Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 107. Side Story 9. Guardian (9)

“My contract ended a long time ago, but Wooyeon still keeps his distance from me. After he went back to Korea, he wouldn’t contact me unless I contacted him first.”

His grumbling, complaining voice sounded wronged. He pouted his lips and then blurted out a question as if seeking agreement.

“Can’t friends be friends no matter how they meet? Does my relationship with Wooyeon have to end just because my contract ended? Is human relationships the kind of thing that just gets cut off like that?”

Dohyun couldn’t answer anything. He said nothing and averted his gaze. Twilight had already settled over the sky where the sunset had been.

“…Indeed.”

‘Teacher, go to the army.’

If they had been able to cut ties so cleanly, their reunion wouldn’t have been this long. The moment the contract was severed to end the relationship, all ties would have come to naught.

“I swear I didn’t know about Wooyeon’s family matters.”

Now, he seemed to know roughly. Of course, with the major articles out, the news must have reached him too.

“It’s unfair. Just because the starting line was a bit different, I’m still stuck at this level.”

Dohyun couldn’t say anything because he understood that feeling better than anyone. Since he too stood side by side on the starting line Daniel spoke of, all he could do was listen quietly.

“I know you’re a good person. To be precise… I know you’re a good lover.”

“Because of the kimchi stew?”

“It was delicious.”

Daniel grinned and let out a shallow sigh. Even the corners of his upturned lips showed his troubled state.

“I just… I was just a little envious. You, and the friends I saw earlier. Since your start was different from mine, the process must have been easy too.”

“The process…”

What should he say? Dohyun parted his lips to choose his words. If he opened his mouth carelessly, unmanaged emotions might spill out. After blinking once, twice, Dohyun finally spoke softly.

“My starting line wasn’t different from yours.”

At one time, Dohyun also resented an irreversible beginning. He replayed the carelessly accepted offer in his mind and despaired as he watched the retreating figure. In the ceaseless waves of regret, he clung only to a thread of hope.

“Rather, the destination was further away.”

“…What?”

Daniel stopped moving, his face dumbfounded. Their gazes met, filled with surprise. After observing Dohyun for a long time, he asked with a rather serious face, “Are you a Beta?”

It was an absurd question. Even Daniel, who was asking, seemed certain that it couldn’t be true. Dohyun didn’t answer, but he waved his hand and twisted his lips.

“…Shall I tell you something?”

His voice was sharp. A prickly, bad feeling was evident in his gaze towards Dohyun. Dohyun fully guessed why he was angry and what he felt so wronged about.

“You’ll never beat the teacher either.”

If he was going to regret saying it, he shouldn’t have said it at all. Dohyun clearly saw him speaking out of a sudden fit of anger and then immediately regretting it. Dohyun, however, put those thoughts aside and focused only on one word Daniel had uttered.

“Teacher?”

“…Yes, teacher.”

There was no need to ask who it was. Dohyun knew perfectly well who it was. Daniel, interpreting Dohyun’s silence, added in a small voice, “You’re ‘Hyung,’ not ‘Teacher.'”

Only two words were in Korean: “Hyung” and “Teacher.” Both were used by one person, referring to one person. Daniel probably didn’t know the latter.

“When he was in America, Wooyeon talked about the teacher whenever he had a chance.”

“…”

“He said he was a Beta, very gentle and kind. You and I, we’ll never be like the teacher.”

Dohyun bowed his head deeply, organizing his complex feelings. While he was happy that Wooyeon talked about him, he felt sorry that Wooyeon missed him even in America. The most absurd thing was his own unconscious sense of superiority.

“…Daniel Connor.”

Reluctantly, Dohyun spoke in a subdued voice. He didn’t have a hobby of meddling, but remaining silent felt like a deception towards Daniel. Even if it was embarrassing to say he was the “teacher,” he wanted to clear up Daniel’s misunderstanding. Because if Daniel left, that little guy might get hurt again.

“You seem to be mistaken…”

Daniel looked at Dohyun with a hardened expression. He seemed worried that Dohyun was angry because of the sudden use of his full name. Dohyun, softening his expression slightly, began gently, “Wooyeon thinks of you as a friend too.”

Up to this point, it was a polite comfort. Daniel seemed to feel the same way, nodding with a deflated expression. With a look that seemed to say, “Go on,” Dohyun deliberately spoke in Korean, not English.

“It’s just that you’re his first friend, so he doesn’t know how to treat you.”

“…First?”

Honestly, he wished Daniel hadn’t understood. He didn’t want to admit that someone other than himself was precious to Wooyeon. Out of a childish jealousy, wanting to monopolize Wooyeon, Dohyun added as if doing a favor, “His first friend.”

Daniel’s eyes widened in disbelief. He said he didn’t know about his family background, but it seemed he didn’t know what kind of environment Wooyeon grew up in either. Well, it was true that so many things couldn’t have been contained in a mere news article.

“Wooyeon only has two proper friends. One is you, and the other is Seongyu, whom you saw earlier. Moon Garam is a senior, so he’s a bit different, and I’m his lover, so I’m an exception.”

“…You talk too fast.”

“Listen as if you’re studying.”

Since Daniel had been sulking all this time, Dohyun had no intention of letting him off the hook this time. He even gave a belated lecture, saying that if you come to Korea, you should speak Korean. Daniel, who had been frowning intently, actually listened more diligently than anyone once the story began.

“When the news about Wooyeon broke, Moon Garam bought him a cake to cheer him up.”

It was a vivid memory, as if it happened yesterday. The day the news broke that Wooyeon was the successor to Seonjeong Group, reporters were swarming the school gate. Dohyun hadn’t seen it himself, but according to Garam, that little guy was so detached, as if he had given up everything.

“But Wooyeon said, ‘Are you pitying me right now?'”

“Pity?”

“Sympathy.”

“Ah…”

“So Moon Garam… You know ‘worry,’ right? Yes, he said it wasn’t pity but worry, and then Wooyeon said he was uncomfortable with that, or something like that.”

Daniel made a subtle expression. Even he seemed to think Wooyeon’s reaction was strange. Dohyun sighed, recalling Garam who had told him that.

“Wooyeon is just not used to it.”

‘He said, “What if I get used to being worried about?”‘

“He had more than anyone, but he never had a common friend, so he didn’t know how much he could rely on someone.”

Someone might call it a privileged complaint. In fact, until Dohyun met Wooyeon, he thought he was just a spoiled rich kid living in a good house.

“It was the same even after we started dating.”

However, Wooyeon, for whom everything was new, was clumsy in every way. He didn’t know how to lean on someone, how to hide things, he knew how to express himself but not how to receive.

“He’d endure jealousy, endure wanting something, endure thinking I didn’t like him. Then, when he thought he’d get hurt, he’d cut it off and run away.”

“…”

“He’s difficult. Hard to deal with.”

He felt sorry, but also wronged. It was true that he resented what he had done wrong. Then, suddenly, looking at Wooyeon’s clear eyes, he felt his resolve weaken and thought, “But how scared must a child be to act like that?”

Dohyun developed his quick wit to survive, but Wooyeon developed his caution to survive. If Dohyun clung desperately, not wanting to miss anything, Wooyeon gave up on possessing things for fear of losing them. Both simply did their best to protect themselves, and it was contradictory to assign blame.

“I’m not telling you to understand everything. There must be some fault on Wooyeon’s part for you to think that way. But no one knows what’s in a person’s heart unless they say it.”

Most problems are half-solved by just speaking honestly. There was no problem with Daniel’s feelings of disappointment if he just conveyed them properly. If Wooyeon hadn’t considered him a friend in the first place, he wouldn’t have reminisced about his time with ‘Danny’ with such a happy face.

“So instead of sulking at me, talk to Wooyeon. Shall I say it in English?”

“…No, I understand.”

Daniel shook his head with a very complex expression. “Roughly,” he added. He seemed to be deep in thought, but his expression wasn’t as wronged as before. He just turned his head away, looking regretful belatedly.

After that, no words were exchanged. Dohyun had said all he needed to say, and Daniel remained silent, lost in deep thought. As the subtle silence stretched on for quite a while, Daniel, leaning on the balcony, suddenly spoke.

“You… are really mature.”

Dohyun shrugged his shoulders. “You say the strangest things,” he added, and Daniel gave an awkward laugh.

“Is that why you’re different from me?”

It was a vague soliloquy. Dohyun didn’t answer, and Daniel also remained silently. Soon, he looked directly at Dohyun and spoke clearly, “I’m sorry, Dohyun. I made a mistake…”

It was an apology with multiple meanings. He spoke slowly and even looked at Dohyun’s reaction at the word “mistake.” Yet, Dohyun didn’t say “It’s okay,” thinking that Daniel needed time to reflect.

“Then I’ll go in first.”

Daniel left the balcony with slumped shoulders. Dohyun secretly clicked his tongue as he watched his retreating back. The thought of him being Wooyeon’s friend kept making him act soft.

“Think about where you want to go tomorrow.”

He paused, and his broad shoulders twitched. His bewildered gaze turned back, full of puzzlement. Dohyun habitually furrowed his left eyebrow.

“You came all this way to play, we can’t just vaguely drink all day like today.”

Daniel nodded after a slight pause. He might not be good at speaking, but he seemed quite good at listening. His steps as he walked inside were a little more energetic than before, and only then did Dohyun comfortably look up at the sky.

‘You’ll never beat the teacher either.’

He didn’t know why those words lingered so much in his mind. He had already put in countless efforts to escape being ‘teacher.’ The position of ‘hyung’ he had finally obtained was so precious and valuable.

He shook his head once and stood up. He planned to go inside quickly and hug the sleeping Wooyeon tightly. Wooyeon rarely woke up, so a few kisses would probably be fine.

With a creak, the closed window revealed the sky, which had already grown dark. His gaze, which had reached the pale blue moon, quickly fell away without regret. It was truly an ephemeral day.