My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 16

I am now a fisherman casting a line for a man. Peter, would you only believe if I walked on water? Of course, I don’t mean actual fishing—I was in the middle of persuading Jung Pureum.

“Oh dear, that’s not going to work….”

When I pulled Jung Pureum, who had visited the clinic after a long time, into the director’s office, Kim Miyoung, sitting at the reception desk, muttered a peculiar lament.

“Listen, Pureum.”

“….”

“To understand secondary genders well, you need a larger sample group. For example… yes, remember why the herbal medicine that suppresses heat cycles—our clinic’s best elixir—couldn’t get FDA approval?”

“…Because hyung was the only test subject.”

“Yes! Exactly that.”

Jung Pureum didn’t even listen with half an ear when I offered to personally introduce Lee Seolwoo. The kid who would believe me even if I said I was making soybean paste from red beans was now consistently maintaining an attitude of “Haha, this hyung is talking nonsense again!”—even I was taken aback.

Unlike other omegas, Lee Seolwoo, a regular at our clinic and a fellow alpha-hater, was reasonably trustworthy. Though Lee Seolwoo was the older one, their ages were similar.

If Jung Pureum met Lee Seolwoo, a dominant omega, rather than me, a latent heat omega, his perspective would broaden. His family had only betas or alphas, and as far as I knew, he had been on the elite athletic track his whole life—he probably knew many alphas but only one omega: me.

That’s why he’d been clinging to me, even presenting contracts, after becoming an alpha. He’d always clung to me, but it got worse after he became an alpha. I wouldn’t have been this concerned about his traits otherwise.

This was definitely some kind of imprinting effect. Just as ducklings recognize the first creature they see after hatching as their mother, it was clear that since I was the only omega he knew around the time he became an alpha, he was latching onto me.

Otherwise, it was hard to explain this situation where Jung Pureum was clinging to me enough to make me uneasy. It couldn’t be that he thought of me romantically, like that nonsense Nam Jungyoon was spouting. I was just a friendly neighbor hyung.

“After careful consideration, I’ve concluded that to broaden your world, you need to meet more omegas—”

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“You’re just trying to brush off educating me and dating me by using that as an excuse, aren’t you?”

Busted. This is why quick-witted neighbor dongsaengs are trouble.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and averted my gaze. I tried bluffing with “Surely, I wouldn’t do that?” but Jung Pureum was already staring at me with a face full of distrust.

I’d secretly been hoping Lee Seolwoo could take over some of my responsibilities. Of course, Jung Pureum was genuinely cute, endearing, sly, and kind enough that I’d want him as my own little brother, but the clinic had been too busy lately.

And staying around him for too long kept making me unwell. As just a latent heat omega, frequent exposure to dominant alpha pheromones would pull my heat cycle forward.

If even an ordinary latent heat omega would have that problem, how much worse for me, who had been abnormally blocking heat cycles with herbal medicine? Of course it wouldn’t be good. Unless I was going to get physically involved with him, my health was definitely heading for a nosedive.

I didn’t need to experience being taken to the emergency room multiple times. No matter how good Korea’s medical insurance was, emergency room visits were expensive. And since I was an omega, it would make it harder to get insurance again later.

“Do you hate me, hyung?”

“No, why would you say that? Baek Wonhee is alive and well with his eyes wide open across the street—why would I hate you instead of him?”

“I’d rather you just hate me like you hate Baek Wonhee or that Baek something or whoever….”

…Is training really that tough?

Looking at Jung Pureum, who had suddenly become haggard, I cursed that coach I’d never even met. How much had he worked the kid to make him look so miserable?

“Always thinking about foisting me off on someone else….”

“I never had such thoughts.”

“I only have hyung, but hyung tells me to meet other omegas—”

“Hey, that’s… this is all for your own good, you know? You need to come out of the well to realize, ‘Ah, I was a frog-in-the-well alpha,’ right?”

“I don’t need anyone else.”

I do!

Our clinic needs Lee Seolwoo. As a customer, and as a dominant omega around the same age who could get along well with Jung Pureum.

Judging by Jung Pureum’s reaction, it didn’t seem like meeting Lee Seolwoo would spark any new romance. So their relationship wouldn’t interfere with Jung Pureum’s athletic career either.

While I was busy thinking about other things, Jung Pureum reached out his hand toward me. I instinctively tried to dodge, but unfortunately, the director’s office chair didn’t have wheels.

I couldn’t quite avoid it, and those large hands firmly gripped me.

“I like you, hyung.”

Jung Pureum looked at me with a completely dejected face, as if he might cry at the slightest touch. Oh, crazy. At this rate, we’re going to bump lips. Why do you keep bringing your face so close?

…The moment I thought that, we really did bump lips.

“…?”

I was so startled my eyes went wide.

Is this guy crazy? I thought about biting his lip, but seeing the faint wound still there, I couldn’t recklessly resist.

It wasn’t a kiss—it was literally a “lip bump.” Jung Pureum’s lips rammed into mine. This was at the level of a pedestrian crossing a crosswalk and getting hit with no brakes.

“What I mean when I say I like hyung, is this.”

Now my head hurt more than my lips. What kind of meaning is that? I thought, but the moment I said that out loud, I felt like something terrible would happen.

“You—”

“I really hate you.”

With those words, Jung Pureum ran out of the clinic once again.

“Hate” was more shocking than “the worst.” How could Jung Pureum hate me? That kid would say “Hyung is the best!” even if he were hit by Eros’s lead arrow.

Everything felt bewildering and absurd. My front teeth ached from how hard we’d collided.

Once the bewilderment faded, another thought immediately came to mind. Was he flirting with me, a latent heat omega, just because he became an alpha? That thought.

The next day, Nam Jungyoon, who had only been pretending to listen to my worries, looked at me with an expression similar to Kim Miyoung’s. In his gaze was a mix of pity, lamentation, and a hint of contempt toward me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing, Senior. I just think you’re truly hopeless.”

After clicking his tongue sharply, Nam Jungyoon shook his head upon hearing about Lee Seolwoo as well. When I asked if Lee Seolwoo hated alphas, I had no retort for that.

You hate them, but Jung Pureum is handsome so he’s fine. How could I say that in front of him?

“Jungyoon.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be discouraged.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re fine the way you are!”

Without any explanation, I patted Nam Jungyoon’s shoulder a couple of times. Nam Jungyoon, who had been consoled by me for no apparent reason, looked at me with undisguised bewilderment.

“So, are you really going to introduce them?”

“Probably not, since Jung Pureum ran off like that and is currently in protest.”

“Protest?”

“Yeah. That kid’s been avoiding me lately.”

This was a world-shattering event. The great Jung Pureum avoiding me? That was as earth-splitting as me studying Western medicine.

Actually, this wasn’t the first time Jung Pureum had gotten upset with me. Having known him since he was very young, I often treated Jung Pureum like a child.

Once, when he was in ninth grade, I had acknowledged Children’s Day for him. It wasn’t to tease him—I had been passing by a souvenir shop on the way back from a family trip and saw a children’s Lego set at 40 percent off.

So I bought it and gave it to Jung Pureum. A Children’s Day gift! Surprise!

The problem was that the recipient wasn’t happy at all. Jung Pureum shed chicken-dropping tears and called me the worst then, too.

Back then, it was the first time I’d heard the word “worst” from Jung Pureum, so I was truly shocked. I’d used money I’d saved from tutoring to buy him a gift and got that in return. This is why raising a neighbor dongsaeng is useless.

Anyway, I soothed the whimpering Jung Pureum and promised never to acknowledge Children’s Day again.

Jung Pureum hated being treated like a child. Kids usually don’t like being treated young. They don’t even realize how advantageous being even one year younger is in this harsh world.

Nothing had changed since then. Since I faithfully never acknowledged Children’s Day, I didn’t know why he was upset now, but until his hurt feelings completely dissipated, this unilateral cold war would continue.

But the more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. What exactly had I ever done wrong to him?

When I started fuming to myself, Nam Jungyoon eventually began staring at me with a look of pity.

“Senior, you’re only smart in the head.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

While I was having this pointless conversation with Nam Jungyoon, Kim Miyoung called us to get ready for work, saying lunch break was over.

I forcibly pushed aside my uneasy feelings and walked toward the director’s office. Jung Pureum would just crawl back into the clinic on his own after a few days anyway.