The Alpha in His Corner

Chapter 26

Jaekyung wouldn't stop calling.

The voicemail box on Dan's phone filled up with messages and the screen was constantly lighting up with notifications of new texts from Jaekyung. Dan always dismissed the notifications hastily, but some of them he couldn't avoid reading.

Joo Jaekyung: Dan call me back right now

Joo Jaekyung: we need to talk

Joo Jaekyung: I need to see you

Joo Jaekyung: it's not what you think, I swear

Joo Jaekyung: for fucks sake call me

This went on for days, but Dan couldn't bring himself to block Jaekyung's number. That would have felt too much like a permanent end to their relationship, and even though Dan was sure that Jaekyung would want to end things between them once he came to his senses, he wasn't ready to face that eventuality quite yet.

Classes and work were a welcome distraction from the incessant calls. Yoongu could tell there was something wrong, but Dan wasn't ready to talk with him yet. He deflected his friend's concerned questions with excuses about extra homework assignments and difficulty sleeping.

The second part was true, at least, and it wasn't only because of the late-night phone calls from Jaekyung. He kept half-waking in the middle of the night, reaching out as if expecting someone to be lying next to him, only to find he was alone in a cold, dark bed. Some nights it took him hours to get back to sleep.

His mind was exhausted and his body was drained. He could only pray that it wouldn't last long.

He was trudging out of his last class of the day when he was almost bulldozed by a student carrying a large cardboard box. He flinched and raised a hand to protect his face from colliding with the box, but the student swerved at the last moment, almost losing his balance as he dodged around Dan.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He was tall and light-haired, with a gorgeous face that belonged on the cover of a magazine. "I didn't see you there! Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Dan mumbled, shuffling backward and rubbing his temple. He'd had a headache since early that morning.

The tall man looked aghast. "Oh my god, did it hit you??" He plopped the box down on the hallway floor and fluttered around Dan like an anxious mother hen. "Where did it hit? Does it hurt a lot? I can get you over to an urgent care asap!"

Startled by the man's overreaction, Dan raised both hands, shaking his head insistently. "No, I-I'm fine. It didn't hit me. I just have a headache."

"Oh, you poor thing!" the man gasped. "So you do need medical attention. Come on, I'll take you." He reached for Dan's arm, but Dan flinched away.

"N-no, it's fine," he protested, wishing this man would leave so he could return to being alone with his unhappy thoughts. "It's not that serious."

The man tilted his head in concern. "Are you sure? You don't look so good."

"Yeah, I—" The words snagged in Dan's throat. He took a breath and tried again, frowning at the way his chest clenched. "I'm fine, I just—"

To his horror, tears welled up in his eyes and streaked down his face. He fought to shove them down, but it was no use. They dripped from his chin as he stood there, trembling and sniffling and staring into the man's chest, too ashamed to meet his eyes.

The light-haired man blinked a few times. "Oh, you are so not fine. Here, sit down." He guided Dan toward a bench by the window at the end of the hall and made him sit.

Thankfully, all the other students had gone off to other classes, leaving them alone in the hallway as Dan hiccuped and shook and made useless attempts to force his tears to stop. "I-I'm sorry," he spluttered, face burning with shame. "I didn't mean to... I'm so sorry—"