My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 106

While Jung Pureum was spending his busy days with various ads and broadcast appearances, an event other than wedding preparations also happened to me.

“Director, I heard you’re getting married?”

Lee Seolwoo, who had been keeping to himself all this time, had returned to our clinic. And he came bearing a top-grade hanwoo set as a wedding congratulatory gift.

I reflexively accepted the hanwoo gift set. But I couldn’t completely hide my bewildered expression. I never expected a patient who had been nowhere to be seen when I was worried about him to suddenly return like this.

Lee Seolwoo didn’t look like a pregnant person at all on the outside. The only difference was that his face shape had gotten a little rounder. Perhaps because he was originally thin, his body itself hadn’t changed much from before.

Most of all, Lee Seolwoo’s left ring finger still had a ring firmly on it.

Contrary to all of us official staff at the clinic, including me, who had been worried about Lee Seolwoo, it seemed he hadn’t broken up with his partner even after becoming pregnant.

I was a bit surprised by that. I had assumed Lee Seolwoo would naturally break up with his partner. Especially since I had just heard that his partner was avoiding a relationship with marriage as the premise.

This is all because the media only shows tragic love between alphas and omegas, alphas and omegas breaking up after pregnancy… things like that. Even without knowing what kind of person the other is, you end up jumping to conclusions.

“You came to get herbal medicine, right?”

Kim Miyoung, who has the most professional sense among our clinic staff, was the first to come to her senses. Kim Miyoung chatted amiably with Lee Seolwoo, saying it had been a while.

I was dying to grab Lee Seolwoo right away and ask if he’d resolved the partner issue, how his body was, whether he’d told people around him about the pregnancy, and so on. Kim Miyoung is really an adult in those matters.

“I don’t need the herb for clearing heat cycles anymore. I got marked recently.”

“Oh my.”

“I didn’t come for a consultation today. I came to see the director.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I saw it too. Jung Pureum proposing at the Olympics.”

“It’s rare to find someone who hasn’t seen that.”

That’s true. Even if you didn’t watch the Olympics, the clip of Jung Pureum proposing was uploaded like crazy on YouTube shorts. Anyone who watches even a little YouTube would have been forced to see it.

“I was worried the director might kick Jung Pureum out to the curb again, but seeing you wearing a ring, it seems I worried for nothing. And you seem to have gotten marked even before me.”

“…Does it show that much?”

“The ring is visible, so of course. As for the marking, all the sub-gender people who come to this clinic probably know. The director unconsciously lets out pheromones here and there.”

Judging by all the people pointing out my pheromone control ability, it seemed to be a confirmed fact that I was leaking pheromones.

No wonder all sorts of alphas kept picking fights with me. I recalled the victims of my long needles flashing through my mind like a lantern slide.

“So… how are you, Lee Seolwoo? Are you doing okay?”

I carefully asked about Lee Seolwoo’s well-being.

I couldn’t help but be curious about his love life and pregnancy status. It’s not just anyone; he’s a regular patient who’s been coming to our clinic since we had no customers, so I couldn’t help but be concerned.

“Me? Are you talking about the pregnancy?”

Isn’t that a bit too loud?

When I flinched at the word ‘pregnancy,’ Lee Seolwoo let out a hearty laugh.

“Anyone would think the word pregnancy is like a curse word.”

In Korea, it kind of seems that way….

Everyone is interested in stories about sex and love, but they feel uncomfortable saying it out loud.

Especially, male omega pregnancy isn’t that common. Sub-gender people are rare, and beta males, who are the majority, have always felt uncomfortable with the idea of men getting pregnant.

Those who throw fits online about male omegas not going to the military are the same people who wouldn’t think favorably of a man getting pregnant. Anyway, discrimination enthusiasts never stop at just one thing….

But Lee Seolwoo didn’t seem to care at all about outside opinions.

“Come on, we’re mammals that engage in reproduction. What’s the big deal about pregnancy? Even seahorses get pregnant, so isn’t it strange that people make a fuss about it at all?”

“That’s true, but….”

“I was shocked at first too, but when I thought about it, there was no reason to feel ashamed. We’re both adults, we used contraception, and the pregnancy happened by a miracle probability.”

“….”

“Humans are probably the only ones who treat pregnancy like a curse word.”

Everything he said was right.

It still bothered me that Lee Seolwoo was a college student who hadn’t graduated yet, but I heard that prestigious universities these days have a separate category for ‘pregnancy and childbirth’ as a reason for taking a leave of absence.

“Well, if my partner’s attitude had changed, I would have been hurt too. There are a lot of alphas like that, right? Bastards who help make a baby but refuse to take responsibility.”

Since the media merely reproduces reality, probably about six out of ten alpha guys in reality are irresponsible.

Cases where an alpha uses the rut cycle as an excuse, doesn’t use contraception, and then goes missing when the pregnancy is announced are more common than cases like Lee Seolwoo’s, where contraception was used but pregnancy still happened.

That’s why novels and dramas keep showing those scenes. A chaebol alpha male lead and an infertile omega female lead have a night of uncontrollable rut and heat, she gets pregnant, and the omega female lead runs away because she can’t trust the chaebol male lead….

“But? My partner, as expected of the alpha I chose, didn’t change his attitude at all?”

“Oh….”

“We promised to get married after I graduate.”

I’m truly relieved.

All the staff at our clinic, including me, had subtly gathered to check on Lee Seolwoo’s condition and let out a sigh of relief at those words.

Lee Seolwoo raised his left hand for us. The ring on his ring finger sparkled. I felt like I should applaud or something.

I almost told Jung Pureum to drown that team doctor of yours in the pool. But it seemed Lee Seolwoo’s partner was a sensible person after all.

“When the wedding date is set, I’ll come by to give you an invitation. I have to graduate first, though… the more guests, the better.”

“You’re not inviting people just to fill the seats, are you?”

“Of course not. I just got really attached to this clinic.”

Lee Seolwoo smiled brightly. He looked several times more vibrant than the last time I saw him.

“And, by laying this groundwork, I can get an invitation from the director too. My partner will get one from Jung Pureum because he’s the team doctor, but I want a separate one too.”

Even if it were a regular patient, let alone Lee Seolwoo, I had originally planned to give him an invitation. For some reason, Jung Pureum is extremely wary of Lee Seolwoo, but I owe him a lot in my own way.

Even though Lee Seolwoo didn’t help me with any intention, just how many pieces of information was I able to overhear thanks to his connections? Lee Seolwoo was my precious spy.

“Hmm, the invitation design isn’t out yet, though….”

I’ve outsourced it to professionals, so it should be coming out soon. When designers hear the order for ‘classic, modern, elegant, but kitschy,’ their expressions all turn sour.

“I’ll send it to you as soon as it’s out.”

Lee Seolwoo, who was overjoyed at finally getting to attend a national representative’s wedding, opened his mouth again.

“Oh, right. Now that I won’t be able to take herbal medicine for a while… as a promotional favor, I spread the word to some omegas I know that this place has amazing herbs for clearing heat cycles.”

“You didn’t have to go that far….”

“Ah, I should at least do this much. Well, it’s not like I know that many omegas, so don’t feel too burdened. At most, they’re just college classmates or people from clubs I’ve been in.”

At this point, I had no idea that Lee Seolwoo’s ‘omegas I know’ would amount to several hundred people….

Hong Seonghyeon crawled out of the vice director’s office in a zombie-like state. Beside him, Nam Jungyoon was also transfusing coffee with a wilted expression.

For the past few days, our clinic had been so swamped with a rush of patients that we couldn’t catch a breath. I felt it bone-deep this time why companies pay influencers huge sums to promote their products.

Word-of-mouth through influencers is far more effective than appearing on cable medical programs. Especially people like Lee Seolwoo, who have many personal connections and maintain them well—they’re truly modern-day Pied Pipers.

He just casually mentioned, “This herbal medicine at this clinic is really amazing? I can’t take it now because I’m pregnant!” and all sorts of omegas who had been suffering from heat cycles came flooding to our clinic.

After developing Gongjindan for alphas, the clinic was already crowded enough that we’d expanded, and now it was starting to burst at the seams again. On top of that, thanks to Jung Pureum, I was already unintentionally going viral and busy as hell!

Compared to the days when flies were buzzing around, I should be on my knees offering thanks to the god of omegas. He answered my earnest wish to succeed.

But the timing of this big success was a bit problematic. At this rate, I was going to mess up the wedding preparations and everything else.

On weekdays, I get ground down at the clinic, and on weekends, I’m dead from touring wedding venues. No matter how I think about it, this isn’t a human life.

“Director, please raise my salary….”

It wasn’t even salary negotiation season, but Nam Jungyoon boldly demanded a pay raise.

Looking at the two dying vice directors, I nodded. What’s the point of saving money? I need to tie them down so they can’t run away. That’s how I survive.

At my positive response, Nam Jungyoon’s expression brightened considerably. Hong Seonghyeon also lifted his head slightly.

“What about me? Are you raising mine too?”

I also allowed a salary increase for Hong Seonghyeon.

Just don’t run away. Without you two, our clinic doesn’t function. I’ll have to bring people over like I’m bringing kimchi from Grandfather and Mom’s clinic.

Just then, the bell above our clinic door jingled. I’d gotten sick of that sound by now.

“Hyung, are you doing evening consultations today?”

But after the nauseating bell sound, a welcome voice followed.

I snapped my head up.

Jung Pureum, whom I hadn’t seen in a while because he’d been dragged off to all sorts of shoots, had finally shown his face at our clinic.