Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 32. Rock (1)

Wooyeon finally fell into a good sleep after a long time. He didn’t have nightmares, nor did he toss and turn or wake up in the middle of the night as usual. After falling into a deep sleep on the soft, cozy sheets, he simply seeped into the abyss of boundless unconsciousness.

What woke Wooyeon was the vibrating sound from his bedside. The buzzing vibration was enough to annoy even Wooyeon, who was in a deep sleep. At first, he ignored it, but the vibration continued without stopping.

“Ugh…”

Wooyeon groaned and fumbled for his phone. He put it to his ear without checking the screen, and an overly cheerful voice came through. It was a familiar call Wooyeon could never mistake.

―[Wooyeon!]

Wooyeon forgot to answer and checked the screen first. Above the name saved as ‘Danny,’ the numbers indicating 9 AM appeared. To call so early, his friend clearly didn’t know what time it was in Korea.

[Danny… Do you know what time it is here?]

―[Of course! Isn’t it nine in the morning there?]

[You knew and you still called?]

Wooyeon cleared his throat with an exasperated expression. After a few coughs, his pathetic voice improved slightly. However, his still stiff eyelids showed no sign of waking up.

―[Were you sleeping? At this hour?]

[Nine AM on a Saturday… usually, people are sleeping.]

Wooyeon mumbled his answer, rested his phone on his ear, and lowered his hand. As he closed his eyes, it became the perfect environment to fall back asleep. He would have dozed off if Daniel hadn’t spoken from beyond the phone.

―[Wake up a bit. I have important news!]

[Tell me… I’m listening.]

―[Liar.]

It was indeed a lie, but Wooyeon didn’t let it show. Only after he repeated “really” about twice did Daniel open his mouth with a bright voice.

―[I’m going to your country this summer.]

“…Summer?”

Summer was at least three months away. He said it was important news, but it didn’t seem worth waking him from his deep sleep. Perhaps noticing Wooyeon’s unenthusiastic reaction, Daniel grumbled his dissatisfaction.

―[What, aren’t you happy? I’m coming to see you.]

[You’re coming to see me? Not just for travel?]

―[It’s a bit of both.]

[Let’s just say that.]

Wooyeon let out a spiritless laugh, meaning he would pretend to believe him. Then, just as Wooyeon had done a moment ago, Daniel emphasized “really” three times.

―[Anyway, if I come, can you put me up?]

[At my house? Not a hotel?]

―[I want to visit a normal Korean household.]

[Well, that’s… not difficult, but.]

Wooyeon’s house was far from a ‘normal household,’ but Daniel had no way of knowing that. Wooyeon, feeling like it didn’t matter, told him to let him know when he booked his flight.

―[You have to clear your schedule. Got it?]

[I’ll try… Hang up for now. I’m sleepy.]

Wooyeon hung up before Daniel could even reply. He put his phone face down and closed his eyes again, and sleepiness crept in. But this time, Wooyeon couldn’t fall asleep either.

“Going to sleep more?”

“…”

A familiar voice chased away his sleepiness. It was different from when he had received Daniel’s call and talked for a long time. Wooyeon felt his head clear and sprang up from his lying position.

“Senior…?”

Dohyun was standing at the door with his arms crossed. He wore a white cotton T-shirt and sweatpants, with a towel draped over his shoulder. Wooyeon, eyes wide, looked at Dohyun, then frantically looked around.

“…”

An unfamiliar ceiling, an unfamiliar bed. Unseen furniture and Dohyun’s pheromones floating around.

A series of events passed like a panorama. Drinking the soju-beer mix Minjung made, Dohyun leaving to smoke, and at some point, calling Minjung ‘Noona.’

“…!”

Wooyeon gaped and held his head with one hand. It wasn’t hard to grasp the situation without thinking deeply. He also knew why he was lying in Dohyun’s bed.

“That…”

His clear eyes darted around frantically. He opened his mouth briefly, but no words followed. Instead of Wooyeon, who couldn’t speak, Dohyun curled the corner of his lips into a wry smile.

“Remember?”

Wooyeon didn’t react immediately and closed his mouth. The sheets he had just been lying on were as messy as his mind. Embarrassment, shame, and a slight sense of apology. Amidst various emotions, a single answer barely escaped.

“…No.”

His pale face had turned completely red up to his neck. At his flushed appearance, as if pink paint had been spread, Dohyun swept his hand through his hair with a helpless look.

“Go wash up. You need to sober up.”

Dohyun said that and left the room. Only Wooyeon, left alone on the bed, clutched his head and screamed silently. He was too embarrassed to face Dohyun.

As soon as Wooyeon came to his senses, he immediately returned home. With midterms over, he had to do his group project, and he was too awkward to look at Dohyun’s face. Dohyun suggested he stay for breakfast, but Wooyeon made all sorts of excuses to refuse. Dohyun looked at Wooyeon and somehow smiled wryly.

After returning home, he quickly washed up and shook off distracting thoughts. He had made a mistake while drunk at the MT and couldn’t even remember it, and now he woke up in Dohyun’s bed. Half joy at having visited his teacher’s house, half regret about having drunk alcohol. The surging shame made him unable to lift his head.

“…I need to get myself together.”

Wooyeon forcibly cleared his head and came out of the bathroom. His mind was in a complete mess, but now wasn’t the time to think about such things. Dohyun hadn’t said anything special either, so for now, he had to focus on what he needed to do.

First, he checked the group project chat room. The conversation, which had stopped since the idea meeting, only had the meeting notes Wooyeon had written. He had asked them to send the PPT and provided his email address, but he didn’t expect a reply.

‘I guess I’ll have to find materials first.’

Only 5 days left until the presentation for the elective class. It was already a tight schedule just for preparing the presentation, and the possibility of the PPT arriving within the remaining 5 days was close to zero. As if to prove that, no ‘read’ receipts appeared in the group chat room.

Well, this situation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. Even in middle school, he took sole responsibility for group assignments. From research to making PPTs, and even presenting. Even if he wasn’t in a group with Junseong, students who were conscious of Junseong openly ignored Wooyeon.

The teacher, knowing it was Wooyeon’s work, pretended not to and distributed the scores to everyone. They clearly judged that sacrificing the relatively quiet Wooyeon was better than dealing with protests from other students. Indeed, Wooyeon finished the performance evaluation without any protests, so outwardly, it seemed like a peaceful outcome.

‘I’ll just do it alone.’

His hand, gripping the mouse, moved busily. He outlined the project, found various materials, and created a clean template. Thanks to making all sorts of PPTs for three years in middle school, he could do this with his eyes closed. Since time was short, implementing the invention would be difficult, but if he decorated it nicely and presented it, he could at least get a B.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t feeling wronged, but it wasn’t unexpected either. After the groups were first announced, Wooyeon instinctively knew that he would have to do everything eventually. So he wasn’t proactive, and thus he didn’t curse at his unmotivated group members.

‘I was curious about the teacher’s house though…’

While clicking the mouse, thoughts of Dohyun surfaced in his mind. It was his first time visiting the house, but he had run away in a hurry and hadn’t even had a chance to look around. It seemed like Dohyun had bought breakfast, but he hadn’t eaten that either. More importantly, where had Dohyun slept after putting him to bed?

His thoughts, one after another, finally led to the moment he woke up that morning. Wooyeon suddenly blushed and shook his head back and forth. To have been given a place to stay, and then to linger as if it were his own home, even making a call. If he were Dohyun, he would probably have been very exasperated.

Buzz, buzz

About five hours later, Wooyeon’s phone rang. Wooyeon, whose posture had slowly slackened, jumped and grabbed his phone. He wondered if it was his teacher, but an unfamiliar name appeared on the screen.

“Why is he calling?”

It was the group member whose last name was ‘Kwon.’ He was the one who had opened his mouth in the cafe last time, saying they didn’t have any ideas anyway. They had exchanged numbers to create a group chat, but they had never contacted each other since, and an unknown ominous feeling crept up on him.

Monday morning.

Wooyeon headed to the club room early. The weather wasn’t too bad, but his eyes were strained from looking at his laptop for too long.

Tiredness, annoyance, and stress. In his mind, mixed with various emotions, an occasional unreleased stuffiness welled up.

‘Oh, Wooyeon… did you get the PPT?’

Two days ago, a group member called Wooyeon started speaking in a very cautious tone. The reason for the call was simple, but Wooyeon’s feelings upon hearing the content were anything but simple. The more the group member spoke, the more Wooyeon felt like he was falling into an abyss.

‘Well, actually, we met last Wednesday to make the PPT without you.’

Up to that point, he could try to understand. He was the presenter, and as long as he received the completed PPT, he wouldn’t have much to complain about. However, the subsequent stories were full of things Wooyeon simply couldn’t comprehend.

‘But Kang Junseong said if he just sent the research materials, he’d make it and send it to you.’

‘I sent all the materials that day… but I thought, maybe he’s trying to leave your name out…’

‘Honestly, the grade doesn’t matter much, but I contacted you in case you misunderstood later. We finished all the research.’

It was like old habits die hard. To immediately ostracize someone just because he didn’t like them a little. Wooyeon didn’t know what Junseong was thinking, but it was clear that he was trying to screw Wooyeon over.