By Zephyria 
Hе didn’t еven havе to seе thе fасе tо know. As fаr аs Wоo-yеon knew, therе was оnly оne рersоn with suсh а tender vоicе. Soft and kind—the vеry persоn he had alwаys lоngеd for.
“Tea—”
Hе couldn’t bring himself tо sау Теachеr. His еmоtions surged, сhоking off the words. His еyеs stung, аnd his throat burnеd. Нis irrеgulаrlу beаting hеart grеw louder, like a warning siren.
“…Sеonbaе.”
That smаll call was thе final brаke he соuld apрly. If his heаrt was аlrеadу bеyоnd rеcоvеrу, he hoреd at lеаst thаt it wоuldn’t overflow all at once. Instead of collapsing in a heap, he hoped it would seep in slowly.
“…….”
Do-hyun looked at Woo-yeon with an expressionless face. With one hand in his pocket and the other holding an umbrella, he quietly cast his gaze downward. Because he tilted the transparent umbrella toward Woo-yeon, his own shoulder was gradually getting wet.
“Sometimes.”
His voice sounded like a sigh. His calm gaze held an indefinable light. He slowly turned his head and whispered in a very small voice.
“It’s not easy.”
Woo-yeon didn’t ask what he meant. Instead, he simply rested his hands on his knees and leaned his chin upon them.
The words that followed shook Woo-yeon’s heart to its core.
“Want a piggyback ride?”
“…….”
Drip. A raindrop fell. The rain, which had grown thicker before he knew it, tapped against the umbrella. Do-hyun looked back at Woo-yeon and spoke as if it were nothing.
“I had a feeling you were unwell.”
What he held out was a bottle of digestive medicine. Do-hyun’s hand was so large that the glass bottle looked tiny. As Woo-yeon stared blankly into his palm, Do-hyun whispered softly.
“I’ll take you home.”
There was no time to refuse. Do-hyun pressed the medicine into Woo-yeon’s hand and then handed over the umbrella. By the time Woo-yeon snapped out of it, Do-hyun had turned his back and knelt on one knee in front of him.
“Seonbae!”
Flustered, Woo-yeon tilted the umbrella toward Do-hyun. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, but it wasn’t the kind of rain one should face bare-bodied. When he said, ‘Seonbae, you’re getting wet,’ Do-hyun let out a scoff as if wondering why he was saying that.
“I’m already soaked.”
“No, Seonbae. Still……”
“You’ve gotten better at calling me Seonbae.”
The meaning behind those words was obvious. It meant to stop talking and just get on his back. Woo-yeon shut his mouth tight and looked at the hem of his coat dragging on the ground. Do-hyun urged him once more.
“Hurry up, my pants are getting wet.”
Left with no choice, Woo-yeon placed his hands on Do-hyun’s shoulders. As he carefully shifted his weight, Do-hyun lightly supported his legs. He regretted wearing shorts; the fingers touching his bare skin felt incredibly ticklish.
“I’m heavy……”
Aside from when he was very young, he had few memories of being carried by someone. There had been no one who acted this affectionately toward him, nor was he the kind of weight someone would typically carry. Perhaps that was why the act of being carried felt so embarrassingly intimate.
“I can’t find someone like you heavy.”
Do-hyun replied and adjusted his posture. He leaned his upper body forward as if gauging the weight, then stood up without hesitation. As his field of vision rose instantly, Woo-yeon clung tightly around his neck.
“Are you scared?”
For some reason, there was a hint of a smile in his voice. Clinging to him like a child, Woo-yeon answered sharply.
“No, not at all.”
To anyone watching, he looked exactly like someone who was scared. Do-hyun likely thought the same, as he silently swallowed a laugh. Woo-yeon readjusted the umbrella and awkwardly changed the subject.
“So, where are we going?”
“You’re really bad at lying.”
“……Please put me down.”
“Where? There isn’t even a bench here.”
Woo-yeon hadn’t injured his legs, yet Do-hyun treated him like someone who couldn’t walk. Naturally, saying he was fine now didn’t work at all. Telling him to stay still, Do-hyun adjusted his grip and answered casually.
“We’re going to the parking lot. I brought the car because they said it would rain.”
“What about the study group?”
“We can just do it next time.”
Do-hyun said that Ga-ram and Seon-kyu wouldn’t mind. He added that studying wasn’t a big deal when someone was sick, and that Woo-yeon was worrying about the strangest things. As Woo-yeon remained silent, he felt a familiar sense of dissonance from Do-hyun.
“……I’ve been wondering for a while.”
It was the same feeling he’d had in the club room last time. Despite being this close, he couldn’t sense any pheromones from Do-hyun. He was clearly a dominant Alpha, yet he seemed almost like a Beta.
“Why are you suppressing your pheromones?”
Unless it was a special occasion, Do-hyun didn’t let his pheromones leak. Even the faint scent that remained was merely something that had happened to rub off on his clothes. A typical Alpha would leak pheromones even in daily life, but he seemed to be intentionally suppressing them.
“If you’re a dominant, it must be hard to hold them back.”
Because Woo-yeon also possessed a Unique Trait, he knew. Suppressing pheromones was similar to eating a meal with a stranger while wearing uncomfortable clothes. While Woo-yeon had unavoidable circumstances, he didn’t think Do-hyun had any such reason.
“Because you……”
Do-hyun began slowly. He frowned his double-lidded eyes and tilted his head slightly. Eventually, looking back at Woo-yeon, Do-hyun spoke nonchalantly.
“You hate Alphas.”
“…….”
His tone was as if it were completely obvious. His expression was one of bewilderment, as if wondering why a reason was even necessary. Before Woo-yeon could ask how he knew, Do-hyun added firmly.
“It was obvious.”
“…….”
“Very obvious.”
That can’t be right, Woo-yeon thought. It wasn’t exactly a secret, but he hadn’t made it obvious either. He had never told anyone, nor did he remember cursing Alphas. Besides, hadn’t Do-hyun been suppressing his pheromones even before Woo-yeon joined the club?
“I’m quick-witted.”
The chain of thoughts was abruptly cut off. This was because Do-hyun, having started the conversation softly, continued in a sweet voice.
“Looking at your reaction when Mungaram lost her cool, there was no way I wouldn’t know. You said you hate being touched, yet you’re perfectly fine with Seon-kyu.”
Now that he thought about it, that seemed to be the case. Considering the reaction he’d shown toward Ga-ram, it wasn’t surprising that Do-hyun noticed. Especially if he was quick-witted enough to say so himself.
“……Your pheromones are okay, Seonbae.”
Woo-yeon said this as he leaned back comfortably. Do-hyun didn’t respond, but Woo-yeon meant it sincerely. If all Alphas were like Do-hyun, he wouldn’t have hated Alpha pheromones.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I handled your course registration.”
Even amidst the rain, only Do-hyun’s voice was clear. Was it because his range was low, or because his manner of speaking was so gentle? Just listening to him made the tension in Woo-yeon’s entire body unravel. He felt as if his stomach were settling even though he hadn’t taken the medicine yet.
“I know roughly where you take your classes.”
“…….”
It sounded as if he had come looking for him on purpose. Not that he had found him by chance, but that he had bought digestive medicine and walked all the way to the building where the lecture was held—the tone of his voice made Woo-yeon grip the umbrella tightly.
“……Aren’t you going to ask why I was like that?”
The rain continued without any sign of stopping. The cherry blossoms had just reached full bloom, but they might all fall by tomorrow. Do-hyun didn’t look back at Woo-yeon and asked back in a flat voice.
“Would you like me to ask?”
Honestly, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted. He was filled with the desire to pour everything out to him and be comforted as he had been in the past. However, Woo-yeon also knew that not everything goes as one wishes.
“……No.”
He tightened his arms around Do-hyun. He lowered his head and buried his face in Do-hyun’s shoulder. The pheromones, dampened by the rain, were faint and lacked presence.
“I was just… because I was sick.”
A sense of sorrow trailed the end of his sentence. Do-hyun waited silently for Woo-yeon to finish. Letting out a shallow breath, Woo-yeon began to ramble as if acting spoiled.
“After I ate the hamburger earlier, my stomach hurt so much. Except for when I was little, I’ve never had indigestion, but my stomach was churning… it felt like it was being poked with needles… but I couldn’t throw up, so……”
The more he spoke, the more the sorrow intensified. He would have stopped if Do-hyun had laughed at him, but he was listening calmly. Only after saying he was in pain about five times did Woo-yeon gasp for air and let his voice trail off.
“So I was just so……”
Truly, the only words he could manage were that he was in pain. Various reasons and resentments—all of it was condensed into the single phrase ‘it hurt.’ He had been in so much pain that he hadn’t even realized he was feeling better now.
“Is that so?”
Do-hyun answered softly, as if soothing a young child. He looked back at Woo-yeon, but Woo-yeon’s head was hanging low. Quickly straightening his gaze, Do-hyun spoke with infinite kindness.
“That must have been upsetting.”
It was a perfectly tender consolation. Of course, it wasn’t the ‘correct’ answer to saying one was in physical pain. Woo-yeon felt his chest heave and bit his lower lip hard.
“Let’s go home, take some medicine, and get some sleep.”
“…….”
“Then you’ll be okay.”
He felt like he might cry. Not because he was sad, but because of something else. His heart was fluttering, and his mood was soaring.
“……Seonbae.”
Woo-yeon lifted his head, his face flushed. Do-hyun flinched slightly at the breathy voice. Unaware of the slight agitation, Woo-yeon spoke in a voice that sounded as if it might break.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
He knew that Do-hyun was kind to everyone. The Teacher he knew was gentle even to complete strangers. But no matter how kind a person is, wouldn’t they hesitate before giving a piggyback ride to a drenched hubae?
“…….”
For once, Do-hyun hesitated to answer. He stared blankly ahead, his lips parting slowly. His soft voice sounded a bit like a sigh.
“I just want to be nice to you.”
Instead of asking ‘Why?’, Woo-yeon bit his lip. He buried his face in the crook of Do-hyun’s neck and exhaled a thin breath.
Only after a long time had passed did Woo-yeon plead in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry.
“……Then please keep being nice to me.”
The rain weakened. The umbrella tilted, but no one pointed it out. Thump, thump—the repeatedly beating heart was transmitted through their touching backs.
Perhaps it was a lingering attachment he could never have discarded from the start. Even when Do-hyun had rejected him, when he had silently quit tutoring—even while crying and hating him, he could never bring himself to actually dislike him. The very thought of folding his feelings had been arrogance and conceit.
“I missed you.”
Woo-yeon let it out in a light voice, pretending he didn’t mean it. He packaged it as a joke, saying that all sorts of thoughts come to mind when one is sick, so that Do-hyun wouldn’t misunderstand. Do-hyun remained silent for a moment, then answered in that same tender voice.
“……I’m glad.”
That day, rain fell in Woo-yeon’s heart as well. It was a cherry blossom rain.