December

It was difficult to answer. Would he rather share a digestive drink with them? To be honest, I tried to answer him roughly and leave, but today the old man acted a little differently. He seemed to have no energy. Come to think of it, he was the one who never left the window, saying he would want to see his son.

“Well…I’m not sure. Wouldn’t they have anything similar to ramen?”

“You’re right. They do eat anything.”

Her grandfather replied, adding with a sigh.

“Being a grandfather, I don’t even know what my grandchild likes. He never asks me for help whenever he is in trouble…Ha…”

He was talking about his grandchild and was worried that he didn’t ask for help. It was difficult to understand, but it was a voice filled with sadness, so I wanted to comfort him without even realizing it.

“Your grandchild will like anything their grandfather buys for them.”

“They won’t.”

“…Ah, okay.”

He didn’t want to receive any consolation. His grandson must be one of a kind. I tried to leave with cup noodles for the second time but failed again this time.

“Do you work at the restaurant next door?”

It was cold today, so I went out wearing the padding that the store employees had given me. The old man’s eyes were on my back. The name of the store was printed in large print.

“Yes, I am a part-timer there.”

“Are you a student from W university?”

It must have been because of the rumors that the restaurant only hired students from W university. However, the grandfather’s voice suddenly became high-pitched.

“Hey, look at this, you must be a student there. No?”

“No.”

“Yes..no. What?”

He suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at me.

“You aren’t a student from the W university?”

Well, for now, I am not. Talking about school kept making me uncomfortable, so I took a step back, but he suddenly pointed at my noodles with his chin. I was startled. What had gotten into him all of a sudden?

“I’ll buy you this!”

It was really burdensome to eat ramen because of how people were staring at me. Even though I had to buy digestive medicine with my own money before. The old man looked at me as if he was going to gobble me up with his big eyes which was not not befitting for his age.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Not really.”

“…Alright.”

I was about to lift the hot noodles again, but I heard him add some words after clearing his throat.

“A kid I know goes to W university.”

“Your grandson?”

“How did you know that?!”

Anyone who came to the convenience store at this time would know. In particular, the store manager threw a different gaze at the old man’s cry now. Unlike him, I grinned at the old man because I thought he was somehow cute.

“I just guessed.”

“As expected, being a W college student, you’re good at guessing as well.”

He immediately agreed and asked sharply.

“What grade are you in? What is your major?”

When I answered, he showed some disappointment.

“Will you be graduating soon?”

“No. I’m currently taking a vacation. I will be going back to school, and starting from the second year..”

When I told him it would be my second year, his eyes brightened once again.

“Oh? You must have had a good vacation”

It was an unpleasant compliment, but it turned into an awkward laugh. He was motioning to me, ‘Go on,’ so I resumed eating, but he kept watching me to see if he had anything else to say. After having a few more slurps, I asked again.

“Sir, do you have something to tell me?”

“No.”

“…Okay.”

I bent my head towards the cup noodles, but I heard him clear his throat one more time.

“Well…I don’t know if my grandson eats well at school or gets along well with his friends.”

I raised my eyes and looked at him. When he met my gaze, he waved his hand again.

“Eat up! Drink the soup and don’t waste it.”

I ate it in haste because what he said had some power in it. I heard several more clearings of his throat as I ate.

“Plus, when my grandson was young, he was weak and got into fights with gangsters who were older than him. I’m concerned that someone is troubling him because he’s so quiet and calm, and he doesn’t get angry easily. Well, that’s it..”

While I cleaned every bit of the cup noodles, I came to my conclusion about the old man’s grandson. His grandson deserved your concern. I should be friends with him when I start school the next year.

School…Maybe it was because I was talking about school with the old man at the convenience store, but I thought of Kim Shin all the way home that day. Will we be able to meet him at school next year? This thought soon gave way to various fantasies of seeing him at school.

However, I soon shook his head. No, the school was no small matter. The majors are also different. We wouldn’t meet. Even if I came to a firm conclusion, the anticipation that I allowed myself once was about to creep up again, so I deliberately contacted my friend and wanted to meet him. The following day was a holiday, resulting in me staying home alone, thinking about him. I didn’t want to do that. Fortunately, my two friends came out right away.

“Hey, I have great news. Like really awesome news.”

Deokjin, who often said that he loved his school, shouted “Awesome” one after another. I wondered if his life was awesome in the daily that he was shouting like that. In particular, my other friend, Minah, had no emotional reactions and was not interested in other people’s affairs, so she didn’t even wonder about it. So I politely asked.

“What happened?”

“Well….”

Deokjin was about to speak but stopped for a moment when he saw me.

“Don’t you be surprised…It’s about Cho Sungkyun.”

My expression hardened at the unwelcome name, but I pretended nothing was wrong and asked back.

“What happened?”

“I heard it through an acquaintance of someone I know.”

Deokhjin paused while Mina and I stopped moving and watched him. Even so, at the moment when I pulled a glass to my mouth, he finally delivered the news in a heightened voice.

“His two teeth were pulled out.”

A moment of silence passed. Deokjin’s eyes lit up in anticipation of Mina and my reaction, but it was difficult to give the intense reaction that he wanted. I asked him first.

“Was he suffering from severe tooth decay?”

Huh? Deokjin asked with a dumbfounded face. He blinked his eyes in bewilderment.

“What are you talking about? Sungkyun’s teeth were pulled out.”

“Yeah, I heard you. Wasn’t it because of tooth decay? Or did it fall out or something?”

“No, not that…”

Otherwise, what’s the point of having a tooth pulled out? However, Mina gave a different answer.

“Was he doing some sort of correction to his teeth? Good for him.”

Ah, correction. It could be done, but it was a little funny that Cho Sungkyun did it. I helped Mina turn over the giblets that were just starting to cook and took care of Deokjin, who was still dazed.

“It’s all cooked. Eat.”

“Hey, but his teeth were pulled out…No, when I heard it, it was obviously a big deal… Isn’t that what you’re thinking about?”

Deokjin rather asked us, and the coldhearted Minah sorted it out.

“Where else can I get my teeth pulled out if it’s not at the dentist?”

“…Well, you’re right”

In the end, Deokjin admitted it too, but he still tilted his head and muttered. He said it was awesome news. Minah suddenly threw a comment while putting giblets on his plate, who couldn’t forget how awesome the news was?

“I also heard something about this Sunbae.”

“Who?”

Again, I was in charge of the question, and the answer was related to me.

“The recessive Omega, except for you, in the department.”

Fortunately, there was no weak reaction to stop chopsticks this time. I just kept my mouth shut, but Deokjin said instead of me.

“I heard he got a job at a good company.”

“It’s not a good company.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s the company I joined this time.”

I had no choice but to look at Mina, and Deokjin put down his chopsticks. Minah was already working for a huge corporation that everyone aspired to work for before she graduated. Deokjin, who loved school, was especially moved to tears.

“Are you bragging right now?”

Minah ignored Deokjin and glanced at me.

“I didn’t even know that Omega Sunbae went there. Since we are in different departments, we didn’t really run into each other. So while I was working there, something happened to that Sunbae.”

What happened? Deokjin immediately asked with curious eyes. Minah chewed on one of her giblets and asked Deokjin back.

“You remember that rumor? When Sunbae was a student, he said he was using an Omega service which made him sell his body to dominant Alphas to make money.”

It was the first time I had heard this, but Deokjin nodded his head as if he knew.

“Yeah, you should know. Yeonwoo, you probably won’t know. Rumors circulated in our second year, and the Sunbae knew about it and ran wild. He said that he didn’t do dirty things like that, he wasn’t a whore, and that he would catch the person who sexually harassed him. But what about those rumors?”

“It was true. A video of an Alpha touching him was posted on the company bulletin board. The executive of the company found it.”

The truly awesome gossip was this one. While Deokjin and I had our mouths gaped in surprise, Minah ate two of her giblets and added.

“There were a few videos uploaded. It was not a crime to use services like these but to overreact to such rumors was over the top. There were also people saying that it was strange how he was receiving good grades, right?”