CDCN Chapter 3

Hair darker than the night sky, contrasting with pale white skin. Beautiful blue eyes that seemed embedded with obsidian.

It was a clichéd description, but Cha Jin-geon matched the character portrayal perfectly.

Just this morning, nothing had come to mind. But the moment he saw Cha Jin-geon, memories lit up one by one, like lights switching on in the dark. Even the settings from the synopsis of “Drawn to Your Scent” came flooding back.

When their eyes met—Cha Jin-geon’s casual glance locking with his—Yang-hwi couldn’t help but blurt out a curse.

“Fuck, I’ve transmigrated?”

“Transmigrated? What transmigration? Hurry up and sit down!”

Someone poked Yang-hwi’s back from behind. Turning around, he saw a face he didn’t recognize from his memories. It seemed his recollection hadn’t fully synced yet.

Forcing his feet to move as he stepped into the classroom, Yang-hwi froze in place. He had a strong gut feeling that the empty seat behind Cha Jin-geon was his.

Panicking, he turned to the person behind him.

“Uh, um, hey. Could we maybe switch seats just for today?”

Without a name to call, he fumbled awkwardly, and the guy raised an eyebrow. With a smirk that said, ‘Well, look at this’, he curled his lips.

“Oh-ho, looks like our Yang-hwi totally bombed the college entrance exam, huh?”

The tone implied, ‘You’re not in your right mind’, as the guy slung an arm over Yang-hwi’s shoulder. The sudden weight threw him off for a moment.

‘Wait, was I a loner?’

But the guy’s grin didn’t feel threatening—more like he found Yang-hwi amusing. Still, something felt off.

“I don’t want to deal with the teacher’s class either, so Yang-hwi can take care of it for me, right? Just go sit over there, okay?”

“No, wait—”

“Snap out of it and go sit down.”

The teacher tapped Yang-hwi’s head with the attendance sheet and pushed him forward. The face was around the same age as his when he was a PD, so he didn’t feel any sense of incongruity. Feeling somewhat wronged, Yang-hwi rubbed his sore scalp and trudged to his seat.

“Alright, alright, everyone settle down. Did you all do well on the exam? Or did you just stare at the test paper?”

The students jeered at the teacher’s remark. He banged on the podium to quiet them down and started calling roll. Yang-hwi let out a small sigh as he sat, stealing a glance at the back of Cha Jin-geon’s head. You’d think he’d turn around at least once, but Cha Jin-geon paid him no mind.

‘Right, why would he care about a stalker?’

He couldn’t be sure if this was truly a book transmigration, but based on this body’s memories, Yang-hwi had liked Cha Jin-geon, just like in the original story.

Sneaking glances was routine, and if their eyes met, his face would flush red instantly. He’d followed Cha Jin-geon to the same cram school and studied hard to get into the same university. That’s why the exam answers had come so easily yesterday.

But his personality was timid, so he never openly sought affection. He just watched, liked, and followed from afar—like a stalker.

Yang-hwi scribbled the current situation in his notebook with a pen, trying to organize his thoughts.

‘Is this really a book transmigration?’

But the premise didn’t hold up. He wasn’t a cat beastman. His parents loved cats, sure, but they were undeniably human. No matter how much he racked his brain, there was no memory of them confessing to being beastmen.

‘A stalker, yes. A beastman, no.’

‘Wouldn’t reincarnation be more likely, then?’

Yang-hwi glanced up at Cha Jin-geon, who was focused on the teacher’s words.

Like the main bottom in Drawn to Your Scent, he was well-liked by many. His handsome looks played a part, but as Yang-hwi had nicknamed him “human catnip,” he especially drew intense attention from beastmen.

Yang-hwi had liked him too. But that was the old Yang-hwi, not him. To him, Cha Jin-geon was just an exceptionally pretty yet handsome human. Sure, he’d ended up editing BL novels by chance, but he’d never considered men as romantic prospects.

‘So why can’t I take my eyes off him?!’

Worse, Yang-hwi felt an overwhelming urge to bury his face in Cha Jin-geon’s chest and rub against him relentlessly. He wanted to drown in his scent.

Gripping his desk-bound legs tightly, he fought the impulse to leap forward. It took all his strength to keep his head from turning toward him, his neck stiffening to the point of strain.

‘Is this the human catnip effect?’

But if that were the case, the other students’ faces wouldn’t be so calm. Some looked at Cha Jin-geon with fondness, sure, but none were as affected as Yang-hwi.

‘Fuck, Go Yang-hwi. I suddenly respect you.’

It must’ve been torture wanting to rub up against Cha Jin-geon every day, yet only stalking him without crossing into criminal territory—Yang-hwi found that restraint impressive.

Swallowing his inner tears, he pinched and twisted his thigh. The sharp pain dulled the urge. He decided to just bury his head instead. Slumped over the desk, the teachers assumed he’d bombed the college entrance exam and didn’t bother waking him.

After enduring the day like that, he returned home. Forget figuring out reality—his mind was too exhausted, and all he wanted was to collapse into bed.

“Yang-hwi, you’re back?”

“Dad?”

His dad, who’d been away on a business trip, was in the living room playing with three cats. The cats, which had felt unfamiliar yesterday, were now vivid in his memory.

The one lying on its back, lazily swatting at a feather tied to a fishing line, was ten-year-old Mi-nyang. The one darting around the room, leaping at the line, was four-year-old Myang. And the one-year-old Min-young was playfully nipping at Mi-nyang’s tail.

And the man beaming kindly, basking in the cats’ affection, was Yang-hwi’s dad, Go Ji-wook.

“How was your trip? You look like you’ve lost some weight.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell in the mirror.”

“You didn’t eat properly again, did you? Mom’s going to nag you.”

Getting his dad, who never gained weight easily, to put on some pounds was his mom’s pride and joy. Seeing him slimmed down again, Yang-hwi could already picture her sighing.

“I ate three meals a day, but foreign food just didn’t suit my taste. Anyway, how’d the exam go? Mi-young said you did well.”

“Yeah. I think I hit the score Korea University wanted.”

He’d already been accepted early to Korea University’s Korean Literature department. All he needed was to meet the cutoff with the entrance exam, and after checking his rough score today, it looked like he’d pass comfortably.

Yang-hwi set his bag on the sofa and grabbed Min-young by the scruff, who’d been gnawing at his toes. Min-young meowed and flailed its legs, claws out.

“Be nicer to Min-young.”

His dad scooped it up into his arms, frowning.

‘It’s the one who always starts it!’

Yang-hwi raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“…But this one disliked me first?” “It’s just a baby. And it’s saying it likes you and wants to play.”

Though less intense than his mom, his dad treated the cats like they were his own children too. Sometimes, it even seemed like he understood what they were saying.

“Dad, you’re not a cat, so how would you know why it’s like that? If it wants to play, it should hide its claws like Myang.”

Yang-hwi hugged Myang, the tricolored cat who was grabbing at his feet, and patted its butt. Myang purred contentedly, rubbing its face against him.

Watching this, Yang-hwi suddenly recalled something from school. If his willpower had been just a little weaker, he might have rubbed his face against Cha Jin-geon’s chest like Myang.

Yang-hwi awkwardly raised the corner of his mouth and gently stroked Myang’s back. But then, he noticed his dad’s expression was strange as he looked at him.

Dad let out a small cough before speaking in an awkward tone.

“Ahem, I have something to say to you about that.”

“What is it?”

“Your mom’s still a while away, right? Let’s go to your room first.”

Glancing around the house cautiously, Dad called Yang-hwi into his room. Something about his behavior seemed suspicious, but Yang-hwi set Myang down and followed him inside.

“Sit here.”

Dad’s odd behavior continued even after they entered the room. He locked the door securely, then patted Yang-hwi’s shoulder lightly and sat him down on a chair.

When he looked up in confusion, Dad awkwardly shifted his gaze and cleared his throat with a “ahem, ahem.”

“Is something wrong?”

He couldn’t imagine anything bigger than the fact that he might have reincarnated or been possessed into Yang-hwi’s body, but judging by Dad’s attitude, it was clear he’d gotten himself into some kind of trouble.

After hesitating for a moment, Dad handed her a book.

“Read this when you have some time.”

“What is this?”

<Curious About My Body – Heat Cycle Edition>

Yang-hwi’s expression became awkward as he quietly read the book title.

It was a sex education book aimed at children, featuring a cute winking rabbit beastman character on the cover. And it was specifically made for beastmen.

‘Why is he giving me this?’

A suspicion crept into his mind, but he tried to ignore it. However, when his eyes met his dad’s, whose lips were curled up exaggeratedly as if relieved, Yang-hwi’s face couldn’t help but crumple.

“Yang-hwi, the truth is, you’re a cat beastman. Normally, we should’ve told you right after you became a high school student at the latest, but there were no signs of it, and I thought it’d be fine to tell you after the college entrance exams…”

His dad’s following words didn’t even register in his ears.

‘So, this situation is undeniably a case of transmigration? And I’m that cat beastman Yang-hwi who gets killed by the male leads in the end because of the synopsis I changed?’

‘What kind of bullshit is this?’

In his confusion and frustration, Yang-hwi inwardly cursed his past-life self, but then he noticed something strange.

“W-Wait a second. But Dad, I’ve never seen ears, a tail, or anything like that on you either. Aren’t you a beastman too?”

He hoped this was just one of his dad’s usual playful jokes. But contrary to his desperate wish, his dad scratched his cheek and casually said,

“Oh, that’s because I’ve never shown any beastman traits either.”

“What?”

“To be honest, it’s a bit embarrassing to even call myself a beastman. Ever since your great-grandmother’s time, we’ve been marrying humans, so the bloodline’s gotten pretty diluted. Starting with me, I’ve never transformed into a cat even once. The most I can do is understand cat language, I guess? But seeing as you can’t even communicate with cats, Yang-hwi, you might as well be fully human.”

“…Then why are you giving me this book?”

“Well, just in case, you know? This is the kind of education you’re supposed to get from adults when you’re young, but I’ve never experienced a heat cycle myself. I’m giving it to you as a reference in case, by some 1% chance, it happens to you. Though I doubt it will.”

As Yang-hwi’s face turned pale, his dad’s nonchalant expression gradually grew awkward. Then, whispering, “It’s a secret from Mom,” he stepped outside.

“Even a 1% possibility shouldn’t exist.”

Yang-hwi bit his lip hard. ‘If this place is really inside Drawn to Your Scent, then I absolutely shouldn’t be a cat beastman. Then the novel will unfold, and I will be killed.’

“Was it because I’m a cat beastman that I couldn’t take my eyes off Cha Jin-geon?”

Now that he thought about it, it made sense why he felt the urge to rub up against Cha Jin-geon. There were no other beastmen in the classroom—just him. Everyone else was an ordinary human.

The problem was that he’d overlooked Cha Jin-geon’s presence as something trivial. It wasn’t something he could just ignore. Instinctive attraction wasn’t something he could suppress.

“…Anyway, this novel only has the synopsis decided, right?”

Come to think of it, that was true. Only the broad framework was fixed. So, if he avoided any connection with Cha Jin-geon from the start and prevented the story from progressing, it wouldn’t follow the synopsis. As long as Cha Jin-geon didn’t hover around him, things wouldn’t play out as planned.

There was nothing he could do about being transmigrated, but he didn’t want to die because of Cha Jin-geon.

After that day, Yang-hwi spent his time in the classroom as quietly as a dead mouse. When he stopped sneaking glances like he used to, Cha Jin-geon occasionally looked at him with a curious, puzzled expression, but Yang-hwi made an effort not to meet his gaze.

After that, he only attended the minimum required days, then used field trips as an excuse to skip school. He spent the rest of the winter at his maternal grandmother’s house in the countryside and graduated.

After enrolling in the Korean University, he canceled or dropped any lectures that overlapped with Cha Jin-geon, who had also enrolled at the same university. Because of this, he barely met the minimum credit requirement in the first semester, and in the second semester, he practically lived at school, taking the dropped classes from morning till night.

Still, knowing that the events of the novel took place during the first year, he felt relieved just to have avoided that.

In the process, he met Min Ki-hyeok, the main top of Drawn by Your Scent. But unlike in the novel, Min Ki-hyeok showed no interest in Cha Jin-geon and instead followed Yang-hwi around obsessively, fixated on getting photos of Min-young. There were also no rumors of scandals involving Cha Jin-geon and the other male leads.

Seeing this, a slight doubt crept in—‘Maybe I haven’t been transmigrated after all.’

But better safe than sorry. It was safer to avoid anything suspicious or uncertain. That’s why he’d been trying so hard to avoid any contact with Cha Jin-geon.

The “Structure of Society” lecture was definitely a class Cha Jin-geon had taken in the first semester of his first year.

That’s why he’d signed up for it with confidence… ‘So why is that guy here now?’