A Full Week of Baek Yu-gyeong

It had already been a full week of carrying Baek Yu-gyeong on my back, and for someone cast in the suspicious role of being at odds with the female lead, he showed no particularly strange behavior.

Far from any eerie vibes, Yu-gyeong stuck by my side pouring on the aegyo that clashed wildly with his massive frame, coyly declaring how much he liked me and how he hoped I would date him. Thanks to that, rather than guilt toward him, a gradually mind-numbing exasperation was starting to take the lead. One moment he would drop something terrifying like how he had searched for me all the way from the far end of the corridor; the next he would cling and nuzzle up the second anything happened, claiming he was happy to see me.

If he had crossed the line into outright coercion I could have handled it somehow, but this was not even that—he was fluttering around trying to look cute, so I could not even get angry.

He would hunch down as low as possible, grunting with effort to match my eye level with that huge body of his, or worse, crawl underneath me to look up and blink those eyes. Seeing him like that made me think this kid was seriously far gone. And if our eyes happened to meet, his mouth would stretch into a wide grin from ear to ear like some little puppy spotting a sunbeam through the shade—shamelessly so.

I really could not understand how he could be so completely free of any wrinkles of worry, and when he even fed me snacks I thought I was going to lose my mind. In all my life I had never put a cookie into another guy’s mouth.

I’m going crazy.

Even though he was only a second-year, he would come all the way to the third-year classroom and pour on the aegyo like a puppy wagging its tail, then press a jar of expensive-looking candy into my hands and tell hyung to eat them all by himself.

The problem was that no one in the third-year classroom raised any objections. No matter how uncomfortable or awkward it was, everyone seemed to know that Baek Yu-gyeong was the young master of a pretty well-off family, and the girls were even rather welcoming of having Yu-gyeong in the class.

Besides, he did not actually cause any major commotion or inconvenience while he was there, so kicking him out was tricky. Of course, barging into someone else’s class was a problem in the first place.

…So in the end even Cha-heon put up with it—

“Get out, you brat.”

“Hyuuung, are you kicking me out? For real?”

“Yeah. You’re distracting the kids who are studying. Are you going to take the CSAT for them in November?”

What pride? I grabbed Baek Yu-gyeong’s hand, lightly tossed him outside the door, and shut it.

The students looked shocked. Their eyes said something like, can an Omega who treats that Baek Yu-gyeong like this even exist?

Cha-heon bit his lip for a moment at the thought that he had inconvenienced the students, then soon smiled and apologized.

“…Sorry. If that friend ever comes here and causes a scene, just tell me. I’ll figure out how to handle it.”

Even so, only awkward replies came back from the class.

It was clear they thought that getting involved with Shin Cha-heon—the one Yu-gyeong was clinging to—would land them in awkward trouble.

…This was the moment my quietly maintained school life until now was shattered to pieces because of Baek Yu-gyeong.

No, because of Baek Yu-gyeong, making friends in the same class seemed completely shot already.

What a tiresome bastard.

“…Can’t you really just keep a moderate distance?”

I had deliberately taken a long detour far from the second-year classrooms on the way to the snack shop, but somehow he knew and came running from behind to stick to my side and follow along. Did he stick a GPS on me or what?

“But this isn’t a classroom, it’s a hallway? You said it was fine as long as I didn’t bother the third-year seniors, right? Hmm?”

“……”

I could not tell if he was good at listening or not. I never said it was fine as long as he did not bother them—I told him to get out because he was bothering them.

It’s certain he’s a massive hindrance to my life, so I’d prefer he put some distance between us.

…But unable to say anything too harsh, Cha-heon squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

If I had my way, just one good punch would leave me with no regrets, but I could not do that to a young student….

If he had at least done something mean I could cuff him around, but it was not even that.

Honestly, I could not even understand Baek Yu-gyeong’s psychology.

…What the hell is this kid’s angle?

Yu-gyeong was practically hanging off my back as we walked, yet he did not really keep up much conversation.

This guy doesn’t even have anything to talk about with me, so why does he follow me around this much? Did he really go crazy for the pheromones and fall at first sight?

…No.

Cha-heon eyed the boy fluttering behind him with suspicion. At first he had not known, but after learning this guy’s name was Baek Yu-gyeong, something had nagged at him and one suspicion had formed.

…If he’d fallen for that so-called pheromone scent, he would have saved me while passing by back then. …This kid, what is he really after?

Alphas were sensitive to scents themselves, and a Dominant Alpha could supposedly smell a Dominant Omega’s pheromones from quite a distance. What was it they called that instinct? I had heard they were more developed that way than Betas, and it seemed related to sexual desire. Recalling how I had received confessions one after another at the start of the semester made it certain it was true.

But clearly, Baek Yu-gyeong had wrinkled his nose at first, frowned, and walked right past. I was sure it was not that instinct that made him fall. The disconnect with his current attitude was completely incomprehensible.

Even if I tried to think that he had smelled the pheromones but passed by because the situation was scary, it still did not fit when I considered that this guy was Baek Yu-gyeong.

For one thing, he doesn’t match the character from that comic.

The Baek Yu-gyeong back then had a slightly different atmosphere from the playful one now, but… in reality, he had seemed confident enough in a fight to exert pressure on a bigger male student than himself.

It was no different now. Separate from his pretty face, Yu-gyeong was big, and the kids did not mess with him first—they would back off. The girls seemed favorable, and the boys seemed a bit careful in front of Yu-gyeong.

Wondering why, I had poked around a bit, and according to the rumors he had been in the kendo club in middle school and was good enough to take second place at the National Sports Festival. A guy who was good at studying and good at sports too—the textbook definition of a standout.

Well, people usually don’t mess with the athletic types. Plus he has the build and a loaded family behind him…

…And a guy like that was scared enough back then to run away and then loiter around trying to call the police? Everything was oddly off-kilter. Cha-heon found himself growing a little more wary of him without realizing it.

Lost in thought like that with the big guy stuck to my back, I bumped into someone. There was a bouncing sound, and when I checked who was in front of me, it was a pretty-looking male student who seemed familiar from somewhere.

“…Ah, sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Cha-heon looked the male student over once and apologized first.

The student he had bumped into glanced at Cha-heon, tossed out a quick apology saying it was his own fault first, then flinched and trembled when he saw someone stuck behind him.

Finding that reaction strange, I glanced over, and Baek Yu-gyeong behind him was staring at the boy with cold eyes, no reply. The corner of his mouth was curved up thinly.

Spotting that, Cha-heon poked him in the side.

“…Baek Yu-gyeong, this guy bumped into us while messing around, so why are you glaring at a friend?”

When Cha-heon pointed it out, Yu-gyeong seemed dazed for a moment, then soon grinned.

“Ah…. Right. Sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m really sorry, okay?”

“Uh, …uh?”

When the other party showed a halfhearted reaction, the corner of Yu-gyeong’s mouth twisted.

“…What, you’re not accepting my apology?”

Cha-heon watched that, then pressed down hard on Baek Yu-gyeong’s head.

“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize sincerely.”

“Ah, no!”

Cha-heon glanced at the boy, said he was sorry once more, then hurriedly clamped Yu-gyeong’s neck under his arm and dragged him away from the spot like hauling a sack.

Only after turning the corner of that hallway did a whining voice flow from Yu-gyeong under his arm.

“Hyuuung, my head hurts…”

“…Oh, yeah? Sorry.”

Thinking he might have pressed too hard, Cha-heon let him go and stroked his head. The light wheat-colored hair close to gold started finding its original place after just a few strokes, the strands settling nicely.

Receiving the head-smoothing, Yu-gyeong blinked his eyes, then soon narrowed them into slits.

“Sorry?”

“Hmm? Yeah, sorry.”

“Then as an apology, right here, a little ppop—”

“Ppop’s that yellow one, isn’t it?”

Cha-heon pushed away Yu-gyeong, who was pointing a finger at his right cheek, and headed toward the snack shop.

“Hyung! Are you abandoning me? Hmm? And ppop is the blue one.”

“…You’ll follow me anyway….”

And that one’s the red one. You’re wrong too—this guy with zero interest just says whatever comes to mind.

Cha-heon stared at him with tired eyes, then let out a sigh.

This crazy world—I hated this worldview where a guy flirted openly with another guy and no one found it strange. The surrounding students watched Yu-gyeong chasing after Cha-heon without the slightest oddness, chatting about whether the two of them were dating or something.

I wish someone would find it a little strange and please, please stop him.

I’m gay, gay. A gay who likes girls.

Goosebumps rose all over Cha-heon’s body. Just thinking of himself as gay was a little unpleasant.

With one last deep sigh, Cha-heon, still with Yu-gyeong smiling brightly behind him, frowned.

…Anyway, seeing how he acted earlier, this is definitely that guy.

The “Baek Yu-gyeong” from the original story. Seeing that behavior earlier confirmed it.

He had said sorry after reading the room, but it was only words—none of his tone, expression, or actions matched an apology. The bright cream-colored eyes inside those upturned slits were strangely vicious, and his voice was lively yet chilly in a way that did not suit someone who was sorry.

It felt like he was saying, I apologized so if you don’t accept it properly I won’t let you off easy.

He had quickly returned to being cheerful and was laying on the aegyo by my side again, but I suspected Baek Yu-gyeong was currently hiding his true nature.

…Aha, so that’s why you got scolded by Hara?