At Seonwoo's question, Hyeonchae slowly blinked.
"I'm not sure what you mean by asking if it's the same. The mechanism behind it is the same, but everyone's symptoms are different. As for what Choi Iwon is like... I wouldn't know."
"No rut, and then..."
Something suddenly surged up inside him. Before he had the chance to think it over, the words escaped first.
"That horrible thing. That violent, monstrous personality."
Perhaps startled by the harshness in his voice, Hyeonchae's fingertips twitched.
Seonwoo regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. There had been no reason to expose that much hatred. It was resentment he had never voiced to anyone before. If he'd intended to keep it buried, he should have buried it to the end. Why was he taking it out on Eun Hyeonchae, who had done nothing wrong?
The fact that he would be seeing Iwon again very soon seemed to be weighing on him far more than he'd realized.
Seonwoo clenched his fist tightly and steadied his breathing. Only after calming down did he realize his mistake.
If Eun Hyeonchae suffered from the same symptoms...
Looking at Hyeonchae in slight embarrassment, he saw the younger man shake his head.
"I... don't have anything like that."
"Ah... right. Of course."
Apparently he had been unconsciously tense, because the strength drained from his hand.
Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered hearing something like that before. The only shared symptom was the absence of rut, while the way accumulated pheromones were relieved differed from person to person.
"I'm really glad you're okay."
Seonwoo spoke with complete sincerity.
* * *
Two large buses pulled one after another into the resort parking lot.
The electronic display across the front windshield read:
"Korea University Ski Club SPUR."
Students dressed in colorful ski suits poured out of both buses, looking around excitedly. The moment they saw the slopes stretching beyond the buildings, the reality of finally arriving at the ski resort seemed to sink in, and eager smiles spread across everyone's faces.
"Wow... it's even colder than I expected..."
"Achoo! Oh no. I think I brought the wrong clothes."
"Idiot. That's why I told you there's no such thing as dressing too warmly."
"Jiyeon! Over here! You're in this group!"
Before the confused crowd could scatter in every direction, Vice President Hyeona clapped her hands and shouted,
"Everyone! Leave your luggage for later! First, get into your groups!! Group leaders, count your members and then come get your room keys!"
At Hyeona's shout, the students gradually gathered into their assigned groups.
Once each leader confirmed everyone was present, they went to collect their keys. The leaders who were still missing one or two members searched around the nearby vending machines, smoking area, and even the buses, dragging back teammates who had wandered off or fallen asleep.
While Hyeona busily checked everything off her list, two group leaders approached her.
"One of our members went to the restroom. What should we do?"
"Wait until they come back before taking the keys. It'll be a mess if the headcount gets mixed up from the start."
"Okay..."
"The same goes for Group Three. Wait for your missing member before taking the keys."
"Our missing member said he'd be coming separately. His name's Eun Hyeonchae..."
"Eun Hyeonchae?"
Right. She had completely forgotten because she'd been so busy. Hyeonchae had said he'd be joining today as well.
Looking through the roster, she found the note stating that he would travel directly to the ski resort due to personal circumstances.
After confirming it, Hyeona pulled three key cards for Group Three out of the bundle and handed them over.
"If anyone wants to switch rooms to stay with friends, the group leader can decide that. But honestly, it's better to stick to the room list to avoid unnecessary problems. Under absolutely no circumstances should secondary genders or biological sexes get mixed."
The groups had been organized so that neither secondary genders nor sexes overlapped to begin with, but there was no way they could monitor all fifty rooms. If adults decided to swap rooms among themselves, there was no realistic way to stop them. All they could do was hope everyone handled it discreetly enough for no trouble to arise.
The students headed toward their accommodations in groups, while the bus drivers waved goodbye, saying they'd see everyone again in two weeks before driving the empty buses away.
"What's the plan for equipment rentals?"
"We've already coordinated everything with the resort. We'll move three groups at a time."
"Vice President! Who do we get the lift passes from?"
"Chaeyeong. Pick up the meal tickets while you're there and hand them out by group."
"Okay."
While the remaining executive members busily handled their assigned tasks alongside the luggage, Jinsol walked over to Iwon.
"Senior. About the lessons... I think we'll need one more instructor for the beginner and intermediate classes. Last time we were going to have Senior Seonwoo do it... but now he won't be here..."
"Can I see the schedule?"
"Of course. Here."
Looking over the schedule Jinsol handed him, Iwon smiled brightly.
"You're right. We really do need another instructor."
"One of the instructors mentioned that he has an acquaintance at Mighty Town. He asked whether, if a position opens up, we could consider that person first. Should I ask him?"
Completely unaware that Seonwoo was at Mighty Town, Jinsol asked uncertainly.
Iwon shook his head.
"No. A promise is a promise. We deliberately left the position open."
"Huh? For who?"
"I'll contact them myself. You go take care of the other work."
Jinsol bowed with a puzzled expression before leaving.
Iwon pulled out his phone and stared at Seonwoo's contact information.
He was debating when the best time to call would be when a tall man walked past him.
Glancing up at the shadow crossing his path, Iwon's face immediately hardened.
"...Eun Hyeonchae."
Even though he had clearly spoken loudly enough to be heard, Hyeonchae ignored him completely and walked straight toward Hyeona.
"I'm Eun Hyeonchae from the Fifty-Fifth Class. I was told to come here."
"Oh? You're earlier than I expected. Everyone else just went inside. Hold on."
Hyeona walked over to the pile of luggage stacked nearby and returned carrying a package.
Hyeonchae accepted the bundle she practically placed into his arms and looked at her questioningly.
"Our club uniform, plus a few other things. Your name tag's in there too, so wear it around your neck whenever we're doing group activities. Do you know which group you're in?"
"Group Three."
"Right. Group Three's rooms are 411 through 414. Just head over there."
After giving a polite nod, Hyeonchae started walking.
As he headed directly toward the condominium building, Iwon caught him by the shoulder.
"What exactly are you thinking?"
"What?"
"Why did you follow us all the way here? Ha Seungbin told me everything. He said you'd already been here for days."
Along with the pointed question came the sharp surge of Iwon's pheromones.
Hyeonchae frowned deeply and brushed Iwon's hand off his shoulder.
"...You stupid bastard."
Why did someone like that have to stay by Senior's side and keep making his life difficult?
His heart pounded as though it might burst, but Hyeonchae slowly took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
'Senior said he doesn't get angry when he sees me. So I have to... absolutely make sure he never finds out.'
Passing the open doors, Hyeonchae headed toward where his group members had gathered and found six men assembled in Room 413.
His sudden appearance caused the other members—all Alphas—to exchange glances.
There were four rooms for seven members.
The six Alphas had been fiercely battling with rock-paper-scissors over who would get the single room, but the moment they saw the final participant arrive, all desire to compete vanished.
"Uh... hi? You're Eun Hyeonchae, right? We've heard a lot about you."
"We thought you'd be late, but you're actually early. We were just dividing up the rooms... Would you like a room by yourself?"
Hyeonchae frowned slightly as he looked around the tiny room.
The others immediately waved their hands in panic.
"No, no. You can just take the single room."
"Yeah. We'll just stay together."
"..."
Even alone, if he lay down sideways, his head and feet would probably touch opposite walls.
Calling this a room was almost a joke.
He disliked sharing a room with someone even more.
Still, it was a relief that Senior wouldn't be staying somewhere this miserable.
If Senior had attended the camp too, and they ended up sharing a room...
Ah...
The moment he imagined himself lying together with Seonwoo in a cozy room, warmth crept into his face.
'No. Senior would hate it if he knew I was thinking things like this. But... as long as I don't tell him, he'll never know.'
The crease between his brows gradually disappeared, and the corners of Hyeonchae's lips softened into a gentle smile.
He wanted to see Seonwoo as soon as possible.
"I'm sleeping somewhere else, so do whatever you want with the room."
He walked out and immediately made a phone call.
After several rings, Seonwoo answered.
If Seonwoo knew, he'd probably laugh and ask why Hyeonchae still got nervous after they'd already talked on the phone so many times.
But Hyeonchae still felt his heart race every single time Seonwoo answered.
"Hello."
"...Senior."
"Yeah. Have you met everyone? Is the accommodation nice? I heard it's newly built."
At the sound of that gentle voice, Hyeonchae unconsciously stopped walking.
The quieter he breathed, the more clearly he could feel his heart pounding inside his chest.
His voice softened almost instantly as he replied.
"I met them. As for the accommodation... I want to share a room with you, Senior."
"If it were Lake Village, maybe. But not where I'm staying. There are CCTV cameras everywhere with sixty people around."
"...Okay."
"Ah, everyone's here. See you later. Go hang out with Seungbin."
Hyeonchae stared regretfully at the phone after the call abruptly ended in his hand.