My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 75

The person whose personal information was exposed, Jung Pureum, wasn’t the type to be bothered by such issues. He probably wouldn’t even know this had happened until I told him.

Even though I hadn’t directly harmed him, whenever it seemed like Jung Pureum was being disadvantaged because of me, I couldn’t help all sorts of thoughts running through my head.

“What’s done is done.”

When I regretted having inserted indirect advertising into the drama, Kim Miyoung calmly patted me on the back.

Isn’t the difficulty level of life just too high? If my life were a game, I would have sent a complaint to the operations team about a balance patch failure.

Why do incidents keep happening like this? I knew running a clinic wouldn’t be easy from the start, but I never expected to keep going through hell because of broadcasting stations.

“I think this every time, but being self-employed really isn’t easy….”

“Money is always easy to spend and hard to earn.”

“It’s not just about the money… It’s also that Pureum’s personal information got exposed for no reason. That guy really never catches a break when he’s involved with me.”

“Come to think of it, when I see you like this, you actually have a low self-esteem, don’t you?”

“Me?”

I’ve heard that I’m self-conscious, but this is the first time I’ve heard I have low self-esteem.

I stared at Kim Miyoung with wide eyes.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve heard I have low self-esteem.”

Me, who was always first in class from elementary through high school… low self-esteem? That’s ridiculous. Even in Korean medicine school, I never lost the top spot in my department.

I may not be sure about other things, but I’ve never doubted that I’m an outstanding person. Because the grades that translate into visible numbers were always high.

“Subtly low, I said subtly. When you spend time with you, I can feel it sometimes. Just looking at how you fret over whether you’re causing trouble for others says it all.”

“Pureum isn’t just anyone.”

“Hmph, I see. Since it’s about your future spouse, you can be oversensitive.”

“Don’t tease me. I really will remove the yulmucha tea bags from the break room.”

“Come on, you won’t really do that. Since you like me, you’d order them by the box—you wouldn’t be able to take them away.”

“….”

“Anyway, what I’m saying is, don’t dig yourself into a hole alone. Pureum’s personal information being exposed is a big issue. But that doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself for it. You’re not going to blame yourself for every unjust thing that happens in life, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m not that mentally weak.”

Kim Miyoung laughed at my words. Even if I pretended otherwise, Kim Miyoung’s life experience was extraordinary. And how did she even know I liked her?

“I like it more when you act like a crazy person than when you’re all deflated.”

My mega-best-friend who defies generations….

I shared a warm hug with Kim Miyoung, something only mega-best-friends can do. Now Kim Miyoung truly felt like one of my people.

The life difficulty balance patch might have failed, but all the people around me were good ones. After Baek Wonhee went to jail, only truly good people remained.

As they say, fortune is fickle—good people had come into my life, which had once been known for having no luck with people. I resolved never to let Kim Miyoung go. There would never be another nurse assistant like you in my life….

∞ ∞ ∞

Our clinic was packed again today.

Business was too good. I stood tall amidst the blessings of capitalism and felt a sense of foreboding.

Whenever Gongjindan sold this well, trouble always followed later. Even as I brewed herbal medicine to bring down heat cycles and tried to calm my anxiety, it was no use.

Because a YouTuber had appeared near the clinic again. “Minjun TV, please subscribe, like, and set notifications!”

When <I Want to Know Everything> aired, YouTubers had also loitered around our clinic like this.

No matter how much we informed them that filming inside the clinic was prohibited, it was useless. I’d seen them upload videos to YouTube with Kim Miyoung’s face mosaicked out after she told them they couldn’t film.

Because I hadn’t shared the Gongjindan formula with other clinics, the more famous our clinic’s Gongjindan became, the more attention-seekers, drawn by the scent of controversy, swarmed in like flies.

Our clinic’s cyber “hwa-sal” (disaster-inducing charm) was so outstanding that it kept generating issues. It was no surprise that obsession-seekers crazy for views envied the cyber hwa-sal rooted in our clinic.

Didn’t Kim Minah, the million-subscriber YouTuber, also advise not to feed the view-hungry YouTubers? People blinded by content creation would not hesitate to ruin their own lives.

“Filming inside the clinic is prohibited. It seems like they’re reacting this way because they have something to hide….”

But it was extremely difficult to completely ignore the YouTuber loitering just outside the clinic door with filming equipment.

Since we prohibited indoor filming, they set up camp outside like a protest. In a way, they were more upfront than the broadcasting station people who had come in disguised as patients without saying a word.

“Should we call the police?”

“What would we report them for?”

“Something like obstruction of business—that should work.”

“No, they’ll use it as a YouTube thumbnail. They’ll definitely post something like ‘Story of Coming to the Clinic and Getting Caught by Police.'”

“Still, we can’t just leave them like that.”

“Ignoring them is the answer. Those types… no matter what you do, they’ll edit and upload it negatively.”

Kim Miyoung was right. If it came to it, I could step up and confront them myself. But the best option was for them to leave on their own. If we consistently gave no reaction, those attention-seekers would tire out easily.

Because of the YouTuber, only the real patients were suffering. Seeing Lee Seolwoo, who had come for wrist acupuncture, moonwalk his way out, it looked like we’d be losing some regulars again for a while.

Not long ago, we had brought back wandering regulars with web-sent event texts, and now this again. Fortunately or unfortunately, curiosity about Gongjindan had exponentially increased the number of new patients, so revenue remained steadily on the rise.

As a bonus, I also raised the salaries of Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon, whose workloads had increased. With so much work, I was just grateful they never complained. At the dramatic pay raise, Nam Jungyoon swore his loyalty, saying, “I’ll follow you until the clinic closes.” It seemed I could work the vice director even harder from now on.

“All our Mindeungies, have you all watched The Alpha Who Was a Beta Is Too Much!? They say the original source of the alpha-making nutritional ampoule that appeared there is this clinic’s Gongjindan.”

What are Mindeungies… Are they calling their subscribers something like “Mindeungies” now? I was shook by modern people’s tastes and sensibilities. I’d seen it coming ever since <The Alpha Who Was a Beta Is Too Much!> started doing well.

Technically, since they were filming outside the clinic building, it was hard to find a reason to chase them away. Do you avoid poop because you’re scared? No, because it’s dirty. If you try to stop those types, they’ll just get excited and run wild.

Still, having them causing that ruckus right in front of the clinic, I couldn’t just leave them be. I took out a broom to chase Minjun TV far away.

Since our clinic values cleanliness, we don’t use this type of bamboo broom for cleaning, but I’d recently bought one for chasing people away. After all, when it comes to driving people out, a broom is the best. It’s a traditional weapon in its own right.

I gripped the broom tightly in my right hand and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, since YouTubers all carry cameras, I couldn’t appear aggressive. Because who knows how they’d edit the footage.

Even if I politely asked them to leave, editing the framing and splicing conversations could easily make someone look insane. So I had to look like a (broom-wielding) harmless director as much as possible.

“What are you doing here?”

But before I could step in, Jung Pureum, who had clocked in at the clinic, spotted the YouTuber first.

“Another different person today. Sir, you’re not allowed to film here without permission.”

“What, are you a clinic staff member?”

“Even if I weren’t, I think I could say this much. Doing this in front of the door is obstruction of business. A few days ago, someone with a camera came and caused a commotion saying they were going to film.”

“….”

“Could you please go back? I’m also visiting this clinic, and with you standing here like this, I can’t even get in.”

Wow, he speaks well.

I put the bamboo broom back inside. It seemed I didn’t need to step in myself.

“What a load of crap.”

Minjun TV completely changed his attitude as soon as he turned off the camera and started cursing. That was the height of throwing the blame back.

As I grabbed the bamboo broom again to chase him out, Kim Miyoung held me back, telling me to calm down. Calm, my ass! Even if it ended up on YouTube maliciously, I was going to shave that Minjun TV’s head bald.

“Sir, you just cursed at me, didn’t you?”

“Why are you calling me sir when I don’t even know you?”

“I can’t just call you ‘hey,’ can I?”

Jung Pureum, without a trace of panic, calmly steered the conversation. Minjun TV, no matter how you looked at it, seemed intimidated by Jung Pureum. The height difference between the two must have been at least 10 centimeters.

As if it had been a lie that he’d been camped out in front of the clinic all this time, the YouTuber quickly packed up his equipment and hurriedly left.

Anyway, big alpha males really do have it easy in this world. Times like this made me envy Jung Pureum’s physical attributes. The fact that Jung Pureum’s friendly words were more threatening than me threatening with a broom was something else.

“Hyung, I’m here.”

After easily chasing away the uninvited guest, Jung Pureum strode into the clinic. I simply raised my hand in greeting.

“Are you really just going to leave those YouTubers alone?”

“No? I’m gathering evidence right now. Once I have enough, I’ll sue them first.”

“Those who camp out like that, it’s probably better to just chase them away….”

“You shouldn’t feed those types.”

Even at my cynical response, Jung Pureum looked uncomfortable.

“I’ll come a couple hours early from now on. At least until those people stop coming.”

“What about training?”

“I can leave an hour earlier in the morning.”

Since he was the type to come even if I said he didn’t need to, I just nodded. I’d learned something at the pool—if I said no again here, it wouldn’t be right.