My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 50

At the same time, Jung Pureum was sitting in the student lounge with a gloomy face. The national team—what was so special about it that it had to drive a wedge between him and his hyung like this?

Of course, being selected as a national swimmer was truly important. Swimming wasn’t just Jung Pureum’s career path—it suited his aptitude, and to do it for a long time, having a stable athletic career guaranteed was essential.

But knowing that was separate from how miserable Jung Pureum felt.

Moon Yeonghwa wanted Jung Pureum to succeed even at his own expense. It was a rare self-sacrificing attitude from someone who always muttered, “Please let me succeed too!”

Sometimes Moon Yeonghwa still seemed to think of Jung Pureum as a twelve-year-old. Even after they’d slept together twice and he kept saying he liked him, he could still see him as a child. At this point, that level of insensitivity was a talent in itself.

“Sigh…”

A deep sigh escaped as if the ground would cave in. Even knowing that sighing like this would drive away good fortune, he couldn’t stop it. There was no more fortune left to lose anyway. After Moon Yeonghwa’s return to the family home, Jung Pureum had become the unhappiest man in the world.

As expected, was there no way but to push forward physically? Should he just time it with the cycle and spend an amazing few days together… It was enough to make him think such thoughts.

But just because they’d slept together twice, Moon Yeonghwa had chosen to return to the family home, saying it would interfere with Jung Pureum’s career. He was truly extreme. Every time Jung Pureum felt that his long-time unrequited love wasn’t normal, his heart crumbled.

“Oh?”

Just as Jung Pureum was about to collapse the student lounge floor with his sighs, a familiar figure stopped in front of him.

“The director’s lover?”

At the words “director” and “lover,” his gaze instinctively rose.

“…Do you know me?”

He quite liked the sound of “lover.” With no intention whatsoever of correcting the other’s misunderstanding, Jung Pureum brazenly looked at the person standing before him. The face looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember who it was.

The other, who clearly seemed to be an omega, had an impression he’d encountered somewhere a few times. But even rummaging through his memory, he couldn’t easily recall who it was.

The only omega Jung Pureum knew well was Moon Yeonghwa. For someone who got along with everyone, Pureum had a surprisingly narrow circle of acquaintances—he didn’t have any superior omega friends he’d exchange greetings with like this.

“It’s me, Lee Seolwoo.”

Who’s Lee Seolwoo…

When Jung Pureum still didn’t recognize him even after hearing the name, Lee Seolwoo burst into laughter. It was a refreshing smile that could have come straight out of an ion beverage commercial.

But whether a stunning beauty right in front of him smiled brightly or not, Jung Pureum was still troubled. To the indifferent Jung Pureum, Lee Seolwoo explained that he was a regular patient at our clinic.

“Ah, I see. No wonder your face looked familiar.”

At the mention of our clinic, Jung Pureum’s attitude immediately turned polite. His shift in demeanor was quick.

“Are you a student here by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, so you’re an alumnus!”

Lee Seolwoo clapped his hands. Jung Pureum couldn’t blatantly ignore someone who was overly pleased to see him, so he just nodded.

“The director was going to introduce us to each other, remember? You really don’t remember?”

“Ah.”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I don’t have an easy-to-forget face.”

Only then did Jung Pureum remember Lee Seolwoo. …Ah! The person who was forcibly conscripted into the “Shouldn’t we pursue meetings at the clinic?” project!

No wonder he had no memory of knowing a superior omega, and it had seemed strange that someone was acting familiar with him.

“May I sit next to you?”

“Yes, sure.”

Since he hadn’t rented out the entire student lounge, Jung Pureum moved aside to make it easier for Lee Seolwoo to sit. As kind to everyone as he was, Jung Pureum had no intention of getting particularly close with Lee Seolwoo.

Right now, because of pheromones, Moon Yeonghwa had gone all the way to the family home—there was no benefit in getting entangled with Lee Seolwoo, a superior omega. Since both were superiors, they wouldn’t affect each other much, but Jung Pureum wanted to be as careful as possible.

Only by stabilizing his pheromones as soon as possible could he formally protest to the coach and get his participation rights back.

Before, he hadn’t been this attached to being selected for the national team, but now he felt like he’d die if he didn’t make it.

On top of that, Lee Seolwoo was the person Moon Yeonghwa had tried to pass Jung Pureum off to. Jung Pureum couldn’t even properly remember his face, but at least he hadn’t forgotten that incident.

If he developed even a slight friendship with Lee Seolwoo, Moon Yeonghwa would definitely jump at the chance and try to set him up with Lee Seolwoo. He’d act like a marriage agency employee, saying that superior-superior imprints were a profitable deal.

Imagining Moon Yeonghwa eagerly playing matchmaker made another sigh escape. Hyung is really stupid… A stupid person with only a good head…

Just as Jung Pureum was about to get up and trudge toward the pool, Lee Seolwoo quickly grabbed him.

“How is the director doing?”

Jung Pureum stopped at the mention of the director. As if enjoying his reaction, Lee Seolwoo started rambling about things Jung Pureum hadn’t asked.

His main point was that after the Baek Wonhee and Liri-tang incident, he hadn’t visited the clinic and was curious about the director and vice director’s well-being.

“Since you’re the director’s lover, I figured you’d know. Please tell him I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit lately. It’s not that I switched clinics—I’ll come see him soon.”

“…”

“Tell him I absolutely didn’t switch to another clinic, okay?”

It seemed he’d switched and was trying to come back because the herbal medicine didn’t suit him.

Jung Pureum easily grasped Lee Seolwoo’s true intentions. That herbal medicine that suppressed heat cycles seemed to be remarkably effective. It was no small feat that it even brought back a wandering regular customer.

“If you go to our clinic now, Yeonghwa hyung won’t be there.”

“Excuse me? Why?”

“…He’s gone down to his family home.”

With those final words, Jung Pureum turned his back completely on Lee Seolwoo. He still hadn’t corrected the misunderstanding that he was the director’s lover.

Jung Pureum remained in a low-pressure state throughout. With Moon Yeonghwa not in the vicinity, there was no way he could be in a good mood.

Still, he faithfully attended training. Occasionally, seniors who noticed Jung Pureum’s pheromone state would pick fights, but he ignored them all.

When Jung Pureum, who would normally laugh and brush them off, passed by with a blank expression, the seniors who had come to provoke him moonwalked away.

Kim Yongha, who had sins to account for, didn’t even come near Jung Pureum. He had the sense to realize that if he got caught this time, he’d be in real trouble.

But unlike the seniors who showed some discretion, the coach remained as unreasonable as ever.

“You, don’t even think about lying to me that you’re a Beta.”

“…”

“The participation ban will remain in effect until the team doctor concludes that your pheromones have stabilized.”

Pheromone stabilization? How exactly do you do that…

To be honest, Jung Pureum wasn’t particularly unskilled at pheromone management even when he’d first become an Alpha. There were some rough edges because it manifested suddenly, but it wasn’t as much of a mess as Moon Yeonghwa thought.

By the grace of the Alpha god, Jung Pureum knew how to control his pheromones moderately, as if he’d been an Alpha from the start. He’d only pretended he couldn’t in front of Moon Yeonghwa to act a little needy.

Having grown up watching his Alpha mother and sister, there’s no way he couldn’t manage at least that much. Jung Pureum was confident in handling his own body—a fitting mindset for an athlete.

But after Moon Yeonghwa’s unauthorized visit to campus, his pheromone control started to go awry. Even grabbing Jung Saebom, who was disgusted by his pheromones, and asking for help was useless.

The coach, seizing this opportunity to crush Jung Pureum’s spirit, banned him from the national team selection trials he’d finally earned. The new key card called “pheromones” had fallen into the coach’s hands.

Everyone, including the team doctor, cited anxiety as the cause of Jung Pureum’s pheromone instability. The team doctor in particular suggested that excessive stress over the national team selection might be the cause.

To Jung Pureum, that was ridiculous. As Moon Yeonghwa said, Western doctors knew nothing. Excessive stress from national team selection? That was impossible for the easygoing Jung Pureum.

He’d never particularly felt burdened by his career. He didn’t have big ambitions, but he’d do well anyway! He’d done well even as a Beta, so now that he was an Alpha, he’d definitely achieve something! If not now, there was always four years later!

The one stressed about Jung Pureum’s career was Moon Yeonghwa. Moon Yeonghwa trembled in fear that Jung Pureum might not win a medal. What stressed Jung Pureum more was Moon Yeonghwa making strange decisions while talking about his future. Hyung only thinks about the future. A fool who only knows the future…

Of course, Jung Pureum understood why Moon Yeonghwa was like that. Having been quite cunning since childhood, Jung Pureum often pretended to be pitiful to hear from the neighbor hyung eight years older about what difficulties he was facing these days.

Who would have known that his past of whining for sympathy would return as such karma? Jung Pureum repented for his detestable childhood.

But Moon Yeonghwa was the type who, unless he was sniffling right next to you, would never talk about his own hardships even if it killed him. The one who fell first was at fault, and Jung Pureum had no other choice either.

In truth, Jung Pureum wasn’t particularly hurt by being dismissed for being a Beta. What was more absurd was that Moon Yeonghwa, an inferior omega, wouldn’t see him as a romantic interest because he was a Beta.

In any case, people only look at results. If Jung Pureum achieved good results without changing his secondary gender, the discrimination he faced would just become another element of his success story.

Perhaps he could have given hope to other Betas, including the coach. He would have realized the phrase Koreans love: “You can do it!”

“Hey, are you okay?”

One of the seniors who usually envied Jung Pureum approached. Fortunately, he wasn’t there to pick a fight—he was holding a can of drink in his hand.

“Drink this and pull yourself together. The coach is just doing this to break your spirit. Once your pheromones stabilize, you’ll be fine. You’re the best among us, so they won’t have an alternative anyway.”

Until a few days ago, this was the same person who’d said, “Must be nice being the only one competing.” It was a novel experience being comforted by him.

Jung Pureum received the can with a word of thanks. He had no intention of drinking it, given the various drugs the seniors consumed, but he did feel his mind clear a little.