My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 113

A hellish three-way face-off had formed.

In a perfect right-triangle formation, Kim Soyoung, Lee Seolwoo, and Jung Pureum were facing each other. Even Pythagoras would weep at this angle.

But the one who truly wanted to cry wasn’t Pythagoras—it was me.

I had just wanted to go look at houses with Jung Pureum, so how had things come to this? I hadn’t even clocked out on time. Sure, regular hours are a luxury for self-employed people, but isn’t this a bit much?

“…Why are these people here?”

“Oh, Pureum. Long time no see.”

“I just came to see the Director. I missed him since I hadn’t seen him in a while.”

Lee Seolwoo clung to my side like a paper doll flapping in the wind. Not to be outdone, Kim Soyoung also hooked her arm through mine.

I looked at Jung Pureum, who seemed confused. …Are you confused too? So am I.

“Both of you, please step back.”

“Aw, are you being standoffish just because your partner is here?”

I was always standoffish—what is she talking about? Anyone listening would think I was having an affair with Kim Soyoung.

But then Jung Pureum’s pupils began to tremble like an aspen leaf. Even Lee Seolwoo seemed shocked on my behalf at Kim Soyoung’s remark, covering his own mouth.

“She’s crazy, she’s crazy. Pureum, did you hear that? Looks like the Director is now flirting with omegas too.”

“Excuse me…”

“I’m against it. Why would you have a thing with someone like this when you have Pureum? If you’re going to cheat, at least date the alpha vice director here! An office husband—that I could even understand.”

What is there to understand…

The word “cheat” made my head ring, whether it was about office husbands or anything else. The way she burst into the clinic and dropped bombs was an art form.

“That’s not it.”

“Hyung…”

“Pureum, calm down too.”

“Am I not enough for you?”

“I told you, that’s not it…”

Jung Pureum, who had been whimpering with a pitiful expression, couldn’t hold back any longer and suddenly lifted me up. Literally, he hoisted me like a piece of luggage between Lee Seolwoo and Kim Soyoung.

My feet lifted easily off the ground. I was a normal adult male, but Jung Pureum pulled me out from between the two omegas as if I were a bag of rice.

Thanks to that, I escaped successfully, but my social dignity had passed into eternal rest alongside my conscience.

Because Kim Soyoung and Lee Seolwoo, seeing me dangling from Jung Pureum, started whispering to each other.

“As expected, youth is good. He’s got good strength.”

“Right? Sometimes I think I should have dated a younger man too.”

“Is the person you’re seeing now older?”

“My partner? Of course. He’s a doctor…”

As if they had never been catfighting, Lee Seolwoo and Kim Soyoung began chatting animatedly with each other. Is this just how extroverts are? I couldn’t follow their psychological shifts at all.

“Pureum.”

“Yes.”

“Now’s our chance. Escape is the only option now.”

Leaving behind Lee Seolwoo and Kim Soyoung, who had already started laughing and calling each other unnie and dongsaeng, I was carried under Jung Pureum’s arm out of the clinic.

Once we reached the underground parking lot, Jung Pureum loosened the arm that had been holding me.

“…Hyung is too popular.”

No.

I shook my head in disbelief. This wasn’t because I was popular—it was because Kim Soyoung and Lee Seolwoo were strange.

Due to the school district, there were mostly betas around, so I didn’t know many omegas, but by my common sense, Kim Soyoung and Lee Seolwoo were extremely unusual even among omegas.

There are plenty of omegas who dream of fated love with alphas, but omegas who actively hunt only handsome alphas or act like a walking flirtation doll are extremely rare.

After all, there’s such a thing as social perception, so most omegas tend to be more reserved like me. I’m the normal one, right?

To be fair, I also used to take down alphas with acupuncture needles at the slightest provocation, so I’m not entirely normal either. But Kim Soyoung and Lee Seolwoo were truly unique. Their whole way of thinking was different.

Sometimes I envied the way those two lived. It did make things difficult for others, but with their attitude, they probably wouldn’t be greatly affected by external factors like I was. There was something to learn from that.

However, regardless of my favorable assessment of those two, Jung Pureum looked utterly drained down to his very soul.

“How did Kim Soyoung become my romantic rival too…”

His lament was genuine. I shook my head again to tell him that wasn’t the case.

“Guests or not, we should have just gotten married in December.”

“….”

“We shouldn’t have listened to the adults.”

The way he mumbled petulantly while holding the steering wheel was quite adorable. I thought I was a severe case for finding Jung Pureum cute even in a situation like this.

Seeing him like this, Jung Pureum’s youth really showed.

Sometimes he seemed older than me and confused me. But in thinking “we shouldn’t have listened to the adults,” both Jung Pureum and I were about the same mental age.

“Actually, I thought the same thing. Guests or not, we should have just gotten married in December.”

“Should we move it up even now?”

“Don’t. We’ve already booked the venue—we can’t back out now.”

“I keep getting impatient.”

Jung Pureum began to lay out in detail how much he had been wary of the people around me all this time. Hearing that he had kept quiet because he didn’t want to seem petty made me feel a bit better. So I wasn’t the only petty one.

“I used to think that because I was a beta, you didn’t even care about me.”

“It wasn’t because you were a beta that I didn’t care.”

“I know. Even after I became an alpha, you didn’t care about me.”

“….”

“But what is this? Those people keep coming to see you under the guise of being patients. The vice director keeps sticking by your side. Sometimes I even get jealous of Jungyoon hyung. An office husband? I will never allow that.”

“I have no intention of making one?”

“I held back all this time because I was afraid you’d see me as childish if I said this…”

“….”

“I was anxious too, I couldn’t help it. It’s all ruined, really…”

Actually, seeing Jung Pureum reveal his jealousy like this made me feel better.

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

I had thought I was crazy for being blinded by jealousy over nothing, but seeing this, it all felt perfectly natural. Of course jealousy is possible. If love has no gender, nationality, or age, then jealousy shouldn’t either.

How can you be detached when you like someone? Loving someone inherently requires a bit of fuss.

“Pureum.”

“Yes.”

“Should we go look at the house this weekend?”

Just then, the car hit a red light and stopped with a jolt. Even Jung Pureum, who had been driving smoothly from the start, was flustered enough that his braking speed showed a gap.

Well, if someone groped my thigh while I was driving, I’d be shocked too. Jung Pureum only lowered his gaze to confirm my hand resting on his thigh.

“Hyung doesn’t need anything like an office husband.”

With you here, why would I need such a thing? Sometimes even just you is more than enough…

As soon as the light changed, Jung Pureum made a U-turn without even properly signaling. If this were a driving test, that alone would have been a fail for road driving.

∞ ∞ ∞

After the Olympics, Jung Pureum was enjoying an unprecedented career high.

Not only were variety show offers pouring in despite his rejections, but on top of that, there were photoshoots that Moon Yeonghwa subtly welcomed. He was an athlete without a manager, yet his schedule was packed to this extent. Even cutting back on sleep, training time was becoming insufficient.

Fortunately, the university had quickly replaced his coach, so training wasn’t as difficult as before. The senior athletes at the university also no longer bothered Jung Pureum under the pretense of maintaining discipline.

On top of that, Jung Pureum was soon to become a married man.

In fact, what made him happier than the career high was that the wedding was just around the corner. Finally! At last! He was going to make Moon Yeonghwa his legal spouse.

However, even in this situation, Jung Pureum was unknowingly plagued by small anxieties. Even after imprinting with Moon Yeonghwa, he couldn’t feel at ease.

Moon Yeonghwa was always like this. Just when things seemed quiet for a few days, if Jung Pureum went to see him directly, Moon Yeonghwa would be standing there with omegas on both sides. As a bonus, if he let his guard down even a little, the beta vice director who had liked Moon Yeonghwa back in college would set up camp in a corner of the clinic.

Peace of mind? That’s a word used when eating steak.

Jung Pureum couldn’t whine openly like Moon Yeonghwa did. He was already often treated like a child because of his age, and he didn’t know how much of his pathetic jealousy he should show.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t get too close to other people.”

“I’m not close to them…”

“I wish you’d be close only to me.”

But from the moment he made a hasty U-turn on the road and returned to Moon Yeonghwa’s house, Jung Pureum decided to just act his age.

What else could he do? No matter how hard a younger person tries, they’re still younger… At this point, the only option was to appeal with cuteness.

Jung Pureum curled his body and burrowed into Moon Yeonghwa’s arms. Moon Yeonghwa, looking overwhelmed, still naturally held Jung Pureum in his embrace.

When the jealousy and sincerity he had subtly revealed were accepted without rejection, Jung Pureum began to act spoiled a little more aggressively.