‘Hyung, you need to check my Korean.’ Hansol passed the five-page report to Wonwoo who was leaning against the wire fence of the basketball court. Leave it to Hansol for great timing.

‘Really? Now?’

‘Naah, later. But soon please.’ the younger alpha pleaded, sitting beside his tutor who took it anyway and put it inside his bag. ‘Thanks! I’ll buy you a drink!’ He exclaimed and ran towards his bicycle, not forgetting to lose his footing and stumble forward a bit, per usual. Wonwoo shook his head lightly. He could just send him an email later instead of the hard copy. Really, that boy…

‘Hansol-ah! Pocari for me!’ Seungcheol screamed seeing where the youngest was heading.

‘SOJ-’ Minghao was on the head by Jun. ‘What? I was just kidding!’

‘Eyes on the ball.’ The latter replied before stealing it and doing a slam dunk. ‘Yes!! Yaah, Wonwoo! I need a teammate!’

‘Don’t look at me.’

‘Yaah emo face! I said I need a teammate!’

‘COMING! Jeez!’ He ran towards his bestfriend and pushed him. In turn, the other headlocked him lightly before both taking their position.

*****

Mingyu reread the message he got from his mother again. And again. And again. As if the content would change the more he read it.

The initial plan was to be back in about three weeks, but apparently the registration to his new university required his presence earlier than planned.

‘What the hell!!!!’ He screamed to nobody. Granted, he should have confirmed about the registration himself instead of leaving it up to his parents but they offered and he trusted them. And because of that trust, he already made plans to travel with his friends around Europe for the last time in maybe years to come! Who would have thought his mom could make a small mistake like the fact that his presence was a requirement?! If he could throw away his phone right now he would.

Eomma! You’re kidding right? I was planning to go Italy!

Mingyu-yah! Eomma’s sorry… I never made a mistake like this. Must be my age… - Her Majesty

Aah… the age card. Mingyu hated when the lady use that excuse. It makes him feel like he was a bad son. And he was not. Eventhough they aren’t related by blood, that old omega lady, his step-mom, is his only weakness, besides his grandmother that is.

Can’t I stay longer? I only need to be there a day earlier right? :(

Your grandma wants to have dinner with you. - Her Majesty

But we can still have dinner that night right? :((

Or after the registration?

You want to tell you grandma that yourself? -Her Majesty

Mingyu cringed at the thought of that. Worst case scenario, the old lady will pretend to be bedridden or fake some illness to be hospitalized. Then Mingyu will have to pretend to take care of her until she is satisfied. He knew every trick in the book yet he couldn’t do anything about it. Sighing, he accepted his fate.

It only meant he needed to party around as much as possible in the next two weeks.

*****

‘So, you need also consider wind direction and strength of a particular area,’ he paused, ‘And also take note of the strongest wind in record…. to calculate the strength of a building? What’s that gotta do with designing a small building?’ Hansol asked softly, circling the passage he just read. Wonwoo took the textbook from him and read a few lines before, in case any simple explanation was already written that the half-korean missed. Apparently not, so he just have to do it himself.

‘If the building’s covered by other larger buildings, it should not be that important as the other ones will act like a shield against the oncoming wind,’ he drew on the page, ‘but if it’s the tallest, or the only one around, the wind will hit it directly, and depending on how strong the foundation is, or whether you have holes to let the wind through, the strength of the wind might damage it.’

Wonwoo looked at his junior. Hansol had this face of confusion which turned into realization a few seconds later. Sometimes he finds it amazing how the guy managed to pass the entrance exam, seeing how long it took him to understand a chapter. Of course, considering he only started learning Korean four years ago, and it was also self-thought, the mere fact that he was able to take the test in the first place was interesting in itself. Especially since the younger have an attention span of a goldfish.

‘Speaking of, when’re you going back home?’ He whispered. There he goes again.

‘In three weeks.’ Wonwoo reluctantly replied. They were in a library and he would not tolerate small talks not relating to their studies. ‘So you understand the chapter now?’

‘Yeah. Jun-hyung’s driving?’ He tried again. Obviously getting sick of studying. ‘Yup.’

‘That’s nice… I wish I can drive.’ Hansol commented before returning to read another chapter. The exam is next week so he had asked Wonwoo to help him study. And upon the older’s suggestion, they went to the library because his own room has so many ‘distraction’. Hansol agreed. Because he always had trouble concentrating since he was a child, to a point where his study room used to be all white without anything else other than books, a piece of pencil, and a rubber. Yes, his parents made a special room for him to study because of his problems. That room got him through high school, and into the university. But the problem was now, he had no ‘special’ room.

Hansol tried focusing again. Everything seemed so boring. He managed to read a ten-paged chapter so he deserved a break. ‘Wonu-hyung?’

‘Yeah?’

‘What perfume are you wearing?’ Wonwoo rolled his eyes. This kid, he was doing so well until five minutes ago… He refused to answer and let his face talk. Getting the hint, the younger backed away and re-opened his notebook. ‘Okay, okay…. I’m only asking because you smell nice.’ he mumbled incoherently.

‘You know you need to pass this right? Or you’ll have to take Prof. Lee’s class next term, right? And you don’t want him because he’s satan, right? I told you, right?’

‘Gosh okay, I got it… I’ll finish this chapter!’

Wonwoo nodded in satisfaction. Threats always work with this guy because he’s so gullible he would believe anything Wonwoo said. And god, he always enjoys the horrified look on the alpha’s face when he told him the so-called ‘truth’ about the lecturers. It was just one of his guilty pleasures. Finally, he got to read his book in silence.

In a mere 20 minutes of silence. ‘Aww… look at the couple! They’re so cute! I wish I had a girlfriend…’

That’s it. ‘Chwe Hansol, shut the up.’

‘Owh . Sorry. Working on it.’ He looked back down, avoiding Wonwoo’s strong and cold gaze. But the older was not taking it.

‘Wear you headphones.’

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter