My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 103

After entering the highway, everything went smoothly. I thought I was the best driver too, until it took over an hour just to park in my parents’ house parking lot.

Why won’t this work? Even though the parking lines were all visible on the rear camera, it wasn’t easy. Because I was tense about scratching the side of the car, I was completely worn out by the time I barely managed to finish parking.

To be honest, I parked it a little crookedly, but Jung Pureum used his strength to push it straight. As expected, brute force can roughly solve parking problems too.

“Parking is a sin.”

“Hyung….”

“From now on, I’ll just wait until self-driving, auto-parking cars come out.”

“I’ll get my license before the year is out.”

Jung Pureum stuck close to me and supported my exhausted body. I leaned against Jung Pureum as if it were natural.

It was a little awkward because this was the first time I’d come down to my parents’ house with someone else. From my parents to my grandfather, they’d all been going on about getting married, but I never actually thought I’d bring a marriage partner to my parents’ house. As they say, you live long and see all sorts of things.

“I’m nervous thinking about meeting my mother-in-law.”

“Mother-in-law already?”

“…Is the term a bit weird? Is just ‘mother’ better?”

Jung Pureum, unusually for him, seemed tense. The guy who looked calm even right before the Olympics was now stiff as a board.

“What if she doesn’t like me?”

“Then what? I’ll elope with you out of love.”

“Elope….”

“That’s what my dad tried to do before getting married. Because grandfather opposed it.”

“….”

“But my dad decided to elope and then didn’t actually tell my mom, so it almost failed.”

Actually, I also have to go greet the lady next door and her husband again. Just thinking about that makes me want to elope with Jung Pureum.

Even if they’re people I see every day, seeing them as my mother-in-law and father-in-law is different, isn’t it? Besides, now Jung Saebom was my sister-in-law. …That’s insane. Jung Saebom has to call me her brother-in-law. It’s too horrifying. Korea’s address culture needs to disappear.

“Ahem.”

“What is it, Dad? Why are you standing in front of the door?”

“If you can’t beat me, you can’t have my son.”

I arrived at the front door shuddering at the thought of Jung Saebom being my sister-in-law, and my dad was standing guard at the front door like a gatekeeper.

Behind him, my mom was giggling and saying, “Isn’t your dad so funny?” I don’t know about funny, but I was flustered.

Jung Pureum, who was next to me, also seemed surprised, not expecting his meeting with his father-in-law to be like this. I felt a little sorry. I should have warned him a bit more that my dad is a little extreme.

“No matter if he’s a national representative, I can’t just hand over my one and only son!”

“Weren’t you the one telling me to get married quickly….”

“Yeonghwa, you be quiet.”

“Hello, Father.”

“…Hmph, yes. You’re polite, at least.”

What on earth are we doing in the apartment hallway?

I pushed my dad, who was taking a combat stance as if telling Jung Pureum to come at him head-on, and went inside the house. Jung Pureum, who didn’t know what to do and was about to take a combat stance too, I grabbed with my other hand and pulled. Why are you even accepting that challenge?

“Dad, if Pureum wanted to, he could subdue someone like you in under five seconds.”

“What? That can’t be. Even though I look like this, back in the day I did Jiu-Jitsu….”

“For a month, and then quit, right?”

“Ahem.”

My mom, who had been hanging back, finally stopped my dad. It seemed my dad wasn’t embarrassed about saying weird things in front of the door, but he was embarrassed about quitting Jiu-Jitsu after a month.

Thinking about it again, my family is a bit strange. They’re all good people, but I was a little embarrassed to introduce them to Jung Pureum.

“I think I understand why hyung grew up with that kind of personality.”

“What kind of personality….”

“That… you know.”

Jung Pureum whispered to me in a small voice. There was no specific explanation, but I also thought I understood why I grew up with this kind of personality.

“Welcome. I never thought I’d see a gold medalist in our house.”

My mom, having pushed my dad aside, welcomed Jung Pureum, who greeted her politely. Jung Pureum was even more nervous than when he met my grandfather, creaking with tension.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Yeonghwa. You’re very handsome. You look even better in person.”

“Handsome? That’s about average.”

“Honey, look in the mirror and say that. Is a face like that average?”

While my mom and dad argued about Jung Pureum’s looks, I hurriedly sat Jung Pureum down on the living room sofa. Jung Pureum seemed confused about how to react.

“Pureum, listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

“My mom is a drama addict. And only romance dramas.”

“…Yes?”

“And my dad is a bit extreme.”

Jung Pureum’s pupils shook violently.

“So no matter what my parents say, don’t be flustered. It’s either drama lines or just random stuff they say to fluster you.”

Rather, Jung Saebom being my sister-in-law is better. Jung Saebom is cold but normal.

But my family has oddly strange quirks that normal people find hard to accept. Grandfather is a martial arts maniac, mom is a romance drama expert, and dad is… what is dad? Anyway, he’s extreme.

“But I wanted to hear that too. ‘Give me your son!'”

“Ugh, you’re so silly. What if you make Yeonghwa never get married?”

“Hihing, honey….”

“Stop acting cute at your age. It’s disgusting, really.”

I did my best to ignore my parents whispering together. I also emphasized to Jung Pureum not to say things like “Give me your son.”

Contrary to my worries, Jung Pureum adapted to my family quite well. Watching him, the reason seemed to be that he was similar to me.

That’s such a strange thing to say. I’ve only read a few martial arts novels, I only watch romance dramas that my mom recommends, and I’m not as extreme as my dad.

“Oh my, let me see Pureum’s arms. Is it because he’s a swimmer? He has such a great body!”

“Haha, Mother, you’re also truly beautiful.”

“Right. Back in my day, I was number one in the neighborhood in the dog paddle.”

“Really? The dog paddle is actually the hardest stroke….”

I was once again amazed at Jung Pureum’s sociability. Does he have a first-class license for pleasing adults or something?

At first, my mom and dad tried to act formal, but soon they were charmed by Jung Pureum, laughing and saying things like, “Our Pureum is so admirable, handsome, cute.” When did they even drop the formal speech?

I thought they wouldn’t oppose my marriage since they’d been singing about me getting married, but this was beyond expectation. It’s not like he’s a dog trainer training a puppy, so why is it natural for him to be this loved by adults?

“Yeonghwa, should I get a hanbok made for the wedding?”

“My mother also happens to want to wear a hanbok.”

“Your mother-in-law? That’s a relief. I was worried I’d be the only one being excessive.”

“Please tell her I received the Gyeongokgo well.”

“Oh, really? Take another one. I made extra because you were coming.”

“Was it your father who was a shooting athlete?”

“Yes. He runs a small business now.”

“Back in my day, I used to catch sparrows with an air rifle….”

Is this what it’s like to introduce your marriage partner to your parents?

I was completely drained and leaned my back against the sofa backrest. Anyway, my parents, like my grandfather, seemed to like Jung Pureum.

While my dad held Jung Pureum and went on and on about his glory days, my mom sat down next to me.

“Yeonghwa.”

Her voice calling me was unusually serious. It had the same weight as when, in the final episode of her favorite drama, it was revealed that the male and female leads were actually half-siblings.

“Pureum is a really good person.”

“Right?”

“A hundred times better than your father.”

“If you say that to Dad, he’ll cry.”

“Hmph, let him cry or not. Anyway, Mom is happy that you’re marrying Pureum.”

“Even though Jung Pureum isn’t a Western doctor but a swimmer?”

“What use is a Western doctor anyway? These days, a husband who’s an athlete isn’t bad either. Huh? He’ll probably have good stamina at night too.”

“….”

“He’s definitely sturdier than your father.”

I can’t keep up with a middle-aged woman’s spicy talk. Besides, saying ‘a husband who’s an athlete isn’t bad either’ was exactly what my grandfather said. Like father, like daughter—they talk exactly the same.

“Before, I was worried because you really seemed to have no intention of getting married, and it seemed like you put up walls even when others approached you.”

“I didn’t put up walls. I even went on a blind date once.”

“You didn’t? We were so worried because you had no friends your age since middle school. So when you said you’d go on a blind date, I was really surprised.”

“It didn’t work out, but….”

“Good thing it didn’t. I heard that guy’s child had a lot of problems. I don’t think the problem is with you.”

As they say, the arm bends inward, and that was true. Park Seongjin, that bastard did have a lot of problems. Compared to him, I’m a really decent person.

“You two did the marking too, right?”

My mom, a beta, couldn’t tell my marking status by pheromones like Nam Jungyoon, an alpha. That was natural. Marking is exclusive to alphas and omegas.

When I nodded, my mom breathed a huge sigh of relief. Doing the marking before marriage is safer in many ways. Adults especially consider pre-marriage marking important.

“Then that’s settled. We’ll tell grandfather and set a date based on an auspicious day. We should do it within this year.”

“Wait, there’s no need to rush that much….”

“No, we need to get it done quickly before you start saying weird things again.”

I felt a little wronged. Isn’t my dad the one saying weird things to Jung Pureum right now? Dad had even moved on to talking about the military.

I watched Jung Pureum, who was exempt from military service, listening to my dad’s nonsense with an intrigued face. At that rate, he could work as a paid audience member.

…No matter how I think about it, both my mom and dad seem eager to set a wedding date quickly for fear of losing Jung Pureum.