Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 2. Late Winter (1)

The February weather was still cold, refusing to shed its winter chill. Even though he wore a sweater that reached his neck and a thick padded jacket, there was no escaping the biting wind. America certainly wasn’t this cold, Wooyeon thought, switching his phone to the other hand.

—[How could you leave me and go!]

His ungloved hand was chillingly cold. If it weren’t for the hot pack given out at the main gate, he wouldn’t have held onto the call for so long. Wiggle, wiggle, Wooyeon put his hand in his pocket and glanced at the sign.

[Sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?]

—[Wooyeon!]

Engineering Building 1, Engineering Building 2, Engineering Building 3. In addition, the library and gymnasium were written, but the A Building he needed to go to wasn’t visible. He looked around to see if there was anyone to ask for directions, but it was just students looking around confusedly like Wooyeon.

—[How could you go to Korea behind my back? Huh? Are we just that kind of relationship?]

—[Danny… We are just that kind of relationship, and I didn’t come secretly.]

Should I just walk? Wooyeon thought like a true directionally challenged person and walked into the campus. The well-maintained flowerbeds and neatly planted street trees gave off an expensive vibe. If he hadn’t studied abroad, one of those lawns would have been his share for admission.

—[…I’m really disappointed, Wooyeon.]

After a slight pause, a much calmer voice was heard. Since he had turned the earpiece volume down to the minimum earlier, he really couldn’t hear what was being said this time. Wooyeon pressed the volume button repeatedly and quickly rattled off in English.

[I told you I was going to Korea when I turned twenty. It’s almost a month since I came to Korea, what do you expect me to do if you’re complaining now? If you were going to complain, you should have done it before I left for the airport.]

—[You’re still eighteen!]

[I’m twenty in Korean age.]

He spoke for a long time, and he felt the stares of the surrounding students. No matter how diverse a university was, speaking a foreign language made you stand out. Wooyeon ran his hand through his brightly dyed hair and quickened his pace.

[Please. I’m embarrassed to speak English. And it’s so cold here that I can see my breath. My hands are freezing, can’t I call you later?]

—[What’s there to be embarrassed about? Your pronunciation is good now. It’s perfect.]

[That’s not the problem…]

Wooyeon stopped speaking and lowered his voice considerably. While choosing his words in his head, he didn’t forget to switch the phone back to the other hand. The hot pack against his fingertips was excessively hot.

[I don’t like looking like an international student.]

Wooyeon boarded a plane to the US as soon as he turned sixteen in the fall. Originally, he had planned to enter a foreign language high school, but for various complex reasons, studying abroad was decided. The timing and place of residence were all ambiguous, but, as always, everything was resolved with money.

—[But you are an international student?]

Daniel was the first American he became close with there. At first, he called him ‘Wooyooon’ with an awkward face, but after about a month, he pronounced ‘Wooyeon’ perfectly. Daniel also helped Wooyeon when he struggled with food, and Daniel also got him suppressants for his first Omega presentation.

Perhaps because of that, he oddly tried to take care of Wooyeon. When he faced racial discrimination as an Asian, he was grateful, but it was annoying that he acted like a guardian even after returning to Korea. Especially when he had such urgent business.

—[Did you go to find that person?]

[That person?]

—[The teacher you always talked about.]

At the sudden remark, Wooyeon stopped in his tracks. Teacher. That single word clutched his heart. In fact, he had been in this state for a long time. From the moment he first saw the university’s main gate, from the moment he saw the large banner congratulating new students. No, to be precise, from the moment he first stepped on Korean soil after four years.

‘Yeon-ah.’

The face that came to mind automatically wasn’t as gentle as Wooyeon’s memory. The slightly furrowed brows and tightly sealed lips were clearly those of someone in a difficult situation. The answer that followed wasn’t a good memory either.

‘Teacher is going to the military.’

They say first loves don’t come true. His connection with the teacher ended the moment he went to the military. The teacher was the one who changed his number, and Wooyeon was the one who ran away to America.

“I got rejected…”

A faint sigh escaped him. It wasn’t something he said to Daniel, but a self-brainwashing. Daniel, who only knew ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in Korean, asked again, unable to understand.

—[What did you say?]

[Nothing, nothing.]

It had been four years since then. Wooyeon had turned twenty, presented as an Omega, and lost over 30kg. His appearance had also changed as he grew taller, so when he went through passport control, he was held for nearly 20 minutes alone. Moreover, he had undergone LASIK and no longer wore glasses, so the teacher would never recognize him.

[Anyway, I’m hanging up. I’m busy.]

Yeah, that’s how it should be.

Wooyeon calmed his complicated feelings and approached the information board. Fortunately, this one had a map of the school. The building he had been searching for was also not far away.

—[Busy? Aren’t you just in Korea for fun?]

[What are you talking about? Who told you that?]

A Building… here it is.

[I’m going to college, Danny.]

After a very slight pause, a shrill scream came from the other end of the phone. Wooyeon pulled the phone far away and hung up. An international call came in immediately, but he didn’t hesitate to turn off his phone entirely.

“Haa…”

His misty breath scattered chaotically. 「Department of English Language and Literature Freshman Orientation」. The large letters plastered on the wall told Wooyeon where he needed to go.

The orientation was much more boring than he had imagined. Welcoming speeches proceeded in an awkward atmosphere, and the introduction of the faculty and academic guidance were also predictable. In short, the theme of this orientation seemed to be celebrating admission and boasting about the school.

In the afternoon, they split into several groups and moved to the multimedia room, and Wooyeon briefly considered going home at this point. He didn’t, simply because he had no friends to ask about course registration.

“Are you not sure?”

A neat-looking teaching assistant approached Wooyeon, who was staring blankly at the computer. He had black hair and white skin, which somehow made him feel distant. Wooyeon tensed at the strong Alpha pheromone, then relaxed when he realized it was merely ‘transferred.’

“You just need to select this and this.”

His straight fingers pointed to the screen one after another. Seeing the ring on his left ring finger, the pheromone Wooyeon just felt must have been a lover’s trace. Sure enough, a faint Omega pheromone wafted from the teaching assistant who had bowed his head.

“Is there anything else you don’t know?”

The teaching assistant, having finished his explanation, slowly turned his head. Their eyes met briefly, and his eyes were as dark as his hair. Wooyeon instinctively lowered his gaze and clutched the mouse.

“How to choose electives…”

“Ah, electives.”

He had asked without much expectation, but surprisingly, a sincere answer came back. This one gives good grades, but if you’re bad at math, take something else, or since English is so basic, the competition is fierce, so it’s better to aim for something else.

Then, suddenly, the teaching assistant stopped speaking and subtly lowered his voice.

“Do you happen to be good at conversation?”

“Pardon? Oh, just a little.”

He was more than just “a little” good, but Wooyeon answered that way. The teaching assistant nodded roughly and pointed to a major.

“This one, the professor is a dominant Omega, so he’s very understanding of situations.”

Glimpse, a gaze was felt. Wooyeon didn’t reply, but the teaching assistant casually continued.

“Like heat cycles.”

In the small voice, Wooyeon felt a sense of camaraderie towards a fellow Omega. Instead of asking anything, Wooyeon tightly closed his mouth and added the lecture the teaching assistant pointed to into his shopping cart.

As soon as the orientation ended, Wooyeon fled the building. He heard there was a drinking party afterward, but he didn’t go because the senior who told him was an Alpha. No, even if they were an Omega or Beta, he wouldn’t have gone.

“Haa.”

A sigh of stuffiness escaped him. As he crossed the campus, lest anyone catch him, a fierce sense of reality washed over him. He had given up an American state university and persuaded his mother to come to Korea, but looking back, he realized it was a foolish thing to do.

It wasn’t that the school was bad. It was prestigious, the facilities were good, and there was even a kind teaching assistant in his department. There were countless advantages, but Wooyeon hadn’t expected those things.

‘Yeon-ah.’

Four years older, wouldn’t that be an age difference that allows them to attend the same university? Since he’s a Beta, he would have served in the military, and if he returned immediately, he’d be a third-year student. Perhaps they might even coincidentally run into each other.

That series of thoughts led Wooyeon here. He knew it was foolish, but he applied and waited for the acceptance announcement. And then, at the moment he actually attended the entrance ceremony and saw the enormous number of students in his department, Wooyeon realized the one single error he had overlooked.

‘…What would I do if I met him?’

Coincidentally. Yes, let’s say they ran into each other ‘coincidentally.’ If he reunited with the teacher he yearned for so much, talked to him again, and caught up after a long time. What would truly change then?

He didn’t think the teacher would be glad to see him. The last image Wooyeon remembered was his teacher’s flustered face, one he hadn’t even shown when Wooyeon skipped homework. Far from being glad, he might even find Wooyeon repulsive for chasing him all the way to university.

‘No, he wouldn’t even recognize me.’

Wooyeon gave a self-deprecating laugh and bowed his head deeply. At least, it was fortunate that there weren’t many Alphas in his department. He should have asked that teaching assistant to pick out Alpha professors for him. As soon as he thought that, an Alpha pheromone was eerily detected.

“Ah.”

It was that rare dominant Alpha. He knew it because he was also a dominant. The pheromone that wafted by was refreshing rather than unpleasant, but Wooyeon unconsciously frowned and raised his head.

The first thing he saw was the long trailing coat. As if not cold, the man wearing a thin turtleneck under a shirt had a neat nape of his neck, as straight as his back. Where had he seen that back before? The moment he thought that, the man turned his head, sensing Wooyeon’s gaze.

‘…’

Their eyes met. Time seemed to stop, and his heart seemed to cease beating. A wave of déjà vu crashed over Wooyeon in the blink of an eye. Wooyeon felt like screaming and took a deep breath.

“Kim Dohyun! Why are you just getting here!”

It was Teacher.