* * *

Jeongseo was fiddling with the stuffed animal when he turned around, only for Pyo Yoontae to snatch it out of his hands.

“What’s this stuffed animal?”

While Jeongseo asked innocently, Pyo Yoontae felt like dying of embarrassment.

His lips tightly sealed, he regretted not tidying up his room if he’d known Jeongseo would show up. But it was too late now.

Roughly three hours earlier…

---

“Remember when I mentioned a project? I’ll give you the details today.”

It was 20 minutes before the end of biology class when the teacher spoke.

Known for assigning difficult tasks, the students’ faces soured.

But the teacher was unfazed, casually turning to write on the chalkboard with a piece of chalk.

‘Scientific Inquiry Free-Topic Presentation.’

A presentation. Jeongseo didn’t hate presenting, but he struggled with making PowerPoints.

Back in his first year, his plain white slides with black text had earned him a scolding from his home economics teacher for lacking effort.

He wasn’t worried about presenting but dreaded the PPT-making process.

Given the biology teacher’s strictness, he was already feeling anxious.

“As written, you can pick any science-related topic. You can conduct an experiment, do an interview, or just research and compile information—whatever you want. The presentation will last about… hmm…”

The teacher glanced at the clock on the wall.

“About five minutes. The deadline is… What’s today’s date?”

Clicking his laptop open, the teacher checked the calendar.

It was the last week of October.

After some scrolling, he nodded to himself.

“Alright, let’s say the second week of November. Since Class 4 has biology on Tuesdays and Fridays, presentations will start that Tuesday. Any questions?”

The class president, sitting by the window, raised his hand.

“Do we work alone?”

The teacher stroked his chin thoughtfully before curling his lips to one side.

After a brief silence, he sighed dramatically and shook his head.

“You all have other classes with homework too. Let’s do pairs—two people per team. It’ll make interviews or experiments easier to split up. Fair enough?”

Though the task seemed fit for a group of four, no one in Class 4 objected.

Everyone knew the teacher would insist on his way regardless.

As soon as the bell rang, the classroom became a bustling scene of students scrambling to pair up.

Jeongseo, naturally, turned to look behind him—but Ha Sumin, sitting beside him, placed a hand on his desk.

“Jeongseo, want to pair up with me?”

Surprised, Jeongseo’s eyes widened. He had planned to pair with Pyo Yoontae.

While Jeongseo hesitated, Hyun Junhyun leaned toward Pyo Yoontae.

“Hey, want to pair up with me? We’d totally ace this. You’re great at presenting.”

Ah, was it because of the seating change? Was it easier to pair with the person next to you now?

Feeling a little disappointed, Jeongseo was about to turn back around when an arm wrapped around his chest, pulling him backward.

His chair tilted with him, its backrest bumping against Pyo Yoontae’s desk.

“Jeongseo would want to pair with me.”

The warmth of Pyo Yoontae’s breath against his neck sent a chill down Jeongseo’s spine.

Maybe it was the closeness, but the cold scent Yoontae always carried felt especially strong today, making Jeongseo’s face flush.

Ha Sumin’s expression briefly faltered but quickly returned to normal as he looked at Jeongseo.

“You’re pairing with Yoontae?”

“I said he’s pairing with me.”

“I was asking Jeongseo…”

Caught in an inexplicable tension, Jeongseo rolled his eyes.

Beside him, the ignored Hyun Junhyun shrugged and moved on to ask someone else, accustomed to Pyo Yoontae’s curt manner.

“You’re pairing with me, Jeongseo. I’m your best friend, aren’t I?”

“Oh? Uh, yeah, of course.”

Jeongseo, who had planned to pair with Pyo Yoontae anyway, nodded in confusion.

He hadn’t expected Ha Sumin to ask him, and a pang of guilt lingered.

But when Jeongseo confirmed his decision, Ha Sumin gave a resigned smile, said “Got it,” and moved to another seat.

“What were you even hesitating for? You’re obviously pairing with me, Jeongseo. Are you trying to piss me off?”

“I thought maybe because the seats changed, Jun-hyun figured it’d be easier to pair with his seatmate—”

“Oh, so now that you’ve got a new seatmate, I’m just the old one you’ve thrown away?”

“No, no way! Now, let go of me already!”

The chilly, deepening scent was making Jeongseo feel dizzy.

It was only after he began struggling that Pyo Yoontae finally let him go.

As the school day came to an end, Jeongseo packed his bag and asked Pyo Yoontae,

“So, are we going to your place today to work on the biology project?”

“Today?”

There were just over two weeks left until the deadline, and with other assignments piling up, Jeongseo had naturally assumed they’d get started today.

Apparently, Pyo Yoontae had different plans.

Caught off guard, Jeongseo quickly waved his hand dismissively.

“Oh, if today doesn’t work, we can schedule another time!”

In truth, Jeongseo was secretly hoping to visit Pyo Yoontae’s house—it had been a while—but he figured he could wait until later.

Suppressing his disappointment, he turned to leave for home, only for Pyo Yoontae to stop him.

Pyo Yoontae briefly pictured the state of his room.

He usually kept it tidy, but just yesterday, he’d been reorganizing his bookshelves and drawers, and now he wasn’t sure if he’d put away everything he shouldn’t have left out.

Hopefully, he had.

Though something else tugged at his mind, he decided it would be fine.

“No, it’s okay. Let’s go today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Should we grab some food on the way?”

“That sounds great! Let’s get something warm, with soup!”

Jeongseo’s face brightened immediately as he nodded enthusiastically and stuck close to Yoontae.

Yet the subtle, thickening pheromone scent caused his body to flinch involuntarily.

---

And so, Pyo Yoontae ended up bringing Jeongseo to his room, where it was finally discovered.

The thing he wanted to hide.

It was a cherished stuffed animal he’d had since childhood.

Despite being worn in places from age, it was still intact, its fur as white as when he’d first received it.

The reason Yoontae had clung to such a thing?

It was, of course, because of his first love.

He couldn’t let go of the soft, fluffy feeling that reminded him of them.

Now 18, he no longer needed the stuffed animal to fall asleep, but throwing it away was out of the question.

Once Pyo Yoontae latched onto something, he held onto it obsessively.

“Is this yours, Yoontae?”

Jeongseo’s question as he looked at the stuffed animal in Yoontae’s hands stirred strange emotions in him.

There was both the embarrassment of being caught with something so childish by the person he least wanted to see it and the bittersweet realization that the person who inspired the stuffed animal’s creation was standing right before him.

Sitting beside Jeongseo, Yoontae asked,

“…I’ve had it since I was little. Is it weird?”

He was well aware of how others might view a grown man keeping a stuffed animal.

His sister had often thrown it away, claiming it was embarrassing, only for Yoontae to retrieve it every time.

Even so, he hadn’t wanted anyone to see it—especially not Jeongseo. Now, he anxiously awaited the response.

“Huh? Not at all!”

As Jeongseo fiddled with the soft tip of the stuffed animal’s ear, his brown ears perked up.

When he looked up at Yoontae with clear, guileless eyes, Yoontae felt his tension ebb away.

“You’ve kept it in such great condition all this time. That’s amazing. I used to destroy all my stuffed animals when I was a kid.”

He’d chewed on them, tossed them around, and played so rough that none lasted more than a week.

Seeing Yoontae’s pristine stuffed animal filled him with a vague sense of regret.

Gazing at the stuffed animal in Yoontae’s arms, which bore an uncanny resemblance to himself, Jeongseo murmured,

“Is this stuffed animal important to you?”

After a moment of silence, Yoontae looked down—not at the stuffed animal, but at Jeongseo—and answered in a low voice,

“It’s very important. Precious, even.”

Something about the look in Yoontae’s golden eyes made Jeongseo feel like he wasn’t talking about the stuffed animal at all.

Their proximity suddenly felt charged, and Yoontae’s pleasant scent filled the air more strongly than usual.

When Yoontae’s hand reached out to touch the triangular tip of Jeongseo’s ear, Jeongseo felt as if his body had been jolted and sent plummeting.

A warm heat spread through him, radiating from his core.

Yoontae’s hand froze.

* * *