My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 78

Jung Pureum let the coach’s words about paying attention to body management go in one ear and out the other. If it weren’t for the coach, his shoulder muscles wouldn’t have been strained in the first place.

Just knowing that he was receiving regular physical therapy would make Moon Yeonghwa freak out and blame everything on Minjun TV’s surprise attack—that was obvious.

And then he’d start blaming himself again.

He’d dig himself into the ground, saying Jung Pureum’s career was ruined because of him. Even though as an omega he hadn’t even served in the military, Moon Yeonghwa was far too good at digging himself into holes.

So he couldn’t let his guard down even a little.

Jung Pureum thought of Moon Yeonghwa and steeled himself. To be blunt, Moon Yeonghwa was a bit underhanded. When the situation turned unfavorable, he never knew when he might change his story.

That’s why they’d even written a contract back then. At that time, Moon Yeonghwa hadn’t cared about him this much.

“I think it would be better to reduce training intensity until my shoulder recovers.”

Jung Pureum, who would normally have followed the coach’s instructions without a word, spoke up first.

The coach frowned at those words. It seemed that Jung Pureum, who had always been obedient, was starting to express his own opinions little by little since the national team trials, and it was bothering him.

“Pureum, you’re not going to the Olympics just to win a medal, are you?”

The coach’s mouth, armed with gaslighting, began to rev up again. Jung Pureum wanted to raise his hand and cover the coach’s mouth whenever he got the chance. Coach! Please, in times like this, just say okay!

He’d been unable to cut ties with the coach for ten years now, all because he was a necessary connection for Olympic participation. On top of that, the coach was annoyingly meticulous about his own self-management, so aside from his shitty personality, there was no pretext to get rid of him.

He managed the athletes strictly and spoke harshly, but since he never used physical punishment, reporting him to the ethics committee was impossible.

“You won’t get good results if you slack off. You seem pretty full of yourself now that you have three entries….”

“No, I’m not full of myself—I’m plenty nervous.”

“And yet you want to lower the training intensity?”

“Because I can feel my shoulder condition worsening.”

The coach narrowed his eyes. He seemed suspicious of Jung Pureum asserting his opinion like this.

“Jung Pureum, be honest. You’re still seeing that omega, aren’t you.”

“….”

“You’re not trying to lower training intensity now to do other things, are you?”

“No.”

It was true that he’d changed his training schedule to go to the clinic a little earlier because he was worried about Moon Yeonghwa. And although it was a secret from the coach, he had been steadily visiting Moon Yeonghwa.

But Jung Pureum answered no for now.

In fact, he hadn’t been able to see Moon Yeonghwa much lately. He wanted to be waiting in front of the apartment when he got off work, but training kept ending later and later these days.

“You, I’ll be watching you to the end. If you can’t manage yourself and become unstable again, you won’t be able to compete in the Olympics, you know.”

The coach left the pool after saying he’d change the training routine starting tomorrow. The senior athletes who had been watching Jung Pureum get chewed out from behind slowly approached him.

“Ugh, that bastard. With a heart that ugly, even his hair runs away.”

“Every time he says something, ten strands of his hair should fall out. That’ll teach him.”

“Then that bastard would just shave his head and come back acting the same way? He cares more about running his mouth than his own hair.”

The students, who had suffered more than enough from the coach’s verbal abuse—if not as much as Jung Pureum—gathered and murmured among themselves. Amidst the chatter, a fellow athlete who was in the same year as Jung Pureum spoke up.

“Hey, Pureum, how do you manage to keep a straight face dealing with that bastard?”

“I’ve known him since elementary school. It’s gotten worse recently, but he’s always been like that.”

“…Ugh, he’s really disgusting. Why doesn’t someone replace the coach?”

“He never will. One of the higher-ups in the Olympic federation is family.”

“That nepotism pass is so enviable, really.”

Jung Pureum observed the other athletes cursing the coach in front of him. As they say, shared enemies make fast friends—that saying was spot on.

Early in the semester, the seniors who had picked fights with him in every possible way had now started treating him gently, all for the sake of bashing the coach together. Even though it was a relief, it didn’t feel particularly good.

“Hey, Jung Pureum.”

At that moment, a senior placed a hand on Jung Pureum’s shoulder. Unfortunately, it was the sore one.

“If the coach keeps giving you a hard time, just hand over one of the short-distance events to one of us. He’s throwing a fit because you’re the only one going in three events.”

“Right. For short-distance, Jinhyung here has decent results too.”

The purpose of saying this was obvious. Since he’d secured three entries, they were pressuring him to give up at least one.

Jung Pureum laughed and shook his head.

“Ah, Senior Jinhyung is certainly good too.”

“Right?”

“But I’m faster, aren’t I?”

“….”

“And besides, I’m the one who earned all three entries.”

The cheerful atmosphere cooled as if cold water had been poured over it. One of Jung Pureum’s classmates awkwardly read the room and quietly slipped back.

Jung Pureum found all of this exhausting. He’d rather be doing laps with Moon Yeonghwa at the apartment community center pool—that was much more productive.

As he left the pool for lunch, Jung Pureum encountered another presence that tired him out.

“Oh, Pureum!”

“….”

“Wait, wait! Don’t run away!”

Lee Seolwoo, having spotted Jung Pureum, sprinted toward him at full speed. Jung Pureum was genuinely horrified. Didn’t this guy say he was in the business school? Why was he at the physical education department cafeteria?

“I’m not interested in Pureum anymore!”

After a campus chase, Jung Pureum barely stopped running when Lee Seolwoo declared, “I found another guy, not you!” Panting, Lee Seolwoo stood in front of Jung Pureum and raised his left hand. A simple ring was on the ring finger of his left hand.

“See? There are plenty of alphas who like me even if it’s not Jung Pureum. I’m just picky.”

“Ah, yes….”

“Oh, by the way, you act all sweet in front of the director but you’re a bit cold to me, aren’t you.”

But Jung Pureum still found Lee Seolwoo uncomfortable.

The terror of suddenly receiving a message when he’d never given him his number was indescribable. Even if he died and came back, he probably couldn’t feel any fondness for Lee Seolwoo.

Whether Jung Pureum was uncomfortable with him or not, Lee Seolwoo, after some small talk, cheerfully started saying what he wanted to say.

“From the first time I saw you, Pureum was my type. So I even asked the director to introduce us, but you never know what life brings.”

“Yes….”

“Can you react a bit more enthusiastically? It hurts my pride. No matter how much I liked you, I don’t mess with alphas who are taken. You and the director have something going on, right?”

“That’s right.”

“…Wow, you were answering like a zombie until just now, but you come alive for questions like this.”

Lee Seolwoo giggled and stood on tiptoe, saying he had something to tell him.

“You’ve qualified for the Olympics this time, right?”

How did he know that? Jung Pureum looked at Lee Seolwoo, who seemed to know everything. Lee Seolwoo, still smiling, just shrugged and said he had his ways.

“I heard this somewhere, but apparently the university side took some money and is trying to send another student for the short-distance event.”

“…Where do you even hear information like that?”

“Well, I hear things here and there. People talk to me easily.”

Lee Seolwoo continued.

The main gist was that the university sports association and the Olympic federation were on different lines, so there was a power struggle over athlete entries, and since the coach was on the Olympic federation line, he was getting the cold shoulder from the university side.

Jung Pureum found it fascinating how Lee Seolwoo rattled off stories he himself didn’t even know. Whether it was true or not, he was curious where he heard such rumors.

“I heard Pureum has three entries, right? If you’re unlucky, you might have one taken away, so I’m telling you in advance. Aren’t you grateful?”

“Yes….”

“Ah, zombie mode again.”

“Don’t tell the clinic about this.”

“Only comes alive when the clinic comes up… I won’t say anything. I haven’t been going there lately anyway. I heard there was a commotion with police cars there last time?”

Jung Pureum, who had been right in the middle of that commotion with police cars, pretended not to know and said, “Oh, really?” to deflect.

The information Lee Seolwoo had brought was certainly intriguing.

In the sports world, power struggles over interests often broke out depending on which line you were on, and it was fairly common to force a non-medal-contending athlete into a major competition just because they were on your side.

Strictly speaking, Jung Pureum was on the coach’s line, so he stood on the opposite side from the university sports association. The senior who had told him to hand over one entry was highly likely on the university sports association line.

But Jung Pureum had no intention whatsoever of having his entries taken away because of someone else’s power struggle. Dating was one, bonding was two, and to get married, he needed three. The total number of gold medals required was three. How could he make any concessions here?

It was unfortunate for the university sports association, but Jung Pureum had no intention of giving up any of his entries. Even if it meant breaking his shoulder, he had to see this Olympics through to the end.