Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 12. Black Knight (3)

Wooyeon recalled the memory of going to lunch with Dohyun. Dohyun had casually opened the passenger door for him and even tried to buckle his seatbelt. Both on the way to the restaurant and on the way back to school from the cafe, Wooyeon had naturally sat in the passenger seat.

“Why does he hate that?”

“He’s just acting pricey. What a pain in the ass.”

Garam lay sprawled out, gasping for breath. The seniors, accustomed to Garam’s antics, naturally picked up their luggage and went inside. Among them was the senior who had been bothering Wooyeon earlier.

“Oh, you annoying senior! Were you being annoying again today?”

“Hey, come on… What do you take me for?”

“What do I take you for? An annoyance. Our annoying senior Kim.”

Garam raised one hand and wiggled his fingers. When the senior visibly looked displeased, Garam grinned, claiming it was a joke. His toothy smile didn’t look like a joke at all.

“Annoying bastard.”

As expected, Garam showed a disgusted expression once the senior went inside and was out of sight. He even raised his middle finger behind his back, showing how much he truly disliked him.

“Be careful of that bastard. He’s genuinely annoying.”

Wooyeon didn’t deny it and agreed. At his confident remark, ‘I knew it,’ Garam scrunched up his face in irritation.

“Later, try not to drink too much if possible…”

Garam rambled on with worried advice. To stay with people if possible, and to ignore that guy if he talked to him. With words full of sincerity, Wooyeon couldn’t ask any more about Dohyun and the passenger seat.

As a natural progression, a barbecue party was held in the afternoon. The meat brought by the later group was cheap but plentiful, and although not expensive cuts, it was fresh. While most people ravenously devoured the meat, Wooyeon couldn’t eat a single bite and instead watched Dohyun.

“Seongyu, get more meat. It’s all cooked.”

Veins bulged on his forearm, which was half-rolled up. He looked cool just holding the tongs with work gloves on. The upper body, glimpsed beyond his black T-shirt, was also broad, straight, and solid.

“You should eat some too, Hyung.”

“It’s okay, you eat.”

Wooyeon bit the edge of his paper cup. The meat didn’t taste right, and his mind kept drifting to Dohyun. His mood kept getting tangled, and he couldn’t figure out whether the cause was the former or the latter.

Meanwhile, those who had eaten enough began to show interest in Dohyun. Perhaps their lingering wasn’t just for the meat, as their actions were clearly intentional. Someone brought him a drink, someone touched his arm. Finally, seeing someone feed him meat, Wooyeon abruptly turned his head away.

“……”

The problem was that the annoying senior was sitting where he turned his head. It was like avoiding one trouble only to step in another; the senior, who was already starting a drinking spree, grinned slyly when his eyes met Wooyeon’s.

“Wooyeon, want some alcohol too? Want to drink Soju Bomb?”

Before Wooyeon could answer, he mixed the alcohol haphazardly. He poured soju generously and then added just a tiny bit of beer, offering it to Wooyeon. Wooyeon instinctively frowned, unable to even think of taking the paper cup.

“Come on, drink it all, drink it!”

Setting aside the soju-to-beer ratio, he didn’t want to drink alcohol tainted with pheromones. If he drank that, he’d just throw up without having eaten anything. His stomach, already queasy from the smell of meat, felt even more twisted.

“What, he’s offering it, and you’re not even taking it.”

The senior pushed the paper cup forward with a displeased face. Was his name Kim Jinsang? They say people live up to their names, and there was no bigger pain in the ass than this Jinsang. He should have known from the moment he stubbornly drove his own car to the MT, despite being too old for it.

“I’m not very good with alcohol.”

Wooyeon suppressed his temper for now. Kim Jinsang’s voice was already so loud, and he didn’t want to cause more commotion. If a problem arose now, tonight would be very arduous.

“Oh, our Wooyeon isn’t good with alcohol? Well, that won’t do.”

Fortunately, the reaction wasn’t bad. He didn’t like the term ‘our Wooyeon,’ but it was better than him insisting Wooyeon drink out of spite. Just as Wooyeon was about to feel relieved, the senior’s mouth widened in a lewd grin.

“Instead, should Hyung be your black knight?”

It was practically coercion. He offered it himself, and then he’d be the black knight? A senior next to him also tried to stop him, looking bewildered.

“Oppa, what are you doing? It’s not like it’s a drinking game, so what black knight?”

“How can you compare it to a drinking game? This is alcohol given by a senior like heaven.”

“No, but still…”

“Why, do you want to drink too?”

The senior retreated with a troubled expression. He felt sorry for Wooyeon, but he didn’t want to become a target himself. If Garam had been there, he would have openly interfered, but unfortunately, he had been out cold from carsickness for a long time. He was probably sprawled out sleeping somewhere in the pension by now.

“You know, right? If I’m your black knight, you have to grant a wish.”

The senior lowered his voice slyly. And he diligently spread pheromones, but since he was a recessive, it had no effect on Wooyeon. However, Wooyeon disliked the fact that he had to blatantly feel those pheromones.

‘Alphas always…’

Alphas who showed interest in Wooyeon were always like this. They displayed pheromones and subtly increased their volume to show off their alpha-ness. They didn’t even know how ridiculous it looked to Wooyeon, a dominant Omega, and were only preoccupied with marking their territory like animals.

“I’ll just drink it.”

Wooyeon frowned irritably and held out a hand. Forget wishes or anything, he didn’t want to provide an excuse for him to take advantage. He just planned to drink that one cup and pretend to be drunk to ignore him. It was the moment he received the paper cup with that thought.

“……?”

The paper cup was smoothly pulled from his hand. Before he could even identify who it was, a strong scent of pheromones wafted over. It was the dry, refreshing pheromone of a dominant Alpha.

“Oh…”

The refreshing pheromone, like an autumn breeze, changed the atmosphere. Wooyeon’s eyes widened as he watched a gulp. Gulp, gulp, Dohyun emptied the contents in just two sips and casually crumpled the paper cup. Then, covering his mouth, he murmured to himself.

“Ah, it was alcohol.”

By then, the surroundings were filled only with Dohyun’s pheromones. It was an overwhelming presence, so much so that the senior’s pheromones were no longer felt. Dohyun just turned his eyes to look at the senior and smiled warmly.

“I thought it was barley tea, just looking at the color.”

The senior’s face contorted sharply. Dohyun, pretending not to notice, turned his head and set down the meat plate with his gloved hand.

“Eat the meat. This is the last of it.”

His body radiated heat from having been in front of the fire all along. Dohyun was smiling, but the table fell silent as if a mouse had died. He was about to turn his back but paused and let out a sigh of realization.

“Senior, you really need to learn how to mix Soju Bomb.”

His voice was incredibly soft. It was even a tone of genuine, worried advice. He still spoke gently with a warm expression.

“I drank it because I was thirsty, otherwise I would’ve spit it out.”

“Hey, you, what are you saying…”

The senior slammed the table with a flustered face. His thick palm made a thudding sound. It was threatening enough, but Dohyun merely placed the crumpled paper cup in front of the senior and tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m joking. How could I spit out alcohol given by a senior like heaven?”

It implied that the other parts weren’t jokes. At that moment, Wooyeon couldn’t hold back his laughter. At the ‘Pffft’ sound, the senior’s gaze pierced him. Wooyeon, completely unfazed, asked innocently.

“Is this a black knight too?”

After the barbecue party, a short free time was given. It was time to prepare various things before the serious drinking began. In truth, it was time for the annoying senior to smoke, but it didn’t matter anyway.

“That happened?”

Seongyu said he hadn’t seen what happened outside earlier. It was right after he had briefly left because of a stomachache. His classmate, who was explaining the situation instead of Wooyeon, continued the story with an elevated expression.

“But he said it with such an innocent face. ‘Is this a black knight too?'”

“Hahaha! Seon Wooyeon has quite a temper!”

Seongyu burst out laughing and slapped Wooyeon’s back hard. It didn’t hurt, but it was noisy. Wooyeon, hugging his knees, replied indifferently.

“Why, it’s true. He said it himself.”

“So, what did the annoying senior say?”

“What did he say? His face turned beet red, and he went out to smoke. He still hasn’t come back.”

His classmate chuckled and scoffed. He was the one who had watched everything with the senior, silently observing. Not only him, but other older seniors also couldn’t bring themselves to stop the annoying senior. Except for one person.

“Dohyun sunbae was really refreshing. I thought he was only good-looking, but wow, his personality is even better.”

“I joined the club because of Dohyun hyung, you know? He’s really my role model.”

Wooyeon rested his chin on his knees without a word. Then Seongyu, calling him a slowpoke, pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head. His head was so small that the hood covered half his face.

“You kids are backbiting seniors over there.”

A casual tone interrupted them. Seongyu, who flinched and shrugged his shoulders, made a deflated expression when he realized it was Garam.

“Oh, Noona. You scared me.”

“Scaredy-cat… Are you having fun among yourselves? If you’re going to badmouth Jinsang, you should have included me.”

Garam playfully kicked Seongyu like a delinquent. After a nap, his complexion looked better than before. Garam, rubbing his stomach, saying he missed the meat, pointed outside with his thumb.

“Let’s go have a smoke.”

Dohyun was outside. Wearing a knee-length padded jacket and exhaling cigarette smoke, Dohyun turned around when he sensed their presence. He must have just showered, as his hair was slightly wet.

“Kim Dohyun! What, you already showered?”

“Because the smell of meat was too strong.”

“Still as fastidious as ever.”

Garam intimately slung his arm over Dohyun’s broad shoulder. Dohyun shrugged his shoulder, shaking Garam off. Garam, grumbling that he was being pricey, pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

“You said you were Wooyeon’s black knight earlier?”

“Black knight?”

Dohyun’s dark eyes shifted to Wooyeon. Wooyeon met his gaze blankly, his hands in his pockets. With his oversized coat and hoodie, he looked like he was in the middle of winter all by himself.

“Ah… that.”

A faint laugh escaped him. ‘He looks like a snowman.’ At his murmur, Wooyeon quickly pulled off his hood. Dohyun, with a cigarette in his mouth, reached out and put the hood back on him.

“Why, are you going to grant a wish?”