My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 23

…I want to erase the memories of the past three days from my head.

I truly, sincerely curse my past self. Was I insane? Why did I do that? No matter how much I trusted herbal medicine, I shouldn’t have done that.

Inviting a dominant alpha over to your house and making curry should be illegal by law. What is this situation? I stared at Jung Pureum, who was sleeping soundly with his arms wrapped tightly around me. …Is he serious?

To explain this situation objectively, I slept with Jung Pureum. Not just sleeping in the same bed—I rewrote history.

I ended up doing that kind of thing with the younger guy next door.

And I wrote that history nonstop for three days. Thanks to that, my heat cycle ended earlier than ever, but it felt like my dignity had ended along with it.

First of all, the biggest problem was that Jung Pureum had been away from home for three days. Since he was at my house next door, I’m not sure if this counts as sleeping out or just stepping out with a wall in between.

Either way, if a son who suddenly became an alpha disappears from home for three days without any contact, any ordinary parents would worry about him.

I shook Jung Pureum awake.

“Hey, get up.”

My entire body ached. Whether it was because I’m frail or because Jung Pureum was too heavy, I couldn’t move an inch. Even when I shook him awake, Jung Pureum only pulled me tighter. Oh dear, I raised this kid well and now he’s suffocating me.

I couldn’t breathe properly, but being buried against his solid chest and forced to look at his naked body—it was absolutely stunning.

I’d always thought he had a good body, but seeing it clearly while in my right mind, it was astonishing. I almost got so distracted by his body that I forgot to wake him up again.

So swimmers really are magnificent.

His body, honed through consistent exercise and care, didn’t even flinch at my punches. It only made my hand hurt instead.

The world is truly unfair. For there to be such a difference in the talents God gave. I should report this to the consumer complaint center. Hello, it seems the Creator really doesn’t understand the concept of fairness. I want a body that can stay healthy even after staying up all night for a week too.

Jung Pureum reacted faster to the groan I let out from my sore hand than to my punches. He suddenly opened his eyes wide, startling me so much I thought I’d pass out.

“Hyung…”

“Just get up, you crazy bastard…”

“You’re conscious now.”

“Yeah…”

I wish all the memories would just disappear. If only I could delete even just the memory of me begging him for more, I’d be truly happy.

But unfortunately, heat cycles rarely come with amnesia. That kind of thing only occasionally appears as a plot point in Korean morning dramas.

I wasn’t the pitiful protagonist of a makjang morning drama, so I vividly remembered the fact that Jung Pureum and I had bitten, torn, chewed, and savored each other for three days.

So out of conscience, I couldn’t kick Jung Pureum out naked. Actually, I simply lacked the physical strength. It was impossible to even push Jung Pureum off the bed.

“You, ahem, you’ve been away for three days. Won’t your parents be worried?”

I said that, but knowing the aunt next door’s personality, even if her son became an alpha, she probably wouldn’t worry too much. The aunt next door wasn’t an ordinary parent either.

Unlike the aunt, the uncle was more sensitive, but leaving aside Jung Saebom, they probably wouldn’t worry much about Jung Pureum. He was always good at taking care of himself, and Jung Saebom had caused so many random incidents that a three-day absence would probably seem like nothing to them.

“It should be fine. They both know I’m here.”

“…What?”

“I told them I was going to have dinner with hyung.”

“…”

“Don’t you think they’ll assume I’m with hyung?”

“No, why are you only telling me this now?”

I immediately pushed Jung Pureum away and got up from the bed.

Holy moly. It felt like someone had hit the back of my head with a hammer. My son (who became an alpha a few months ago) staying over at the heat-stricken omega next door for three days.

This is more dramatic than a Korean morning drama. I’d rather have the amnesia-during-heat-cycle setting. At least that would be less humiliating.

But apart from my shock, Jung Pureum looked perfectly fine. Despite his mother being a former shot-put athlete, his fearlessness was impressive. It seemed he’d been toughened up from a young age by getting smacked on the back.

“You… go home right now.”

“You’re kicking me out like this?”

“Then do you want to stay here longer?”

“I wouldn’t mind staying more.”

Jung Pureum fumbled and lifted himself up, running a hand through his disheveled, bird’s-nest hair.

The arm that casually wrapped around my waist was warm. His face, asking with a hint of aegyo, “Can’t I stay?” was adorable despite his large frame.

I almost lost my mind and answered, “Alright, then stay a little longer.” Where did he get the nerve to attack with that face? Looking closely, he was built like a bear but acted exactly like a fox. I quickly shoved Jung Pureum away.

When I shook him off, Jung Pureum made an obviously sad expression. He’d always been expressive, but seeing him droop his eyes and look dejected made me think he looked appetizing…

Am I insane?

I quickly slapped my own cheek. Every little action of his, which hadn’t bothered me before, now felt somewhat stimulating.

When I slapped my own cheek, Jung Pureum, startled, reached out to ask what was wrong. It’s because of you, you idiot. Unable to say something like “You’re too stimulating, so could you put on some clothes before coming near me?” I fumed and threw some clothes at him.

Come to think of it, everything was infuriating. No, later on I did beg him, but that didn’t mean he had to cling to me in every possible place for three days.

On top of that, he didn’t do anything excessive that I could blame him for. When I said stop, he actually stopped, so eventually I stopped saying to stop at all.

I leaned my throbbing head against the wall and let out heavy sighs.

“…I shouldn’t have done this with you.”

Jung Pureum, who had been picking up his clothes and putting them on, looked up at my words. His face, looking at me with a crumpled shirt, seemed a bit more pitiful.

“What’s there not to do.”

But contrary to his pitiful expression, Jung Pureum’s words were utterly confident.

“I’m going to keep doing this with hyung from now on.”

This guy is crazy.

I immediately slapped Jung Pureum’s back repeatedly.

“Hyung, that hurts…”

“Don’t lie.”

“Ow…”

As always, only my hand hurt. Where did he learn to make cute sounds like “Ow”?

Whether I hit him or not, Jung Pureum reached out with both arms and pulled me into a tight embrace. Seeing him smile happily with flushed cheeks unsettled my heart. What was he so happy about?

“I’m glad my first partner was hyung.”

“…”

“I hope hyung feels the same.”

With his head buried in my shoulder, listening to his whispered words, I lost the energy to kick him out. Saying, “At my age, you were my first partner too,” was a bit embarrassing. I could only clear my throat a few times.

Somehow, a corner of my chest felt a little ticklish. It must be because this was my first time spending a heat cycle with an alpha, so my body was acting strange. A racing pulse was a red flag for my health.

I gently stroked the back of Jung Pureum’s messy head. Because of his curly hair, the feeling of the strands wrapping around my fingers was soft.

“…Eat breakfast and then go straight home.”

After all, kicking him out immediately would be too heartless. Even if I pretended the past hadn’t happened, I should at least feed him before sending him off.

Pheromones are truly the worst. They don’t wash away. If they were my own pheromones, I could manage them, but someone else’s pheromones stuck to my body don’t come off easily.

“You guys didn’t—”

“Please don’t ask.”

“Did you sleep together?”

I averted my gaze from Jung Saebom, who was staring at me with contempt. Just as I stepped out to go to the clinic after kicking Jung Pureum out, I had to run face-first into Jung Saebom. What terrible luck today.

Jung Saebom, an alpha, immediately noticed Jung Pureum’s pheromones lingering on me. Honestly, anyone who wasn’t a beta would have noticed. Jung Pureum was still inexperienced with pheromone control and had smeared his pheromones all over me.

Even at the clinic, Nam Jungyoon would notice right away. That’s why I’d only planned to check on the clinic and come back. Sorry to Nam Jungyoon, but that’s what vice directors are for—to handle the director’s work too.

But before I even got to the clinic, I ran into Jung Saebom in the apartment hallway. And of all places, it was right in front of the elevator, so I couldn’t avoid her.

No matter how thick-skinned I was, I was helpless against that question, “Did you sleep together?” I couldn’t say no either. Denying it when it was so obvious would be a pathetic sight.

I calmly nodded. Even with my excuse that it was all an accident, Jung Saebom only sneered in disbelief.

“You really are something.”

“That’s unfair. Hey, I really tried my best to prevent the accident.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Jung Saebom’s cold attitude clawed at my heart. No, I really did try! I gave it my best!

…Fine, I’m sorry. Not only did I turn your brother into an alpha, I went and touched him. Just kill me.

“The face of someone who tried to prevent an accident sure looks slick.”

“…”

“Was it good?”

I slammed my head against the wall next to the elevator again. Just kill me. I have no excuse.

Jung Saebom looked at me with contempt, then didn’t forget to advise me to wander around until the pheromones faded. She added a sarcastic remark that she wouldn’t stop me if I wanted to advertise to the whole neighborhood that I’d slept with Jung Pureum.

How could she be so cold? Jung Saebom was aloof with everyone, but she was coldest with me.

Of course, if I had a younger sibling and there was a neighbor who not only turned them into an alpha but also slept with them, I’d probably hate them too.

“If you’re not going to accept him, end it after one time.”

“What?”

“It was an accident, right? It’s not like you’re dating Jung Pureum.”

“Uh, that’s true.”

“So if it’s an accident, end it after one time and be careful from now on. Don’t give him any weird hope.”

After driving a dagger into my fragile heart, Jung Saebom said she didn’t want to share the elevator and went down alone.

Unlike her cold attitude, I sensed no pheromones from her. It was truly perfect pheromone control. Jung Pureum’s older sister was so good at controlling pheromones—why couldn’t he follow her example?

The comment about not giving false hope and ending it as a one-time accident kept circling in my head. I started to feel a little wronged. Jung Pureum had made the first move.

…No, I’m still the one to blame.

I couldn’t freely complain to anyone about my grievance. Objectively, setting aside ranks, it was because I, eight years older, got caught up in it.

I crawled back home and called Nam Jungyoon. I’d planned to check the clinic myself, but after running into Jung Saebom, all my energy had drained out.

This time, I really felt like I’d made a huge mistake.