My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 31

Kim Minah’s home was in such disarray that there was no room to set foot. There were so many broken fragments scattered across the floor that it was difficult to just sit down anywhere. In the end, I left Kim Minah behind and started cleaning the house first with Jung Pureum.

First, I opened the windows to air the place out. The layers of piled-up delivery food containers were already infested with bugs. I felt like I was going to vomit, but I couldn’t let it show. After all, the landlord was nearby, watching us uneasily.

Unlike me, whose complexion easily turned pale, Jung Pureum didn’t even flinch. He casually killed the bugs without batting an eye, and his stomach was so strong that he diligently threw out the household trash that made my mouth go dry just thinking about it again.

“Saebom is your younger sibling, right? I should have asked you to introduce me….”

Kim Minah even muttered that much. She added that these days, men with strong survival skills were the best. I had no choice but to agree with that sentiment. After all, watching him casually kill bugs was actually impressive.

Once we cleaned up the house, we finally had a place to sit. Even after letting us into her home, Kim Minah continued to seem unstable. She even asked me a couple of times whether this was really her imagination or not.

Did she have symptoms of schizophrenia? Western medicine really wasn’t my specialty, so I couldn’t make a clear diagnosis. I waited patiently until Kim Minah calmed down.

I was glad Jung Pureum had come with me. To be honest, I only looked calm on the outside; inside, I was quite frightened.

“I’m sorry for calling you over and making you clean.”

“Not at all.”

“I’m sure I cleaned everything up before you came.”

Kim Minah muttered that it was strange how everything was messy again even though she had definitely cleaned it all, and frankly, she was a bit scary. It was even more so because I didn’t know how to handle her.

“This really isn’t how I usually am. The effects were just too good.”

“Liri-tang.”

“Yes. I injured my back a few months ago while practicing, and the medication I took to recover made my body swell up a lot. They say if the swelling doesn’t go down, it turns into fat. And since I couldn’t exercise vigorously because of the injury, the weight wouldn’t come off either.”

Kim Minah slowly began to tell her story. There were some rambling parts in the middle, but I understood why she had ended up this way.

She must have been strict about managing herself, especially given her major, so if the medication for her back injury caused weight gain, it made sense that she would be anxious.

On top of that, she was running a YouTube channel, so she couldn’t be free from others’ gazes. Even if the weight gain was due to an injury, someone would have used her changed appearance as ammunition to attack her.

And that was when Liri-tang was released at just the right time. Kim Minah, thinking that weight gained from Western medicine should be lost with herbal medicine, didn’t turn down the sponsorship offer from Wonhee Oriental Medicine Clinic.

The problem was that Kim Minah took Liri-tang too aggressively. She even used her own money to order more after finishing the sponsored supply.

“I was so scared of gaining weight from eating anything that I drank Liri-tang.”

The saying that even good medicine can be poison if taken excessively rose to the tip of my throat, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. Because I thought I understood why she did it. She was afraid. Afraid that the weight she had worked so hard to maintain was slipping out of her control.

Watching Kim Minah repeat her own words several times left a bitter taste in my mouth. I was still scared that Kim Minah might act impulsively, but I couldn’t scold her for so foolishly taking the medicine.

There must be many reasons. Perhaps more varied reasons than I could guess. The bad person was Baek Wonhee, who deceived people by hiding Liri-tang’s ingredients; what fault did Kim Minah, who simply bought and took it, have?

“Can you… continue with YouTube?”

“I have to.”

“Still, you’re going to be showing your current appearance to others.”

Not knowing what to say, I hesitated to speak, and Jung Pureum started the conversation in my place.

Kim Minah may have decided to start a dogfight, but she didn’t necessarily have to target Wonhee Oriental Medicine Clinic on YouTube. Even just reporting them would get their business suspended.

Of course, unless it was a permanent suspension, they would resume business after a few months, and our clinic would still be saddled with the scammer image. But I couldn’t use Kim Minah to save myself.

When her anger toward Liri-tang was at its peak, she might have resolved to start a dogfight, but thinking calmly, revealing her current state could hardly benefit her.

Even if she deleted her YouTube channel, the videos already uploaded on the internet would remain. Someday, that might come back to haunt Kim Minah.

Moreover, Kim Minah was hardly in a completely normal state right now. Acting emotionally without being able to make rational decisions was not a positive direction.

“You might regret this decision later.”

When I cautiously spoke up, Kim Minah smiled slightly.

“I heard… you’re having a hard time because of Gongjindan.”

“….”

“You’re worrying about me first. Even though it would be more advantageous for you if I made a fuss about Liri-tang.”

That was true. If a large YouTube channel targeted Liri-tang, I’d be grateful. With luck, Baek Wonhee might even step down on her own.

“I’m really fine.”

Kim Minah said clearly. Hearing her say that she needed to make a big fuss to get proper compensation put me at ease a little. If she was discussing compensation, she seemed rational enough…

“That bastard director, I’m going to dismember him limb by limb and definitely kill him….”

…Or maybe not. Was it really okay to feel relieved?

I grabbed Jung Pureum’s arm tightly again.

We had visited Kim Minah early in the morning, but by the time we left her house, the surroundings were already dark. It was because cleaning had taken up so much time.

“I’m completely drained.”

After discussing various things related to YouTube and legal action, I felt weak all over. I hadn’t eaten properly all day either. No matter how hungry I was, I couldn’t order delivery food at Kim Minah’s house.

“You went through all this trouble coming with me for nothing.”

“I’m happy as long as I’m with you, hyung.”

“I’m worried I might have dragged you into my problems unnecessarily.”

Even if Baek Wonhee were arrested tomorrow and Liri-tang’s ingredient list were revealed to the whole world, my problem wouldn’t be solved immediately.

The suspicions surrounding the Gongjindan I created would still remain.

Perhaps the overall image of herbal medicine might only get worse because of Liri-tang. People might lump them together, saying Gongjindan was problematic and Liri-tang was problematic too, branding everything as fraudulent.

Kim Minah said she would report Baek Wonhee on her YouTube channel and also try to clear up misunderstandings about Gongjindan, but since the broadcasting station had already aired programs about Gongjindan, it probably wouldn’t be that effective.

It was a bit frustrating to be branded a fraud all by myself, but I could endure it. I’ve been subjected to so many strange misunderstandings over the years. I could just think that life doesn’t go easily and look forward to the next opportunity.

But the problem was the other people caught up in this. Not to mention Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon, if Jung Pureum, who truly became an alpha by taking Gongjindan, also couldn’t escape the suspicion that Gongjindan was a fraud, it would become troublesome for him in many ways.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“How about I just reveal my personal information?”

Jung Pureum stopped in his tracks and asked me.

A real case of a beta becoming an alpha. A living witness who took Gongjindan and manifested as an alpha at the end of his nineteenth year. Jung Pureum was excellent evidence.

The problem was that for the sake of Jung Pureum’s daily life, articles related to him had mostly been published anonymously. He had been reported as something like ‘J, age 19.’

Unlike me, who even did broadcast interviews, all of Jung Pureum’s interviews were anonymous. First of all, he was a minor at the time. People around him or those in the swimming world knew about him through word of mouth, but Jung Pureum’s personal information had never been publicly disclosed on the internet.

That’s why the Gongjindan I created was even more doubted. They said there was someone who actually went from beta to alpha, but they never clearly revealed who it was.

“Don’t say things like that.”

“I don’t care if my personal information gets exposed a bit.”

“No, you don’t. It’s quiet now only because it’s just people around you who know. There’s nothing good about gaining fame through something like this. It’ll cause talk later too when you’re seriously competing as an athlete.”

“….”

“I can’t let you take a loss because of my problems.”

I couldn’t let a future star be held back by me. I walked ahead of Jung Pureum, who had stopped.

“…But I want to take a loss.”

A muttering voice pierced my ear. Wanting to take a loss. What kind of crazy talk was that?

“Don’t talk nonsense again.”

“It’s not nonsense.”

“….”

“I want to be of some help to you, hyung.”

He’s always like this.

How can he say things like that so easily? I could never say those words. I wouldn’t even think about taking a loss in the first place, and even if something like that happened, I wouldn’t be able to say it like Jung Pureum because of my pathetic pride.

What exactly am I to him that he goes this far? We’ve known each other for a long time, but when it comes down to it, we’re not family.

“No.”

I had to draw a clear line. Otherwise, Jung Pureum would really sell his own personal information. I couldn’t sell Jung Pureum out just because my situation had become difficult.

“I don’t want you to… suffer even a little bit because of me.”

This was different in kind from not wanting Kim Miyoung or Nam Jungyoon to suffer because of me. I bit my lower lip hard.

Ta-da! Here is an actual case! The real identity of Jung Pureum, who truly went from beta to alpha at nineteen, revealed! If I did this, I could at least defend against the current attacks.

But that wouldn’t completely quell the controversy either. In the end, the only one who actually transformed into a true alpha was Jung Pureum, and the others were just cases of people who became alphas at the age of manifestation, making it hard to say they truly saw the effects of Gongjindan.

But I didn’t want to sell Jung Pureum out for that uncertainty. Even knowing that I wasn’t in a position to be picky, I felt that way.

Perhaps even if it could have put an end to all the controversy at once, I would still have told Jung Pureum no.

I don’t know about others, but Jung Pureum was different. I couldn’t explain exactly why, but that was certain. He was the most special person I had ever met, and precious…

Precious?