Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 3. Late Winter (2)

A face I had never forgotten in the past four years. Just when it seemed like it would blur, it would appear in my dreams; just when it seemed like it would fade, it would be etched in my memory. His gentle eyes, the double eyelid on only one eye, and even his neat eyebrows—they all belonged to ‘Teacher’.

“……”

Wooyeon didn’t believe in coincidences. He harbored a tiny shred of hope, but no expectation that it would become reality. He had just completely let go of the vague possibility he had wished for.

But then he met the teacher. Not only did they have the same appearance, but even the same name. Kim Dohyun. At those three characters, his heart pounded uncontrollably. Goosebumps rose, and pheromones subtly wafted out. He shouldn’t be releasing pheromones like this. He couldn’t control them, just like during his first manifestation.

“Uh……”

He stammered, opening his mouth. There was so much he wanted to say, so many words overflowing: that he missed him, that he’d studied hard, that he’d lost so much weight, or that he’d grown taller. It was mostly about his recent life and things to boast about, things that would make him smile and stroke his head if he heard them.

“That……”

But not a single word came out. A kind impression, an upright posture. Aside from his jawline being a bit stronger, he was no different from before, yet Wooyeon kept feeling a sense of unfamiliarity. Wooyeon subtly moved his lips and asked in a voice barely audible,

“……Are you an Alpha?”

He felt pheromones. A strong presence that could only belong to a dominant one. It was dry and cool, but it was pheromones nonetheless. Tobacco or perfume couldn’t imitate the genuine scent of an Alpha.

“Yes.”

The answer came back indifferently. Dohyun, gazing at Wooyeon with an unexpressive face, slowly blinked. His dry gaze showed no sign of recognizing anything from the past.

“I am an Alpha.”

As soon as he heard those words, Wooyeon immediately turned his back. He bit his lip tightly and strode away. One step, and then another. The further he got from him, the more a swirling emotion surged within him.

‘……Teacher, are you an Alpha?’

He had definitely asked that. That final confirmation was the genesis of all of Wooyeon’s feelings. If a slightly different answer had come out then, Wooyeon would not have opened his heart even four years later.

‘Why, do I look like an Alpha to you?’

But an Alpha?

He didn’t know what state of mind he had been in for the past few weeks. Before he knew it, the semester had started, and course registration was an unmitigated disaster. Taking major courses with seniors and general education courses that were beyond his understanding was enough for Wooyeon to decide to drop out. It wasn’t a joke; he had gone in and out of the department office more than ten times in four days after the semester began.

“There’s still the course correction period, so……”

The kind assistant genuinely commiserated while looking at Wooyeon’s timetable. Not only did he look into various things for him, but he also secretly informed him of courses that had opened on a first-come, first-served basis. They usually didn’t go this far, but Wooyeon was just too pitiful.

“Cheer up.”

“Yes……”

The assistant lightly patted Wooyeon’s shoulder. His sullen, bowed head resembled a dejected puppy. If he had a tail, it would have dragged on the floor. Wooyeon replied in a weak voice and clutched his bag tightly.

“Excuse me, Assistant.”

Thanks to his utterly messed-up timetable, there was still a long time until his next class. He had nowhere to go, nor had he made any friends. Killing time vaguely only made unwanted thoughts linger in his head.

So, Wooyeon put on a bold face and looked at the assistant. It was to ask the name he had never forgotten in the past four days.

“Do you happen to know Kim Dohyun?”

“Kim Dohyun?”

The assistant tilted his head, looking puzzled. While a department assistant didn’t know every student, he didn’t think he wouldn’t know Dohyun. Sure enough, he checked the time once and then asked Wooyeon back,

“Because of the club?”

“Club?”

“Dohyun is the leader of the English Classics Reading Club, isn’t he? Aren’t you asking because you’re interested?”

Wooyeon nodded readily. ‘English Classics Reading’ was the club he had mentioned when he tutored him. He thought he used to be the youngest, but now he was the club leader.

“What are you curious about?”

“Just, what kind of person he is……”

Wooyeon trailed off, twisting his bag strap with his fingers. Despite being the one to bring it up, he felt uneasy belatedly. It looked too much like he was prying.

“Well, he’s a good kid.”

Fortunately, the assistant gave the most neutral answer. He paused as if gauging his reaction, then added a more detailed explanation.

“He’s responsible, and he works hard for the club. He’d probably be really happy if you joined. He’s also the top student in our department, so he’d be helpful for exams.”

The information wasn’t much different from what Wooyeon already knew. He didn’t know he was the top student, but he knew he was somewhere at the top. He had also frequently felt his sense of responsibility during their tutoring sessions.

“……He’s an Alpha, right?”

Wooyeon barely managed to utter one question. It was a question with a pre-determined answer.

“Yes.”

Since the orientation, Wooyeon’s mind had been completely preoccupied with him. The face he had seen that day, the expression he had worn when looking at Wooyeon, the pheromones lingering in the air, and even the answer he had uttered.

‘He’s an Alpha.’

But he had said he wasn’t.

Wooyeon had always detested Alphas. It was true before his manifestation and remained true after. If the former was simple avoidance, the latter was closer to a fundamental aversion. Those damnable Alphas never just passed by Wooyeon, an Omega.

“Anything else you want to know?”

“……No, I’m fine now.”

That’s why he felt betrayed. He was disappointed, and slightly, but still, aggrieved. The person he had liked so much turned out to be an Alpha, and a sense of repulsion superseded any gladness.

Well, strictly speaking, Dohyun hadn’t said, ‘I am not an Alpha.’ When he asked if Wooyeon thought he looked like an Alpha, Wooyeon had merely speculated on his own and come to his own conclusion. But wasn’t not correcting the misunderstanding still deceiving him?

“Thank you.”

Wooyeon bowed his head and slung his bag over his shoulder. The weather had warmed up a bit, so he wore a coat instead of a padded jacket, but his nose still felt cold indoors. He should have dressed warmly instead of trying to look stylish. No matter how he thought about it, he had underestimated the Korean cold too much.

“Ah, wait a minute.”

The assistant stopped Wooyeon, who was about to turn, and raised one hand. When he called out, ‘Garam!’, a student approached from not far away.

“Did you call me?”

She was a tall woman, about Wooyeon’s height. Her long, flowing hair and sharp features gave off a sense of distance, different from the assistant. The faint pheromones radiating from her indicated that she was an Alpha.

“She wants to join your club.”

“No, not right now……”

Wooyeon started to step back but then paused. The gaze that met him in the air shone like a predator spotting its prey. Garam abruptly approached Wooyeon and smiled brightly.

“Freshman?”

Her voice had an inexplicable force to it. This time, Wooyeon truly stepped back. She waved her hand, indicating she wouldn’t eat him, then he quickly nodded.

“Ah, I knew I’d seen you somewhere! You’re that freshman from orientation!”

“Orientation?”

“Don’t you remember? I told you there was an after-party, but you said you were busy and left.”

A memory flashed through his mind. On orientation day, she was the Alpha senior who had suggested the after-party. Thinking she was an Alpha, he hadn’t even made eye contact and had fled with his tail between his legs.

“……I’m sorry.”

At his hesitant apology, Garam’s eyes widened. She made a strange ‘Eung?’ sound, then let out a hearty laugh, asking what he was sorry for.

“If you’re sorry, then join the club. Do you happen to like Shakespeare?”

It was a random question. The assistant also seemed to think so, as he turned his head and smiled. Could it be Shakespeare just because it was ‘English Classics Reading’? As a flustered Wooyeon hesitated to answer, Garam subtly winked, her face sly.

“We have our first club meeting today. You’re coming, right?”

“Wow, so you came from America?”

“Where in America? LA? New York? How many years were you there?”

“My friend was always complaining about racial discrimination. Is it not like that there?”

Wooyeon awkwardly furrowed his brows amidst the barrage of questions. He didn’t know how it had come to this, but the attention he was receiving was utterly burdensome. At first, it was at most one or two people, but before he knew it, everyone at the table was looking at Wooyeon.

“……I was in LA for four years.”

When he first came to the drinking party, led by Garam, Wooyeon sat in a corner like a forgotten bag of grain. Factions had already formed: seniors with seniors, freshmen with freshmen. Given Wooyeon’s personality, he couldn’t act friendly, and Dohyun was too far away to even see. While he was making every effort not to look in that direction, a Beta approached him.

‘You came to orientation, didn’t you?’

His name was Kwon Seongyu. After downing a beer in one gulp, Seongyu took a seat opposite Wooyeon and spoke familiarly.

‘I thought you went to another school because I never saw you in class.’

Showing him his timetable on his phone at that remark was the beginning of everything. Seongyu was aghast at the ruined timetable, something you’d only see online, and naturally, Wooyeon became an object of pity for everyone.

“But isn’t tuition in LA expensive? Your family must be well-off.”

“Hey, don’t say rude things.”

Seongyu frowned and chastised him without ruining the mood. It was true that LA tuition was expensive, and it was true that Wooyeon’s family was well-off, but those things didn’t seem to matter much. He was different from the guys who were desperate to bully Wooyeon in middle school.

“Oh, Wooyeon made a lot of friends, didn’t he?”

Garam, who had approached at some point, giggled and squeezed herself between them. She was complete with everything Wooyeon disliked: the smell of alcohol and Alpha pheromones. Wooyeon tried to move away, pressing himself against the wall, but Garam chuckled, completely unfazed.

“Beautiful people really are different, I guess.”

Garam’s pheromones were loosely released. It wasn’t intentional; she seemed to have forgotten to control them due to the alcohol. Wooyeon covered his mouth with his sleeve, pretending to rest his chin, and took shallow breaths.

“This unnie was just about to……”

“Moon Garam is being an old fogey again.”

At that moment, a low voice was heard from right behind him. It was a soft, calm voice that Wooyeon knew well. His heart plummeted, and he froze for a moment before a large hand was placed on his shoulder.

“You’re making him uncomfortable.”