My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 30

Nam Jungyoon, also flustered by the remark, raised his hand and pointed at himself. Muttering “…Me? Some other alpha?” he looked quite taken aback.

But I wasn’t in a position to soothe his shock. The aunt, who had remained calm even when I turned Jung Pureum into an alpha, was now furious beyond measure.

“Director, what’s going on with the vice director?”

Just then, like a guardian angel, Kim Miyoung appeared behind us.

After confirming that there was someone else besides Nam Jungyoon in my house, the aunt suddenly calmed down. What on earth, why the sudden composure?

“What were you doing?”

“Ah, well…”

How could I explain that we were tasting and analyzing the suspiciously successful diet herbal medicine from the clinic across the street?

I couldn’t stop the aunt from walking straight through between me and Nam Jungyoon into the living room.

She stopped in front of the bowl containing Liri-tang. Sob sob, Auntie. I wasn’t analyzing it to poison anyone, that bastard started it first…

“So they were coworkers.”

“Huh?”

“Then that’s fine.”

Between her clipped words, I detected an inexplicable relief. Nam Jungyoon’s shoulders trembled as if he’d understood something.

“I’m just the vice director.”

Seeing Nam Jungyoon’s face, on the verge of going crazy from being wrongly accused, I was also dumbfounded. What? Don’t have conversations I don’t understand.

The aunt showed little interest in the Liri-tang. It seemed she had genuinely made a surprise visit just to check on my condition.

Kim Miyoung offered the aunt some job’s tears tea. That should have been my job as the host, but I’d been beaten to it. Like Jung Pureum, the aunt was a solar being. Though she’d prefer green tea over job’s tears.

While I lamented my lack of agility, the aunt spoke.

“I saw the broadcast.”

It was a short statement, but the impact was enormous. I, Nam Jungyoon, and even Kim Miyoung all let out deep sighs simultaneously.

The main broadcast about the alpha-making Gongjin-dan was a full two and a half hours long. The editing was so brilliantly done that if you only watched that broadcast, I looked like the con artist of the century.

It felt like becoming the Bong Yi Kim Seon-dal of the oriental medicine world. It hadn’t even been a few months since I’d signed that ridiculous contract with Jung Pureum to avoid a lawsuit, and now my oriental medicine license was about to be suspended.

I felt like rolling on the floor from sheer injustice, but right now, claiming my innocence wouldn’t change anything. Who would believe me anyway? They’d just think it was a con artist making excuses.

Right after the broadcast aired, chaos erupted at my house too. Especially my grandfather, who was furious. He even told me to close the clinic immediately and come home because it was dangerous.

It was all because they were worried about me, but of course it didn’t feel good. My parents had stepped back, saying I should handle it well, but my grandfather was still outraged. It seemed he’d gone out of his way to find people badmouthing me.

Among them were many comments sneering at how I, an omega, could sell alpha-making Gongjin-dan. I could easily guess which point had angered my grandfather.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“…”

“I was worried you might be skipping meals alone. But at least you seem to be trying to do something about it.”

Even from the aunt, who wasn’t really family but had lived like one, I could feel concern toward me. My heart ached for no reason. This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted to disappoint the people around me.

The aunt didn’t stay long at my place. She said just looking at the kitchen that kept exploding periodically made her feel like she’d explode too.

Instead, she invited Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon to dinner as well.

The two, who’d been suddenly invited to dinner by a stranger, initially refused, but as soon as they learned she was Jung Pureum’s mother, their attitude changed.

“But Pureum’s mother is really charismatic.”

“Right. She feels very different from Pureum.”

“Don’t they look a bit alike?”

“Maybe it’s the different vibe, I had no idea she was his mother.”

“So that’s why she was so wary of me.”

Nam Jungyoon wiped his chest with a face that looked ten years younger.

I didn’t understand what Jung Pureum’s mother had to do with anything, but at least I was relieved the two didn’t feel uncomfortable about the dinner invitation next door.

“But what about that?”

The Liri-tang left in my living room came into view. Right, I’d been about to report it and stopped.

We put our heads together to think, but a dramatic way to screw over Baek Wonhee didn’t easily come to mind. Every time I said we should just report it, Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon stopped me, saying we shouldn’t report too easily.

I could feel both of them really wanted to send Baek Wonhee to the grave. I also dreamed of his downfall every night, but still, shouldn’t reporting be done through proper procedures?

In the end, without reaching any conclusion, dinner time approached. Everyone agreed to Kim Miyoung’s suggestion to decide after eating.

The dinner table was warm and harmonious. I’d been a bit worried it might be awkward since it was my first visit next door in a while, but it was an unnecessary concern.

“Hyung, try this too.”

Jung Pureum carefully pushed side dishes toward me.

Your parents are watching, what on earth are you doing? I signaled to Jung Pureum with my eyes to stop, but he didn’t seem to understand at all.

Jung Saebom looked back and forth between me and Jung Pureum with a fed-up expression. What was absurd was that, except for Jung Saebom, no one even paid attention to Jung Pureum’s eccentricities. Why did everyone have that “I knew it” expression? Why wasn’t anyone reacting?

“Right, Yeonghwa has lost a lot of weight. Someone who was already just bones has gotten even thinner. Eat a lot.”

At least the uncle next door spoke in a warm tone.

Jung Pureum’s kind personality must have been inherited from the uncle. It was impressive to see the uncle carefully deboning fish for the aunt. He’d always been a henpecked husband.

“Hey.”

“Saebom, is that how you talk to Yeonghwa? You should say oppa. Yeonghwa is older than you.”

“It’s fine.”

If I heard Jung Saebom call me oppa, I’d die from the chills. I didn’t bother saying that out loud. When Jung Pureum calls me “Yeonghwa hyung!” it’s cute, but Jung Saebom calling me “Yeonghwa oppa!” would be a disaster.

Having similar thoughts, Jung Saebom, with a chewing expression, brought up the main point.

“Are you going to report Liri-tang?”

It was too direct. An abrupt silence fell over the warm dinner table. Why bring up work during a meal?

Well, aside from occasions like this, I rarely had opportunities to talk about such things with Jung Saebom. She wasn’t the type to come find me like Jung Pureum did.

“I will.”

“Really? Then meet my classmate.”

“Which classmate? The one who shared the medicine?”

“She’s also grinding her teeth to sue Liri-tang.”

Apparently, several of Jung Saebom’s former classmates who had taken Liri-tang regularly were preparing to sue.

This was good news for me. People who actually took Liri-tang would be more plausible to sue Baek Wonhee than me, who runs a clinic in the same field across the street.

“She said she wants to meet you since I’m bringing the medicine. She says she’ll definitely achieve justice.”

“Justice is good. But I’m an oriental medicine doctor, not a lawyer, so I won’t be much help with the lawsuit.”

Putting down her spoon after a short meal, Jung Saebom just shrugged.

“She’ll sue too, but before that, there’s going to be a dogfight.”

“Dogfight?”

“She does YouTube. Over a million subscribers.”

“Crazy.”

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a broadcast deserves a broadcast.”

At this moment, I felt I could call Jung Saebom “noona.” Nam Jungyoon, whose eyes were sparkling beside me, seemed to feel the same.

∞ ∞ ∞

Today is the day I meet Jung Saebom’s classmate, who will join me in screwing over Baek Wonhee! The weather was clear and fine dust was low, befitting such a noble purpose.

“But Pureum. Why on earth did you come along?”

“To prevent hyung from being taken by some other alpha.”

“What are you talking about.”

“Mom said to do my best not to end up like the dog chasing the chicken.”

The aunt really only says incomprehensible things. She’s a good person, but sometimes she speaks in fragments so it’s hard to understand her intentions. You have to pick up on context clues, but it’s too high-difficulty.

I stood in front of someone else’s house with Jung Pureum by my side. After all, it was better to bring a man with a friend’s younger brother than to bring just any man into a woman’s home alone.

When I rang the doorbell, the door opened shortly.

“Hello.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

I was so startled that I grabbed Jung Pureum’s arm tightly. Through the open door, the state of the house was a mess. It wasn’t just dirty—all sorts of things were rolling around on the floor. As if someone had deliberately thrown them.

Moreover, delivery food containers were piled up in one corner of the living room. Jung Saebom’s classmate, who greeted me, was skeletal thin.

“The house is a bit of a mess, but please come in.”

The homeowner’s condition was also terrible. She looked like she could collapse at any moment.

Her face, still with some baby fat, was alright, but her arms and legs were like withered branches. Her hair seemed to be falling out badly too—her tied-up hair was sparse in patches.

So that’s why she called me to her house instead of outside. I finally understood why she’d readily given me her address.

Someone who must have been pretty and lively enough to have over a million YouTube subscribers was now this gaunt. She looked completely different from the person in the thumbnail Jung Saebom had shown me.

“I’m Kim Minah.”

Lately, she’d been in and out of consciousness, so she was only now introducing herself—Kim Minah spoke slowly.

“After I stopped Liri-tang, my condition got even worse.”

My stomach churned too. Baek Wonhee, you bastard, are you even human? How could you, as an oriental medicine doctor, sell medicine that reduces people to this state?

Jung Pureum firmly held me steady as I swayed. I also clung to his arm like a rope.