By Zephyria 
It wаs а statement thаt instаntly brought а well-prоgrеssing mееting bасk to squarе оnе. The сlub members who hаd beеn offеring oрinions, Gа-rаm whо had beеn half-hеartedly аgreeing, and Wоo-yeоn who hаd аlmost given up, all blinked blаnkly.
Woo-уеоn wаs thе first to spеak.
“Whу?”
Wоo-yеоn looked at Dо-hyun with еуes full of сuriоsitу. Не cоuldn’t undеrstand whу Do-hyun, who rarely rеfused anуthing, was oрposing it so firmlу. Do-hуun tilted his heаd with а faint smile.
“Dо you wаnt to dо it?”
“Nо.”
“Seе.”
Тhe соncisе ехchangе еnded thеrе. I must hаvе made it obvious that I hate it. Thinking this, Woo-yeon accepted it without a word. Only Ga-ram clicked her tongue, but since she was sitting far away, no one noticed.
“We can’t force someone who doesn’t want to do it.”
The club members quickly accepted Do-hyun’s words. They agreed that since it was a festival for everyone to enjoy, there was no need for coercion; however, they didn’t give up on the headbands. Since Do-hyun didn’t oppose them this time, the topic returned to ‘cats or rabbits.’
The meeting lasted longer than expected. Most of it was useless chatter, and toward the end, there was a solemn discussion regarding the location for the after-party. Ga-ram, who had been devoid of motivation throughout, voiced her opinions more seriously than anyone else at that moment.
Only after all the club members had left did they resume their study session for the first time in a while. The location was the club room, and the remaining time was only half of what they usually had. Despite this, Ga-ram couldn’t focus for even thirty minutes before pulling out her phone to scroll through internet articles.
“Hey, wow. Looks like Ji Su-hyang has a kid.”
“Ji Su-hyang?”
Seon-kyu glanced up at the sudden remark. Perhaps because he had been shuddering from boredom, his eyes were full of interest. Ga-ram nodded nonchalantly, resting her chin on her hand.
“Yeah, Ji Su-hyang, the Chairman of Selection Group. They said there was no successor, but an article popped up saying there’s an illegitimate child.”
The ‘Selection Group’ Ga-ram mentioned was an entity that no one in the country could be unaware of.
The largest conglomerate in South Korea and the one-and-only corporation that held the economic market in its palm. A dictator of the red ocean to the point where people joked, ‘If Selection falls, the country falls.’
He had recently expanded his business into apartments; even the phone in Ga-ram’s hand had the ‘SUNJUNG’ logo clearly printed on it.
“There are just speculations—like they attended some private middle school, kids who went there saw Ji Su-hyang, they think the child was raised in the US—but there’s no official statement.”
“Eh, what’s that? Isn’t it just a tabloid?”
“Just fodder for reporters. The stock price will probably drop a bit.”
“Noona, do you have stocks in that company?”
“As if I would.”
Woo-yeon blinked slowly, his gaze fixed on his notebook. The scribbled handwriting, looking like earthworms, seemed to blur into a hazy white. Through his muffled ears, he heard Ga-ram muttering indifferently.
“Being a chaebol is a real pain in the ass. Getting articles written just because you have a kid.”
“I know. Honestly, even if it’s true, what does it matter if there’s an illegitimate child?”
“Exactly. Our country still has a long way to go.”
Her tone was as carefree as if she were talking about someone else’s business. No, since it actually was someone else’s business, that level of interest was sufficient. Ga-ram put down her phone and clicked her mechanical pencil a couple of times.
“But if I were that illegitimate child and Ji Su-hyang told me he’d give me money to live as if I didn’t exist, I think I could genuinely live a great life.”
“Ah, me too. That’s basically being a rich unemployed person.”
The topic of their conversation shifted to ‘what to demand from Ji Su-hyang.’ Ga-ram talked about a house and a car, and Seon-kyu said he wanted 500 million won with no strings attached. It was then that Do-hyun spoke up in a low voice.
“Stop chatting and study.”
As if they had rehearsed it, the two shut their mouths. At some point, Do-hyun had become the tacit leader of the study group. If he told them to be quiet, they had to at least pretend to study.
“Let’s focus for just thirty minutes.”
His calm voice was soft yet firm. Woo-yeon thought he liked the newfound silence and focused on his studies again. Ga-ram quickly picked up her phone again, but Do-hyun did not stop her.
Exactly thirty minutes later, Do-hyun was the first to close his book. Ga-ram, who had been gauging the mood, brushed back her hair and stretched. It wasn’t surprising that she felt restless trying to study when the exams were already over.
Seon-kyu put his pen in his pencil case and carefully calculated the date.
“But we won’t be able to study next week, right?”
Since the festival would continue for three days starting Wednesday, there was a high probability that next week’s study session would fizzle out. Ga-ram seemed to think so too, as she curled the corners of her lips and flicked her finger.
“It can’t be helped. Since it’s come to this, why don’t we take next week off and work hard starting the week after?”
Despite being the one who first suggested the study group, Ga-ram looked slightly happy as she said this. Since she hated studying so much, sitting still and focusing must have been torture for her. Do-hyun told her to do as she pleased and put his book and pencil case in his bag.
“Don’t get too excited, because we have to prepare for finals as soon as the festival is over.”
“Ugh, I wish the school would just go bankrupt.”
Until then, Woo-yeon had been silently packing his things. His face was certainly expressionless, but his eyes were a bit vacant.
While Woo-yeon was pressing his tired eyelids, a gentle call flowed toward him.
“Yeon-ah.”
It was a voice so sweet it almost made his mouth ache. Ga-ram and Seon-kyu gaped with surprised faces. Do-hyun curved his eyes beautifully and held out one hand to Woo-yeon.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
* * *
Today as well, Woo-yeon’s bag failed to escape its fate as a hostage. Although it was different in that Woo-yeon had handed it over voluntarily, in the end, it was just bait. Do-hyun used the bag to lure Woo-yeon and ultimately kidnapped him into the passenger seat.
“I’m okay.”
Woo-yeon spoke as calmly as possible as soon as Do-hyun got into the driver’s seat. Do-hyun leaned toward Woo-yeon and asked lightly.
“What are you okay with?”
Resting one hand on the back of the seat, he habitually fastened the seatbelt for him. His gaze, meeting Woo-yeon’s, looked deep into him.
“Meeting Kang Jun-seong?”
“…How did you know?”
Woo-yeon was so startled that he forgot what he was about to say. Although he and Jun-seong shared a lecture, the ‘meeting’ Do-hyun referred to wasn’t that. Judging by the nuance, he seemed certain that something had happened between him and Jun-seong.
“Because your pheromones were stained.”
Do-hyun answered slowly and moved away from Woo-yeon. In that brief moment, a thick scent of pheromones brushed past the tip of his nose.
“I’m… very good at smelling pheromones.”
Feeling that the explanation was insufficient, he calmly gave several examples. That he disliked the smell of perfume, and that he originally didn’t even smoke pheromone cigarettes.
By the time Woo-yeon fully understood, Do-hyun asked lightly.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“He said he was sorry.”
For once, Woo-yeon readily told him about the incident with Jun-seong. However, since he didn’t mention what the apology was for, Do-hyun reacted the same way as Woo-yeon had earlier.
“Because of the group project grade?”
As expected, that seemed to be the common way of thinking. Woo-yeon narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
“That already ended last week.”
“Then why?”
“Just… he said he made a mistake and is reflecting on it.”
Do-hyun let out a scoff as if it were absurd while starting the car. His low, sunken voice murmured as if talking to himself.
“I’ve heard everything now.”
Even Do-hyun, who didn’t know that Jun-seong had been the ringleader of the bullying, reacted this way. So how must Woo-yeon, the actual victim, feel? Feeling the rush of past grievances, Woo-yeon grumbled his complaints.
“He’s been annoying me since the first time we met, so I was already irritated…”
“He was annoying you?”
“What did he say… told me not to ignore him, and that we should at least exchange greetings today…”
“Is that so?”
Do-hyun narrowed his eyes, his lips tightening. After a brief, subtle expression, he quickly returned to his usual composed face.
“Should I wait for you in front every time your lecture ends?”
“What?”
Woo-yeon turned his head, unable to understand Do-hyun’s words. While staring straight ahead and turning the steering wheel, Do-hyun glanced back at Woo-yeon.
“I saw that he couldn’t say anything when you were with someone else. He can’t talk to you during the lecture anyway, so you just have to avoid him well after it ends.”
“….”
It felt burdensome. Do-hyun’s suggestion meant he would come to pick Woo-yeon up every Wednesday. He didn’t know when the class would end, and the distance between the classroom and the main gate was far; he couldn’t let things become that troublesome.
“…It’ll be a hassle for you.”
“It won’t be.”
The answer was beyond kind. Woo-yeon gripped the seatbelt tightly and bit the inside of his cheek. His throat felt constricted and his molars itched, as if a snaggletooth were about to grow.
He knew the Teacher was originally a kind person, but when he was this unconditionally affectionate, Woo-yeon felt a shameless urge to lean on him. Even though he knew that if he ever lost that place to lean on, he would truly collapse.
“Teacher.”
Woo-yeon called Do-hyun in a small voice. Do-hyun didn’t answer and waited for the rest.
“About what I said before, that you seemed fake.”
…He says my smiling looks fake.
Though he had been forcing himself to ignore it, Woo-yeon had not forgotten those words. The conversation between Ga-ram and Do-hyun he had overheard in front of the club room on the day he barely made it to school after getting a suppression shot, and the laugh that had leaked out.
I’ll see how long he thinks that.
“I don’t think that anymore.”
The fact that he couldn’t fully believe the words ‘I like you’ was partly due to that lingering discomfort. If the reason he was good to him wasn’t ‘because he liked him’ but ‘because he didn’t want to seem fake,’ Woo-yeon didn’t have the confidence to be purely happy.
“So, you don’t have to be this nice to me.”
For a long time, no words were exchanged. As the silence in the car continued, Woo-yeon found himself becoming increasingly anxious. He had spoken candidly as if he were composed, but in the end, he was the one who felt the loss. If Do-hyun took this as a cue to change his attitude, he would be the one truly hurt.
Fortunately, Do-hyun didn’t drag it out and spoke in a peaceful voice.
“You heard me talking to Mungaram.”
“….”
He always thought this, but Do-hyun was excessively quick-witted. No matter how much Woo-yeon tried to hide it, he was ultimately in the palm of his hand. It might have been obvious this time, but it was amazing that he concluded instantly that ‘he had heard that specific conversation.’
“That’s why you asked me to sleep with you that day…”
“….”
“And that’s why right now, you can’t believe me when I say I like you.”