My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 104

My grandfather, who had already met Jung Pureum once, came out to greet us in his bare feet. It seemed he was deeply impressed that Jung Pureum had actually brought home a gold medal.

“I’ve already set the date for the ceremony.”

“Father, you didn’t go to that Monk Mujeong at Eulwang Mountain again, did you?”

“Hey, what kind of manners are those toward the monk? He’s the one who divined the date for your wedding too.”

“It rained that time, didn’t it?”

“Rainy days are traditionally auspicious days!”

Grandfather said that right after Jung Pureum won three gold medals, he had visited Monk Mujeong of Eulwang Mountain and secured a wedding date.

Monk Mujeong of Eulwang Mountain, whose very name sounded peculiar, was an old acquaintance of my grandfather’s. My grandfather, as much as he loved martial arts novels, also tended to believe in superstitions. Anyway, whenever he heard words like ‘monk’ or ‘Shaolin,’ he lost his composure.

To be honest, he wasn’t a good acquaintance.

Maybe it’s because I don’t believe in superstitions, but Monk Mujeong sometimes seemed like a con artist. I can’t believe it costs that much money just to get an auspicious date. This is the very definition of traditional money-wasting.

“And besides, the kids all live in Seoul. How are we supposed to have a traditional ceremony here?”

“If you get married, you should move down here and live!”

“But Yeonghwa’s clinic is in Seoul too.”

“I’ll leave him my clinic.”

“Goodness, the person who’s supposed to receive it isn’t even thinking about it, and yet….”

Whenever my grandfather got stubborn, my mom would step in and defend me.

Grandfather seemed to think that once I got married, I would bring Jung Pureum down to my parents’ house and live here. As if. My rabbit-like staff are waiting for me anxiously; why would I abandon my clinic and move down here?

Besides, Grandfather’s clinic is too large for me to take over. Later, my parents should run it, or pass it on to someone else. It’s also not easy to sell Gongjindan in this area. Most of the patients are elderly.

In the first place, Jung Pureum hasn’t retired yet either. There is a swimming pool near my parents’ house, but ‘near’ here means within a 20-minute drive. I can’t make Jung Pureum, who hasn’t even graduated from university yet, live in a backwater like this.

I silently cheered my mom on. For me to talk back to my grandfather would be extreme filial impiety, but it’s fine for my mom to say the right things to him.

“Aish, I wasn’t happy with your marriage either. Every time I tried to do something, you all said no.”

“It was my wedding, but you kept trying to dictate everything, Father.”

“I paid for it, but when I suggested a proper pyebaek, you dismissed it as old-fashioned… No way with Yeonghwa. This time, it absolutely has to be a traditional ceremony! That way the parking lot will be bigger!”

“The kids’ opinions are what matter, not that stuff, Father. You’re acting like a real boomer.”

“…What? Boomer?”

My grandfather’s face instantly turned like a goblin’s. Seeing it flush red and then pale, my mom’s ‘boomer’ comment seemed to have dealt a heavy blow.

Meanwhile, my dad, who had been sitting awkwardly next to my mom, poked her side and glanced nervously at my grandfather. Grandfather and my dad still had a strained relationship. Because my grandfather had flat-out opposed my parents’ marriage.

Grandfather had no specific reason for disliking my dad. It was just that my dad couldn’t play baduk—that alone was a minus factor for my grandfather.

When you like one thing, you like other things too, and when even a tiny thing bothers you, other things start to bother you too—that’s just how people’s hearts work.

Besides, my dad doesn’t have a smooth personality like Jung Pureum, and rather than bowing to my grandfather who kept opposing the marriage, he reportedly fought back several times.

So I understand why he’s now acting so cautious. My mom coldly swatted away my dad’s hand that was poking her side. Her skill at brushing him aside was remarkable.

“Pureum, what do you think? Wouldn’t a modern wedding hall be better than a traditional ceremony?”

In the end, when no conclusion was reached between my grandfather and my mom, the stray arrow flew toward Jung Pureum. Everyone in the room looked at him.

I was sweating inwardly.

Isn’t this too harsh on the kid? If he says he prefers a modern wedding hall, he’ll offend Grandfather, and if he says a traditional ceremony is better, we’ll have to come all the way down to my parents’ house to get married?

But, unlike me who was flustered, Jung Pureum was smiling brightly. What remarkable composure.

“Would it be hard to do both?”

“Both?”

“First have the ceremony in Seoul, and then, as Grandfather says, come down here and have a traditional ceremony too. There are plenty of places with pyebaek rooms.”

If the options are too difficult, just throw in a multiple-choice answer. I was impressed by Jung Pureum, who said, “Our feelings are important, but a wedding is a family event, so the elders’ feelings are important too.”

Jung Pureum definitely had a first-class license for pleasing family elders.

“Oh my, how can you speak so beautifully?”

“Yeonghwa, you were born with good fortune in relationships. They said your fortune has many benefactors, and that’s absolutely right.”

This is the first time I’ve heard that my fortune has many benefactors. I don’t know about benefactors, but a few weird guys have latched onto me….

“Anyway, instead of just sitting here, let’s go see Monk Mujeong. We should ask him whether a traditional ceremony or a modern wedding hall is better, and choose the auspicious date.”

“Oh for goodness’ sake, that Monk Mujeong is a cultist….”

“Hey! You’ll be punished by heaven for saying such things to the monk!”

Mujeong or Maejeong [heartless]. In the end, my family decided to bring Jung Pureum along and go meet Monk Mujeong at Eulwang Mountain.

Monk Mujeong of Eulwang Mountain is not actually on Eulwang Mountain. He’s based on a mountain near my parents’ house. He’s just called Monk Mujeong of Eulwang Mountain because he attained enlightenment at ‘Eulwang Mountain’ and became a monk.

Can’t you feel it? The thick aura of a cult….

It’s natural to want help from others in major life decisions. Why else would people go to see fortune tellers whose predictions are wrong every New Year?

But no matter how I think about it, my grandfather tends to be too blindly devoted to this monk. The only thing he ever got right was predicting that I would be born an omega, or so they say. It was just a fluke, but they made a huge fuss over it.

“I was waiting, knowing that the donors would come.”

Even though it was obvious he had just been sweeping the yard and got caught, Monk Mujeong lied, saying he had been waiting for us. His quick composure was clearly professional. A professional cultist….

I stuck close to Jung Pureum and whispered that the guy was a cultist. Jung Pureum just smiled awkwardly.

“Yes, I can see at a glance that these two are destined to be married.”

“As expected, Monk. You know everything without being told.”

“Other than Yeonghwa and Pureum here, who else would get married? It’s not like I’m having a vow renewal.”

My mom also shook her head as if she was fed up. But despite her nagging, my grandfather excitedly followed Monk Mujeong.

After that, it was a series of rapid-fire superstition experiences.

Jung Pureum and I knelt before Monk Mujeong and went through everything from compatibility checks to examinations of our energy and Yin-Yang Five Elements attributes to see if they matched.

I believe in Yin-Yang Five Elements to some extent, but I couldn’t believe I was a Water attribute. That can’t be right? How can I be Water when I can’t even float?

It was somewhat believable that Jung Pureum was a Wood attribute. And thanks to that, our compatibility was good. Monk Mujeong, as fluent as if it were on the tip of his tongue, didn’t hesitate to say positive things about our union.

“The child born from this union has a destiny for greatness.”

“Pardon?”

“Therefore, if you conceive, it’s important to choose the right day to give birth to a dragon. If you choose the wrong day, an imugi [a lesser dragon] might be born.”

Where did dragons and imugi come from all of a sudden….

Monk Mujeong seemed to view our compatibility very positively. The fact that he was already bringing up offspring when we weren’t even married yet made me understand why he was my grandfather’s acquaintance. He really is a person from the old days.

I was flustered by Monk Mujeong going on about children, but Jung Pureum was listening to that nonsense seriously.

“Hyung… what does it mean that our child has a destiny for greatness? Is he going to be a politician or something?”

“You believe that?”

“He only said nice things. Since I only heard good things, I figured there’s no harm in believing them.”

I grabbed Jung Pureum and shook him vigorously. I nagged him for a long time, saying that if you fall for cult-like things carelessly, you’ll ruin your family, and Jung Pureum let out a small laugh.

“Hyung, do you like kids?”

There was some intention behind the question. It seemed like he was subtly probing about future family plans.

I was a little conflicted about how to answer.

Do I like kids? I just think of them as ordinary children. I don’t find them particularly cute, but I don’t dislike them either.

“What about you?”

“I like them.”

Jung Pureum answered my question without much hesitation.

It was fortunate that the adults followed Monk Mujeong into the inner room, saying they would choose an auspicious date good for marriage.

If the adults had heard this exchange, they would have said something absurd like wanting three children. My grandfather would definitely say that having many children is the way to patriotism. Ugh, that’s such an outdated statement.

“…If they looked like you, they might be a little cute.”

An involuntary cough escaped me.

When I turned my head and cleared my throat, Jung Pureum laughed and clung to me. Pretending not to know what it meant while asking what it meant—he was being clever.

“Talking about this with hyung really makes me feel like we’re actually married.”

In Monk Mujeong’s shrine, which (by my grandfather’s standards) was filled with sacred energy, Jung Pureum profanely kissed me. He catches fire at the drop of a hat—truly like a newlywed. And we haven’t even had the ceremony yet.

“Oh my.”

While Jung Pureum and I were busily kissing, my mom came out first, having apparently finished choosing the auspicious date already, and opened the sliding door.

I quickly pushed Jung Pureum, who was clinging to me, away. Regardless, my mom approached us with the expression of someone who had discovered an interesting drama.

“We set the date for this winter. Should I have pushed it up even more?”

“…This winter?”

“Yes. After I pestered the monk a few times, he said a modern wedding hall would be fine. Now we have to start looking around busily.”

This winter?

There are only a few months left. He said he was getting an auspicious date, but it’s like we’re counting down to the wedding?

Astounded, I looked at Jung Pureum. I hoped he would say something like “Isn’t that too fast?” but Jung Pureum seemed incredibly pleased with our super-speed wedding date.