By Zephyria 
And that year, thanks to Jeong-min’s support in every possible way, Young-min got into the Department of Food and Nutrition at Korea University during the regular admissions period. Their parents were relieved, and Shin-woo hyung was happy, but Jeong-min felt a bit complicated. He had hoped Young-min would go to a different university if possible, but fate had cruelly tied the three of them together again.
The year changed, and it was finally the day before high school graduation. Although he was already an adult, Jeong-min, who was preparing for the ceremony as the student representative in his uniform, was running around the school frantically.
“Hey, is Young-min with Kim Ju-hwan now?”
“No, aren’t those two always close?”
“Still, it seems a bit much today…?”
Strange whispers pierced his ears, but he tried his best to ignore them and headed to the classroom.
“Hey, Shin Young-min! Did you bring…?”
Since he had left the supplies he bought the day before at home while coming to school, he had asked Young-min to bring them… As expected, Young-min’s seat was occupied only by his bag.
There was no need to search for where he had gone. He just had to look where the people who were talking earlier were staring. That was where Young-min was. There was a bench by the flowerbed on the right side of the playground, and Young-min and Ju-hwan were there.
The two of them being close wasn’t a big deal, but since the conversation he overheard felt strange, he looked closer and saw Young-min clinging right next to Ju-hwan. Occasionally, Young-min would stroke Ju-hwan’s body, and they would whisper to each other at a distance where their lips could almost touch. They had the aura of lovers.
Seeing this, Jeong-min cheered inwardly. Thank goodness. The new target is Kim Ju-hwan! Yes, please just get along with Ju-hwan. Then he won’t hit on Shin-woo hyung even after we go to college, right?
They look so good together. A match made in heaven! Jeong-min diligently cast a “be happy” spell on them in his mind and even prayed to every god he knew in the world.
“What are you doing?”
Huh? This is impossible. He heard a voice that shouldn’t be here. Is he starting to hallucinate?
“Shin Jeong-min? Jeong-min?”
Jeong-min snapped his eyes open. Turning slowly, he saw Yu Shin-woo smiling brightly at him.
“Shin-woo hyung?”
“Yeah. It’s Shin-woo hyung.”
“Why are you here, hyung?”
“I heard you left this behind?”
Shin-woo held out a paper bag. It was the supplies Jeong-min had asked Young-min to bring.
“Why did you…?”
“I went to your house with my father to greet your parents for the first time in a while, and your mother told the driver that you’d left this behind. So I told her I’d deliver it. I figured the seniors wouldn’t have classes around this time, so I thought it wouldn’t be a burden to come. Here.”
“Thank you. Really.”
Jeong-min felt wonderful. So much so that he felt like he could fly. He had felt stupid and pathetic for forgetting his supplies, but now that something so good had happened, he almost wanted to praise himself for forgetting them.
“Is the preparation going well?”
“Yeah, seriously, hyung, how did you prepare for this? I’m impressed all over again. I can understand why you were so hectic because of this last year.”
“Right?”
Although Shin-woo was answering, his gaze seemed to be directed elsewhere. Jeong-min looked up to see where he was looking. Young-min and Ju-hwan were still there.
Jeong-min saw Shin-woo clench his fist tightly.
“Hyung, do you want to have lunch?”
“Hmm?”
“It’s lunchtime now, and I haven’t eaten yet. How about you?”
“Sure, let’s do that. I’ve been wanting to try school food again after a long time.”
“Right? The quality of the meals has improved a lot in a year, so you’ll be satisfied too.”
Jeong-min placed the paper bag on the desk and walked side-by-side with Shin-woo. They shared various conversations over lunch. Jeong-min made sure to ask how it felt to be back at school after a long time, and he asked in detail about the preparation process and if anything had been missed. Thanks to that, Shin-woo answered enthusiastically and shared his own experiences with Jeong-min.
After finishing lunch, since Shin-woo had time, he stopped by the gym to help Jeong-min with the preparations. Around 3 PM, the preparations were mostly done, and it was time to go home.
Jeong-min carefully climbed down the ladder he had used to stick letters on the wall.
“Jeong-min, be careful.”
“Yes, yes.”
He had climbed this ladder several times today alone. Still, Jeong-min secretly liked Shin-woo’s concern and smiled as he stepped down one more rung, but at that moment, he slipped.
“Whoa!”
“Jeong-min!”
Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt because Shin-woo caught him and it wasn’t that high.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, whew, that scared me.”
“That’s why I told you to be careful.”
“I let my guard down. Luckily it wasn’t that high. Right, hyung?”
Not wanting to worry Shin-woo, Jeong-min tried to brush off the situation with a silly laugh. However, Shin-woo’s expression wasn’t very good. As his thumb brushed against Jeong-min’s cheek, it stung slightly.
“Ow, why does my cheek hurt?”
“You got scratched.”
“Huh? Scratched?”
Taking out his phone to check his face, he saw that his cheek was indeed scratched. How absurd. He must have scratched his face while gripping the ladder tightly as he slipped. The surface of the ladder was rough wood, after all…
“Let’s go to the infirmary.”
“No. Something like this will heal quickly on its own.”
As Jeong-min rubbed it with the back of his hand, Shin-woo sighed and grabbed his hand.
“Don’t rub it.”
Today was truly a happy day. Jeong-min’s heart beat so hard he almost wanted to cry. He wanted to confess to Shin-woo right then and there. But he couldn’t. He was scared… He didn’t want to break this happiness. He wanted to enjoy it a little longer.
“Shin-woo hyung, shall we go home together? I finished early thanks to you.”
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
“I’ll go get Young-min.”
“No, let’s go together.”
In his heart, he wanted to leave Young-min behind and just go with the two of them… but that wouldn’t work. Jeong-min’s shoulders slumped as he trudged along.
As expected, Young-min was not in the classroom. Seeing that his bag and everything were still there, it seemed he hadn’t returned to the classroom since then. Is he still with Kim Ju-hwan? Isn’t that guy in class?
“I’ll go look for Young-min. Hyung, stay here.”
“I told you, let’s go together. We’ll stop by the infirmary on the way and put some ointment on your cheek.”
“I told you I’m fine…”
This is driving me crazy. Is it always this great to have hyung constantly worry about me? Let’s hurry to the infirmary. Finding Young-min wasn’t urgent, so he walked slowly, wanting to spend more time alone with him.
“Fuck. Impotent piece of shit.”
Just then, the door to the infirmary opened, and Young-min walked out, fuming. At that sight, Shin-woo pulled Jeong-min behind him and quickly stepped in front of Young-min.
Young-min was wearing his uniform, but it was a mess. His tie was undone, not a single button on his shirt was properly fastened, and the buckle of his uniform pants was undone, looking as if his underwear would be pulled down if someone gave a tug. Above all, Young-min’s face was flushed red, as if he had a fever.
“Young-min.”
“Ah, Shin-woo hyung? What are you doing here?”
Young-min tried to straighten his posture, but he staggered as if he lacked strength in his body. Shin-woo supported him. Young-min took the opportunity to cling to Shin-woo immediately.
“You… did you not take your suppressant?”
“Suppressant? Why would I take that? Besides, my rut is still far off.”
“But the pheromones…”
“This… the pheromones came out because of the guy inside.”
Shin-woo’s brow furrowed. On the other hand, Jeong-min couldn’t understand the situation. He understood ruts and pheromones, of course, but it felt like there was a more secret world between them that he couldn’t grasp.
“Pheromones… are they strong?”
“Haa… you’re in no state. I’ll take you home.”
“Mm… ah, but my legs have no strength… Carry me.”
Young-min said as he clung to Shin-woo. It was blatant spoiled behavior, but Shin-woo melted and quickly gave Young-min a piggyback ride. Shin-woo walked past Jeong-min with quick steps. Jeong-min knew he should follow, but he was curious about the infirmary. Thinking he should see the face of whoever bullied Young-min, he cautiously entered the infirmary. Then, he couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Kim Ju-hwan…?”
It was because Kim Ju-hwan was sitting there, almost entirely shirtless. He looked at Jeong-min with a slight frown.
Under the bed, there were torn condoms and tissues scattered messily. Did they actually do it in the infirmary…? Jeong-min’s face turned pale.
Thinking he should clean it up before the school nurse arrived, Jeong-min quickly closed the door and tried to pick up the things on the floor. Ju-hwan grabbed the back of Jeong-min’s neck as he crouched to pick up a condom and forced him up.
“Ugh!!”
Due to the pressure on his neck, Jeong-min snapped upright and glared at Ju-hwan.