My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 60

From the moment I heard about this drama from my mom, I’d only thought about how to extract some indirect advertising.

Call me a sellout if you want. But I’m not doing this because I’m crazy about money—it’s because they grabbed me by the hair first, so I’m just grabbing back.

After all, Writer Seo Eunyoung is a pro. A pro at plagiarism. She clearly never even thought about needing permission to use someone else’s life events as material for a drama production.

And since she got a no-charge ruling even when she went to court over plagiarism, she must have been full of herself. Thinking, “So I won’t be punished even if I do this,” she must have gleefully copied other things.

How could I possibly stop someone like that?

So I decided to just squeeze some money out of the wallet of someone who stabs people in the back. If I can’t deliver justice, I’ll at least extort.

“PD, listen to me.”

PD Lee Minsoo seemed flabbergasted by my proposal. Then again, normally PPL is all selected during the drama production stage, so suddenly being asked for free advertising must have been baffling.

But how did I feel, seeing my patented tonic being used without permission in someone else’s drama, even changed to Western medicine? And what about Jung Pureum, who didn’t even know his own life story was being dramatized?

If we were having a contest of absurdity, I’d win by a landslide.

“I know very well how much money and time goes into producing a single drama. I know it’s hard to suddenly insert an ad in the middle, and I know you’ve already selected all the products during the budget preparation stage.”

“Then why, when you know so well…”

“But you guys did it anyway, knowing it was plagiarism.”

“….”

“Since people who know everything do that, I’m just lying down and throwing a tantrum too.”

“…Are you threatening me right now?”

“I’m negotiating.”

Lee Minsoo must have been conflicted too. If he’d had more experience, he would have dodged by speaking in circles, but being a parachute with a short career, it seemed difficult for him to decide on his own.

“This doesn’t seem like something I can decide alone.”

I’d been wondering when he’d say that.

“I’ll discuss it with the others.”

Lee Minsoo was currently spamming the escape button. Unless he was an idiot, no one would say okay right here.

I decided to let Lee Minsoo go coolly. The higher-ups probably wouldn’t approve paying a material usage fee, but they’d likely okay the free indirect advertising.

Because that would just be a few seconds and it’d be over. Or they might not put it in the drama at all and just insert it once or twice like the cafe × net ending credits.

Instead, if the drama didn’t perform decently, they’d hesitate to use Writer Seo Eunyoung again. The broadcasting station wouldn’t want such issues to repeat either.

Unless <The Alpha Who Was a Beta Is Too Much!> became a huge hit, repeated petty and annoying incidents would gradually narrow Seo Eunyoung’s place.

That was the minimum level of mischief I could do right now. Since I couldn’t stop anything immediately, I had no choice but to look to the distant future and get back at them.

And according to my prediction, <The Alpha Who Was a Beta Is Too Much!> would never succeed. Because the male lead’s face was just so-so. If you’re going to steal Jung Pureum’s life story, shouldn’t you have cast someone better looking than Jung Pureum?

∞ ∞ ∞

Jung Pureum’s national team qualifiers were one day away.

I’d still been keeping my distance from Jung Pureum, but this time I had no choice. With the qualifiers one day away, of course I had to go cheer him on. We’ve known each other for years—I couldn’t just shut my mouth and pretend not to care.

Worried that my pheromones might negatively affect Jung Pureum again, I sprayed myself like crazy with pheromone masking agent. Now I finally felt concerned about what Jung Saebom and Lee Seolwoo had said about my pheromones.

Having skipped normal heat cycles by drinking herbal medicine dozens of times, it was a luxury to expect my pheromones to be normal. Thanks to Jung Pureum, my erratic cycle had stabilized, but… seeing that Jung Pureum had become unstable in turn, I was probably just going to live like this forever.

Just in case, I’d been taking the heat-suppressing herbal medicine consistently since yesterday. The heat cycle was still far off, but with all the recent stress, my physical condition was pretty poor.

Setting everything else aside, I had to avoid giving Jung Pureum any negative influence when I went to cheer him on. Thinking about how I’d made him suffer by going to school last time still made me feel bad.

“Hyung!”

When I visited next door carrying the Gyeongokgo my mom had sent by courier, Jung Pureum greeted me with a bright smile.

It looked like there was a halo shining behind him. As expected, his face was much better than the lead actor of <The Alpha Who Was a Beta Is Too Much!>.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not for you to eat—give it to your dad. It wouldn’t suit an alpha. It’s Gyeongokgo… good for betas. Where’s your mom?”

“Ah, Mom went out for a bit. She went grocery shopping with my sister.”

Only Jung Pureum was home next door. The timing was perfect. I’d just quickly give him the gift and leave.

I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the cheering gift I’d prepared a few days ago. A bracelet I’d bought when I went down to the main house. It’s not easy to buy accessories for someone like Suyeonghwa, so I’d hesitated, but when the seller said it was a “wish-granting bracelet,” I bought it as if possessed.

It was probably the same level of salesmanship as those magic rings that change color with body temperature or anion bracelets that supposedly infuse healthy energy.

But so what if it’s salesmanship? What matters is the feeling. The reason test-takers waste money on good-luck charms is the same as mine.

“Take this. This isn’t for your dad—it’s for you.”

When I held out the well-packaged bracelet, Jung Pureum’s face lit up as he asked if he could open it. Of course. I swallowed dryly and watched Jung Pureum’s reaction.

Would he be disappointed that I bought a cheap, no-name bracelet? Ever since I’d given him that children’s Lego set before, my heart always pounded when giving Jung Pureum something. What if he cried again?

“It’s a cheering gift. Do well.”

“I really like it.”

“I’m glad. They say it’s a wish-granting bracelet.”

“Really?”

“Of course it’s salesmanship, you know.”

Actually, the real gift is the beef I’ll buy him after the qualifiers.

The broadcasting station surprisingly paid a generous material usage fee. It was a pittance, but enough for two people to have one meal of beef. I’d use that money to feed Jung Pureum two portions.

Of course, the day before the competition, I couldn’t buy him anything else. He’d be on a restricted diet for doping tests and condition management.

“Still, make a wish. It might come true.”

“I will.”

“…What wish are you going to make? Winning a gold medal?”

“That seems more like your wish, hyung.”

Seeing him smile brightly after so long energized me too. When I said winning a gold medal really was my wish, Jung Pureum tilted his head slightly.

“I’ll make your wish come true, hyung.”

“What a good kid….”

“So if I really bring back a gold medal, you have to grant my wish too.”

“What’s your wish?”

Jung Pureum strode toward me.

Now that I’d realized I liked this kid, my heart started racing like a runaway locomotive the moment he got closer. Stop it! I don’t want to win the “not acting my age” competition!

My rationality resisted with all its might, but my heart kept pounding faithfully regardless. If someone took my pulse right now, it would be incredibly loud for sure.

“For hyung to like me.”

Looking back, Jung Pureum had always acted like a full-throttle 8-ton truck with broken brakes. I’d just been avoiding it, saying things like “Life isn’t a card game.”

Because he said such embarrassing things so casually, I kept missing the signs. It wasn’t that I lacked awareness—it was at least 80 percent Jung Pureum’s fault for being consistent for eight whole years.

But the “I like you” and “please like me” I’d heard for eight years now sounded different. Because I now knew those were genuine romantic feelings.

My face flushed and my ears burned involuntarily. It wasn’t just my heart acting up—my entire body was slipping out of control.

“Hyung, could you put the bracelet on for me?”

Jung Pureum tilted his head slightly and held out the bracelet and his left wrist toward me.

Opening his eyes wide and deliberately looking pitiful—only now did I notice it. This must be what people call fox-like behavior.

With trembling hands, I fastened the bracelet around Jung Pureum’s wrist. Why was I so nervous over something like this? How had I managed to act so casually in front of him all this time? I found my past self to be truly amazing.

“Hyung.”

“Huh? Yeah…”

“You sprayed masking agent.”

Even though he knew I was trembling right now, Jung Pureum didn’t ask me anything specific. Instead, he casually rested his forehead between my shoulder and neck.

“It’s because of the qualifiers, right? Too bad….”

“Wha—what’s too bad. Stay away. Don’t get affected by my pheromones again.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve been this close to hyung, and yet I can’t smell any scent from you.”

Jung Pureum rubbed his head lightly against my shoulder as if acting spoiled. He wasn’t losing control and leaving pheromones on me like before, but I felt a sense of crisis.

If we got any closer here, the mood would get weird again.

I hurriedly grabbed the back of Jung Pureum’s head. I was trying to push him as far away as possible. It was fine at my place, but at Jung Pureum’s house, you never knew when family would come home….

“You two… what is this?”

Why are my bad premonitions never wrong?

Jung Saebom’s unexpected return was faster than my separation maneuver. Having come back from a great grocery haul, Jung Saebom, holding a box of fruit, twisted his face into a fierce scowl.

The bigger problem was that the aunt next door was standing behind Jung Saebom.

Looking at the aunt’s sturdy face as she held shopping bags in both hands, I thought: I’m in big trouble. In the end, I too would get skewered in this living room….