Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 27. Teacher (4)

Wooyeon’s eyes widened in surprise. Just as he had felt when Dohyun entered the cafe moments ago, as their gazes met, his subtly irritating emotions disappeared. Even the lingering trace of Junseong’s pheromones on his wrist was now completely gone.

“Who are you, anyway……”

Junseong recoiled, his face bewildered. He seemed quite flustered by Dohyun’s sudden appearance. Anyone could see that Dohyun was a senior, and he was even taller, so it was no wonder Junseong felt intimidated. Wooyeon walked past Junseong and tugged on Dohyun’s sleeve.

“The meeting’s over.”

He didn’t even spare Junseong a glance. He didn’t add any further words, nor did he look displeased by him. He simply looked up at Dohyun with grateful, tear-filled eyes, the corners of his eyes drooping.

“Let’s go, senior.”

This time, even Junseong couldn’t stop Wooyeon. Dohyun silently followed Wooyeon, subtly observing Junseong’s face without making it obvious.

After entering the study room, he was pestered by Garam and Seongyu for a long time. They were furious, asking what ‘that yellow-haired punk’ had done, and they were shocked to hear that Junseong was the group project leader. After a long silence, they finally seriously suggested, ‘Let’s just free-ride,’ making Wooyeon unintentionally let out a silly laugh.

“But how did you know to come out?”

Wooyeon, hugging his bag tightly, looked around at the window. He wondered if they could see outside from inside, but the lower half of the wide window had an opaque film on it. At most, only silhouettes were visible, so it was difficult to tell what was happening outside.

“It was just good timing.”

Dohyun said that, pointing to the cigarette he had taken out. It seemed he had stood up to smoke and looked outside through the transparent upper part. Garam got up from her seat, rummaged through her denim jacket, and chuckled.

“Hey, I thought Kim Dohyun suddenly left because he had to poop.”

“Sister, a cigarette for me too.”

They stood up and looked out the window for a long time. Saying that ‘that guy’ seemed to be gone now, and if he were there, they wouldn’t have left him alone. To the two, who were talking like dumb and dumber, Dohyun indifferently said,

“Come back after getting rid of all the smell.”

He said he was going for a smoke, but Dohyun didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. Garam looked puzzled.

“Aren’t you going?”

“I got lazy.”

“Wooyeon?”

“He said he quit smoking.”

“Wow, I didn’t think he had it in him.”

He mumbled that smaller kids were tougher, then took Seongyu and left the study room. Click, as the door closed, the outside noise was completely cut off.

“……”

“……”

An undefinable stillness lingered. It felt like awkwardness, or perhaps comfort. Wooyeon rested his chin on his bag and slowly moved his eyelids.

“……Thank you, senior.”

Dohyun didn’t answer, but his gently released pheromones comforted Wooyeon’s heart. Wooyeon suppressed the pheromones that threatened to burst out, pressing his palm with his fingernails.

And then, to forget Junseong, he immersed himself solely in studying. The two, who returned from smoking, were even impressed by Wooyeon’s concentration. Except for the occasional times Dohyun spoke to him to clear his head, Wooyeon didn’t take his eyes off his book for three hours.

“Thanks to Wooyeon today, I studied a lot.”

“Me too. I felt motivated.”

As the reservation time was almost up, Wooyeon took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He had been so engrossed that English words crawled like worms in his head. Dohyun, who was packing his things, paused and chuckled, looking at Wooyeon.

“You have glasses marks.”

What was so special about that one comment? His face turned beet red. He covered his ears with his hands, but his already flushed neck couldn’t be hidden. It was a peaceful day, as if nothing had happened.

A date with Dohyun. Wooyeon worked hard, looking forward to just that one thing. Except for eating and sleeping, he was at his desk, and if his concentration wavered, he thought of Dohyun. Just like a long time ago, when he wanted to make a good impression on his teacher, he had the kind of concentration that would put any exam-taker to shame.

Thus, Wooyeon received a perfect score on his English review for his first exam. To be precise, it was thanks to the past exam papers Dohyun had given him, but Seongyu, who received the same papers, had points deducted. Wooyeon held back his urge to immediately boast and prepared for the next exam.

The second exam was also successful. When told to write down everything he had memorized on a blank paper, Wooyeon calmly filled the paper. For Wooyeon, who studied without much strategy, problems that only required him to recite what he had memorized without applying it were much easier and simpler.

The third and fourth exams were also not difficult. Sometimes, content he had memorized just before the exam appeared, and all the questions were sometimes from the sections Dohyun had highlighted. Moreover, luckily, even the liberal arts class he took with Junseong was canceled for ‘midterm presentation preparation.’ There was no contact from the group members, but Wooyeon decided to focus on his exams first.

And finally, Friday. Wooyeon organized the memorized content in his notebook before the last exam. The English phonology class he took with Dohyun was particularly difficult, and it was hard to grasp the concepts. It was better thanks to Dohyun’s help, but he still wasn’t confident.

“Do you think you’ll do well?”

Wooyeon shook his head weakly, looking sullen. At his lack of confidence, Dohyun narrowed his eyes and murmured. Then, after a short hesitation, he reached his hand towards the back of Wooyeon’s head.

“Don’t be nervous, just relax.”

Long fingers ran through his hair. His softly scattered hair entwined around Dohyun’s fingertips. Wooyeon straightened his back and looked at Dohyun with wide eyes.

“Just read the questions carefully. Okay?”

His faint smile squeezed Wooyeon’s heart. Dohyun quickly withdrew his hand, but the sensation of his stroking his hair remained. Wooyeon felt his heart pounding in his ears, and he stammered, his lips parting.

“You too, senior……”

His face flushed burning hot. Heat rushed to his head, and he couldn’t even recall what he had just been studying. Far from relaxing, this time, his whole body was tensing up for a different reason.

“……Good luck on your exam.”

Wooyeon barely managed to utter those words and lowered his head. Before he looked away, Dohyun made a startled expression, but Wooyeon couldn’t even pay attention to that. His heart was pounding so fast that if he let his guard down even a little, pheromones might flood out.

If the intention was to help him relax, it was a failure. No, if the intention was to distract him and remove his exam worries, it was a success. Until the professor came in and handed out the exam papers, Wooyeon’s mind was entirely filled with Dohyun.

“Ugh, finally the exams are over……!”

Garam, with an excited face, stopped just as he was about to enter the club room. A subtly sunken atmosphere pricked his skin sharply. He closed his mouth and looked at Dohyun and Wooyeon, who were sitting opposite each other across a table.

“……”

“……”

Dohyun, who looked somewhat apologetic, turned to Garam. Seeing that he didn’t ask if he had arrived, something must have happened after all. Garam swallowed hard and looked at Wooyeon, who seemed on the verge of tears.

“What is it…… You’re not giving him a hard time, are you?”

Dohyun’s face twisted into a frown. He opened his mouth in an incredulous, indifferent tone. To his short answer of ‘Are you crazy?’, Garam awkwardly scratched his cheek.

“If not, why is the atmosphere like this? Did someone die?”

Garam slowly stepped further into the club room. Then he went to sit next to Dohyun but changed course to the seat next to Wooyeon. As soon as he sat next to Wooyeon, Dohyun’s eyes twitched, and he closed his mouth.

“Goodness, the kid’s turned into a deflated balloon.”

Wooyeon weakly looked at Garam. Those usual round eyes were unusually tearful and moist today. Garam felt a pang in his heart and gently softened his expression. He could swear, this was the first time in Moon Garam’s life he had made such a tender face.

“Alright, tell your noona. Is it Kim Dohyun? Or that yellow-haired punk from before?”

“Noona……”

Wooyeon’s lips parted as if to speak, then hesitated. Despite his hesitation, Garam calmly waited for him to continue. Finally, Wooyeon covered his face with both hands and muttered in a watery voice,

“I messed up my last exam……”

Wooyeon had been in this state from the moment he received the exam paper. Until then, Wooyeon, who had been overflowing with excitement for Dohyun, simply stared blankly the moment he read the questions. Not because of Dohyun, but simply because the questions were difficult.

It couldn’t even be compared to the quizzes he took every lecture. He had memorized all the concepts, and his problem interpretation was perfect, but he ultimately didn’t know what to apply. Once he felt difficulty, other concepts also became confusing, and in the end, all the content he had painstakingly memorized simply flew out of his head.

“They told me to change features to create different phonemes, but I didn’t understand anything. And in the midst of that, I confused accidental gaps with something else……”

Garam listened absentmindedly to Wooyeon’s words. Accidental gaps or whatever, the only Wooyeon Garam knew was the junior in front of him. He had certainly taken English phonology, but he remembered nothing except that he had received a D+.

“That…… must have been tough……”

Garam paused, about to pat his shoulder, then hesitated and withdrew his hand. Dohyun awkwardly averted his gaze, as if asking what he should do with him. He too had clearly been sitting there quietly, unable to find a way to comfort Wooyeon.

“Still, Wooyeon, if it was hard for you, it must have been hard for everyone else too, so……”

“Senior said he did well.”

“……”

Garam glared fiercely at Dohyun. ‘Why did you do that, you bastard.’ At that look, Dohyun subtly avoided his gaze. In truth, Dohyun had been taking the course consistently since his freshman year, so it was unavoidable that he would do better than Wooyeon.

How much time had passed? Garam, who had been diligently comforting Wooyeon, eventually gave up. Wooyeon tried his best to act okay, but that only made him look more pitiful. Eventually, just as Garam also sat up straight, someone knocked on the club room door.

“Oh, everyone’s here? I’m done with my exams……”

Seongyu reacted exactly as Garam had earlier. He had entered full of excitement but then hesitated and stopped speaking. The awkward seniors and the tearful junior. Seongyu resolutely took a step back.

“……If you’re giving him a hard time, I’m leaving.”