Chapter 56

On the day before their very first class at Hankuk University, Yi-seon made a proposal.

“Let’s keep our relationship a secret at school for now.”

“Our relationship?”

“The fact that our families arranged our engagement. I haven’t told anyone that I’m an Omega yet, either.”

He blurted it out while the two of them sat on plastic chairs on the rooftop, looking over the Seoul nightscape.

Second-gender individuals made up only a small fraction of the population. Alphas and Omegas were a visible minority and drew far more attention than Betas almost anywhere. Yi-seon had kept his Omega status quiet at the retreat, but everyone who openly identified as Alpha or Omega had attracted immediate interest.

An Alpha and an Omega entering the same department at the same university while already engaged? They would be treated like zoo animals.

After getting a taste of involuntary celebrity at the retreat, Yi-seon had zero desire to repeat the experience. He wanted a quiet college life: attend classes, make a few friends, graduate without becoming campus folklore. Attention-seeking simply did not suit him.

Besides, the café incident had already shown him what would happen. One careless remark from Mugyeol and suddenly they had to explain arranged engagements, family meetings, and half their private lives to anyone within earshot. It was exhausting.

Mugyeol answered nonchalantly, “Yeah. I bet you’d want that. Go ahead.”

Was that sarcasm, or am I imagining things?

Yi-seon tilted his head and scrutinized Mugyeol’s face. Lately, dealing with him felt like monitoring a ticking bomb for the slightest sign of a countdown.

Still staring out over the city, Mugyeol planted a palm against Yi-seon’s face and pushed him away without looking.

That reaction brought relief.

Mm. He’s fine.

Other than seeming slightly more tired than usual, Mugyeol showed no obvious sign of anger. Yi-seon’s sudden anxiety was apparently paranoia. After so many unpredictable blowups, even Mugyeol’s smallest twitch now made him brace for impact.

Flick. Flick.

Mugyeol picked up a disposable lighter from the rooftop railing and flicked the flame on and off. The restless motion caught Yi-seon’s attention. He covered Mugyeol’s hand with his own and took the lighter away.

“By the way, Mugyeol-ah, do you smoke?”

“No. But I’m kind of craving one right now…” Mugyeol quietly licked his lips.

“You were smoking when Yi-jeong-ie hyung came by last time.”

“I used to.”

Used to.

For someone who had just turned twenty, ‘used to’ meant high school—or perhaps even middle school. The teasing remark Yi-seon might normally have made died before it reached his mouth. Instead he wondered what Mugyeol had gone through while Yi-seon was away in Jeju, and what had hurt badly enough to make him start smoking that young.

The Mugyeol he knew was not the type to smoke out of sheer pretension.

“You don’t smoke now?”

“Yeah.”

“Give me your hand.”

Mugyeol obediently extended a hand—then used the opportunity to cup Yi-seon’s face with it. His broad palm nearly hid Yi-seon’s features.

Yi-seon caught Mugyeol’s fingers, brought the hand closer, and sniffed. Only clean soap. Holding on to it, he asked gently, “Can I ask why you smoked?”

“Curious?”

“Yeah. For you to smoke all alone when you were so young, something must have…” Yi-seon trailed off, scraped his plastic chair closer, and sat beside Mugyeol. He slipped an arm around Mugyeol’s waist, leaned into him, and lightly bumped their temples together. “If you want to talk about it, tell me.”

“…”

“And if you ever crave one again, tell me. This hyung will study up and smoke with you. Proper lung inhales and everything.”

“…”

“Don’t do things that are bad for your health alone. Okay?”

Mugyeol kept staring over the rooftop while Yi-seon spoke. Then he snatched the lighter from Yi-seon’s hand and tossed it into an empty flowerpot. “Smoke together, my ass. How could I stand there and watch Ryu Yi-seon puffing on a cigarette?”

Mugyeol gazed quietly over the endless city lights, then wrapped an arm around Yi-seon’s shoulders and tugged him close. Yi-seon’s blue plastic chair tipped helplessly toward him.

“Ryu Yi-seon. You know what?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You know roller coasters? Being with you feels like riding one every day. One second I’m way up here, and the next I’m dropping straight down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“And sometimes…” Mugyeol paused, then slowly lowered his head. His pitch-black eyes looked unusually somber in the dark. “…It fucking sucks.”

Mugyeol pulled Yi-seon into a tight embrace as he muttered the words. It felt less like a hug than Mugyeol simply collapsing against him. He buried his face in the crook of Yi-seon’s neck and let more of his weight rest there than usual, clinging with a quiet desperation that made the warmth between them feel unexpectedly tender.

Held in Mugyeol’s arms, Yi-seon placed a hand on his back. The solid muscles flinched beneath his palm, then gradually loosened as Yi-seon stroked down his spine. Mugyeol sagged more fully against him.

Haa… Buried against Yi-seon’s neck, Mugyeol let out a slow exhale.

“What about roller coasters? What does that mean? Sometimes what? I fucking suck? I didn’t hear you. Did you just say that to me? Did you just curse at me out of nowhere? Why? Looking for a fight?”

“Just hug me, wifey.”

“Okay.”

Yi-seon held him tightly. In his arms was the Mugyeol he had not been there to comfort years ago, and for a moment Yi-seon imagined he was holding that younger, lonelier boy too.

Back then, he hadn’t been able to stay by his side, but now he was here.

Mugyeol’s arms tightened. He rubbed his cheek against Yi-seon’s skin and rested his chin on Yi-seon’s shoulder. Little by little, his deep breaths slowed until they nearly matched Yi-seon’s.

For that moment, Mugyeol felt almost like a child again—the reckless, lonely child who had once smoked by himself.

Yi-seon wished with all his heart that Mugyeol would never be lonely again.

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— Ryu Yi-seon: Why aren’t you here, Yeon Mugyeol?    [9:11 AM]

— Mega Lunatic: Status: still half-asleep. [9:14 AM]

— Ryu Yi-seon: If you have the wits to text, why don’t you just get your ass over here?

— Mega Lunatic: See you later, honeyyy ><

Their first class was little more than an orientation session. When Mugyeol still had not appeared, Yi-seon messaged him. Mugyeol eventually admitted he was skipping because he was tired and insisted missing the first lecture could not possibly matter.

Annoyingly, Mugyeol was right. The professor only offered general advice about the course and campus life, covered no actual material, and did not even take attendance.

Did he know this in advance?

Yi-seon found the truancy astonishing. Mugyeol had looked like a delinquent in high school, but his actual conduct had been almost obsessively exemplary. He never slept through class, never skipped, and rarely left early except when a rut forced him to. His attendance record had been immaculate.

When class ended, Yi-seon left the lecture hall surrounded by classmates. Apparently his accidental antics at the retreat had made him memorable, because people kept approaching to chat or greet him. The only problem was that Yi-seon could not remember half their names.

“Yi-seon-ah, are you living on your own?”

“Yeah. I found a place before matriculation.”

“Must be nice. My mom said absolutely not.”

“Living on my own made me realize staying with family is more convenient, honestly. There’s way more chores than I expected.”

Yi-seon emerged from the first-floor lobby with a cluster of classmates. Their required major course was finished for the day, so everyone with free time decided to go to a café together.

They stepped into streaming March sunlight, where the air carried the fresh smell of new grass. Sycamore branches around the Business School were already budding with tender green leaves.

After they passed a couple of empty benches, Yi-seon narrowed his eyes at a figure farther ahead.

…Huh?

Someone lay stretched across a bench with a backpack for a pillow, arms crossed over his chest in deep sleep. Sunlight filtered through the branches in patches across his body. His legs were so long that everything below the knees hung awkwardly off the end of the bench. Even from a distance, the striking face was unmistakable, dark hair stirring gently in the spring breeze.

His classmate Yoo Minsung elbowed Yi-seon in the ribs.

“He’s crazy handsome.”

Yi-seon was painfully aware. Yeon Mugyeol had always been outrageously handsome. Apparently even sleeping across a campus bench like a homeless drifter could not ruin the effect.

Just then, bzzzt, bzzzt, a phone vibrated inside Mugyeol’s bag. An alarm. Mugyeol finally stirred, dragged a broad hand down his face, and slowly sat up.

Even Mugyeol frowning, rubbing his stiff nape, and rolling his neck after a nap looked unfairly cinematic. When he stretched, the movement pulled the muscles of his neck and shoulders into sharp relief.

Yoo Minsung whispered in awe, “Whoa… reeks of pure Alpha…”

“…”

“That guy is one hundred percent an Alpha. I guarantee it.”

While Yoo Minsung confidently diagnosed Mugyeol as an Alpha from across the lawn, Mugyeol yawned and checked his phone. Yi-seon’s own phone rang a second later. He declined the call and turned to Minsung.

“He’s in our department too. My friend.”

“What?”

The eyes of Yoo Minsung and the surrounding classmates widened in unison.

“Really? I’ve never seen him before.”

“He’s our classmate?”

“Then why didn’t he come to class…?”

Yi-seon waved toward Mugyeol sitting in the distance. “Yeon Mugyeol!”

Mugyeol slowly lifted his head from his phone. The dark eyes that had looked sleepy a moment earlier brightened the instant he heard Yi-seon. He rose at once and strode over wearing a radiant smile.

The unusual gleam in those dark eyes made unease prickle through Yi-seon immediately.

Whenever Mugyeol’s eyes shone with that particular kind of mischief, it usually meant…

“Honey. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“…”

…he was about to cause a scene.

As Mugyeol approached, Yi-seon remembered all over again that life around Yeon Mugyeol came with hard mode and attention-whore mode permanently unlocked.

The classmates flanking Yi-seon stared back and forth between the two of them with stunned expressions.

Honey?

Did he just say “Honey”?

Learning that this absurdly handsome stranger was their classmate had been surprising enough. Hearing him saunter over and call Ryu Yi-seon ‘honey’ left everyone visibly unsure how to react.

Looming tall before Yi-seon, Mugyeol met his gaze with a faint smirk. “Why’d you blow off my call?”

“You were standing right in front of me, no need for a phone call. When did you get to school?”

“About an hour ago? This place is prime real estate for naps.”

“Then you should have come to class.”

“Next time,” Mugyeol gave the terse reply and stretched.

Yi-seon caught him by the shoulders, turned him toward the group, and nudged him forward. Whatever else Mugyeol was, Yi-seon still wanted to introduce his closest friend to his classmates.

“This is Yeon Mugyeol. He’s our classmate, and we’ve been friends since high school. He couldn’t make it to the retreat due to personal circumstances.”

“Oh! You guys got accepted into the same school together? That’s awesome!”

“Yeah. And he’s going to call me ‘honey’ a lot going forward. It doesn’t mean anything, so don’t be alarmed.”

It was Yi-seon’s attempt to inoculate everyone against future incidents. Mugyeol’s eyes were gleaming with obvious mischief, so the group seemed willing to accept the explanation. Mugyeol pulled the cap dangling from one finger onto his head and flashed them a dazzling grin.

“Uh-huh. That’s what my darling says. It doesn’t mean anything.”

His pleasant baritone carried easy playfulness. Beneath the brim of the cap, his mouth curved into a soft smile. Everyone around them rolled their eyes in nearly identical disbelief, and even a few of the male classmates looked faintly flustered.

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