Chapter: 7
“Hey, you said you need to buy gym clothes, right? Want to go to the Sangmaegwan together? If you don’t have anything special to do today.”
It was right after the homeroom ended.
While everyone else was rushing to pack their bags, Hadam hesitated a little before speaking up.
Lee-gyeol snickered inwardly.
Even after throwing that little temper, he still talks.
Is he a responsible type?
Anyway, it was a relief. There was no need to get particularly close to the other kids.
“Sure.”
As soon as he replied, Hadam went ahead without looking back.
The pink backpack over his short white padded jacket stood out noticeably.
Lee-gyeol slung his bag over one shoulder and followed.
“Mind if we take the elevator down?”
“No problem.”
He didn’t seem to like moving too much.
Looking at him, his physique didn’t seem particularly strong.
He was barely as tall as Lee-gyeol’s shoulder, and his uniform looked a little loose on him.
“Don’t you like sports?”
He asked casually while waiting for the elevator.
Hadam stared straight ahead as he replied.
“It’s not because I dislike exercise that I’m taking the elevator.”
“Never mind then.”
“Mm.”
His tone had turned a little chilly.
Had it been a question that annoyed him?
Even after stepping outside, Hadam remained silent for a while.
Lee-gyeol also moved quietly, only his feet making a sound.
Then, suddenly, Hadam turned to look back. They were under a large tree with only bare branches.
“This cherry blossom tree marks the opposite side as the elementary school. This side has the middle and high school. Just in case you didn’t know.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know.”
Hadam nodded shortly and continued explaining.
“If you go straight up behind the cherry trees, you’ll reach the main building with the principal’s office and administration. In front is the dormitory, and if you go past the parking lot down there, you get to the Sangmaegwan. By the way, the elementary, middle, and high schools together are called the Main Campus. Taebaekgwan is an annex, so they distinguish it.”
Actually, Lee-gyeol already knew all this from the explanation he got from Ungaksan.
But he pretended to listen attentively.
He listened and observed.
The presence he felt was stronger than anyone he had ever met.
“Why do I have to go?”
Out of nowhere, being told to go to the Main Campus without explanation seemed unfair and absurd.
It sounded like being told to skip his mission.
So Lee-gyeol rebelled a little, something he didn’t normally do.
But the principal didn’t even blink.
“You’ll understand when you go.”
Until he entered the classroom, it sounded like such a reckless answer.
But the moment he saw Hadam, Lee-gyeol realized why he had to come here.
The pheromone balance he had never experienced before.
No matter how many sedatives he had taken, it had never created such a stable pheromone state.
His heart raced.
The pheromones he had sensed in the treatment room last night were no illusion.
All his senses naturally gravitated toward Hadam.
How could someone create such a powerful sense of stability?
Did all beastmen feel this way around him, or was Lee-gyeol the only one?
If the rumors about him turning into a rabbit were true, then his pheromones would be imbalanced.
Would it feel different then?
He was full of questions.
Meanwhile, Hadam seemed completely unaware of the effect his pheromones had.
It felt unnatural, but it didn’t matter.
A curiosity unlike anything before pushed Lee-gyeol forward.
I want to know you.
Are you someone who can give me peace?
Even if it’s only for a moment.
Until he found an answer, Lee-gyeol decided he wouldn’t return to Taebaekgwan.
“Anyway, by the end of midterms, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. It looks really pretty. You might even see some from your seat.”
As he spoke, Lee-gyeol relaxed a little.
He listened intently.
Hadam liked the attitude, so he asked, almost generously:
“Do you have any other questions?”
“Yeah. During class earlier…”
“During class?”
Had something been confusing?
It would be a little embarrassing if he couldn’t answer here.
Hadam looked up at Lee-gyeol, a bit nervous without realizing it.
Lee-gyeol gave his signature eye-smile.
“You kept staring at me the whole time. Why?”
“…Huh?”
Hadam opened his mouth dumbly.
Saying it like that made it seem like he had been sneaking glances at a boy he liked.
His hands were sweating.
And he stuttered when he spoke.
“When did I?”
“I could see it all from around you.”
“You weren’t looking at me. You imagined it.”
“Really? Never mind then.”
But Lee-gyeol didn’t seem to believe it at all, smiling slightly.
Hadam’s face flushed so hotly he could no longer feel the early spring chill.
He tried not to look at Lee-gyeol as he walked.
The path to the Sangmaegwan was quite long.
Even after passing the school’s main gate, it took ten more minutes on foot.
Still, in a school set in the mountains, club activities were basically the only entertainment, so most students went to the Sangmaegwan whenever they had a chance.
“What’s in Sangmaegwan that makes everyone go there?”
Seeing groups of students walking in threes and fours, Lee-gyeol asked in genuine curiosity.
“Arcade, coin karaoke, café, stationery store, clothing store, bakery, ice cream shop. This time, they even got Insaeng One Cut.”
“What’s that?”
Hadam couldn’t hide his confusion.
Even if it was the Sangmaegwan, how could he not know a craze that had swept all of Korea?
It was extremely famous.
How could an elementary schooler not know?
Taebaekgwan definitely had internet access.
Was he unusual, or were the other beastmen at Taebaekgwan similar?
Lee-gyeol’s mind was full of question marks.
But now wasn’t the time to ask.
“It’s like a self-photo studio. You take pictures with a machine, and the photos come out instantly. You can wear hats or wigs and set up a concept.”
“Is that good?”
It wasn’t something to classify strictly as good or bad, but he tried to explain.
“Well, since the photos come out instantly, I’d say it’s good, more or less.”
“Have you tried it?”
“Uh?”
Hadam reflexively looked at Lee-gyeol. His eyes were full of pure curiosity.
Right, he didn’t know him.
This was a question anyone could ask…
“No, not yet.”
Still, he couldn’t hide his reluctance and shook his head awkwardly.
Honestly, many people probably hadn’t tried Insaeng One Cut.
Some people just didn’t like photos.
But not being able to choose at all was very different from having the choice and not using it.
If he could have been a perfect human, he would’ve taken hundreds of shots already.
But as an incomplete beastman, leaving school for anything other than going home was forbidden.
Every vacation, friends would travel to Seoul, Jeju, even abroad, and he would shrink in comparison.
“This is it? It’s bigger than I thought.”
Looking at the square three-story building, Lee-gyeol said.
Hadam, who had been a bit deflated, continued his explanation as if nothing had happened.
“The first floor has convenience facilities, the second floor has entertainment, and the third floor mostly restaurants. There’s a café too. You can buy gym clothes on the first floor. There’s a store called <All Stationery>. They sell school supplies and stationery, so it’s good to know.”
“Nothing like the shop in Taebaekgwan. I thought that place was fine.”
“They have a shop there?”
Since he brought it up first, it was okay to ask.
He pushed open the glass door and asked while walking ahead.
Lee-gyeol reached over Hadam’s head to quickly grab the door.
“It just sells snacks. Cup noodles, bread, snacks. But seeing this, isn’t this totally unfair?”
He looked at him incredulously, and Lee-gyeol didn’t know how to respond.
He had always thought of Taebaekgwan as special and imagined it had better facilities, but that was just his own fancy.
“Let’s buy the gym clothes first. This way.”
Even during this short moment of guiding him, curiosity kept bubbling up.
Eventually, Hadam couldn’t hold back and spoke.
“But you lost your gym clothes? You’ll have gym class there too, right?”
“They were ripped, so I threw them away.”
“Ripped?”
“Yeah. I fell while playing soccer.”
“Oh… right. That can happen.”
What kind of answer was he expecting?
Was he imagining that he, as a tiger, ripped his clothes to shreds?
While smirking inwardly, Lee-gyeol added:
“It’s not like I ripped them myself.”
“Huh? What?”
Hadam froze on the spot, quite startled.
Lee-gyeol didn’t answer, instead entering the stationery store alone and whistling briefly.
It was unclear whether it was sharpness or just a random comment.
Hadam checked his watch. His heartbeat was close to 100.
Once again, he resented the homeroom teacher.
He looked at the tiny screen anxiously, took a deep breath, and calmed himself as Lee-gyeol emerged from the store.
“What are you doing here? Not coming in?”
“Oh, I didn’t need anything. You already bought everything?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll—”
“But where’s Insaeng One Cut?”
Lee-gyeol abruptly cut him off mid-sentence.
