CHAPTER 269: THE EPITOME OF JEALOUSY

"W-what?"

I almost dropped the cracker as I flinched.

Jin-Yeok didn’t take his gaze off me, but he wasn’t being aggressive either. He wasn’t even pressuring me with that Alpha Aura but despite all this... It felt like he was testing the water.

And I had no doubt that if he found a crack, he’d widen it.

Slowly, I retreated my step and looked away. Maybe running right now would be the best course of action.

But as I took another step back, my eyes scanning the floor behind me so I wouldn’t end up stumbling, he said,

"This isn’t you running away again, is it?" He asked and I paused. Right. This wasn’t our first rodeo.

He laughed and then leaned closer.

"I was planning a quiet walk," he said, his hands behind his back and his face peering towards mine. "Mind if I join?"

I minded a lot. Too much, in fact. But saying no would stir his interest instead.

So I shrugged and said,

"It’s a free path. I won’t stop you."

He smiled and started walking beside me.

If I could just stop walking and let him walk on, I would but... He was such a persistent bastard.

So I chest up and decided to endure the walk that seemed to be going on for hours even when it hadn’t been ten minutes yet.

We walked in silence and maybe that’s why it felt like the time flew by so slowly and heavily. But despite the silence, it was not peaceful.

Every step felt like walking on thin ice, especially with how calm Jin-Yeok walked beside me.

His presence made me very cautious, and I held my breath. My scent suppressants had held so far, but they weren’t perfect, not under this pressure.

I could feel the eyes of passing students. Even when it was already getting this late and the sun was setting, there were still quite a number of students around.

A pair of boys whispered past us, bowing their heads lightly as they passed Jin-Yeok but even when they were gone, I could still feel their eyes.

Two girls did the same, nudging each other and giggling while staring at Jin-Yeok from behind but I had a feeling that giggle transformed into a sneer only when their eyes fell on me.

The epitome of jealousy.

But despite all of this, I kept my eyes forward.

"You’re stiff," Jin-Yeok suddenly commented gently, after staying quiet for a while.

"I don’t like being stared at," I said, my eyes still stretching along with the path and he chuckled.

"Don’t worry," he said. "Most of them are just surprised by this turn of events."

That doesn’t make anything better.

He turned his head to look at the girls giggling at the corner, smiled at them, and then turned to me.

"But I’m certain that most are wondering how you’ve caught our attention."

I didn’t reply. It was only natural to wonder how I caught their attention.

I mean, even I keep wondering the same thing and I happen to be the center of it all.

A little sigh escaped my lips and then I heard my name.

"Jo-Pil!"

The call from that familiar foxy voice made my spine tingle.

We both turned our heads and found Seo-Jun approaching.

His tie was loosened, his shirt half-untucked, arms casually wrapped around a girl’s shoulders as if they were lovers when she was just one of his casual side pieces.

And along with them were over two or maybe three boys and two other girls surrounding him, laughing at something stupid he’d probably said.

How irritating they sounded.

But he wasn’t laughing with them. He had his eyes sharply glued on me, grinning with a chaotic spark in his eyes.

He was a menace.

And... he was walking straight toward us.

"Oh, look who we have here," he said, dropping his arm from the girl and pulling away from the group without explanation. "Jin-Yeok and Jo-Pil. Cute."

I resisted the urge to sigh once again.

It felt like my life span had been cut short just from standing between these two Alphas.

"It can’t be that you’re trying to steal him from Ki-hoon, are you?" Seo-Jun said, grinning with his eyes and I frowned.

Jin-Yeok, who didn’t seem bothered by these words, did not respond.

But that was only how it looked on the surface. I, who was standing very close could see every bit of what he was doing.

I saw how the tightness of his jaw clenched harder, hidden behind that smiling mask he was so beautifully putting up.

"Always one with the jokes." He finally said but Seo-Jun shrugged, tucking his hands in his pocket.

My heart was racing.

He wasn’t about to tell everyone what he saw in the library, was he?

I felt anxious and my palms grew sweaty. This guy... I knew he couldn’t be trusted.

But Seo-Jun didn’t say anything more and just as Jin-Yeok thought it was a joke, Seo-Jun decided to leave it at that.

"Well, the chicken knows its feathers best." He simply said and turned his gaze to me.

"Stop it with your idioms and just be gone," Jin-Yeok said. "I still need to be on my way."

"Oh, that’s okay. I don’t plan on blocking your way anyway." He said and suddenly grabbed my arm, to all their surprise, including mine. "I just need to borrow Hwang Jo-Pil for a moment."

"What?!"

Seo-Jun didn’t wait for permission and yanked me as he fled, not giving either of us a chance to resist.

"Seo-Jun," Jin-Yeok called behind us, his voice still calm, but lower as if he was barely holding a rage through his teeth, and then he smiled. A smile accompanied by a lot of irks on his forehead. "Don’t be rough."

"Oh, don’t worry," Seo-Jun called back. "I’ll play nice."

And with that, we disappeared, through the corners of the corridor, leaving Jin-Yeok to secretly clench his fist in his pocket.