My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 26

I thought Liri-tang wouldn’t be a big deal, but the aftermath hit a few days later. Baek Wonhee had decided that while he was making big business for himself, he’d also take a jab at me. Anyway, what an uncivilized bastard…

Baek Wonhee appeared on the same show I’d guested on, as part of promoting Liri-tang. It was the show run by that PD I’d blocked after he kept contacting me.

Well, that part was fine. He must have thought he should row while the water was flowing. Since pharmaceutical products are strictly regulated for television advertising by law, he needed to find other breakthroughs.

But the things he said on screen were atrocious.

―It’s actually difficult to change secondary sex characteristics with herbal ingredients.

Rather than promoting himself within the limited time, he was grinding his teeth to throw dirt on someone else’s business.

With his slick face, Baek Wonhee continued.

―Since that kind of sex conversion is different from simple metabolic issues—where you lose it if you don’t eat and gain it if you do—I can’t give you a clear answer, but who knows what long-term side effects might emerge….

I must control my anger. If you have too much anger, the anger clumps together and becomes inflammation. Wrath accumulates in the body and turns into toxins. I must maintain composure… No, but that bastard started it first!

Since I stayed still, he’d taken it upon himself to scratch and make a sore. How ugly, Baek Wonhee! Baek! Ugly Wonhee!

I shot up from my seat in the middle of watching the program rerun. The heat rush made my head spin. What is wrong with him that he hates me this much?

“I’ll break your front teeth instead of your molars.”

Nam Jungyoon was grinding her teeth behind me in my stead. At this rate, she’d get implants before Baek Wonhee did.

“You’ll end up with a red line on your family registry if you can’t settle.”

“That just makes my registry more colorful.”

“You really have no filter.”

Does our clinic only have battle-type oriental medicine doctors? I calmly composed myself. Truthfully, I wasn’t calm at all, but what could I do about it now.

I just had to work harder. Then someday the world would recognize me too. The fact that he was wrong and I was right.

∞ ∞ ∞

Jung Pureum, who was already rather aggressive, started coming to the clinic every other day after the Liri-tang ad aired.

But I simply couldn’t find the time to pay attention to him. To be precise, I had the time, but I didn’t have the spare mind or energy.

The enthusiasm to try hard was good, but life never goes as planned. It wasn’t like I could block people from watching ads or online reactions one by one.

Coming and going like it was his own home, Jung Pureum quickly noticed that the clinic’s atmosphere had changed over the past few days. The lobby, which used to be packed with waiting patients, was noticeably quieter.

Even before this, there had been plenty of people who envied and resented our clinic, spreading all kinds of slander. Like the typical basement-dwelling armchair generals, they’d write a few words online without any evidence and then quiet down.

But Baek Wonhee had better execution and influence than those basement generals. Even if television’s persuasive power had diminished compared to before, the broadcast effect couldn’t be completely ignored.

“…Hyung, you’re still here with me today.”

“Yeah. There are no more scheduled patients.”

No point hiding it. The drop in patients wasn’t something I could conceal. Still, it wasn’t as dead as the early days of opening. It was at a level where I regretted the expansion, and that was about it.

“Why are you watching me so carefully?”

This guy, who hadn’t even glanced at me for my reaction after we’d slept together, was now gauging my mood like a dog that had done something wrong. It was true that Baek Wonhee had put me in a bad mood, but I didn’t think I’d shown it.

“I was wondering if it was okay to bother you.”

“You’ve already bothered me plenty.”

“…Am I bothering you?”

“No.”

Before Liri-tang blew up, I might have been a little bothered. Because of Jung Pureum, I’d been at the point where I couldn’t focus on work. But once the bigger problem of Liri-tang emerged, Jung Pureum started feeling okay to me.

In life, unexpected incidents happen so frequently that sleeping with the neighbor’s younger brother is just one of those things. I think I’d been taking it too seriously.

“Then… if you have time today, would you like to go out and change your mood with me?”

But even so, being alone with Jung Pureum still felt a bit awkward. It hadn’t been years since we’d slept in the same bed—it was only a few weeks ago.

Jung Pureum, like today’s youth, seemed completely unbothered, but I wasn’t. By my ethical standards, it was unconscionable to act like nothing had happened after clinging to the neighbor’s younger brother like a beast.

Still, seeing him watch my condition and try so hard to cheer me up, I couldn’t bring myself to flatly refuse.

“Change my mood?”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’ll take you somewhere nice.”

Once he sensed I might give a positive answer, the kid who’d been slinking around and gauging my mood stepped closer. What kind of nice place? He also had a tendency to speak vaguely.

“You don’t even have a car, what are you taking me in.”

“I got my license though.”

“Never mind, I’ll drive. Just tell me the destination.”

“Let’s go to Incheon.”

“Incheon?”

“There’s a place there with a pretty night sea.”

The whispered voice saying “Let’s go change your mood” sounded like the temptation of a devil. Already thinking about going out to have fun after starting college. He’s become quite the party boy.

I thought about scolding him—what night sea when he should be busy training—but seeing his face full of anticipation looking at me, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.

I reluctantly nodded.

“I’m driving, so think of it as a week’s worth of dates bundled together.”

“Should I buy a car too?”

“What would a twenty-year-old do with one.”

When I tapped his forehead with the pen I was holding, Jung Pureum laughed with no restraint.

Seeing his smiling face somehow made me feel better. I really have a weakness for handsome faces—it’s a problem.

On the way to Incheon, there were numerous twists and turns. Because I’d only gotten my driver’s training a few months ago.

I’d gotten my license long ago, but the university parking lot was small, so I mostly rode a bike or took the shuttle. My house wasn’t far from school, and my workplace was close to home too, so I hadn’t had much reason to drive.

In that sense, I “slightly” took the wrong road and almost ended up in Busan instead of Incheon. Every time the navigation blared about deviating from the route, my heart pounded. I know I deviated, so shut up!

Jung Pureum didn’t seem worried that I was at the wheel—he just sat in the passenger seat spouting nonsense about Busan being fine too. He said he’d be fine even if it became an overnight trip instead of a day trip. Of course he’d be fine. If only tomorrow weren’t a weekday.

Unfortunately, neither Jung Pureum nor I had completely free schedules. Jung Pureum had training, and I had to go to the clinic. Though there might be more free time now that business had slowed down.

Thinking about the clinic made my mood sink a little. Not depressed, just frustrated. People really believe what Baek Wonhee says, when he has no credibility whatsoever. Modern people who get fooled by yellow journalism need to wake up.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

“You were frowning again.”

Jung Pureum caught my expression like a ghost. It was dark and he probably couldn’t see well, but he noticed anyway. Swimmers must have vision included in their physical requirements.

“Just thinking about the clinic.”

Saying I wasn’t thinking anything would have sounded too much like a lie even to me, so I answered honestly.

It wasn’t like telling him would solve anything, but he was a pretty good listener. Even when I was in college, he’d quietly listen when I had something difficult to share.

“In high school, I thought I just had to get into college. In college, I thought graduation would be the end. Before opening the clinic, I thought once I opened, it’d be smooth sailing.”

“…”

“I guess I hate the feeling of hitting a wall no matter how tenaciously I work.”

It’d be hard for any human to like that feeling. Unless you’re a complete lunatic, you can’t happily accept that effort doesn’t bring rewards.

After I’d said it all, I felt a little embarrassed. Last time I’d said all sorts of things to him, I’d been mortified afterward. Humans really do repeat the same mistakes endlessly.

When I pretended not to notice and stared straight ahead, Jung Pureum was quiet for a long time.

“I wish I were older than hyung.”

That comment, following the silence, was so out of the blue that I almost rear-ended the car in front. Whew, thank goodness. The brakes worked properly. I almost stepped on the accelerator for a second there.

“So that whenever hyung feels that way, I could be someone who could help you easily and simply.”

Because I’d almost had an accident, my heart was pounding excessively. I felt cold sweat running down my back. A premium increase was right around the corner, so it was no wonder my body was tensing up.

It wasn’t that Jung Pureum’s sudden confession-like words startled me—I’d almost fainted from nearly causing an accident.

I soothed myself. It’s okay, for someone who only got driver’s training a few months ago, that was excellent driving sense.

“I like that you’re younger.”

I glanced sideways to gauge Jung Pureum’s expression. Since I had to watch the road, I couldn’t see what face he’d made when he said that.

Our eyes met for just a moment. I swallowed dryly for no reason. Maybe it was because I’d slept with him once, but even in the completely non-sexual tension of road traffic, I felt strangely nervous.

It pissed me off that I seemed to be the only one so conscious of it. Jung Pureum looked so peaceful. He was the one who said he wanted to touch me, so why was I feeling this way? Truly, the world is wrong.

“I like hearing hyung more than calling you hyung.”

At my words, Jung Pureum smiled brightly again. Having only seen his gloomy face all this time, his smile felt welcome.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“I really like you.”

“Okay, got it.”

I would have liked it too if I had a hyung who personally drove me to Incheon. Though probably not as much as Jung Pureum, for whom just being together made his worries disappear.