My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 40

I stared at the messenger notification that had appeared on my screen and then disappeared. Aha, Jung Pureum. Contacting me at this hour. So training ended at 1 AM.

That coach bastard, is he crazy?

My inner fury was on the verge of running wild. No matter how much of an athlete he is, this is going too far. I’m not Jung Pureum’s family, but I felt like I wanted to grab the coach and lodge a complaint someday.

But no matter how much I mentally tore out the coach’s hair, I couldn’t actually confront him in person. The neighbor lady was staying put, so what could I do? What if I acted recklessly and ended up blocking Jung Pureum’s path?

Come to think of it, that makes me angry again?

At this point, it’s strange that I’m a Soeumin type. With so many environmental factors heating up my anger, and I’m a Soeumin? That’s just nonsense. The Five Elements and Yin-Yang must be wrong.

I fumed alone, glaring at my innocent phone. So I’m not reading them, and you send only three messages? That’s it.

I wish Jung Pureum would just whine to me. Then I could use that as an excuse to throw down with the coach. I could have approached him all cocky, saying, “Was it you? The bastard who harassed my younger brother?”

But Jung Pureum didn’t say a single word to me about the coach or the training. Jung Saebom knew where he was, but I didn’t. Of course—because Jung Pureum kept it a secret from me.

That’s what felt so unfair.

Since when were there secrets between us! I’m the one who knows all of Jung Pureum’s past math test scores. I’m the one who could find out Jung Pureum’s bank account password if I wanted to!

And yet now, there were more and more secrets. Jung Pureum wasn’t the same as before. Part of it was because he’d gone from beta to alpha, but perhaps the biggest reason was that he was now an adult.

Even though I understood it rationally, I couldn’t help feeling a little hurt.

He wasn’t like this before. Jung Pureum said he didn’t want to maintain the same relationship as before, but I still missed our past.

I wanted to be connected not as alpha or omega, but as person to person. I hated that our relationship had changed just because his traits had shifted a little.

He probably wouldn’t show me his vulnerable side like before anymore. I recalled Jung Pureum’s face from much younger days.

Even back then, Jung Pureum grew faster than his peers. His middle school uniform didn’t fit when he entered, and he had to get new ones twice before graduation.

There was a time when everyone said to him, “It’s a shame you’re not an alpha.” Back then, Jung Pureum hid nothing from me.

What happened at school, who mistook him for an alpha again… he’d tell me all those trivial things when I asked. Though looking back, it was closer to me laying groundwork just to ask about his college life.

[I’ll come to the clinic tomorrow]

I checked Jung Pureum’s last message again. Not by opening the messenger, but just glancing at the notification bar.

His profile picture suited him, too.

Just a picture of the sky, really? No status message. Not that I have room to talk, with our clinic sign as my profile picture, but he’s really understated.

Lying in bed, I scrolled through Jung Pureum’s messenger for a long time. I checked not just his profile but even his background photos, but there were only a few where his face was clearly visible.

“Wait a minute….”

Why was I even looking for that?

The moment I realized it, I dropped my phone on my face. My face, struck by the blunt object that was my phone, throbbed. Crazy, it landed right on my nose….

Dumbfounded, I squeezed my eyes shut and fumbled around on the bed. The phone, which had struck its owner’s face, was being ungrateful and wouldn’t even be found. Surely, it didn’t crack from hitting my face, did it?

When I finally grabbed the phone again, I nearly fainted with my eyes open.

―Hyung?

“Crazy.”

―You’re not asleep? It’s past two.

What were the odds of a video call getting placed by a control error? My lack of grip strength managed it.

I shot up from the bed. Since I’d been lying down trying to sleep, I looked a mess. Never mind my disheveled hair, my clothes were shabby too.

On the other side of the screen, Jung Pureum was also in pajamas, but compared to me, he looked perfectly put together. I quickly ended the video call. There’s no way the world would forgive this one-sided breach of dignity.

But my swift call-ending skills were followed by another call. The caller was naturally Jung Pureum. Suddenly getting a video call and then having it cut off must have been baffling for Jung Pureum.

Fortunately, it was an audio call, not video. As expected, Jung Pureum knew propriety.

―You suddenly called, so I thought something happened.

“Nothing much. I just accidentally dialed.”

―A video call?

“A lot happened.”

My face and bedsheet somehow placed that call. Since it was a bit embarrassing, I didn’t bother saying that.

―I thought you were asleep since you didn’t reply. If I’d known you were awake, I would have called first.

“I couldn’t sleep. Must have had too much coffee.”

―It’s a weekday tomorrow. You should sleep early. What if you get sick again?

“You sleep early too. If training’s over now, you must be tired.”

―I feel like I’m dying, yeah. But thinking I get to see hyung tomorrow makes it okay.

Hearing Jung Pureum’s voice made a corner of my chest tingle. All the complicated feelings I’d felt earlier melted away like snow.

Right, with such a good kid, what was I thinking… Hurt? Hurt can freeze to death. A smile naturally spread across my lips.

“Pureum.”

―Yes.

“Next time, can I come watch you train?”

I asked with a light heart.

I had gone to watch a few times before he moved to the alpha-only pool. I didn’t go often, but whenever I visited the pool, Jung Pureum seemed quite happy.

So this time too, I expected a cheerful yes. If I visited as Jung Pureum’s family, even an alpha-only pool would allow me to watch from a distance…

―No.

“Huh?”

―Don’t come. It’s dangerous.

But what came back was a clear refusal. It felt like someone had pierced my tingling chest with a thin needle.