CHAPTER 268: THE SUN WAS SETTING

"I already told you," he said with a soft voice. "You’re interesting. Everyone’s pretending to be someone. But you’re the only one pretending to be no one. You’re pretending, but it’s not the same, and that’s far more compelling."

My eyebrows furrowed, and I pushed backwards, frowning at him.

"Is this a game to you?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"No," he said. "But I wouldn’t mind if it was. I like games."

Hearing him made my blood rise. He was such a child to think he could play with others like a game. They all were.

If I stayed there for a little longer, I felt I was going to be sick.

I stood up, both my hands pressed on the table, and he looked up at me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"It’s already getting late. I think we should end the session here," I said, picked up my bag, and started heading out.

Luckily, he didn’t stop me. I didn’t want to have to handle someone like him, ’cause I felt, in all earnest, that I would lose to him when it came to playing mind games.

"Jo-Pil," he suddenly called as I reached the door, and I froze.

What now?

"I know you’re waiting for everything to quiet down again. For things to go back to how they were. But they won’t," he said, resting his chin on his palm and tapping his cheek with a finger, softly and slowly as if counting the seconds that passed by.

His words made me go silent, and I felt my heart race with uneasiness.

"You’re not invisible anymore," he added, and I gripped my bag.

Yeah, thanks for the heads-up.

Without saying a word to him, I walked out, but my chest felt tight.

This uncomfortable feeling that made me feel short of breath tightened my chest and made me pant heavily despite only walking... It was because I knew, deep down... I knew he was right.

I leaned on the wall where I was out of sight, and there I stood to catch my fleeting breath.

"Dammit! This is the worst!" I exclaimed bitterly and then cleaned my lips with my arm. "Why did he have to be so damn right?"

I should’ve gone straight to my dorm after the tutoring session and all that, but I was restless.

The sun was setting, and the sky was painted in shades of orange.

I thought maybe if I just kept walking, I could leave behind the weight of Min-Cheol’s words and the chill of his calm declarations.

I barely made it three steps into the quiet path behind the east wing of the school before a familiar voice stopped me.

"Jo-Pil."

I froze and shut my eyes, cursing under my breath.

Just why did I have to run into one of them right now?

I turned my head and found Jin-Yeok walking towards me in long and neat strides.

Even when it was already so late, his uniform was still so neat, as if it had just been taken off the ironing board.

He was holding a wrapped rice cracker in one hand, and his smile that belonged on a brochure for perfect students was currently directed at me.

How bothersome.

"I didn’t see you during lunch," he said, as though this were an ordinary kindness. "I thought you might be hungry."

I hadn’t eaten since breakfast because I wanted to avoid the cafeteria, which had the largest population of the school gathered in one place.

Seeing the cracker in his hand, my stomach twisted.

I was so hungry, but I couldn’t let him know that.

"Come on, are you going to keep my hand hanging?" he asked as he stopped right in front of me, waving the cracker in his hand, and my eyes followed it.

My mouth salivated, and though I hesitated, my stomach was far more superior than my will, so I took it and muttered, "Thanks."

"What was that?" he asked, pretending not to have heard me, which was very annoying, but I had to repeat it if I didn’t want him on my neck.

In fact, he was already on my neck.

"Thank you," I said, but he didn’t move.

He wanted to hear me repeat it so much, but still, he didn’t respond after I did.

What does he want?

He suddenly stepped closer, then tilted his head as if trying to recall a memory from somewhere.

"Were you just with Min-Cheol?" he asked lightly, but I didn’t give him an answer right away and responded with another question.

"Why?"

"His scent lingers," he said and reached for my shoulder, where Min-Cheol had actually leaned into during our session. "There’s so much of it."

I guess spending two hours with him was enough to have his scent all over me.

"But there’s something else..." he suddenly added as his eyes narrowed slightly, and I lightly froze. "You smell... off."

Shit. Did he already find it out?

That time too. He leaned in and started sniffing me because he liked my scent. He probably doesn’t know I’m an Omega, but his instincts were drawn to my scent.

He’s got quite the sensitive nose.

How troublesome.

I stepped back instinctively, pretending to inspect the rice cracker in my hand.

"Probably just the chamomile tea. He made me drink some," I said, a little sweat dripping at the corner of my face, which he couldn’t see.

But this excuse wasn’t enough to fool someone like him.

He peered at me with suspicious eyes and a smile that didn’t falter, but... I saw the flicker of interest ignite in those sparkling emerald eyes of his.

Gosh, his eyes were so beautiful.

But that’s not what I should be thinking of. There are bigger things to be worried about.

That quiet Alpha curiosity. It was dangerous.

"I see," he said, with a light and soft voice. That flicker in his eyes increased a bit, and then he closed them, chuckling. "Still, you should be careful."

"With tea?"

"With your scent," he said, and I flinched.

"W-what?"