Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 34. Rock (3)

Suddenly, his lips tightened. As if pleased by Wooyeon’s changing expression, Junseong snorted. He crossed his arms and lifted his chin, a sneer playing on his lips.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

There was no need to ask what he knew. Wooyeon remained silent, but Junseong, with an air of certainty, spat out his next words. It was a tone that showed no regard for the gazes of other students.

“One of the guys in the group must have told you. That I decided to make it and send it. But you knew that and still didn’t contact me. And now you’ve come scurrying over like a dog needing to take a dump, haven’t you?”

“……”

“Don’t you care about your grades? Judging by how you’re acting all high and mighty?”

Wooyeon was surprised that he had grasped the situation quite accurately. He had thought Junseong was acting foolishly without a plan, but it seemed he had anticipated that the information would reach Wooyeon. While Wooyeon said nothing, Junseong’s face twisted irritably.

“What makes you think you can be so rude?”

Surprisingly, it was a phrase he had heard even in middle school. The words that followed, however, were slightly different from back then.

“Just because you’re a little good-looking, and an Alpha, you think you’re above everyone?”

‘Just because you’re from a rich family, you think you’re above everyone?’

Wooyeon let out a hollow breath, lost in an unexpected wave of nostalgia. Junseong, interpreting this in his own way, grew a little more brazen.

“At first, I was pissed you ignored me, so I thought I’d at least try to talk…”

“……”

“Forget it, f*ck. I’m an idiot for trying to talk.”

It was so absurd it would be a talking point for ages. What could be more ridiculous than ‘that’ Kang Junseong attempting a conversation? If Wooyeon were a drinker, he would have downed three bottles of soju just from that statement.

“I’ve got the PPT saved on my desktop. If you can present it, go ahead. Your amazing English skills will somehow manage.”

“……”

“If you can’t, I’ll do it instead.”

Junseong, speaking mockingly, lifted his gaze. The brief eye contact was filled with childish hostility.

“But then I’ll remove your name. You know you’ll get an F if this assignment doesn’t get a good grade, right?”

This seemed to be what Junseong had been aiming for from the start. Either Wooyeon would be forced to present and be humiliated, or he would give up the presentation and ruin his grades. The latter was understandable, but the former would also be a loss for Junseong himself, an act as reckless as a moth flying into a flame.

“Do your group members know you’re doing this?”

“Who cares? Those mute bastards. Do you think they care about their grades?”

“They do care.”

Wooyeon retorted deliberately in a quiet voice. Junseong, acting as if he hadn’t heard, picked his ear and scoffed at Wooyeon.

“What are they going to do if they care? Are they going to tattle like children, even in college? Like, ‘Professor, he did this’?”

Junseong even made his voice quiver mockingly as he mimicked tattling. He clearly didn’t realize who the truly childish one was.

“Hey, how many students are in this class? Do you think the professor would even listen to that?”

As Junseong said, the professor didn’t care how they handled the group project. They only talked about the “process, process,” but in the end, results were all that mattered in this world. It was highly likely that he would simply distribute grades appropriately, as he had done in middle school, and conclude the matter.

“Kang Junseong.”

At this point, a complicated feeling welled up. What kind of ill-fated connection tied them together, making them act like this even in university? Four years had passed, so why hadn’t Kang Junseong changed at all?

“Why do you dislike me so much?”

Wooyeon, feeling a little troubled, asked the question. It was something he had never asked, deeming it not worth asking. Naturally, Junseong snickered, his shoulders heaving.

“Dude… hearing that from you is really funny.”

Seeing how genuinely pleased Junseong looked saying that, Wooyeon envied him for a moment. If he could find satisfaction in such petty revenge, Wooyeon would have long ago shed the memories of the past. To think such an unnecessarily complicated nature would trip him up like this.

“Who was it that approached first wanting to be friends, only to be completely ignored?”

“……”

“If you’re sorry, apologize now. Then I’ll give you the script, at least. You’re good at English, so you can just rephrase it, right?”

Junseong pulled out a piece of paper he had tucked between his textbooks and flapped it in front of Wooyeon. Seeing that he had even prepared a script, he must have expected Wooyeon to apologize and ask for it. Wooyeon gazed at him silently, then mumbled in a dry tone.

“You really… haven’t changed at all.”

“What?”

Junseong furrowed his brows as if asking what he meant. His harsh expression was mixed with confusion. Wooyeon placed one hand on the desk and met Junseong’s gaze directly, at eye level.

“Do whatever you want.”

Twitch. Junseong’s eyes wavered. The pheromones emanating from Wooyeon felt quite intimidating. Wooyeon maintained eye contact and spoke clearly, word by word.

“Whether you present, or remove my name. Whether you get grades with the material you made, do everything you want.”

“……”

“Instead, take responsibility for the consequences.”

“……Hey, do you think I’d be scared if you said that?”

Junseong, who had momentarily cowered, retorted with an indignant face. Wooyeon straightened his posture and put on an indifferent expression. Thinking Wooyeon was ignoring him again, Junseong gritted his teeth.

“I didn’t say it to scare you.”

“……”

“I just find it amazing how you live your life.”

He really was an amazing guy. He hated being ignored to death, yet he looked down on others mercilessly. Was he acting tough so he wouldn’t be underestimated, or was he just genuinely ill-tempered? Either way, Wooyeon didn’t want to associate with him.

“Bullshit, don’t regret it later…”

Junseong retorted with an angry face, but the professor walked in before he could finish. Wooyeon didn’t even look back at him and immediately returned to his seat. Since they weren’t far apart, Wooyeon could clearly feel Junseong glaring at him.

“Today’s the mid-term presentation day, right? As I said before, the grade weight is significant…”

The professor finished his announcements and called his assistant. While the assistant turned on the beam projector and operated the remote, Wooyeon searched for the USB he had put in his pencil case. All the assignments he had prepared for two days were there.

“Alright, then, Group 1 will present first. Group 1 presenter, please come out.”

Wooyeon expected Junseong to stand up immediately, but surprisingly, he remained seated, watching what Wooyeon would do. It was as if he was waiting to see how well Wooyeon would perform. Wooyeon held the assignment and the USB, and slowly walked towards the front of the podium.

“The presenter is… Seon Wooyeon?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s see the report first.”

Wooyeon faintly saw Junseong’s anxious expression. It was because Wooyeon, who had no report, handed an A4 sheet of paper to the professor. Wooyeon plugged the USB into the professor’s laptop and opened the PPT he had prepared.

[This is Seon Wooyeon, presenter for Group 1.]

Perfect English pronunciation echoed throughout the classroom. Junseong was staring at the screen projected by the beam projector, his face utterly pale. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly satisfying feeling for Wooyeon.

[Our group will discuss a currency converter suitable for the global era…]

‘Let’s do this.’

That day, after hearing everything, Dohyun smiled ambiguously. He also spoke slowly in a gentle, hushed voice.

‘From what I see, Kang Junseong probably thought the information would reach you anyway.’

Surprisingly, what Dohyun had said aligned almost perfectly with what Wooyeon had heard from Junseong today. With three group members and a mention in the group chat, it made no sense for not even one of them to contact him. And then, as if it were nothing, Dohyun even guessed Junseong’s thoughts.

‘Even if the group members didn’t tell you, he probably thought you’d contact him first if you got anxious. If you contacted him, he’d probably hold onto the PPT until he heard what he wanted to hear.’

Thinking back now, Dohyun was truly an incredible person. How could he have rattled off Junseong’s thoughts without even having a conversation with him? Wooyeon couldn’t even imagine it.

[The expected effects are…]

‘So, don’t contact him until the day of the presentation. Instead, contact the other group members and just ask for the material they gave Kang Junseong. Let’s remake the PPT with that material by the day before the presentation.’

In a way, all of Wooyeon’s hard work over the weekend would be for nothing. He had to discard all the research, assignment creation, and even the report he had written.

‘Just tell the group members that you’ll definitely get them an A if they just stay quiet, and only remove Kang Junseong’s name.’

‘What if the kids tell?’

‘They won’t. From the way he acts, the kids probably don’t like him much anyway. They’ll just stick with whoever gets them a good grade.’

Dohyun’s predictions were accurate. When Wooyeon contacted them for the materials, the group members readily sent the files they had given to Junseong. Although the content was a mess, their proactive attitude was appealing. Who would have thought that the mere mention of “removing Kang Junseong’s name” would stir up such a commotion?

‘If the professor asks, just say you couldn’t get in touch with him so you removed his name. You have proof, right? That you asked them to send the PPT, but they all read and ignored it.’

Following Dohyun’s advice, Wooyeon left the group chat as it was. Just in case, he even took screenshots, and deliberately contacted the other group members by phone. It was all Dohyun’s doing.

‘He’s definitely getting an F.’

The group project accounted for 50% of the grade, didn’t it? If he didn’t get a good score here, it would be difficult to get a good grade even if he did well on the final exam. As Dohyun said, it would be an F, or at best a C.

‘But what if I said I’d get them an A, and they don’t get a good grade?’

‘Wooyeon.’

The lingering anxiety, right up to the very end, was erased by Dohyun’s added words. In a voice as gentle as could be, he shared the most trustworthy story Wooyeon had ever heard.

‘I took this class, you know.’

So, for two days, they made the PPT in the club room with the materials given by the group members. Seongyu and Garam occasionally helped out, and surprisingly, Garam showed a knack for design. The final product was exactly three times more complete than what Wooyeon had initially made.

[…This concludes our presentation. Thank you.]