Romantic Gangster

#02

After entering and closing the door, Ji-woo approached the lying Hyun-joon. He didn’t seem to be in a deep sleep, but it was strange that there was no reaction as Ji-woo got closer. Upon closer inspection, Ji-woo noticed earphones in Hyun-joon’s ears.

“Hey.”

As expected, there was no response even when called. Thinking he might hear if the voice was louder, Ji-woo called out once more, but Hyun-joon still kept his eyes closed.

Not wanting to touch him for fear of getting pheromones on himself, there seemed to be no way to wake Hyun-joon without physical contact. Reluctantly, Ji-woo crouched down next to Hyun-joon, who was casually sprawled on the floor, and reached out towards his shoulder. At that moment, Hyun-joon’s eyes opened. As he turned his head, their eyes met directly.

“Ah, shit!”

Hyun-joon’s eyes widened in surprise as he quickly sat up. Ji-woo was equally startled.

“Shit, what the hell?”

Hyun-joon asked irritably, yanking out one of his earphones. Ji-woo, calming his surprised heart with a deep breath, opened his mouth. After debating whether to start with a greeting or beat around the bush, he decided to get straight to the point. He sensed that Hyun-joon wasn’t the type to benefit from prolonged conversation.

“The homeroom teacher says you can sleep during class if you want, but please come to school every day and stay in the classroom. She says nothing’s more wasteful than having problems due to attendance.”

“Ah, shit. You did all this just to say that crap? Man, you really scared me.”

Whether he was truly very startled or not, Ji-woo could feel Hyun-joon’s pheromones intensifying. Frowning at the suffocating sensation, Ji-woo struggled to continue speaking.

“Could you… control your pheromones?”

“What?”

“…I said, could you control your pheromones. I’m an omega.”

“Fucking hell, this is ridiculous.”

Though his words were gruff, Ji-woo could soon feel the pheromones being reined in. As the hot pheromones were replaced by a cool breeze on his cheek, Ji-woo finally relaxed and exhaled the breath he’d been holding. A slight pant followed, making his chest feel tight.

“…Are you…”

“…”

Seeing Hyun-joon about to ask if he was okay but stopping himself, Ji-woo took one last deep breath in and out. Finally, his breathing returned to normal. He could feel his body temperature had risen slightly, but not enough to be worried about.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I looked for you.”

“Why?”

“To relay the teacher’s message.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“No, I have a lot to do. That’s why I’m asking you to stop this, come to school tomorrow, and come to the classroom. Please. If you don’t come, I’ll be called by the teacher again, and I’ll have to look for you again.”

“That’s not my problem.”

Ji-woo let out a small sigh as he met Hyun-joon’s eyes, which were staring at him with his head tilted askew. He hadn’t expected to accomplish in one go what the teacher couldn’t, but seeing a face that showed no signs of listening, he felt overwhelmed.

“Whether you listen to me or not is up to you, but please try to if you can.”

“Why should I?”

“There’s no reason for us both to waste energy.”

“Why would we both waste energy? Only you’re wasting energy, I’m not wasting anything.”

Hyun-joon shrugged once and lay back down, supporting the back of his head with his palm. Before plugging his earphones back in, he glanced up at Ji-woo and said threateningly:

“Hey, get lost. If you do this again, you’ll get hit next time, okay? Ah, shit. You really scared me.”

With those final words, Hyun-joon put his earphones in and closed his eyes. Ji-woo stared down at Hyun-joon, who had unilaterally ended the conversation, then stood up and left the rooftop without doing anything else. There was no point in expending all his energy from the start.

Still, he had confirmed Hyun-joon was on the rooftop, and although it could hardly be called a conversation, they had exchanged a few words, so it wasn’t entirely fruitless.

…He does seem to have a weird personality, just like the rumors say. And he seems violent too.

The rumors about him winning a fight against multiple local thugs and randomly beating people up when he’s in a bad mood didn’t seem entirely baseless. Especially considering how he immediately threatened to hit Ji-woo if he tried this again.

This is going to be a long road.

Ji-woo shook his head and checked the time as he headed towards the school gate. He still had about an hour before he needed to go to his convenience store part-time job. If he went home to change clothes, did some house cleaning, and gathered his homework and study materials to take to work, the timing would be just right.

“…”

As the wind swept through his hair, Ji-woo stopped walking and lifted his arm to smell his school uniform, then smelled his wrist. The scent of Hyun-joon’s pheromones from their brief encounter earlier was vibrating from his clothes and body.

Ji-woo frowned slightly and let out a heavy sigh. Honestly… it wasn’t an unpleasant scent, but it was the first time in his life he had encountered such strong alpha pheromones, and it made him feel a bit strange.

Regardless of one’s secondary gender, exposing pheromones at school was strictly prohibited by law, so Ji-woo had never before experienced such blatant and strong pheromones.

Of course, Ji-woo had smelled pheromones from drunk people, passersby, or intentionally released by unsavory characters before, but not to this extent. Usually, his suppressants were enough to cover them. But earlier was different.

The pheromones were so strong that it was hard to breathe, and with each breath, they seemed to penetrate deep into his body, momentarily causing a strange feeling.

Just thinking about it gave Ji-woo goosebumps, and he absent-mindedly rubbed his arm before shaking his head to dispel the thoughts.

He wanted to quickly wash off Hyun-joon’s pheromones that had clung to various parts of his body. He thought he’d have some time to spare, but now it seemed like he’d be pressed for time to shower, do laundry, clean, and finish his homework.

Letting out another heavy sigh, Ji-woo quickened his pace.

* * *

Young-jae devoured a triangle kimbap in just three bites without even tasting it, then opened another and stuffed it into his mouth. Thanks to the store owner who gave them unsold items, not only Ji-woo but also Young-jae could always eat a hearty dinner.

“How come you don’t gain weight even though you eat all this and then have dinner again at home?”

“I don’t know. I’m always hungry no matter how much I eat. But why do you smell so strongly of shampoo? Did you shower?”

“Yeah. Is the shampoo smell too strong?”

“Yeah. It’s really floral. You bought that when it was on a 1+1 sale here, right?”

“Yeah. Usually, the scent fades a lot by the time I get to school, but today I dried my hair late…”

“What were you so busy with?”

Ji-woo finished the last bit of his triangle kimbap and opened his homework.

“Actually, I went to the rooftop earlier to meet Hyun-joon.”

“Whoa, did you meet him?”

“Yeah. He was there. We were together briefly, but Hyun-joon’s pheromones were so strong that his scent was all over me. So as soon as I got home, I showered, washed my shirt and hung it up, and cleaned the house. That’s why I was busy.”

“What did Hyun-joon say? Did he agree?”

“No. He asked why he should do that.”

“Hey, just tell the homeroom teacher you can’t do it. There’s nothing good that can come from getting involved with him. He hangs out with the local gang, you know. They say he’s going to join their organization right after graduation. What do you call it… Oh! He’s been scouted.”

Ji-woo laughed at the word “scouted” and threw the pile of triangle kimbap wrappers on the counter into the trash. He’d heard of idols, actors, and models being scouted, but never a gangster being scouted.

“That’s ridiculous. Who gets scouted to be a gangster?”

“It’s true, I’m telling you. I heard it happened at the pool hall. There are people who saw it. He got into a fight with some gangsters, and Hyun-joon took down four of them by himself. They scouted him right after seeing that. And these days, even gangsters care about looks. So he won’t stand out negatively wherever he appears.”

The more he heard, the more absurd it sounded, and Ji-woo shook his head.

Ji-woo knew that there were many rumors about Hyun-joon. Even without paying particular attention, he’d heard the exaggerated stories.

The kid marked as the next gangster by the local gang, the one who beat up several guys in a fight with gangsters without getting a scratch, the one who received confessions every day during his first month of school in March, the one who received offers from all four major idol agencies.

Ji-woo didn’t particularly believe these rumors. Not because he had a policy of not believing unproven claims, but because the content was so exaggerated that it wasn’t credible. Who in the world gets scouted to be a gangster? It’s not like he’s a potential presidential candidate, but a potential gangster… It just didn’t make any sense.

And the idea that gangsters nowadays recruit based on looks… It was so absurd that he couldn’t even laugh.