Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 118. Side Story 20. Outsider (10) END

Dohyun was abandoned in front of an orphanage at the age of eight. At eight, it was an age where one could vaguely remember their early childhood.

“It’s awkward to say it myself, but I was smart from a young age. So, as soon as those people left me, I immediately realized. Ah, they’re not coming back.”

A bitter smile hung on his lips. Wooyeon listened to Dohyun’s story, unable to say anything in response.

“I still don’t know why they abandoned me. Only after I grew up did I roughly guess it might have been for financial reasons.”

The light from the underground parking lot entrance seeped inside. Even in the darkness, the expression Dohyun wore was strongly etched in Wooyeon’s mind.

“It’s not like I have trauma. I was adopted into a good home, I’m dating a good person, and I don’t think there’s anything lacking in myself.”

Various emotions were mixed in his dark eyes. Sometimes they seemed like his usual confident gaze, and other times like the vulnerable gaze Wooyeon had seen before. Wooyeon discovered a small, anxious emotion beyond them.

“Still, sometimes I’m just cautious.”

“……”

“Because, after all, I’m not their biological child.”

Wooyeon felt his mind go blank as if he had been struck on the back of the head. He knew the reason for Dohyun’s anxiety, but hearing it directly from his mouth felt different. Was it pity, concern, or shame for having rashly assumed? Swallowing all of it, Wooyeon spoke about something he had felt all day.

“……Jinah really resembles you, hyung.”

Dohyun looked puzzled. He parked his car in an empty spot and looked at Wooyeon without getting out. Wooyeon met his gaze and listed off the things Jinah resembled him in, one by one.

“Her smile, her habit of frowning, how she takes care of you while eating, little things like that.”

“……”

“A sibling is a sibling, after all. I don’t know how many times I thought that today.”

Dohyun tilted his head slightly. A warmth was felt in his eyes, as if Wooyeon’s attempt to comfort him was cute. Wooyeon calmly met his gaze and quietly repeated what Jinah had said.

“Family isn’t just about blood ties, you know. It’s not like you can only open your heart if there’s blood.”

He knew it was a cliché. But Wooyeon was someone who understood the meaninglessness of blood ties better than anyone.

“If you put it that way, we’re strangers too, but here we are meeting like this.”

Dohyun’s expression subtly changed. He looked stunned and blank, then let out a breath-like laugh. When Wooyeon looked at him quizzically, his eyes curved gently.

“No… I just never expected to get relationship advice from you.”

“……Can’t I?”

“It means I like it.”

A pleasant, fluttering pheromone wafted over. A large hand gently caressed Wooyeon’s cheek. Wooyeon habitually rubbed his face against it like a small animal.

“You two must have gotten really close, calling her Jinah.”

Fortunately, Dohyun wasn’t angry at Wooyeon’s meddling. Seeing his softened gaze, Wooyeon held Dohyun’s hand with both of his own.

“I hope you don’t have anything to feel anxious about, hyung.”

His heart beat irregularly. It was time to confess to Dohyun for the first time the things he had always thought.

“Thanks to you, Teacher, I endured middle school. And now, thanks to your help, hyung, I’ve escaped from home without cutting ties with my mother.”

It was an unexpected statement. Dohyun simply nodded in response.

“Now I know that not all Alphas in the world are bad, and I know that someone worries about me.”

“……”

“You taught me all of that, hyung.”

Dohyun’s eyes narrowed. His two eyes, curved as if smiling, were actually closer to suppressing emotion than truly smiling. Wooyeon kissed Dohyun’s hand and looked up at him with only his eyes.

“If Teacher hadn’t taught me… hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known anything until now.”

There might be a reason for not speaking, but if you don’t speak, you know nothing. It was what Dohyun had told Wooyeon countless times, and what Wooyeon had felt from him countless times.

“Try talking to your family well.”

“……”

“I hope you do.”

Dohyun caressed Wooyeon’s cheek for a long time. He stroked his skin as if handling something precious, and his fingers played along his earlobe. When Wooyeon’s eyelids trembled from the ticklish touch, a gentle voice was heard.

“I’m not foolish enough to lose someone precious due to the same mistake.”

Wooyeon suddenly regretted not telling Jinah how nice Dohyun’s voice was. His soft, whispering tone made him feel utterly sweet.

“I was going to resolve it through conversation someday. I just didn’t know when that would be.”

The swirling emotions gradually settled beyond his eyes. Wooyeon realized a moment too late that it was a feeling of being touched.

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“……”

“Thank you for worrying, Yeon-ah.”

He kissed Wooyeon’s cheek, then gave a soft peck on his lips. As if regretting the brief warmth, he lingered on his lips for a longer moment. Before the kiss deepened, Dohyun pulled away and spoke, their foreheads touching.

“I’ll go talk to Jinah today.”

“Do it tomorrow. Jinah’s drunk.”

“Well… that works too.”

Dohyun laughed playfully and rubbed Wooyeon’s cheeks. He kneaded them like clay, then gave him several pecks. Then he pulled Wooyeon into his arms and whispered sweetly.

“I love you.”

Wooyeon felt his face turn bright red and clutched Dohyun’s lapel. A pounding heartbeat, whose owner was unknown, echoed around them. The weight of “I love you” instead of “I like you” was overwhelmingly beautiful.

“Me too……”

The rest of the sentence came out as tiny as an ant’s voice. Fortunately, Dohyun seemed to have understood everything, scattering laughter above Wooyeon’s head. After embracing for a long time, he carefully released Wooyeon from his arms.

“Go in. I’ll contact you.”

If he held on any longer, he clearly wouldn’t want to let Dohyun go. Wooyeon obediently got out of the car and waved through the window. Dohyun’s softly smiling face tickled his chest.

‘I don’t want to part.’

Wooyeon kept thinking that even after getting into the elevator. He wished they could go up here together every day; such a desire constantly circled in his mind. It was a night where Dohyun’s empty space felt particularly large.

Time passed quickly. That day, Dohyun, who had returned home, said for some reason that he would stay at his main house for a while. Wooyeon didn’t hear the details, but seeing Dohyun return home with a pile of expensive clothes, he vaguely understood. No matter what anyone said, the mature teacher would surely have handled everything perfectly without needing to be worried about it.

“Are you contacting Jinah again?”

Today, Wooyeon, who had been lounging at Dohyun’s house, finally managed to check his phone after being thoroughly bothered by him. As expected, the lock screen was full of messages from Jinah.

“You two are the same age, so you get along well.”

After they had eaten three-layered meat together, Jinah sent Wooyeon messages constantly. At first, she badgered Wooyeon, asking if he had told her brother, but a few days later, she sent him a bunch of gifticons, saying thank you and sorry. Dohyun made a strange expression when he heard that Wooyeon had exchanged numbers with Jinah, but then chuckled when Wooyeon said Jinah was his first friend his age since Seongyu.

“Jinah keeps saying she wants your house, hyung.”

“This apartment? She’s always pestering me for it anyway.”

Jinah always talked about wanting to live alone. She was constantly eyeing Dohyun’s apartment, as if her parents hadn’t given her anything. When asked why, she said her mother was furious because she had taken a leave of absence from school without permission.

“Since she’s not here, don’t get too close to Jinah. It’s not about Seonjeong Group or anything, but Wooyeon, you’re exactly the type Jinah likes.”

Dohyun got up from the bed and stretched his stiff shoulders. Wooyeon, who had just put down his phone, looked at his broad back. The tightly packed muscles were wide and firm.

“She told me I’m the second best-looking person she’s ever seen.”

“Ah… Did she say who the first was?”

Dohyun wasn’t the first, Wooyeon hadn’t said that. He had merely subtly asked if Dohyun knew who it was. Dohyun chuckled and lifted Wooyeon up.

“The business school god.”

“Ah…”

Was it the teaching assistant’s lover? He had only seen them once, but he remembered that they were strikingly beautiful. Alpha or not, they were certainly handsome.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen the teaching assistant hyung at school lately.”

“Yoonwoo hyung?”

Dohyun familiarly carried Wooyeon towards the bathroom. Thanks to prior preparation, the bathtub was full of warm water. Dohyun, who entered the tub while holding Wooyeon, replied indifferently. Yoonwoo hyung, he said, had graduated last August.

“You didn’t know?”

“No… it was during vacation…”

Now that he thought about it, he might have heard something similar. He just hadn’t paid attention, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

“You even went to his graduation celebration drinking party, what do you mean? Well, the person himself didn’t even come.”

Wooyeon felt unnecessarily embarrassed and snuggled into Dohyun’s embrace. The warm water splashed, reaching up to his shoulders. They were embracing face to face, so Dohyun’s shoulder blade was right in front of his nose.

‘Tattoo…’

He unconsciously touched the Latin words visible before his eyes. Today, Wooyeon had scratched him so much that there were scratches everywhere. Wooyeon rested his chin on Dohyun’s shoulder and whispered softly.

“I have a large penis.”

“……”

Dohyun’s shoulder stiffened. It seemed Jinah’s translation was accurate after all. Wooyeon, still facing the motionless Dohyun, asked gently.

“How did you get such a brazen tattoo?”

“……Hmm.”

After a slight pause, Dohyun hugged Wooyeon. He stroked Wooyeon’s dry back, then leaned against the tub and slowly lay down. Something heavy brushed against Wooyeon’s buttocks.

“Well… it’s not wrong.”

It seemed he decided to be shameless since he was caught anyway. Wooyeon gave up on teasing him and comfortably leaned into his embrace. His whole body felt languid, and his eyelids kept closing.

“Hyung.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Just one word, but it was filled with sweet affection. His gently lowered voice tickled him softly.

“Will you live with me?”

It was a light suggestion, like “Will you eat with me?” Perhaps because of that, Dohyun didn’t react immediately but paused his hand on Wooyeon’s back. Wooyeon burrowed into his arms, rubbing, and spoke in a languid voice.

“You can come to my place… or I can come here…”

“……”

“But I hope you just give this house to Jinah and come to the officetel.”

It was something Dohyun had suggested once before. He remembered Dohyun’s gentle whisper about wanting to create a refuge for Wooyeon. But now, Wooyeon wanted to suggest it to him.

“I’m not saying right now, so think about it.”

In fact, he had subtly gotten permission from Soohyang. The only variable Wooyeon hadn’t considered was the normal response: “Isn’t living together a bit too soon?” Well, either way, he did get the answer that since it was his house, he could do whatever he wanted.

“I can’t sleep without you, hyung…”

Wooyeon wrapped his arms around Dohyun’s back and rubbed his hair against Dohyun’s neck. His damp hair clung to Dohyun’s nape. Dohyun’s shoulder twitched, as if the sensation was ticklish.

“……”

No, it didn’t seem to be ticklish.

“……Why is this getting bigger?”

Dohyun didn’t answer the question and tilted his head back. His exposed Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Seeing the pheromones wafting, he seemed to be trying to calm his excitement somehow.

“You can’t take back those words.”

The words that finally came out were filled with suppressed emotion. He stroked Wooyeon’s back and kissed the top of his head.

“Our Wooyeon, it’d be a big problem if you can’t sleep…”

“……”

“Guess I’ll have to give the apartment to Jinah, can’t be helped.”

It was a playful remark, but it was more than enough than ten answers. Wooyeon couldn’t overcome the surging emotions and brought his lips to Dohyun’s ear. After a soft peck, he whispered something tiny, and Dohyun hugged Wooyeon tightly.

“How did you come to me…”

It was an honest reaction, as if he was pouring out all his feelings. Wooyeon’s face turned crimson, like someone receiving a confession for the first time, and he burrowed into Dohyun’s arms. Dohyun hugged Wooyeon and whispered again and again, countless times.

‘I love you too, today and always.’

Alpha Trauma Side Story

End.