The morning in Room 202 is no different from any other day at Haneul University. The room is filled with laughter, whispers, gossip, swapping stories of the weekend, or hurriedly finishing assignments they should've done last night.
"Did you see the party invite list for Ji-Hoon's birthday?" a girl whispers excitely to her friend.
"Of course! But there's no way an omega like me is making it past that velvet rope," she replied with a low voice.
At the back of the room, a small group of boys are talking louder than it needed to be.
"I can't believe someone dares to challenge Kim-woo Jin for the match." One of them shot loudly.
"They must have a death wish," another one replied, smirking.
Before they can finish their conversation, the door of class opens. The sound is soft, but somehow it pierces through the hum of conversation, drawing their eyes toward the entrance.
The group notices a figure walk into the classroom. Tall but unassuming, the boy moves with an air of quiet confidence, his bag slung casually over one shoulder. His dark hair fell into his blue crystal eyes.
Instead of glancing at anyone, he walked straight to the back of the room and sat down on a chair without a word.
"Who is he?" someone mutters with a tone of excitement.
"The omega, under exchange program," one of the students replied.
"Does he have a death wish?!"
Every head turned toward the speaker—a lanky alpha sitting near the middle of the classroom. His voice carried enough shock to ripple through the room like an earthquake.
The alpha who had spoken first turns again in his seat, staring at the boy in the back.
"That's Kim Woo-Jin's spot. He's got to be crazy."
His voice dropped to a low mutter, but it was clear enough for those around him to hear.
At the mention of the Kim Woo-Jin, the classroom's energy shifted again. Whispers turned into murmurs of fear.
The boy at the back, however, seems completely oblivious or perhaps indifferent. He sat with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed out the window, as though the drama unfolding around him was of no consequence.
The classroom door swings open again, and the real tension begins with the entry of Kim Woo-Jin.
Without wasting time, he moves towards the back. Every step he takes resonates with power, his polished shoes clicking sharply against the floor. His tall frame was wrapped in an effortlessly tailored uniform, and his dominant aura was rolling off him in waves. Behind him trailed a group of alphas, their gazes sharp and proud, though they seemed more like a pack of obedient wolves than true equals.
Students sit straighter in their seats, some holding their breath as his eyes sweep over the room, assessing and judging. But Kim Woo-Jin didn't care about them. His attention is locked on the back of the class—on the new student seated where he always sat.
The heat in the room rose perceptibly, like someone had cranked up the thermostat. A ripple of unease spread through the class, and a faint sheen of sweat broke out on several foreheads. Kim Woo-Jin's thick and oppressive pheromones are flooding the air, carrying his irritation.
The omegas in the room were the first to falter. A girl sitting near the back wince, clutching the edge of her desk as her breathing quickens. Even a few lower-tier alphas seem uncomfortable, their confidence crumbling under the suffocating presence of Woo-Jin's scent.
He is halfway to his seat now, and the tension is growing in the room with his every step.
"Is he really going to—?" someone whispered, but their voice quickly shut down by the unspoken rule: never speak when Kim Woo-Jin is angry.
The new student still hadn't moved.
He sits there, his elbow resting on the desk, his chin propped on his hand as he is gazing out the window. The sunlight caught on the edges of his profile, making him seem untouchable, like he wasn't just ignoring Kim Woo-Jin—he didn't even notice him.
That only makes Woo-Jin's irritation boil over.
When he reaches the desk, he slams his fist down with a force that rattles the entire table.
Bang!
The sound echoes through the room, sharp and final.
The new student's turn his head lazily, his gaze lifting from the window to the face of the alpha who looms over him.
Woo-Jin's brow furrows, his jaw tightening as the room's heat peaks. His pheromones surge, but the new student remains unfazed.
Instead, a faint smirk tugs at the corner of his lips, subtle and almost mocking as if this confrontation were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
The silence in the classroom was deafening.
"Move," Woo-Jin commands, his voice low and dangerous.
The new student didn't flinch. He blinks once, tilting his head ever so slightly, as if Woo-Jin's words were no more alarming than a light breeze. Then, with a soft, almost playful smile, he replied, "Why? I like it here."
The classroom collectively inhales, stunned into silence. No one had ever spoken to Kim Woo-Jin like that—at least, not without regretting it.
Woo-Jin's jaw clenched in anger, his muscles ticking visibly as his fury took to boil over. The oppressive heat of his pheromones thickened the air, pressing down on everyone in the room like an invisible weight. A few nearby students began to fidget uncomfortably, beads of sweat forming on their brows as the tension escalated.
The new student remains as calm as ever, still gazing up at Woo-Jin with those innocent eyes.
Without a word, Kim Woo Jin lashes out, kicking the chair with merciless force. The new student wobbles and tips backward, but just before he falls, his hand shoots out, grabbing onto Woo-Jin's wrist.
The contact was unexpected. Woo-Jin froze, his eyes narrowing as he felt the omega's slender fingers clutching his arm.
"Let go," Woo-Jin growled, and he jerked his arm free.
The motion sent the new student tumbling—straight towards Woo-Jin.
The impact knocks them both off balance. Before anyone could process what was happening, Woo-Jin found himself on the floor, his body pressing against the new student's.
The classroom went deathly silent.
Woo-Jin's breath hitched. He can feel the warmth of the omega beneath him; their faces are mere inches apart. His eyes met a pair of deep blue orbs, almond-shaped and glimmering with a strange mix of innocence and mischief. The omega blinked twice, his impossibly long lashes brushing against his cheeks.
For the first time in his life, Kim Woo-Jin was utterly flustered.
The heat in his chest surged, but this time it wasn't just anger. His mind screamed at him to move, but his body felt momentarily frozen in place, as if caught in a spell.
Then, a wet sensation on his cheek snapped him out of it.
Sob.
The sound was soft at first but quickly grew louder, echoing in the stunned classroom. Woo-Jin pulled himself up abruptly, pushing away from the omega as if burned.
The new student is crying.
Thick, tears rolled down his cheeks, his sobs raw and unrestrained. Woo-Jin stood there, towering above him, his expression shifting from anger to disbelief.
Woo-Jin grated his teeth, muttering darkly.
"That's why I hate omegas. All they know is to bawl their eyes out."