CDCN Chapter 4

With wide eyes, Yang-hwi peeked at Cha Jin-geon from under the desk. ‘There is no way he could forget the stalker who had followed him around throughout high school.’

“What are you doing?”

Min Ki-hyeok looked at him with a baffled expression.

“Hey, hey, Min Ki-hyeok. Grab my bag for me. I think I need to drop this class.”

“…I think it’s already too late for that.”

As he said this, Min Ki-hyeok grabbed the back of Yang-hwi’s hood and yanked it up. “You crazy bastard, what are you doing?” Yang-hwi muttered under his breath, raising his hand to wave him off. But the grip was so strong that no matter how much he tried to pry the fingers loose, they wouldn’t budge.

His flailing stopped abruptly at the sound of the professor’s voice.

“Sorry for being late. Everyone’s here, right? That student hiding under the desk—you’re attending this lecture too, right? If so, could you please take a seat?”

It was Professor Kim Nam-hye. Yang-hwi could feel every pair of eyes in the lecture hall turning toward him. “See, you should’ve gotten up when I told you to,” Min Ki-hyeok whispered nonchalantly.

‘You should’ve said something that important out loud!’

Shooting him a resentful glare, Yang-hwi hesitantly stood up and took a seat. He immediately bowed his head, but in the commotion, his eyes had already locked with Cha Jin-geon’s, who had been watching him.

‘I’m dropping this the second I get out of here.’

“Today, we’ll just do a quick orientation and wrap up. I’m guessing most of you signed up for my class because you heard the rumor that as long as you show up, you can coast to good grades—am I right?”

The professor tossed out the joke with a bright smile, and the students chuckled softly.

“Thanks to that, the competition for this class is higher than others, which makes me feel pretty proud. It’s true. Since the theme of this course is ‘Structure of Society,’ as long as you handle the basics—like attendance, which is a miniature version of societal responsibility before you step into the real world—and do well on group projects that involve forming social relationships and dividing roles, you’ll get a high grade. However, there’s no dropping or canceling this class without a special reason.”

It was like a bolt from the blue. Yang-hwi, who had planned to quietly fade into the background and drop the course, lifted his head involuntarily.

‘Professor, why would you say that!’

His silent scream had no chance of reaching her. The professor scanned the room, making eye contact with each student as she smiled warmly.

“I trust that everyone who fought through the competition to get into this class will stick with it to the end. Still, if anyone’s thinking of dropping or canceling, just know that this course can’t be retaken. There are a lot of students taking it as a required general education course, right?”

Most of the students laughed and responded, “No way we’d drop it,” to the professor’s playful tone. But Yang-hwi couldn’t join in the laughter.

‘Damn it, that damn mandatory general education.’

This class being a mandatory general education course made Yang-hwi swallow a curse inwardly.

He’d spent his entire college life trying to avoid Cha Jin-geon as much as possible. She said it couldn’t be retaken, but surely there had to be some way around it?

As he racked his brain for a solution, rolling his eyes in thought, he caught sight of the teaching assistant, Ryu Jun, standing next to the professor, looking utterly exhausted.

Yang-hwi’s expression brightened in an instant.

* * *

“No way.”

Ryu Jun, who had figured out Yang-hwi’s intentions the moment he barely uttered “Hyung¹,” cut him off with a firm rejection.

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say.”

As Yang-hwi hurriedly grabbed his arm and clung to him, Ryu Jun pressed his fingers against his temples, frowning as if exhausted.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me ‘TA’ instead of ‘Hyung’? And I don’t need to hear it—I can already guess what you’re going to say. You want me to cancel your class registration, right?”

Ryu Jun was four years older than Yang-hwi and lived next door. Ever since he started tutoring Yang-hwi at his mother’s request, he’d often visited their house, making them quite close.

“You did it for me last year.”

“That was because it was before the class started, so it was possible. The professor checks the roster one by one before the orientation. You can’t change it now.”

At his resolute words, Yang-hwi’s expression darkened rapidly. Since it was a required general education course, he’d signed up for it last year too. Back then, worried that Cha Jin-geon might take the same class, he’d asked Ryu Jun to check for him. When he found out Cha Jin-geon had registered, he canceled it immediately.

That’s why this year he’d signed up without even checking—so why was Cha Jin-geon taking this class now?

“There’s really no way? Didn’t the professor say it’s possible with a special reason?”

“A special reason? Oh, sure, it’s possible if you’re hit with a severe heat cycle or get injured and hospitalized… but that doesn’t apply to you, does it?”

Ryu Jun scanned him up and down before placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Yang-hwi, there’s no way around it this time. So—”

He glanced behind Yang-hwi and continued in a quieter voice.

“I get that it’s awkward to face him after a failed crush, but how long are you going to keep avoiding him? Isn’t it time to get over it?”

“T-That’s not it!”

His face flushed instantly. He didn’t need to turn around to know who Ryu Jun was referring to. Embarrassed, his words came out in a stutter.

“What do you mean it’s not? I’ve listened to you ramble about Cha Jin-geon for three whole years until I was sick of it—mmph.”

“It’s really not like that!”

Yang-hwi clapped a hand over Ryu Jun’s mouth. He denied it vehemently, but Ryu Jun’s cold, skeptical eyes showed no sign of believing him. And it made sense—whenever Ryu Jun came over to tutor, Yang-hwi would go on and on about Cha Jin-geon.

The memory of that hit him, and embarrassment washed over him.

‘Past Yang-hwi, what the hell were you doing?’

“Anyway, use this as a chance to sort things out. You can’t keep avoiding him for the next three years.”

Ryu Jun peeled Yang-hwi’s hand off his mouth and flicked his forehead with a finger.

“I’m already dead tired without you bothering me, so just go. Your friend’s coming up behind you.”

Rubbing his forehead, Yang-hwi turned to see Min Ki-hyeok approaching, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you forgot your bag… Hello.”

“Hey, yeah. I’m heading out.”

Ryu Jun waved lazily at Ki-hyeok, who bowed his head in greeting, before turning to leave. But then he paused, staring intently at Yang-hwi.

“By the way, Yang-hwi, the people around you…”

He glanced at Ki-hyeok and then somewhere behind them before shaking his head with a sigh. When Yang-hwi looked at him in confusion, Ryu Jun just clicked his tongue lightly.

“Never mind. Just attend the class properly. And I’ll help you get over it while we’re at it.”

With that cryptic remark, he turned and walked off with weary steps. Yang-hwi stared at his retreating figure with a hint of lingering regret before letting out a small sigh inwardly.

‘Is there really no way to avoid running into Cha Jin-geon this semester except to pray?’

“You left your bag behind.”

“Oh, thanks.”

He took the bag from Ki-hyeok. He’d forgotten it in his rush to catch Ryu Jun after the professor left.

“But what’s he helping you with?”

“…I don’t know. He just said it couldn’t be done earlier.”

“What did you ask him for?”

“Well…”

There was no need to spill his embarrassing history to Min Ki-hyeok. He was about to brush it off when—

“Huh? Min Ki-hyeok?”

A guy with yellow hair called out from across the way, approaching with a friendly demeanor and clapping a hand on Ki-hyeok’s shoulder.

“You’re taking this class too?”

“Lee Se-jin. You’re taking it too?”

Min Ki-hyeok seemed fairly close to him; though his face remained expressionless, his tone was quite friendly. Yang-hwi stood between them, glancing up to look back and forth between the two. The yellow hair, golden eyes, and playful expression felt oddly familiar.

Suddenly, Yang-hwi’s eyes widened on their own. He recalled a face from high school—someone who was always by Cha Jin-geon’s side, though back then they had black hair instead of yellow.

Lee Se-jin. A tiger beastman and one of the love interest candidates from the original story.

“But over here…”

The moment their eyes met, Lee Se-jin’s eyes narrowed slightly before curving into a crescent smile.

“Oh! Wait, didn’t we definitely go to the same high school?”

“Se-jin, what are you doing not coming over?”

Yang-hwi’s body stiffened at the voice coming from behind. Lee Se-jin’s cheerful greeting wasn’t the problem.

Barely suppressing the instinct to turn around, Yang-hwi bit his lip hard.

“Just a sec, oh! Right. You—you’re the one who sat behind Cha Jin-geon, right? Jin-geon, come over here!”

Lee Se-jin stared at him blatantly for a moment before shouting loudly. Without giving him a chance to stop him, he called Jin-geon over.

Cold sweat trickled down Yang-hwi’s back as the sound of approaching footsteps grew closer. His prayers to avoid a confrontation felt futile as Cha Jin-geon drew near.

“Why are you here…”

There was no pretending not to notice anymore. Yang-hwi turned around, awkwardly forcing the corners of his mouth up.

“Haha… Hi.”

Cha Jin-geon, upon seeing him, raised one eyebrow as if surprised. His expression seemed to say, ‘Looks like I got dragged into something annoying’, but that was just Yang-hwi’s imagination.

“So I didn’t see it wrong earlier.”

With a gentle face, Cha Jin-geon spoke in a soft tone. Yang-hwi flinched at the sweet sound of his voice.

‘I can’t let myself get swayed.’

Determinedly steeling himself inside, he slowly met Cha Jin-geon’s gaze.

“Yang-hwi. It’s been a while.”

Cha Jin-geon greeted him with a bright smile.