Alpha Trauma Novel - Chapter 4. Late Winter (3)

There was no need to turn around. Dohyun casually pushed Garam aside and stepped over the chair with his long legs. At the distance so close their shoulders touched, Wooyeon began to hiccup.

“Ah, why are you sitting here when it’s so cramped?”

“Put your pheromones away before you speak.”

Blood rushed quickly through his entire body. His heart pounded so loudly he thought it might be audible. Hiccup, hiccup, as Wooyeon’s shoulders twitched, Dohyun brought a water bottle without even looking his way.

“Your drunken habit is the problem. You just torment freshmen.”

“Torment? I came to make friends.”

A glass of water was placed in front of Wooyeon. Wooyeon stared blankly at the fingertips that had brushed past him. Hiccup. His shoulder twitched silently again. Dohyun glanced at Wooyeon out of the corner of his eye and tapped the water glass.

“Drink.”

His tone was calm, then as now. Even his well-manicured nails hadn’t changed from when he held a pen. The only difference was that his informal speech had changed to polite speech.

“……Thank you.”

He felt twisted inside. The consideration that would have moved him before was utterly unwelcome now. Thanks to Dohyun, Garam’s pheromones were completely blocked, but that didn’t make him happy either. He realized anew that Teacher’s kindness was truly for everyone, and this realization felt strangely hollow.

“Are you okay?”

Seongyu, seeing Wooyeon’s complexion change, asked cautiously. Wooyeon nodded, indicating he was okay, and gulped down the water. His hiccups had stopped the moment Dohyun offered him the water.

“He’s the one.”

Garam, looking even more drunk, pointed at Wooyeon. She leaned on Dohyun’s shoulder, but Dohyun, seemingly used to it, pushed her away. Garam also parted her lips with a silly grin, without any complaint.

“It’s just as I said, isn’t it?”

Dohyun’s gaze met Wooyeon. For a brief moment, Wooyeon hoped he might recognize him. He hadn’t had plastic surgery, only grown taller and lost weight, so if he looked closely, he might know.

“……Indeed.”

But Dohyun didn’t recognize Wooyeon at all. Let alone remembering him as a former tutoring student, he didn’t even have the slightest feeling of ‘I’ve seen him somewhere before.’ He simply curved his eyes gently and asked,

“Is it okay if I speak casually?”

It was an artificial smile. At least, that’s how Wooyeon felt it. He was clearly smiling beautifully, but for some reason, it felt awkward.

“Yes.”

Memories are beautiful only when they remain memories. The person named Kim Dohyun in Wooyeon’s imagination might have been overly idealized. Was that why? He was still kind, still gentle, but he no longer made Wooyeon’s heart flutter like before.

“You said you wanted to join our club, right?”

Well, it has been four years. Three springs had passed in his absence, so it wasn’t strange for his feelings to have faded. His heart must have pounded simply from the surprise of the sudden reunion.

“What’s your name?”

Wooyeon looked at Dohyun with indifferent eyes. His chest ached the moment their eyes met, but he deliberately ignored it, pretending not to notice. This relationship, where he had to state his name again, felt futile and pathetic.

“Seon Wooyeon.”

Dohyun furrowed his brow and moved his lips. His eyebrows twitched, instantly catching Wooyeon’s gaze. Soon, he deliberately repeated the name.

“Seon Wooyeon?”

His eyes stung. If he said ‘Yes,’ he felt like he would hear ‘Yeon-ah’ in return. But now was the time to correct the traces of the past properly.

“Seon Wooyeon.”

“Ah, Wooyeon.”

That was the end of it. The slight interest that had arisen quickly disappeared completely. Wooyeon once again understood his place. A fleeting presence when a namesake appeared. That’s all he was to Dohyun.

“It’s Wooyeon.”

He turned his gaze away immediately, so he didn’t see Dohyun’s face as he said that. However, his still sweet voice flushed Wooyeon’s face. Honestly, isn’t it cheating for a voice to be this good?

“What’s a coincidence?”

Seongyu, who had been exchanging drinks with Garam, asked casually. Dohyun was also taking out a new glass and pouring soju. It seemed he intended to settle at this table.

“Because he has the same name as a student I tutored before. But that one was a single character name. Seon Wooyeon.”

“Oh, what a real coincidence.”

Without any pride, he felt thrilled that Dohyun had mentioned him. Wooyeon pressed his palm with his fingernails, trying to suppress the lump rising in his throat. But he couldn’t suppress the subsequent greed.

“What kind of student was he?”

He wanted to hear more about himself from his lips. At least he wanted to know how he remembered him. Their names were the same, so he could be curious about this, couldn’t he? Wooyeon comforted himself with that thought and lifted his head.

“Well, just……”

His prominent Adam’s apple moved up and down. His jawline, connected below his ear, was much clearer than four years ago. Dohyun lightly shrugged his shoulders, then subtly curved the corner of his lips.

“It’s not a very good memory.”

It felt like he had been hit on the back of the head. Someone seemed to be clutching his stomach and mocking him relentlessly. His chilled mind clearly showed him the cold reality.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

Was it a memory he hated recalling so much? Was it so bad that he would change the subject with such an awkward expression? Had he cut off contact immediately, changed his number, and disappeared, truly because he wanted to get away from Wooyeon?

“……He must not have listened to you.”

“Hmm, not exactly that, but.”

He should have never confessed. He regretted it belatedly. If he hadn’t, the answer now might have been slightly different. ‘He was a good student.’ Even if only that much had come out, he wouldn’t have been so upset.

“Anyway, the club……”

Wooyeon let Dohyun’s words wash over him and gulped down the beer in front of him. It was flat and lukewarm, only making him feel worse. When he grimaced, Dohyun refilled his glass with new beer.

“Do you like English novels?”

He blinked his eyes open and closed. The heat around his eyes wasn’t just from the alcohol. The ice-cold beer intensified his thirst.

“I like them.”

‘I like you, Teacher.’

The day Wooyeon couldn’t hold back and confessed, Dohyun didn’t smile at him. He didn’t stroke his head, nor did he empathize with his feelings. That awkward one sentence about going to the military was the only reaction he showed Wooyeon.

“That’s good. I’ll give you an application form later, just fill it out and bring it. Or you can come directly to the club room.”

Well, Wooyeon wasn’t entirely unable to understand. No college student would welcome a confession from a sixteen-year-old, still wet behind the ears, who was also small and chubby. Even if it wasn’t Dohyun, Wooyeon would probably have reacted similarly.

“Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in.”

“Ah, my phone……”

Wooyeon frantically got up and fumbled in his pockets. After searching his pants for a long time, his phone finally appeared from the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie. As he awkwardly held out his caseless phone, Dohyun let out a small puff of air.

“It’ll get scratched.”

The default wallpaper appeared on the screen. Wooyeon hadn’t even locked his phone. Dohyun entered the number with a subtle expression, and Wooyeon saved him as ‘Kim Dohyun Senior’. Dohyun stared at him intently.

“……Why are you looking at me like that?”

One corner of Dohyun’s eye twitched. It was his left eye, the one with the double eyelid. He tilted his head slightly and gestured at the phone with his eyes.

“Because you know my name.”

“……”

Now that he thought about it, Wooyeon was the only one who had mentioned his name. Wooyeon tried his best not to show his embarrassment and searched for a suitable excuse.

“I heard it from the assistant.”

“From Yoonwoo hyung?”

Fortunately, Dohyun moved on without much comment. He was probably just curious, not trying to pick a fight. Wooyeon, who had just learned the assistant’s name, put his phone back in his hoodie pocket.

“Baby, give unnie your number too.”

“Oh, me too.”

Led by Garam, Seongyu and even strangers held out their phones. Wooyeon was pushed into entering numbers without even time to argue why he was being called ‘baby’. After entering about four numbers, Garam proudly nudged Dohyun’s shoulder.

“Hey, let’s go have a cigarette.”

“I quit smoking.”

“This bastard is being a jerk again.”

Garam didn’t urge him further and looked around.

“Does anyone smoke?”

At her clear question, most of the table got up. Among them was Seongyu, who had just been called Wooyeon.

“Wooyeon, you?”

Wooyeon immediately got up to follow Seongyu. He simply couldn’t bear to be left alone with Dohyun. The problem was that even though Wooyeon had stood up, Dohyun didn’t move aside.

“Seon,”

Wooyeon flinched, stopped speaking, and swallowed. The habit was truly terrifying. Even after several years, it hadn’t completely faded. Just like now, when he almost called him ‘Teacher’.

“……Senior, please move over a little.”

After a brief silence, Dohyun moved aside. Once enough space was secured, Wooyeon hurriedly stepped over the chair. He looked like a rabbit making a getaway.

Pubs without smoking rooms required patrons to go outside to smoke. Among the people with cigarettes in their mouths, Wooyeon stared blankly at the cigarette he had borrowed from Seongyu. Seongyu tried to light it for him, but he shook his head vigorously.

“Unnie, does that senior have a girlfriend?”

“He’s incredibly handsome, how old is he?”

“And the club? Can I join too?”

The topic of conversation had turned to Dohyun. Garam, with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Is this why this bastard didn’t show up?’, patiently answered each question. Wooyeon, who had felt relieved at the mention of no girlfriend, was surprised by his own relief and snapped the cigarette in half.

“If you take away Kim Dohyun’s looks, there’s nothing to see. You should never date a military-veteran senior from school.”

“Nah, he seemed really kind!”

“I’m kinder.”

What did it matter to him if he had a girlfriend or not? As he stared blankly at the broken cigarette, Seongyu offered him a new one. This time, Wooyeon put it in his mouth instead of holding it.

“Dohyun hyung really is cool, though.”

“……Not really.”

He didn’t want to admit out loud that Dohyun was popular. His stomach, already churning, was now boiling over completely.

“I hate his fake smile.”

Suddenly, Seongyu’s face hardened. His gaze was directed not at Wooyeon, but behind him. Feeling an ominous premonition, Wooyeon lifted his head just as familiar pheromones wafted toward him.

“You were here.”