The Main Character is Obsessed With a Foreign Substance

Feeling like he might be pressuring her too much despite being her senior, Suhwan deliberately cleared his throat and asked. Though intimidated by Heeyoung’s persistent stare, he tried to appear nonchalant as he composed his expression.

“How have you… been doing lately?”

“What?”

Suhwan’s eyes widened at the unexpected question. But Heeyoung’s face couldn’t have been more serious. She wore a grave expression as if asking about Suhwan’s well-being was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Because of this, Suhwan nodded reluctantly despite feeling bewildered.

“Yeah, I’m doing fine. Why?”

“Ah, I see.”

When asked why, Heeyoung lowered her eyes, which were hidden behind her horn-rimmed glasses. He had no idea what she was thinking.

Thinking the conversation was over, Suhwan turned his head and slightly lifted his grapefruit tea. The instructor seemed about to start speaking in earnest, so he wanted to take a sip of grapefruit tea before that. However, at that moment, Heeyoung spoke again.

“And… nothing happened with Seunghyun?”

“Cough, hack.”

Suhwan, who was drinking the remaining grapefruit tea, almost choked. After placing the grapefruit tea on the desk, Suhwan glanced at the instructor and asked Heeyoung:

“Uh, ahem, why do you ask that?”

“Just curious.”

Heeyoung’s face was expressionless, as if that was truly all there was to it. Suhwan’s eyes darted wildly. Could she possibly know something? That he, or rather Jin Suhwan… would do things to Seunghyun that belonged in an R-rated tragic novel?

“Hmm, nothing special happened.”

“Ah, I see.”

Heeyoung nodded again with an indifferent tone. It didn’t seem like she was convinced or had lost interest, but rather like she didn’t believe Suhwan’s words. Feeling unnecessarily guilty under Heeyoung’s sharp gaze, Suhwan turned to look at the instructor who had begun explaining about the upcoming classes.

“…Oh, and something you might be curious about… Ah, there will be two assignments in total. One before midterms, and one before finals. The assignments are easy, so don’t worry too much…”

The voice of the instructor, who seemed either kind or foolish, passed through Suhwan’s ears. He couldn’t bear how conscious he was of Heeyoung sitting next to him. He wanted to jump up from his seat, shake Heeyoung’s shoulders, and ask if she knew anything about Jin Suhwan.

Swish.

“…?”

A note that looked like it had been torn from a notebook was placed in front of Suhwan. When he picked it up with a puzzled face, he saw numbers written in a round handwriting. 010-XXXX-XXXX. A mobile phone number.

When he turned to the side with a puzzled expression, Heeyoung was staring at him with eyes like black glass beads. Her lips parted slightly.

“Call me if anything happens.”

“If anything happens?”

“Please make sure you do.”

After saying that, Heeyoung mouthed the words once more. Make sure.

Her face looked certain that something would happen soon. Suhwan just stared at her with a blank expression.

For the following 30 minutes or so, the instructor’s words didn’t really register with him. Suhwan couldn’t do anything with the rustling note in his hand. Meanwhile, Heeyoung, who had given him this worry, listened attentively to the instructor with an unbothered face and stood up as soon as the lecture ended.

“Uh, hey.”

“Goodbye, senior.”

After politely greeting him, Heeyoung walked with quick steps toward where her classmates were. As soon as she approached, Gahyun raised her hand and patted Heeyoung’s shoulder hard.

Seunghyun, who had been watching Heeyoung mumbling about the pain, turned his gaze to Suhwan behind him. Suhwan unconsciously crumpled the paper he was holding and hid it from Seunghyun’s view.

The sharp gaze lingered on Suhwan for a moment before disappearing. Although nothing was said, it somehow felt like words had been spoken through the eyes. See you at home later.

Hunching his shoulders like a guilty person, Suhwan quickly gathered his things and left the lecture hall. Though flustered by Heeyoung’s actions and words, he had already forgotten it all with just one glance from Seunghyun.

Suhwan returned home, pressing his hand against his pounding heart.

***

“Kwon Heeyoung, are you crazy? Why were you sitting next to that guy?”

Gahyun’s hand was still slapping Heeyoung’s arm. Heeyoung pushed her away, complaining of pain, and then pushed up her thick horn-rimmed glasses with her hand.

“Seriously, what’s going on? Don’t tell me you and Jin Suhwan, that bastard…”

“No.”

Heeyoung glared at the appalled Chanwoo and spoke in a cold tone. Seeing her forceful denial, Chanwoo stroked his chest, saying that was at least a relief.

“I just had something to say to him.”

Heeyoung casually said as she hung her bag over her shoulder. She was about to speak again, saying let’s go now, when Seunghyun’s gaze, which had been elsewhere, returned to her.

“What did you have to say?”

“…”

Seunghyun and Heeyoung’s gazes collided in mid-air. Since both were usually quiet in nature, creating such a tense atmosphere was quite unusual. Their classmates were perplexed watching the two but couldn’t bring themselves to intervene. Heeyoung calmly opened her mouth.

“The kind of thing you’re worried about won’t happen.”

The black glass-like eyes stared beyond the lens. There was no emotion visible in the eyes hidden behind the thick glasses. It was merely the gaze of an indifferent observer, nothing more, nothing less.

That gaze remained unwavering even when looking at a surprisingly beautiful man. In a nonchalant tone, Heeyoung continued.

“Actually, I still don’t know what you want.”

What you want.

Seunghyun’s eyes widened at Heeyoung’s words. It was as if she had pierced through Seunghyun’s confused mind.

But that couldn’t be possible. What could Heeyoung possibly know? No one knew that as soon as the vacation started, Jin Suhwan had blackmailed him and forcibly proceeded with an engagement, starting their cohabitation. He had deliberately cut off contact with his classmates during the vacation to hide this. Seunghyun’s eyes darkened.

“Let’s go.”

“Uh, yeah. Okay.”

Since Heeyoung was usually quiet and reserved, such a forceful demeanor was very unfamiliar to her classmates. However, as if she had nothing more to say, she closed her mouth like a clam and left the lecture hall, with her classmates hesitantly following.

“Seunghyun, let’s go.”

“…Okay.”

Chanwoo and Eunchan, who had been watching the situation, pulled Seunghyun along. The next lecture was a major class. But as expected, since the first liberal arts class ended early, they had to kill time somewhere. The classmates had already forgotten the unsettling atmosphere and started chatting about where to spend their time.

‘What I want.’

Following quietly behind them, Seunghyun repeated inwardly. His face, deep in thought, momentarily showed a confused expression as he recalled someone.

But it soon calmed down. Like a lake that becomes still again after someone throws a stone causing ripples, Seunghyun, accustomed to hiding his inner thoughts, answered his classmates with a smiling face when they asked where he wanted to go.

***

Suhwan trudged back home. For just one liberal arts lecture that didn’t even last an hour on the first day, it seemed like too many things had happened. From the very first day of the semester, Suhwan was already sick of school.

“Hah…”

Only after entering his home did he realize he was still holding the grapefruit tea. He must have been unconsciously gripping it tightly because the cup holder part was all crumpled. The now-detestable D.Clare logo caught his eye again. Suhwan walked with tired steps to dump the remaining drink in the sink and returned to the living room.

He buried himself in the leather sofa, which had become as familiar as a bed, and took a deep breath. Brushing away the bangs covering his eyes, Suhwan habitually put his hand into the pocket of his hoodie. Something with a rough surface rustled inside.

“Ah.”

Only then did he remember that he had carelessly stuffed the note from Heeyoung into his pocket. Suhwan took out the note and scanned the clear number with his eyes.

What should he do with this? He couldn’t understand Heeyoung’s intention at all. He frowned and glared at the phone number for a while.

‘Could she… want to make a settlement?’

At this sudden thought, Suhwan shuddered. Though Heeyoung’s suspicious behavior was inexplicable, given that she went as far as to give her phone number and tell him to contact her, perhaps she was planning to expose what Jin Suhwan had done in the past. Thinking about it that way, it somehow felt plausible.

The important thing was that the current Suhwan couldn’t even guess what kind of terrible things the past Jin Suhwan had done. He thought Jin Suhwan only messed with omegas, but apparently, he was such trash that he even laid hands on beta women. Suhwan wanted to cry. To be manifested in such a body of all things…

Zzzzing.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, his pants pocket danced violently. Startled, Suhwan took out the vibrating phone.

[Manager Kim]

Seeing the name on the screen, he felt a small sense of relief. It was Manager Kim Dowoon, who had provided the most substantial help since Suhwan was manifested. As the closest aide to Jin Gilnyeong, Suhwan’s grandfather and the chairman of Hwamyeong, he had been tasked with taking care of Jin Suhwan, who had been a troublemaker since childhood.

Ironically, he was also the person who helped Suhwan the most when he had just been manifested and couldn’t get his bearings. With his blunt personality, he seemed to accept Suhwan’s cluelessness. He appeared to think that Suhwan was now even pretending to be innocent, but he didn’t seem to have told Chairman Jin about it, though this wasn’t certain. Suhwan quickly answered the phone.

“Yes, Manager.”

—How have you been, Young Master?

“Yes, have you been well too, Manager?”