My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 3

“Why aren’t you eating much? Is it because the CSAT is 100 days away?”

“….”

“The CSAT really isn’t that big a deal. If you just close your eyes and go for it, you can get a first-grade score.”

“I think that’s possible only because it’s hyung.”

“I’m telling you it’s not. My classmates also said they got first-grade scores once they came to their senses.”

“That’s probably because hyung graduated from the College of Korean Medicine….”

I bought him beef, so why isn’t he eating?

Actually, Jung Pureum was eating well. He was just eating less than usual—he was still putting away multiple servings by himself.

But the amount he was eating now was about the same as what Jung Saebom ate during her off-season.

Jung Saebom, who majored in modern dance and was strict about body management, couldn’t eat as much as Jung Pureum, who was active as a swimmer, no matter how much she stuffed her face.

Even when eating electric chicken, Jung Pureum would do three chickens per person while Jung Saebom could only manage two. I usually can’t even do half a chicken. Unlike the Jung siblings, my stomach is that of a typical Soeumin.

“Seeing you eat less than usual makes me worried.”

“….”

“Hey, did something happen, by any chance?”

At that question, Jung Pureum moved his mouth as if wanting to tell me something. Or it might have just been the beef moving in his mouth.

Anyway, seeing a guy who would normally silently drain my wallet with a “Beef is the best! Protein is king!” look this downcast made me feel bad too.

“Pureum, you trust hyung, right?”

“Huh? Yes….”

“Hyung will make you a killer Gongjindan, so don’t worry about the CSAT. You take it and your focus will snap! I’ll prepare a Gongjindan that clears your mind and even makes the answers to questions you don’t know appear.”

“Yes….”

“You don’t trust hyung?”

“….”

“You little… throw up the beef you just ate.”

Today, Jung Pureum’s reactions were strangely off.

I know from my own exam-taking days how much the 100-day mark affects a test-taker’s mental state. Back then, I reinforced my resolve by needling my own pressure points with acupuncture.

I still vividly remember my grandfather discovering me looking like a porcupine from being stabbed with big needles and collapsing while clutching the back of his neck. He gave me an enormous scolding for sticking needles anywhere without even having learned the basics of acupuncture.

But Jung Pureum’s reaction was a bit odd for just the melancholy of a test-taker 100 days before the CSAT.

He’s the kind of guy who would say “Yeah, yeah, hyung’s words are always right” even if I told him you make meju (soybean blocks) with red beans. The aunt next door even said, “Pureum would die if Yeonghwa told him to die.”

However, my worry didn’t last long. To be precise, it couldn’t last long. Before I had time to worry, someone picked a fight with me.

“So that’s what that strange smell mixed in was, ruining the taste of the meat.”

I can sort of understand betas discriminating against me. Actually, I don’t understand, but still, since they don’t have heats, I can accept it if I think of them as walking around with their heads held high.

But when alphas spout nonsense about omegas, it’s absurd. I can’t help but think, ‘You bastard… you have rut cycles too, so why are you the only one acting all noble? Do you need your face grated on a potato grater to come to your senses?’

You might not believe it, but about three out of ten alphas discriminate against omegas. I still don’t really know why. Maybe they just want to flaunt their natural core muscles.

Anyway, it’s a shame that we have no intention of uniting when we both have to go through beastly weeks once a month. Even if you combine the alpha and omega populations, they don’t even reach 30% of the beta population, so why do we have to fight each other?

I took out the acupuncture kit I always carry.

There were three alphas who recklessly picked a fight with someone trying to eat. Back in school, there were always these guys who’d come picking fights like cheap villains asking, “Are you an omega?”

They’re just idiots jealous of me, a genius, trying to find fault with me using only my secondary sex. So what if I’m an omega? Use that time to study instead of bothering me. Use that time to cultivate your character instead of discriminating based on traits.

“This is why you should eat expensive beef in a private room. Hey, stop picking a fight and get lost.”

“That’s funny. Your side released pheromones first. Isn’t that right? Over there too, pheromones were wafting over.”

“What? Are you a sniffer dog instead of an alpha? It must be hard for you to smell my pheromones after I’ve taken herbal medicine.”

“Herbal medicine? What are you talking about.”

“What else. Don’t underestimate Korean medicine.”

I took a large needle from my kit and plunged it into the shoulder of the alpha standing before me.

To Jung Pureum, who was watching the skirmish between me and the alphas with a flustered face, I told him to keep eating since the meat would get cold. Because the beef was more expensive than these alphas.

“Aagh!”

“This guy’s completely insane!”

“Got it now? My pheromones didn’t tell you I’m insane?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Hey. Think about it logically. Who’s the crazy one—me, quietly eating, or you guys who swarmed me while I was quietly eating? The latter wins overwhelmingly, right? You guys are the crazy ones.”

At that moment, one of the alphas recklessly released his pheromones. Since he couldn’t win with words, he played dirty.

Ugh. Immediately, a retch came up. No matter how recessive an omega I am, it was hard to defy this kind of hierarchical trait.

But the ‘herbal medicine that completely lowers the heat cycle’ I had been taking did not betray me.

That herbal medicine might betray me with elevated liver enzyme levels, but it would never let me be easily swayed by alpha pheromones. Who decocted that herbal medicine? It was me, the century’s great genius Korean medicine doctor.

I saw the restaurant staff notice the commotion between us and call the police. If I pull out more needles and subdue the alphas, the only thing awaiting me is a suspended license.

I leisurely rose from my seat. One alpha kept releasing pheromones at me, but I didn’t bat an eye.

To be precise, I did feel my stomach churning and my body breaking down a bit, but I just pretended nothing was wrong. In a fight, momentum is everything. That’s what it said in the martial arts novels my grandfather used to read.

If I were alone it might be different, but with Jung Pureum, a beta, next to me, I couldn’t back down further.

I had my pride too. If I showed myself succumbing to pheromones with a ‘Hah!’ here, my dignity as the neighbor hyung would be shattered.

So, my plan was…

“Check, please!”

It was the 36th stratagem: retreat. I had to run as fast as possible before the police arrived.

Honestly, even if I said I was just defending myself against the alphas who started it, this world full of discriminators would definitely threaten my Korean medicine license just because I stuck needles wherever.

I handed a wad of cash to the employee and coolly said the rest was a tip. Even I thought I looked like a rich son just then.

It was a shame about the money, but dragging things out here wouldn’t do any good. I shoved past the alphas, who were cursing at me but couldn’t approach me recklessly, and grabbed Jung Pureum.

But then, what do you know.

Jung Pureum, without a hint of panic, knocked one alpha down flat.

“Ack!”

“…Ah. I messed up the force control.”

“Hey, call the police!”

“You crazy bastards. Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

“Getting away? That’s ‘getting away’ like ‘getting away from the cold’? Hey, that’s a third-rate villain line.”

I just wanted to eat some beef.

Is there a law saying omegas can’t come to a restaurant and eat beef? Do I have to buy beef packs from a butcher shop and only grill them at home? Do these alpha bastards even know how hard it is to scrub a greasy cast iron pan?

I hurriedly grabbed Jung Pureum, who was about to knock down another one.

I was more flustered now than when the alphas had picked the fight. Setting everything else aside, if the police came like this, it would leave a bad mark on Jung Pureum’s school record.

I dragged Jung Pureum and quickly escaped the meat restaurant. A siren wailed in the distance. The police had been dispatched by a hair’s breadth. If the alpha bastards have any shame, they won’t bother tracking us down.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Why did you knock him down? In these situations, you don’t fight back—you just run.”

“Hyung.”

While hiding in a corner of an alley waiting for the police car to leave, a sermon naturally spilled from my mouth.

I was out of breath from running so much. I could feel my back soaked through. I must have lowered my body temperature from breaking out in a cold sweat.

Still, thanks to running passionately, I safely avoided being caught by the police. Haha! I was faster than the people’s staff!

Anyway, this kid, no matter how overflowing with strength, acts too rashly. Since he’s a beta, there won’t be any major consequences, but if he gets involved in a violent incident as an adult, his athletic career would be at risk.

I shook my dizzy head a few times from the alpha pheromones.

My body immediately heated up. No matter how great a century-genius Korean medicine doctor I am, enduring a direct hit of pheromones from three alphas with a clear mind was difficult.

“Hyung, your face is flushed.”

Jung Pureum’s warm hand gripped my chin. It was hard to tell if his hand was hot or if my cheek was hot.

As I blinked slowly, Jung Pureum’s face suddenly came close. This kid is definitely not an alpha but a beta, yet his actions were exactly like a dominant alpha from some drama.

When I instinctively leaned my head back, the corners of Jung Pureum’s eyebrows drooped. His voice, muttering that he was just worried, lacked strength.

“Those alphas earlier, they released pheromones at hyung, right?”

“Huh? Yeah. But, it’s nothing. My Korean medicine skills overcame everything. I’ve already transcended the realm of omegas.”

“More nonsense….”

“What do you mean nonsense. I’m always logical.”

“Hyung is always like that. No matter how great a Korean medicine doctor hyung is, how can you be like this? You’re even breaking out in a cold sweat right now….”

Pheromones that I couldn’t control on my own were probably spilling out of me too. I’d have to go home and somehow resolve it alone. Otherwise, I’d definitely be sick for a few days.

I felt a little wronged. The feeling of wanting to buy beef for my neighbor dongsaeng with 100 days left until the CSAT had been dismissed by my own trait.

“Let’s go home. I’ll walk you. You need someone to lean on.”

“Never mind. I’ll take a taxi. At least pretend you’re going to the study room. If you go in at this hour, how worried would your mother be?”

“What do you mean never mind. You can barely walk straight by yourself…. I should have hit them a few more times.”

“If you did that, you’d be banned from sports for life. And since you’re a beta, you don’t have as many opportunities as alphas anyway.”

“That’s true. Since I’m a beta….”

Alphas, even when they cause trouble, often get leniency because they’re alphas, but the standards for beta athletes are strict.

“I don’t smell anything.”

“Of course. Don’t underestimate my Korean medicine skills.”

“Haha, I wish I were….”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

What a bland guy.

After that, with Jung Pureum’s support, I barely made it back home.

And at that moment, I resolved: I would make a Gongjindan so killer that it would make up for the beef I couldn’t properly feed Jung Pureum.