was a director of a major corporation. She mentioned he had three older siblings, all of whom were big shots holding positions in the company.
‘I wondered why there was so much talk about admission fraud, and it turns out there was someone who actually deserved to be caught.’
Normally, it would have been something that faded over time. Unless someone went out of their way to report it, there would be no reason for it to become a major controversy. That is, if reporters hadn’t pounced like hyenas upon discovering the existence of ‘Ji Su-hyang’s son.’
‘Since they entered in the same year, he’ll definitely be caught once the investigation starts.’
Her tone suggested that even if he wasn’t caught, she would make sure he was. After saying that, Soo-hyang’s eyes gleamed coldly.
‘He needs to know who he dared to mess with.’
“Did he come to school? He probably didn’t, right? Ugh, fuck!”
News of who the fraudulent admittee was spread in the blink of an eye. A student with a poor academic attitude who had suddenly vanished without a trace. A student whose name the professors would skip over with a hush during roll call.
Word travels fast. The rumors that spread from the Engineering Building reached the Humanities Building in just half a day. By the time Woo-yeon finished his exam and arrived at the club room, Ga-ram was in the middle of venting all her anger at Do-hyun.
“Of course he didn’t come. Woo-yeon, he hasn’t contacted you, right?”
“Contact? Not particularly… ah.”
Woo-yeon stopped mid-sentence and frowned awkwardly. His phone hadn’t rung, but it was a stretch to judge the presence of contact solely by that.
“…I don’t know.”
Seon-kyu’s eyes widened. You don’t know? he seemed to ask.
“It’s just, his number…”
“I blocked it.”
Do-hyun, who was standing beside him, finished the sentence Woo-yeon had started. Not only Seon-kyu, but even Ga-ram blinked and looked at him. Do-hyun placed a notebook in front of Woo-yeon and spoke in a nonchalant voice.
“I thought he might contact Woo-yeon, so I blocked him a while ago.”
No one responded to that confident manner of speaking. Woo-yeon belatedly took out his phone, then stopped moving as he locked eyes with Do-hyun. It was because Do-hyun subtly said:
“I won’t stop you if you want to check, but…”
“…”
“I’d prefer it if you just left it, Woo-yeon.”
It wasn’t a demanding tone. If anything, it was closer to worry. After contemplating for a long while, Woo-yeon held out his phone to Do-hyun.
“If there are any messages… please delete them.”
Do-hyun took the phone without a word, and when he returned it, nothing remained. Whether he had deleted everything or if there had been nothing from the start—only Do-hyun knew.
Fourteen years old. The ill fate that had continued since childhood ended there.
* * *
“To summer vacation!”
“Cheers!”
Clink! The soju glasses collided with a cheerful sound. It was already the fifth toast amidst the heated atmosphere. Ga-ram, her face flushed, was mixing somaek, and Seon-kyu was also chatting with his classmates with a goofy grin. Woo-yeon set his soju glass on the table and glanced at the seat next to him.
“Oppa will probably be the top of the class again, right?”
“I can’t get a scholarship because of that Hyung.”
“Bullshit, you just can’t get one.”
It was Friday of the week all exams ended. After finishing a tumultuous semester, the club held a drinking party to celebrate summer vacation. They heard there was a department gathering at the chicken place in the next building, but even Seon-kyu, who was in the student council, chose the club. Woo-yeon had secretly intended to go home but had ended up following Seon-kyu to the party.
“I don’t know about being top of the class. I couldn’t study properly this time.”
As soon as he arrived at the bar, Woo-yeon snagged a corner seat where he wouldn’t be pressured to drink. Although no one would force him, it was to prevent himself from drinking one or two glasses just because he got caught up in the atmosphere. Even if the reporters’ momentum had died down recently (Jun-seong’s case was a big deal), it would still be troublesome if he made a mistake.
And naturally, Do-hyun took the seat next to Woo-yeon.
“Hyung, have another drink!”
“Cheers, cheers! Cheeeers!”
As soon as he sat down, Do-hyun drank the alcohol the Hubaes kept pouring for him without pause. Once he finished a glass, a new one returned, and once he finished that, somaek appeared from somewhere. Normally, Do-hyun would have moderated his intake, but today he was bottoming up every drink given to him.
“Do-hyun Hyung seems to be handling his liquor well today!”
Woo-yeon leaned his head against the wall and blankly watched Do-hyun. The sight of his large hand gripping the soju glass, the way his prominent Adam’s apple moved up and down. The way his gentle eyes occasionally crinkled.
“Why does it feel like you guys are only feeding me today?”
His voice was languid. The way his words trailed off was definitely different from usual. The slow blinking of his eyes also showed that he was drunk.
“…Shouldn’t you stop drinking?”
The words came out unconsciously. It was because drinking only alcohol without any snacks since a while ago seemed quite precarious. Do-hyun’s eyelids flickered, and he shifted his gaze sideways.
“True… I think I should stop.”
Despite saying that, Do-hyun drank the next glass. The problem was that as soon as the glass was empty, another Hubae hurried to pour more soju. Seeing how they were pouring without any control over the amount, the Hubae was also dead drunk.
“Who wants the somaek I mixed!”
Woo-yeon found it strange and puzzling to see him drinking like this. Do-hyun, who was more thorough about self-management than anyone, had never been drunk at any drinking party until now. Or rather, to be precise, he had never seen it because Woo-yeon always got drunk first.
“Here, I’ll give this to the club president specially. I don’t give this to just anyone.”
Ga-ram placed the somaek she had personally crafted down in front of Do-hyun. She called it ‘somaek,’ but looking at the color, it was closer to barley tea. The ratio of soju was at least 50%. Unable to watch any longer, Woo-yeon looked at Ga-ram with a frown.
“Noona, what kind of somaek is this…”
“Down it! Down it!”
“Whoaa! Drink it! Drink it!”
“Excuse me…”
Woo-yeon learned a new lesson: that in a drinking party, the person who isn’t drunk is the loser. The club members, already wasted, only clapped and cheered regardless of what Woo-yeon said. To make matters worse, Do-hyun grabbed the beer glass without any particular resistance.
“Are you really going to drink it?”
Woo-yeon let out a sharp question. He had asked out of surprise, but Do-hyun didn’t mind.
“Yeah, if they give it to me, I should drink it.”
Since when did he become so good at listening to others? Refusing without ruining the mood was nothing to the Teacher.
“I think you’re really drunk…”
Unable to stop him actively, Woo-yeon lightly tugged on Do-hyun’s collar. An ambiguous relationship—neither dating nor not dating. He couldn’t gauge how far he was allowed to interfere in such a state.
However, that small gesture elicited a rare, large reaction.
“…Ah.”
Thud, the beer glass overturned. It was because Do-hyun had accidentally let go. The full glass of alcohol splashed out, and half of it flowed down onto Do-hyun’s pants. The club members, who had been chatting excitedly, were startled and frantically searched for tissues.
“Gasp, tissues! Tissues!”
Woo-yeon’s eyes widened as he grabbed the tissues from the corner of the table. He immediately held them out to Do-hyun, but Do-hyun just stared blankly and took no action. Left with no choice, Woo-yeon pulled out a tissue and brought it toward Do-hyun’s lap.
“Why aren’t you wiping it?”
The light beige slacks were stained a dark brown. Since it was beer and not soju, the amount was incredibly large.
As he tried to wipe from the chair up to the thigh in haste, Do-hyun suddenly grabbed Woo-yeon’s wrist.
“Why are you…”
Snap, their eyes met. Woo-yeon looked at Do-hyun’s face with wide eyes. His mouth closed, and the words he was about to say vanished down his throat. His gripped wrist hurt, but he couldn’t even ask him to let go.
“…”
His expression was stiff, unlike usual. His pupils were shaking wildly, but his gaze was fixed on Woo-yeon. One second, two seconds, three seconds. Just as the subtle tension reached its peak, Do-hyun’s face flushed bright red.
“…I’m going to get some fresh air.”
Saying that, Do-hyun stood up abruptly and left the table. Only Woo-yeon, left alone, blankly looked back and forth between his retreating figure and his own wrist.
Even after a long time, Do-hyun did not return to the table. The club members seemed to have forgotten his existence and were excited among themselves, and unable to watch any longer, Woo-yeon stood up to find Do-hyun. This was because he had seemed quite drunk and there was no reason for him to be gone for this long.
The restroom inside the bar, the smoking room in the corner, and the emergency exit next to the entrance. Do-hyun was nowhere to be seen. Left with no choice, Woo-yeon decided to go down the stairs and check outside the building.
“Where did he go…”
Outside, where the neon signs were loud, a cool breeze blew, making it refreshing. The night air was still chilly, but the tropical nights would begin soon. By then, the media’s interest would likely fade to some extent.
Instead of walking aimlessly, Woo-yeon took out his phone and made a call. It would be more efficient to find him that way than to trust his own instincts as someone with no sense of direction. Fortunately, as soon as the ringing started, the sound of a vibration was heard nearby.
‘Is he in the back?’
One step, then another. Following the faint vibration, he arrived at a side path behind a streetlight. On the steel stairs leading to the outdoor restroom, someone was sitting, leaning against the wall. The streetlight was dim, but it wasn’t hard to recognize that it was Do-hyun.
Instead of calling him, Woo-yeon slowly closed the distance. Do-hyun was staring blankly at his phone screen with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. The letters ‘Woo-yeon’ appearing there were clear even in the darkness.
“Does the call get answered if you just look at it like that?”
Flinch, his straight shoulders jerked. He could see the broad, straight, and neat back stiffen awkwardly. After a short pause, Do-hyun slowly turned his head.
“Oh…”
For some reason, he looked surprised. Well, it’s natural to be surprised if someone speaks from behind. Woo-yeon hung up and put his phone in his pocket.
“I thought you quit smoking?”
Do-hyun blinked a couple of times and immediately took the cigarette out. The cigarette flickered between his long fingers. He closed his mouth, opened it again, and after repeating this a few times, he frowned clumsily.
“…Why did you come out?”
That question didn’t seem to welcome Woo-yeon very much, which left Woo-yeon inwardly flustered. An ambiguous relationship—neither dating nor not dating. In such a relationship, is one not supposed to follow a drunk person outside?
“No… it’s not that I’m saying anything.”
As if reading Woo-yeon’s thoughts, Do-hyun slowly shook his head. The way he leaned the back of his head against the wall and looked down suggested that the effects of the alcohol hadn’t worn off yet.
“I thought I was seeing a hallucination.”
“…Why?”
“Because I was thinking about you…”
As he said this, Do-hyun smiled beautifully. His eyes curved like crescent moons and his lips formed an arc. His gentle face looked utterly innocent.
“Yeon-ah.”
“…”
Woo-yeon couldn’t even answer and just stared blankly at Do-hyun. He had always thought he was pretty when he smiled, but right now, he truly looked like an angel. To the point where his legs almost gave out and he nearly collapsed.
“Come here, sit here.”
What he pointed to was none other than his own thigh. Woo-yeon, who almost sat down as told as if possessed, suddenly snapped back to his senses. He couldn’t fall for this kind of drunken behavior when he hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol.
“Are you drunk?”
“Hmm…”
Do-hyun tilted his head. The hair covering his forehead scattered softly. With the cigarette still between his fingers, he curled his thumb and index finger and winked.
“A little?”
“…I don’t think it’s ‘a little’.”
“It is a little.”
Unable to argue further, Woo-yeon sat on the stairs as he led him. It was surely dirty, but it was already too late to feel the unpleasantness. Do-hyun sat Woo-yeon down beside him and slowly leaned his head on his shoulder.
“You’re too short.”
For someone who leaned on him as he pleased, it was a rather brazen observation. Even his confident demand to try and be a bit taller was like that. Ridiculously, Woo-yeon obediently straightened his back to help him lean comfortably.
“What were you doing here?”
Do-hyun didn’t answer and rubbed his cheek against the shoulder. It was similar to how a cat or a dog leaves its scent. The Teacher becomes very aegyo-filled when he’s drunk. He learned another fact he hadn’t known.
“Since you didn’t come back for so long… people are worried.”
In truth, no one was worried, but Woo-yeon said so. It was because without even such an excuse, the reason he came out to find Do-hyun couldn’t be explained. However, Do-hyun casually dismissed Woo-yeon’s words as a lie.
“You really can’t lie at all.”
“…”
It wasn’t a monologue. It felt as if he were intentionally teasing Woo-yeon. To Woo-yeon, who turned his head the other way, a ticklish phrase was delivered.
“I thought about you.”
The deep part of his throat felt itchy. It was a different feeling from hearing that someone likes you. Do-hyun added more words softly in a languid, relaxed voice.
“I thought I missed you, I thought you were cute, and I wondered when you would finally accept me… I had thoughts like that.”
“…Why do you think about those things after coming outside?”
“I’m already drunk… and since you’re next to me, it feels strange.”
“You said you weren’t drunk.”
“I said I was a little drunk.”
A faint smell of alcohol and pheromones emanated from Do-hyun. Seeing that the scent was stronger than usual, it seemed he had forgotten to control his pheromones due to the alcohol. Woo-yeon didn’t bother to point that out and slowly opened his mouth.
“Seonbae.”
“Hyung.”
It was déjà vu. Because he had requested it so many times, Woo-yeon still remembered it clearly.
“Not Teacher, not Seonbae… just Hyung.”
“…”
“I want to call you Hyung.”
Those words contained several meanings. The meaning that he wanted to have a relationship different from the past, the meaning that he wanted to be a more intimate person than just a Seonbae, the meaning that he wanted to be a closer existence to Woo-yeon.
Woo-yeon noticed all those meanings. Perhaps because of the alcohol, Do-hyun’s inner thoughts were excessively easy to read today. No, strictly speaking, those feelings had been clearly visible for some time now.
“The doll Seonbae gave me isn’t a rabbit.”
It was a sudden change of subject, but Do-hyun willingly went along with it. When asked what it was, Woo-yeon let out a sigh of relief.
“They say it’s a fennec fox.”
“A fennec fox?”
Do-hyun let out a long, thoughtful hum, as if imagining the plushie. Then, with a faint smile, he buried his face in the crook of Woo-yeon’s neck.
“It looks like you.”
“Where exactly does it look like me?”
“Just here and there.”
Woo-yeon felt that the breath touching his neck was incredibly erotic. While Do-hyun seemed to be thinking nothing of it, Woo-yeon’s body kept becoming sensitive. Whether Do-hyun noticed or not, he let out a soft, airy chuckle.
“I thought you were a rabbit… I kept thinking you were cute, and then I just got enchanted.”
Do-hyun’s hand Swoosh entwined with his. The sensation of their fingers interlocking was so familiar it almost brought tears to his eyes. Holding the hand tightly, Do-hyun whispered softly.
“I like you so much, what should I do?”
Sometimes, in the midst of an ordinary day, there are things one suddenly realizes. For example, that a wound has completely healed, or that bad memories have been forgotten. Or that so much time has already passed.
“I like you, Woo-yeon…”
Summer was approaching. One semester had ended, and after today, it would be vacation. This meant that seeing Do-hyun or having conversations like this would be impossible unless they made separate appointments.
“…Um.”
With a mind gone blank, Woo-yeon began to speak hesitantly. Do-hyun was still leaning his head against him, gripping his hand tightly. A warm heat was transmitted through their pressed palms.
“I…”
His heart thudded loudly. Pheromones surged wildly, and the area around his ears burned hot. It wasn’t the first time he had said these words, yet he felt hundreds of millions of times more nervous.
“…Me too.”
The words that barely escaped felt small, even to Woo-yeon. If things went wrong, they could easily be drowned out by the sound of insects. Naturally, Do-hyun didn’t respond, so Woo-yeon gathered a bit more courage and spoke again.
“I like you.”
It was different from that day’s confession, when he said he liked the Teacher. Unlike then, when the words had slipped out unconsciously, this time he was manually pulling out the core of his feelings to show him. His head, and his heart, screamed with his entire body that it had to be Do-hyun.
“I’ve thought about it…”
“….”
“I don’t think I can make it without you, Seonbae.”
In the end, it was Do-hyun. No matter how long the detour, the place Woo-yeon’s heart headed was already decided.
“I like you, Hyung.”
The true feelings he had kept pressed down regained their size the moment they were released. Like a sponge soaking up water, they swelled up instantly. Even the emotions that had bloomed sparingly like beans in a drought now overflowed enough to fill his heart.
“….”
Do-hyun stopped moving, as if he couldn’t even breathe. It felt as though all time had frozen; even the intermittent sound of breathing vanished. The rustle of leaves, the distant chatter of people, and the mysterious noises one hears when concentrating deeply—everything faded.
“…Just now.”
A voice like a breath reached him. He sounded surprised, perhaps flustered. Regardless, it wasn’t the reaction Woo-yeon had expected.
“Just now, what did you…”
“…I said I like you, Hyung.”
Woo-yeon repeated what he had just said clearly. They say the first time is always the hardest. The second time wasn’t as nerve-wracking as before. Do-hyun remained silent for a moment before covering his eyes with his other hand.
“…Ha.”
A rough breath escaped him. His pheromones gradually grew thicker, and he lowered his head while still leaning on Woo-yeon’s shoulder. The fingertips of their tightly held hands began to tremble slightly.
‘No way…’
With a bewildered face, Woo-yeon slowly looked at Do-hyun. He wanted to see his face, but because of the angle, he couldn’t see his expression properly. However, the sight of him biting his lip was clear, and a voice escaped Woo-yeon involuntarily.
“…Are you crying?”
The pheromones surged violently. Do-hyun, whose shoulders were shaking almost imperceptibly, stammered an excuse.
“It’s because I drank.”
“Are you really crying?”
“…I told you, it’s because I drank.”
A sob was laced in his voice. The end of his sentence trembled, and his breath sank low. While Woo-yeon stood frozen, unsure of what to do, Do-hyun turned and threw himself into his arms.
“Tell me one more time…”
With awkward movements, Woo-yeon embraced Do-hyun. Do-hyun was someone who had cried in his arms before, but Woo-yeon had never actually held him like this. It was a clumsy and uncomfortable posture, but he could tell how desperately Do-hyun was clinging to him.
“I like you.”
“…Add ‘Hyung’ to it.”
“I like you, Hyung.”
“One more time…”
“I like you, Hyung.”
The more he confessed, the more certain he became. It wasn’t because he was the Teacher, or because he was kind and mature, but simply because he had come to like the person known as Kim Do-hyun. Regardless of how it had started, this beginning belonged solely to Woo-yeon.
“See.”
“….”
“I told you it wasn’t a useless thing to do.”
Do-hyun buried his face weakly in Woo-yeon’s shoulder. The shoulder blade began to grow damp. As Woo-yeon patted his back, a desperate voice uttered the confession.
“I like you too.”
“….”
“I really like you, Yeon-ah…”
The rain shower that had poured for a long time ended right there. Just as the sky clears after the rain, a bright day dawned once more. Do-hyun did not leave Woo-yeon’s embrace for a long time.