My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 43

Jung Pureum’s senior, Kim Yongha, observed the captive heat-cycle omega, Moon Yeonghwa, with a dissatisfied expression.

To him, Moon Yeonghwa looked so unlike an omega that at first glance one might mistake him for a Beta. Whether he couldn’t control his pheromones well or not, up close he did emit a pleasant scent.

But that was all.

He was as tall as a Beta male, and though on the slender side, he didn’t have a flimsy feel. Moreover, his sharp, irritable-looking eyes meant he was about a million light-years away from Kim Yongha’s preference for docile-looking superior omegas.

And his personality was equally eccentric—every time Kim Yongha spoke to him, Moon Yeonghwa responded with a look that said, “Are you crazy?” Though he used polite speech, it was far from friendly.

He was fundamentally a different kind of person from Jung Pureum, who never lost his smile and kindness even when threatening someone. Perhaps the only thing they had in common was the tenacity to face Alpha pheromones head-on without gasping.

It was fascinating that he could endure this even though he claimed not to be imprinted with Jung Pureum. Kim Yongha had no intention of harassing an omega who wasn’t even his type, but he did think about groping him a little just to get under Jung Pureum’s skin.

Unfortunately, Moon Yeonghwa seemed perfectly fine. Touching an omega in that state was dangerous. Because they resist fiercely.

Kim Yongha clicked his tongue inwardly. When he informed Jung Pureum of Moon Yeonghwa’s location, Jung Pureum called back within seconds.

That guy, who usually slithered away like a loach whenever a senior called, responded remarkably fast when it came to Moon Yeonghwa.

“Are you really not his lover?”

With that kind of reaction, there’s no way they’re not lovers. Kim Yongha pressed Moon Yeonghwa again.

“Ugh, seriously. Stop with the lover talk already. If every Alpha and omega who are close were lovers, would this be Korea? It’d be Love Love Paradise.”

“…”

“And hey, you crazy bastard, even if he is my lover, so what? Let’s say a fully mature Alpha who’s long past drinking age meets an unrelated omega and has a wholesome, sincere relationship. What the fuck does that have to do with sports! This is exactly why athletes keep falling into other temptations, families break apart, society collapses—”

Moon Yeonghwa exploded. Literally.

His already hot-tempered nature had gone into overdrive.

Kim Yongha, unable to handle the torrent of Moon Yeonghwa’s rambling, found himself instinctively stepping back. …What is this? It’s all nonsense, but somehow it sounds right. This mental attack was top-notch.

Whether Kim Yongha was flustered or not, Moon Yeonghwa kept going with everything he wanted to say.

From pointing out that instead of wasting time like this, he could have swum a few more laps and changed the first digit of his record, to formulaic advice about sharpening himself rather than keeping tabs on others—it all poured out like bamboo shoots after rain.

“Oh, and learn to control your pheromones, you dog of an Alpha.”

On top of that, every word was laced with profanity.

…Isn’t that a bit too harsh? Kim Yongha’s tender heart was wounded. Even my mother never cursed at me once.

“I’m so pissed I’m going crazy. Why can’t you Alpha bastards control your pheromones? Your stench is trash! I said spray some deodorant! Mixed with sweat, it’s twice as disgusting!”

Even my mother never said anything about my pheromones… Kim Yongha was genuinely hurt.

In fact, Kim Yongha’s decision to get revenge on Jung Pureum wasn’t because of swimming-related inferiority.

To begin with, Kim Yongha had little future as a swimmer. He’d been swimming since childhood, and if not this, he had nothing else he could do at this point, so he was just clinging to it. He couldn’t achieve great results, but occasionally when he relied on drugs, he’d put up decent numbers.

The problem was drug addiction.

Among the medications athletes use for pain relief, some contain fentanyl. Used at the proper dosage, there was no issue, but Kim Yongha always used more than the recommended amount. He couldn’t help it because he was vulnerable to physical pain.

Eventually, he spent his own money to bribe brokers and separately purchased fentanyl patches traded on the black market. He got caught by Jung Pureum and ended up being dragged to the broadcasting station.

Jung Pureum confiscated only the fentanyl patches and kept silent about what Kim Yongha had done.

It wasn’t out of consideration for him being a senior; strictly speaking, Kim Yongha was also a victim of synthetic drug addiction. Since he’d even declared he would never do drugs again, Jung Pureum hadn’t seen the need to turn him over to the police.

While Kim Yongha was grateful for that, his pride was so wounded he felt like dying.

Whenever he was involved with Jung Pureum, he became infinitely pathetic. It was the same when he gave testimony in front of the broadcasting station PD led by him, and when he couldn’t talk back to the coach who told him to keep his mouth shut.

It was too unfair that only Jung Pureum held his weakness. He wanted to hold Jung Pureum’s weakness too. Even if he himself couldn’t become a national representative, he hoped Jung Pureum would also be hopeless.

“Don’t envy others. What changes by you doing this?”

“But why are you speaking banmal to me?”

“Because I’ve probably eaten a few more meals than you, you fucker!”

“…”

“Huh? Get your act together and live properly. Let me go while you’re at it. What bad luck… Everyone’s just got too much damn strength.”

But the (presumed) weakness of Jung Pureum he’d finally caught was too eccentric. At first he seemed quite docile, but as time passed, he got angry on his own and ended up like this.

Moon Yeonghwa rummaged through his pocket and slowly pulled out an acupuncture case. Seeing the long needle protruding from the case, Kim Yongha was a bit taken aback.

“What’s that now…”

“What else would it be? A long acupuncture needle.”

“A-are you crazy?”

“Crazy? I’m an offensive-style Korean medicine doctor.”

Long needle in hand, Moon Yeonghwa charged at Kim Yongha without hesitation. Now cold sweat began to form on Kim Yongha’s back too.

Though he looked quite frail on the outside, his skill with the long needle was exceptional—as if he’d made a habit of poking people. Wedging the needle between his index and middle fingers, tilting the angle to target acupoints, then thrusting it in deep. If this were a martial arts novel, it would surely have some technique name.

“Aaaagh!”

“Shh, be quiet. Where in this sacred university are you making such a ruckus like a pig being slaughtered?”

Moon Yeonghwa, having lost his mind, subdued Kim Yongha without thinking of the consequences. It was a scene of “Shock! Omega defeats Alpha!”

Kim Yongha, panicking, released his Alpha pheromones in a stream. It wasn’t intentional. If a person is suddenly attacked by a Korean medicine doctor who’s gone berserk, it’s only natural to be surprised and lose control, isn’t it?

Overexposed to the pheromones, Moon Yeonghwa eventually started bleeding from the nose. Kim Yongha was the one being attacked, but anyone watching would think Moon Yeonghwa had been hit. Kim Yongha was dumbfounded. Even my mother never stabbed me with a long needle…

“Alpha pheromones are shit…”

Once again disparaging Kim Yongha’s pheromones, Moon Yeonghwa pulled out a second long needle from his case.

“Shitty Alpha bastard. Today, right here, I will show you the essence of Korean medicine.”

Since when is a long needle the essence of Korean medicine?

Kim Yongha judged the Moon Yeonghwa before him to be a quack at best. The Korean Medicine Association would surely not forgive him if they saw this.

But before Kim Yongha could tattle on Moon Yeonghwa to the association, Jung Pureum arrived at the student lounge faster.

“…Hyung?”

Jung Pureum completely ignored the senior with a long needle stuck in his shoulder, and only looked at Moon Yeonghwa—who was holding a long needle with crazed eyes and dripping blood from his nose.

Kim Yongha felt genuinely, truly wronged. Even my mother… the rest omitted.

Jung Pureum easily took Moon Yeonghwa from Kim Yongha.

The extra bit was that he had no choice but to knock Moon Yeonghwa out, since the latter was swinging his long needle around with some incomprehensible talk about not being able to proceed to the next stage until he’d taken down Kim Yongha.

The moment Moon Yeonghwa lost consciousness, Jung Pureum, prepared to face disciplinary action, struck Kim Yongha across the face once. Since things could escalate, he didn’t attack the body—an athlete’s asset.

But when a crisp smack! landed on Kim Yongha’s face, his expression was oddly detached.

Better to take a punch from Jung Pureum without controlled force than to get a second long needle from Moon Yeonghwa. Because even though this hurt, at least it wasn’t humiliating.

“I know you told the coach, senior. The coach told me as well.”

“Anyway, that coach bastard plays favorites…”

“Favorites?”

Jung Pureum laughed softly.

“It’s not favoritism—it’s obsession. I’m not a born Alpha like you, senior. Projecting his own hopes onto me, a former Beta, trying to achieve vicarious fulfillment—can you really call that favoritism?”

He was smiling, but he looked pissed.

Kim Yongha clenched his molars tight, afraid he’d get hit again. But Jung Pureum was holding the unconscious Moon Yeonghwa in his arms and didn’t seem to want to throw any more punches.

“Senior.”

“…”

“There won’t be a third time.”

It was a clear threat.

Once with the fentanyl patches, and now this is the second time. He was saying that if Kim Yongha provoked him like this again, there would be fitting retaliation.

Kim Yongha was thoroughly intimidated by the faint murderous intent Jung Pureum radiated, but he rolled his eyes upward to avoid showing fear as much as possible.

“I heard he’s not even your lover, so I don’t understand why you’re so protective. Is he that good in bed? Still, he’s just a heat-case omega, you know.”

Kim Yongha was demonstrating firsthand why male Alphas have shorter average lifespans. The bad habit of earning beatings with his words because he doesn’t know how to bend his pride! This was something that could only be fixed by dying.

Jung Pureum frowned briefly, but instead of retorting to Kim Yongha, he pulled Moon Yeonghwa close and headed out of the lounge.

Upon second thought, Kim Yongha wasn’t even worth talking to.