Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 10. Black Knight (1)

The course registration correction period ended. On Wednesday lunchtime, Wooyeon, who visited the club room, pulled out his phone in front of three people. Dohyun, Garam, and Seonkyu. Six eyes focused on the timetable he showed them.

“Wow…”

“Amazing.”

A collective gasp burst forth. Dohyun lifted the corner of his lips with a casual expression. Seonkyu, who looked alternately at the phone and Dohyun, spoke with admiration.

“Hyung, what kind of magic did you work?”

It truly was nothing short of magic. The timetable, neatly arranged for four days a week, from Tuesday to Friday, was unimaginable compared to its previous form. All four days had a lunch break, and except for Friday, there were no classes starting at 9 AM. It was different from last time, when he had first period classes, cosmic breaks, and even no holidays.

“The reward for diligent school life.”

Dohyun leaned back on the sofa as if it were nothing special. His confident smile was by no means unlikable. Wooyeon checked the timetable again and recalled what had happened with Dohyun two days prior.

That day, as promised, the two met in the club room, held a strategy meeting, and then went to see the professors. In truth, there wasn’t much of a strategy meeting. Dohyun merely asked how many credits he planned to take, when a break would be good, and if morning classes were okay, then immediately got up.

‘He’s a new member of our club, and he really wants to take your class, Professor.’

He smoothly coaxed the professors with a friendly voice. He politely requested with a smile, and sometimes even smoked with them. The professors, half disarmed by Dohyun’s presence alone, readily opened their classes when he added a few more words.

“I asked some professors directly, and caught a few that opened up at just the right time. Yoonwoo-hyung also helped.”

Of course, not all professors moved according to their wishes. Some professors vaguely avoided the situation and changed the subject, while others shifted the conversation to graduate school talk, seeming like they might agree but never fully committing. However, Dohyun would immediately give up on persuasion as soon as the word ‘graduate school’ came up.

“Professors are surprisingly simple; if you just show enthusiasm, they’ll accept it. But if you don’t attend class properly, you’ll have to brace yourself for your grades.”

Dohyun’s ability and the teaching assistant’s help. With these two factors, Wooyeon finally secured a “normal timetable.” Except for one thing: the Friday morning class he took with Dohyun.

‘I’ll help you with that, so just leave it.’

Understanding English Phonology. It was a 3-credit major. It was also a class taught by a passionate professor who gave a full presentation from the very first day. If he canceled it, he would have to make up for the missing credits in the next semester.

‘Many students give up on that professor’s class because it’s difficult. You’ll get good grades just by doing the basics.’

Wooyeon believed those words and kept the class. In truth, there were no suitable alternative classes anyway. It definitely wasn’t because it was the only class he took with Dohyun.

“You really are something else…”

Garam, sitting far away, muttered in an amazed voice. He had maintained a strict distance since Wooyeon entered the club room. Given that he had completely blocked his pheromones, he was clearly conscious of what had happened last time. Well, for Wooyeon, it was a relief.

“Thank you, really.”

Wooyeon checked the timetable again and put his phone away. If it weren’t for Dohyun, he would seriously be searching “dropping out of university, first semester first year” right now. He wouldn’t actually drop out, so he would end up reluctantly attending anyway.

“Glad I could help.”

For most people, it would be an achievement to brag about, but Dohyun never acted arrogant. That, too, was so like sunbaenim, that Wooyeon secretly suppressed the surging wave of welcome.

“Hyung, will you help me too if my course registration messes up next time?”

“Well… I heard too many suggestions to go to graduate school this time, so twice might be a bit much.”

“Hey, if the professors love you that much, just pretend to be crazy and go once.”

“What?”

“My bad.”

They continued to have idle conversation for a long time. Wooyeon was a little surprised to hear that Seonkyu had joined the club much earlier. No wonder he called Dohyun “hyung” at the drinking party. It seemed they had already met.

“The kids will be happy to know you’re taking classes with Wooyeon.”

“Me? Why?”

Luckily, most of his timetable overlapped with Seonkyu’s. In fact, most first-year classes were pretty much the same, so it was odd that he had been taking different classes alone until now. Seonkyu gestured at Wooyeon naturally with his chin.

“Why else? You’re really mysterious.”

“…Me?”

His brows furrowed instinctively at the words. Mysterious? What kind of ridiculous thing was that? If messing up his timetable made him mysterious, then there was nothing to say.

“You took different classes alone, and you were alone in the corner at the orientation. Plus, you’re not in the group chat, so the other kids said they didn’t have a chance to get close to you.”

“…”

About the classes, it went without saying, and at the orientation, it was simply because he had no friends. Of course, the part that flustered Wooyeon wasn’t the first two things.

“…Are you, by any chance?”

Seonkyu looked at Wooyeon with a surprised expression. The long silence felt utterly strange. He subtly pulled out his phone and cautiously asked,

“Did you not know there was a group chat?”

When Wooyeon silently averted his gaze, he silently scrolled through his chat list. Then he found ‘English Department Group Chat’ and immediately invited Wooyeon.

“So that’s why you didn’t come to the freshman MT…”

It was a rather bitter realization. Wooyeon felt a little sad as he scrolled through the list of chat participants. Some familiar names seemed to be those he had exchanged numbers with at the drinking party.

“Then how did you come to the orientation?”

“Moon Garam sunbaenim told me.”

“Ah…”

An awkward silence descended. Garam and Dohyun also said nothing, glancing at each other. It would have been okay if it had ended there. But in Dohyun’s subsequent words, Wooyeon truly felt miserable.

“Then you don’t know about the MT either, do you?”

“…”

He hadn’t even been like this in middle school when he was bullied. At least then, there were school notices. Could he have been subtly ostracized without knowing it? As Wooyeon’s eyes drooped, Garam, unable to watch any longer, tapped the table.

“Hey, hey. Tell the student council to do their job. How can they leave a kid out? You’re supposed to be class president, what have you been doing not taking care of them?”

“Ah, I thought he left because he didn’t like a lot of people…”

Seonkyu rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed expression. He clearly hadn’t even considered that Wooyeon might not know at all. His face twisted strangely, a mix of apology, bewilderment, and absurdity.

“…It’s okay. At least I’m in now.”

Wooyeon tried hard to act as if it didn’t matter. If an apology had come, he would have felt a little more miserable. Fortunately, someone knocked on the club room door at just the right time. Knock, knock, at the sound of the knock, Seonkyu jumped up like a spring.

“I’ll get it!”

The visitor was the tteokbokki they had ordered 20 minutes ago. They had gathered in the club room specifically to eat tteokbokki. Instead of the heavy, awkward atmosphere, the delicious smell wafted through the club room.

“This place is really good, not too spicy and they deliver fast.”

The table was expertly set. While Garam took out the pickled radish and tteokbokki, Dohyun brought paper cups from the cabinet. He had thought there were application forms inside, but now he saw it was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

“K-k, looks delicious.”

“What do you guys want to drink?”

“Hyung, coke for me!”

“Water is fine for me.”

Wooyeon tore open his wooden chopsticks and observed the tteokbokki. Garam had already filled his paper cup to the brim. Seonkyu also had a piece of rice cake in his mouth, but Wooyeon just blinked blankly.

“What’s wrong?”

Dohyun, who was pouring water, asked softly. At his usual gentle voice, Wooyeon, as if possessed, pulled out the thought from his mind.

“I’ve never had it before.”

He was someone who couldn’t even touch outside food until he went to America. His meals were always prepared by his employees, and in middle school, he brought packed lunches. Although his palate had become more flexible after studying abroad, he still had a strong aversion to street food.

Wooyeon knew that this wasn’t typical. In middle school, one of the reasons he was bullied was the abnormally large difference in their family backgrounds. His telling Dohyun that he “didn’t eat cheap stuff” was actually a mischievous mistake.

“…What?”

Garam’s eyes widened, his wooden chopsticks still in his mouth. His usually sharp eyes looked round. It was the same for Seonkyu, who was scooping out fish cakes and sausages.

“You’ve never eaten tteokbokki before?”

It was a reaction similar to when Wooyeon didn’t know about the group chat. No, they seemed even more surprised. Only then did Wooyeon realize his slip of the tongue and frantically waved his hands.

“No, no! It’s just been a long time. They don’t sell tteokbokki much in America, you know.”

It was a fairly good excuse for being improvised. Garam and Seonkyu also turned their heads, looking convinced.

“Ah, Wooyeon went to America? You must be good at English.”

“Noona, you’re in the English department…”

“Kwon Seonkyu, there are only two types of people in the English department. One is someone who’s good at English from the start, and the other is someone who’s not good at English until graduation. I’m the latter, by the way.”

However, only Dohyun narrowed his eyes and gazed at Wooyeon.

“Sun… sunbaenim, aren’t you having any?”

“I am.”

Dohyun, who had been watching him silently, chuckled. His expression was full of interest, as if he had just thought of something. He took an empty paper cup, put some sausage and cheese in it, and then held it out to Wooyeon.

“Just taste a little.”

Wooyeon flinched and blinked. He closed his mouth to avoid showing his surprise, but then a quiet voice followed.

“You said you can’t eat spicy food. Try it and see if it’s spicy or not.”

He didn’t remember saying he couldn’t eat spicy food. In fact, Wooyeon wasn’t bad with spicy food. But Dohyun nodded with a brazen expression.

“…”

Wooyeon slowly took the paper cup. The food, whose origin he didn’t know, even had an unfamiliar scent. It felt quite uneasy, but since Dohyun gave it to him, it might be okay. As he hesitantly put the sausage in his mouth, Dohyun asked lightly,

“How is it?”

Wooyeon chewed the sausage silently. It was spicy and savory, a taste he had never experienced before. Like when he first ate a Salisbury steak. Wooyeon’s cheeks turned red.

“It’s delicious.”