By Zephyria 
Тhе weather in Fеbruаry was still сold, unablе tо shаkе оff thе remnants оf wintеr. Dеspite wеaring a turtlenеck swеatеr and а thick раddеd jackеt, therе was no esсaping the biting wind. Аmerica сertаinlу wasn’t this cold. Thinking this, Woо-yeon switсhеd his рhоnе to his othеr hand.
―[Ноw could уоu leave me bеhind!]
His unglоvеd hand was frееzing. If it wеrеn’t fоr the hеаt pаck handed out in front of thе main gatе, he wouldn’t hаve held ontо the рhone fоr this lоng. Fidgeting, Woо-yeоn tuckеd his hаnd into his роckеt аnd glanсеd аt the signpоst.
[Sоrry, I didn’t саtсh thаt. What?]
―[Woo-yeon!]
Engineering Building 1, Engineering Building 2, Engineering Building 3. The library and the gymnasium were also listed, but Building A, where he actually needed to go, was nowhere to be seen. He looked around to see if there was anyone he could ask for directions, but everyone else seemed to be wandering around just like him.
―[How could you go to Korea without telling me? Huh? Is that all we are to each other?]
―[Danny… that is exactly all we are, and I didn’t go secretly.]
Should I just start walking? With a thought typical of someone with a terrible sense of direction, Woo-yeon walked further into the campus. The well-maintained flower beds and neatly planted street trees showed that a lot of money had been poured into the place. Had he not studied abroad, one of those patches of grass would have been his share upon admission.
―[…I’m really hurt, Woo-yeon.]
After a brief silence, a much calmer voice came through. Because he had lowered the volume to the minimum earlier, he couldn’t actually hear what was being said this time. Woo-yeon pressed the volume button repeatedly and poured out a rapid stream of English.
[I told you before that I’d go to Korea when I turned twenty. I’ve been in Korea for almost a month now, so what’s the point of complaining now? If you wanted to complain, you should have done it before I went to the airport.]
―[But you’re still eighteen!]
[I told you, I’m twenty in Korean age.]
Because he spoke for a while, he felt the gaze of the surrounding students. No matter how diverse a university population was, speaking a foreign language made one stand out. Woo-yeon ruffled his brightly dyed hair and quickened his pace.
[Please. I’m embarrassed to speak English. And it’s so cold here that my breath is visible. My hands feel like they’re dying from the cold, so can I contact you later?]
―[What’s there to be embarrassed about? Your pronunciation is great now. It’s perfect.]
[It’s not that…]
Stopping his words, Woo-yeon lowered his voice significantly. While choosing his words in his head, he didn’t forget to switch the phone to his other hand again. The heat pack touching his fingertips was excessively hot.
[I just hate that it makes me look like an international student.]
Woo-yeon had boarded a plane to America as soon as he turned sixteen in the autumn. Originally, he had intended to go to a foreign language high school, but for various complex reasons, studying abroad was decided. The timing and the residence—everything was ambiguous, but as expected, everything was solved with money.
―[But you are an international student, aren’t you?]
Daniel was the first American he had become close with there. At first, Daniel had called him ‘U-yoon’ with an awkward face, but after about a month, he pronounced ‘Woo-yeon’ perfectly. It was Daniel who helped Woo-yeon when he struggled with the food, and it was Daniel who found him suppressants during his first Omega manifestation.
Perhaps because of that, Daniel tended to look after Woo-yeon to an unusual degree. He was grateful when Daniel stepped in during instances of racial discrimination for being Asian, but it was annoying that Daniel continued to act like a guardian even now that he had returned to Korea. Especially when he had such urgent business.
―[By any chance, did you go to find that person?]
[That person?]
―[I mean the Teacher you always talked about.]
At the sudden mention, Woo-yeon stopped in his tracks. Teacher. That one word gripped his heart tightly. In truth, he had been in this state for a long time. From the moment he first saw the university’s main gate, from the moment he saw the large banner congratulating the new students. No, more accurately, from the moment he first stepped on Korean soil after four years.
‘Yeon-ah.’
The face that naturally came to mind did not have the gentle expression of Woo-yeon’s memories. The slightly furrowed brows and tightly closed lips were those of someone who was clearly troubled. The answer that followed was not a pleasant memory either.
‘Teacher is going to the army.’
They say first loves never come true. His connection with the Teacher ended the moment he went to the military. The one who changed their number was the other party, and the one who fled to America was himself.
“I was dumped…”
A thin sigh escaped. It wasn’t a word for Daniel, but a brainwashing of himself. Daniel, who only knew ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ in Korean, couldn’t understand and asked back.
―[What?]
[Nothing, it’s nothing.]
It had already been four years since then. Woo-yeon had turned twenty, manifested as an Omega, and lost over 30kg in weight. Since his appearance had changed as he grew taller, he had even been held up for nearly twenty minutes during passport control. On top of that, he had undergone LASIK and gotten rid of his glasses, so the Teacher would absolutely not recognize him.
[Anyway, hang up. I’m busy.]
Yes, that should be the case.
Woo-yeon calmed his complicated mind and approached the information board. Fortunately, this one had a map of the school. The building he had been searching for was located not far away.
―[Busy? Didn’t you go to Korea for a vacation?]
[What are you talking about? Who said that?]
Building A… here it is.
[I’m going to college, Danny.]
After a very brief silence, a shrill scream erupted from the other end of the phone. Woo-yeon dropped the phone a distance away and hung up. An international call came through immediately, but without hesitation, he shut down the power entirely.
“Whew…”
A cloudy breath scattered in the air. 「English Language and Literature Freshman Orientation」. The large letters written on the poster told Woo-yeon where to go.
The orientation was far more boring than he had expected. The welcoming speech proceeded in an awkward atmosphere, and the introduction of the faculty and academic guidance were predictably cliché. In short, it seemed the themes of this orientation were congratulating the admissions and bragging about the school.
In the afternoon, they were divided into several groups and moved to the multimedia room; at this point, Woo-yeon briefly contemplated whether it would be better to just go home. The only reason he didn’t was simply because he had no friends to ask about course registration.
“Are you not sure?”
A neat-looking Teaching Assistant approached Woo-yeon, who was staring blankly at the computer. With black hair and pale skin, he was a person who felt distant for some reason. Woo-yeon tensed up at the thick Alpha pheromones, but then relaxed upon realizing that they were simply ‘rubbed off’ on him.
“You can just select this and this.”
Straight fingers pointed to the screen one by one. Seeing the ring on the left ring finger, it seemed the pheromones he just felt were the traces of a lover. Sure enough, a faint Omega pheromone wafted from the Teaching Assistant as he leaned down.
“Is there anything else you don’t know?”
Having finished the explanation, the Teaching Assistant slowly turned his head. The eyes that briefly met his were as pitch-black as his hair. Woo-yeon unconsciously looked down and gripped the mouse.
“I’m not sure how to take the general education courses…”
“Ah, general education.”
He had asked without much expectation, but an unexpectedly sincere answer returned. Advice such as ‘this one gives good grades, but if you’re bad at math, take another one,’ or ‘English is so basic that the competition is fierce, so you’d better aim for something else.’
Then suddenly, the Teaching Assistant stopped talking and lowered his voice suggestively.
“By any chance, are you good at conversation?”
“Huh? Ah, just a little.”
It wasn’t just ‘a little,’ but that’s how Woo-yeon answered. The Teaching Assistant nodded casually and pointed to one major course.
“This one—the professor is a Dominant Omega, so he’s very lenient.”
He felt a glancing look. Woo-yeon didn’t respond, but the Teaching Assistant continued naturally.
“Regarding heat cycles and such.”
In that small voice, there was a sense of kinship toward a fellow Omega. Instead of asking anything, Woo-yeon kept his mouth shut and added the lecture the Teaching Assistant pointed to his shopping cart.
As soon as the orientation ended, Woo-yeon left the building as if escaping. He heard there was a drinking party afterward, but since the Seonbae who told him was an Alpha, he didn’t go. No, even if they had been an Omega or a Beta, he wouldn’t have gone.
“Haa.”
A feeling of suffocation escaped his lips. Even as he crossed the campus, fearing someone might stop him, a brutal sense of reality rushed in like a tide. He had given up a US state university and persuaded his mother to come to Korea, but looking back, he felt it had been a foolish thing to do.
It wasn’t that the school was bad. It was prestigious, the facilities were great, and there was even a kind Teaching Assistant in the department. There were countless advantages, but that wasn’t what Woo-yeon had expected.
‘Yeon-ah.’
A four-year difference should be an age gap that allows one to attend the same university. Since he was a Beta, he would have gone to the army, and if he returned immediately, he would be a junior. Perhaps they could run into each other just once, by chance.
That series of thoughts had led Woo-yeon here. Knowing it was foolish, he applied and waited for the acceptance announcement. And the moment he attended the entrance ceremony and saw the enormous number of students in the department, Woo-yeon noticed the one error he had overlooked.
‘…What would I even do if I met him?’
By chance. Yes, let’s assume they met ‘by chance.’ If he reunited with the Teacher he longed for so much, talked once more, and caught up after a long time. If that happened, would anything actually change?
He didn’t think the other would be glad to see him. The last image Woo-yeon remembered was a troubled face that hadn’t even been shown when he missed his homework. Far from being glad, the Teacher might even find it creepy that Woo-yeon had followed him all the way to college.
‘No, he probably won’t even recognize me.’
Woo-yeon let out a self-deprecating laugh and lowered his head. The only saving grace was that there weren’t many Alphas in the department. He thought he should have asked that Teaching Assistant to pick an Alpha professor for him. As soon as he thought that, he felt Alpha pheromones like a ghost.
“Ah.”
It was a Dominant Alpha, the rare kind. He could tell because he was also dominant. The pheromones that wafted past were refreshing rather than unpleasant, but Woo-yeon unconsciously frowned and looked up.
The first thing he saw was the hem of a long coat. As if it weren’t cold, the man wearing a thin turtleneck and a button-down shirt had a nape as neat as his straight back. Where had he seen that back before? The moment he thought that, the man felt Woo-yeon’s gaze and turned his head.
“…”
Their eyes met. It felt as if time had stopped and his heart had ceased to beat. A wave of déjà vu crashed over Woo-yeon in the blink of an eye. Feeling as if he wanted to scream, Woo-yeon took a deep breath.
“Kim Do-hyun! Why are you only arriving now!”
It was the Teacher.