My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 80

Nam Jungyoon, who had been ominously teasing me without actually telling me what I wanted to know, finally got to the point after a long while. He only opened his mouth after I’d pounded my fist on the solid wood desk about twice.

“Actually, this varies from person to person. I’m a heat-type alpha and Pureum is a dominant-type, so there will be differences too.”

“That’s true. Compared to regular omegas, I’m on the side of not getting heat cycles either.”

“You’re just delaying it with somewhat abnormal methods, sunbae.”

“Do you think herbal medicine is abnormal?”

“No? It’s perfectly normal.”

“Right.”

“But still, take it in moderation. No matter how crappy the design, the human body is built that way for a reason.”

“Who’s the designer? Must have been a newbie. Even the designer would look at modern humanity and go, ‘Huh? How did they survive?'”

Despite my cold response, Nam Jungyoon kept going on about how I should reduce the herbal medicine that brings down heat cycles. Whether Western or Korean medicine, nagging was the same everywhere.

“Assuming you’re not abusing medication like sunbae does, alphas generally seem to have a rut cycle every month and a half to two months.”

“A month and a half? Nice, longer than I thought….”

“Sometimes if there’s an omega nearby who can’t control their pheromones, they might go through it every month. It gets better after bonding, though.”

“Omegas are basically on a monthly cycle.”

No wonder Nam Jungyoon seemed to use less vacation time than me.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d heard about alphas properly. They should have taught us this properly in school sex education. Unless it’s general knowledge, I can’t say I know much about alphas in detail either.

I’ve seen enough anatomical structures to be sick of them from human anatomy classes, but that doesn’t mean I’m an alpha myself. Aside from the advantage that core muscles don’t disappear easily compared to other secondary genders, there’s not much publicly known information.

“But wouldn’t it be best to just ask him directly?”

“How can I ask without embarrassing myself? Asking about rut cycles out of the blue is sexual harassment.”

“You asked me, though.”

“Are you the same as Jung Pureum?”

“…Ha, this is vice director discrimination.”

Nam Jungyoon made a crying gesture and stormed out of the director’s office. When he acts like that, he really doesn’t act his age.

Jung Pureum probably takes medication too, though not herbal medicine—just as much as I do. Since he has to enter the training camp anyway. Alpha athletes have been taking pheromone-regulating medication consistently since childhood because of these issues.

So Jung Pureum, having become an alpha, would also be taking medication like other alphas. Assuming the ingredients aren’t strong enough to trigger a doping violation, his rut cycle would probably come around roughly once every two to three months.

Come to think of it, this is also absurd. Alpha pheromone-regulating medication came out quickly, so why is omega pheromone-regulating medication still under development? As expected, Korean medicine is superior to Western medicine.

I pushed the desk calendar back to the corner of the desk again. I felt worried, but I decided not to dwell on it too deeply. If his condition was really bad, he’d tell me first. Now that we’ve confirmed we like each other, who knows—maybe we’ll sleep together once before he enters the training camp.

Even if there were other issues, he wouldn’t keep them from me until the end. Because the other person is Jung Pureum.

…A few days after I thought that, I heard some shocking news.

It was thanks to Lee Seolwoo, who visited our clinic after a long time, telling me about the power struggle between the university sports association and the Olympic federation while getting acupuncture on his wrist.

It was a story more gripping than any big corporation’s melodrama romance movie. Wait, shouldn’t they all want South Korea to win gold medals regardless of which athlete goes—why are they fighting among themselves? It was so interesting that I almost forgot to remove the needles from Lee Seolwoo’s wrist. If the heating device hadn’t beeped on time, I would have chatted with Lee Seolwoo the entire time during the acupuncture.

“Still, I was worried, but you seem more okay than I thought, Director.”

“Worried? Ah, you mean the time the police came to the clinic last time.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Minjun TV wasn’t a first-time offender. Well, it wouldn’t make sense for someone running that kind of channel not to have a criminal record.

He already had a criminal record, which was why he wasn’t afraid of lawsuits. Thanks to that, I heard he got a heavier sentence—three years in prison. I hope he’s eating prison rice happily with Baek Wonhee.

It was a bit irritating to think of Baek Wonhee and Minjun TV sitting cozily together eating prison rice with my tax money. Still, it was better than a drug trafficker and an attempted murderer running around outside.

“No, not that.”

“There’s something else?”

“Director, surely… you don’t know?”

What don’t I know?

I met Lee Seolwoo’s gaze, his already large eyes wide open as he stared at me. …What is it?

“Then I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“What is it?”

“Well… Oh, I don’t think I should be the one to say this. Since you didn’t know, I’d just be stirring up trouble for nothing….”

There are two ways to drive someone crazy. One is to start talking and then stop… and the other is to say, “You don’t know? Then I can’t say either…”

If you’re going to do that, don’t even start! I was going crazy with curiosity about what I didn’t know.

“If you tell me just a little, I’ll give you a ten percent discount on herbal medicine.”

“Come on, I’m not the type to be swayed by money.”

“Thirty percent.”

“Go higher.”

“Thirty-five percent.”

“That’s too good of a discount to refuse.”

“Think of it as a regular customer service.”

As expected, most problems can be solved with money. If it can’t be solved, you should consider whether you’re offering enough.

Lee Seolwoo cleared his throat a few times and then repeatedly begged me to keep what he was about to say absolutely secret. Just as I was getting curious about what kind of shocking story required this much buildup, Lee Seolwoo finally opened his mouth.

“Jung Pureum has a shoulder injury.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You really didn’t know?”

He seemed perfectly fine to me? For someone injured, he sure used his shoulder well.

My head spun for a moment from the shock. I suspected Lee Seolwoo might be trying a hidden camera prank on me.

“He looked fine on the outside, though….”

“I’m close with the team doctor from the physical education department.”

Of course you are…. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lee Seolwoo was close with anyone. His personality might be a bit odd for his looks, but his sociability is off the charts.

“So it’s not like I deliberately pried….”

You probably did deliberately pry.

“I just happened to find out by chance. That Jung Pureum’s right shoulder is a bit uncomfortable….”

Not “by chance”—you probably specifically pried to find out.

I turned my head away to avoid looking at Lee Seolwoo with suspicious eyes. Holy moly. Did I just hear about Jung Pureum’s injury through someone else?

“I heard this is a top-secret level one secret.”

I trembled at the “top-secret level one secret” that had spread from the team doctor to Lee Seolwoo and then been leaked to me. The Olympics are less than half a year away! Our kid has a shoulder injury!

I had no idea where he got injured since he didn’t even take a single hit from Minjun TV. I was worried that the school seniors might still be bullying the delicate and fragile Jung Pureum. Where on earth would they even dare to hit our kid!

“If I’d known you’d be this shocked, I wouldn’t have said anything. I shouldn’t have brought it up, right?”

“No… When you leave, please take a dose of herbal medicine at a thirty-five percent discount….”

“As expected, the director keeps his word. Our clinic is the best.”

Despite Lee Seolwoo’s slick flattery, my scattered mind wouldn’t recover. The two-word phrase “injury” had already completely taken over my head.

Was I really considering his rut cycle without even knowing he was sick? I’m the real designation-obsessed freak. Reflect on yourself, Moon Yeonghwa.

While Lee Seolwoo left with a freshly brewed dose of herbal medicine, I repeatedly picked up and put down my phone, agonizing over whether to contact Jung Pureum.

Jung Pureum must have had a reason for not telling me. Although it had all been leaked, since it was a top-secret level one secret, perhaps he planned to keep it a secret until the Olympics. The Olympics are that important.

But Jung Pureum’s health was just as important as winning a gold medal. Unless he was planning to quit swimming after a brief stint, body management was always the top priority.

Besides, Jung Pureum loved swimming. He was the type who found satisfaction in cutting through the water and moving forward.

Regardless of results, a shoulder injury was a serious problem for someone who loved what they did. He was supposed to live in the water his whole life—if things went wrong, he might never be able to compete as an athlete again.

[Pureum]

[Hey]

[Is there anything you want to tell hyung?]

In the end, after countless hesitations, I sent this message to Jung Pureum. The read receipt didn’t appear—he was probably still training.

I turned my phone face down and leaned back in the director’s office chair.