My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 81

The reply only came back late at night.

The guy who said his shoulder hurt was training until this hour. No matter how close the Olympics were, it didn’t sit well with me that he was overworking his body like that.

[You have something to say?]

[(Thinking puppy emoji)]

…Why does he have to use an emoji that looks just like him so adorably and make a fuss? I forcibly lowered the corners of my mouth that kept creeping up. Now is not the time to laugh.

[You said your shoulder hurts, right]

[Right shoulder]

As soon as I sent it, the read receipt appeared. The words “typing…” flickered quickly at the top of the chat window.

Even though he’d read the message, he wasn’t replying right away like usual, so it seemed Lee Seolwoo’s words were true. It stung that I had to hear about his injury from someone else first, rather from Jung Pureum himself.

[Why didn’t you tell me?]

[I can take a look at your shoulder too]

For physical therapy, even a Korean medicine clinic can provide it. Of course, our clinic doesn’t have a specialist in manual therapy… but if Jung Pureum wanted it, adding a new treatment area wouldn’t be difficult.

With private insurance, treatment costs can be reimbursed, so adding manual therapy to our services is just part of business expansion. Though the moment I add it, I’d probably end up working late every day.

And even without manual therapy, acupuncture was more effective than most physical therapies.

The human body is rather illogical—when external impact is applied, damaged internal parts often recover. It’s similar to fixing a broken machine by hitting it. When you apply physical stimulation externally with needles, even tense muscles loosen up quickly.

Jung Pureum, like Jung Saebom, had experienced my makeshift acupuncture before, so he must have known that fact well. Yet he didn’t say a single word to me. I felt a little slighted. Did he not trust my Korean medicine skills?

[Hyungㅇ;]

[Hyung]

[I was worried you’d worry]

After a long “typing…” the reply was only that.

The fact that he kept quiet because he was worried I’d worry made me even more concerned. How little confidence must I have given him that he couldn’t even bring himself to say he was in pain?

It didn’t seem like I could have a serious conversation through messenger, so I decided to talk face to face. Coincidentally, Jung Pureum said he was also heading home, so I got dressed and stepped outside the apartment.

It was quite cold now. They say if winter is especially cold, the following summer is especially hot—I found myself worrying about how hot it would be during next year’s Olympics.

Jung Pureum competes in an indoor pool, so he’ll be fine, right? Even though there’s still plenty of time, all sorts of thoughts flooded my mind. I knew all too well that once Jung Pureum moves into the training camp, it would become harder to see him.

The fortunate thing is that next year’s host country for the Olympics is Japan, which is relatively close.

Airfare will skyrocket during the Olympic season, but if I’m determined, it’s not somewhere I couldn’t go. I could just take the whole clinic staff on summer vacation and go watch the games.

“Hyung!”

I saw Jung Pureum spotting me from afar and running over. Even though it was quite chilly, Jung Pureum was only wearing a black short-sleeve shirt with a hooded zip-up over it.

I watched carefully as Jung Pureum, who had been running toward me, stopped right in front of me instead of hugging me as he came. He hesitated again today, following last time. He used to always cling to me even when I called him clingy…

Could it be that he’s tired of me now?

Even when I tried not to think about it sullenly, the decrease in physical affection made all sorts of doubts creep in. Could a rut—or something like it—come even before we’re officially dating? I hadn’t seen anything about that in the relationship advice articles I’d read online.

But calling it a rut… didn’t quite fit. Jung Pureum’s eyes, looking at me with his face flushed from running, sparkled as if stars had been set in them. Seeing the way Jung Pureum looked at me, it seemed my worries about a rut were unfounded.

“Why are you running over like that? Anyone would think I was about to run away.”

“I didn’t want hyung to get cold. Why are you out here? What if you catch a cold.”

“Do you think I’m that fragile? I don’t catch colds in weather like this.”

“You caught one last time, though…”

“That wasn’t because of the cold—it was from overwork.”

Jung Pureum slowly reached out and carefully took my hand. Being a Soeumin with cold hands and feet, my hand was as cold as ice.

“Your hands are cold too.”

“That’s because hyung is a Soeumin.”

“…”

“You’re really warm from running over, though.”

“I’m a Taeyangin, so that’s why.”

I had clearly intended to confront him with “Why didn’t you tell me about your injury?” but facing Jung Pureum, even trivial talk made me laugh.

When I laughed, Jung Pureum subtly glanced at me. I now knew what question would follow that expression. His pattern was always the same. I’m a human capable of big data learning too.

“…Hyung, you know.”

“If you’re going to ask whether I’d still like you even if you weren’t a Taeyangin, that question is forbidden.”

“…How did you know?”

“Pureum-ah, you’re not the only one who can be a fortune-teller. Everyone carries a fortune-teller in a corner of their heart.”

“…”

“Has the reason you’ve been asking weird questions lately been because of your shoulder? Did you think I’d dislike you if you didn’t win a gold medal?”

“So hyung does notice things…”

Jung Pureum kept his head slightly lowered and fidgeted with my hands, kneading them. The way he was fiddling, like an ASMR YouTuber squishing liquid slime, clearly showed he was anxious.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen him this downcast. He didn’t even watch my reactions this much when I decided to return to my parents’ house.

“Pureum-ah, look at hyung.”

True to his heat-prone constitution, Jung Pureum’s face was warm. I grabbed his chin and forced his lowered head up.

Jung Pureum, who had raised his head at my touch, blinked slowly. My feeling was right. Jung Pureum had been a bit strange lately. He seemed anxious, which wasn’t like him.

“What happened with your shoulder? I was really shocked when I heard your shoulder hurt.”

“…It’s not a big deal. I got a detailed examination too—they said it was just stress-related.”

“Let’s go inside first. We can talk more at my place. It’s cold out here.”

“Hyung.”

Jung Pureum leaned his body closer to me.

I didn’t avoid Jung Pureum as he suddenly came close—I reached out my arms and hugged him. I felt his forehead lightly bump against my shoulder.

It was his first time acting spoiled in a while.

I patted Jung Pureum’s back gently. With the Olympics right around the corner, he was bound to be stressed. It wasn’t just any competition—it was a world event, so of course there’d be pressure.

Come to think of it, I had been putting pressure on Jung Pureum too, always telling him he had to win a gold medal. Half of it was my sincere wish, but maybe telling him to bring back all three gold medals had been a bit much. I knew how exhausting the pressure to do well could be.

As I was pondering what words of comfort to offer, Jung Pureum kept burrowing deeper into my arms. We already had a noticeable size difference, and even when I tried to brace myself, my body kept wobbling and pushing backward.

“Hey, Pureum-ah, wait… hyung’s going to fall.”

“Hyung…”

“Alright, alright. What’s wrong, our Pureum?”

“I’m so happy that hyung says he likes me, but…”

The deeper Jung Pureum leaned in, the more the fresh scent of soap tickled my nose.

His pheromones seemed stronger than last time I saw him… I was worried he might get banned from competing again due to pheromone instability.

I couldn’t tell whether my heart was pounding because of Jung Pureum or because of the anxiety he was causing me. I barely managed to steady my center of gravity and supported Jung Pureum, who was leaning against me like a piece of luggage. Why is he so heavy…

He was as cute as he was heavy, but making such a scene near the apartment would probably result in a notice by the elevator soon saying “Please refrain from public displays of affection.” I soothed Jung Pureum and moved us to a spot where we wouldn’t catch people’s attention.

Once we were in a corner out of sight of the CCTV, Jung Pureum sank even deeper into me. Oh dear, oh dear… A swimmer killing a Korean medicine doctor.

“What if hyung suddenly changes his attitude…”

Jung Pureum mumbled into my shoulder, his head buried there. Since he wasn’t speaking to my face but against my shoulder, his pronunciation was all garbled.

“That’s what scares me.”

But the word “scares” was clear enough to hear. He was afraid I might suddenly change my attitude. Hearing that, I traced back through my past actions. Wait, what did I do to make him scared?

…But then again, I felt like I had done far too many things to deny it. Huh? Wait, why do I feel like I’m the one at fault?

The fact that Jung Pureum of all people was this anxious was definitely worth thinking about. Jung Pureum was the type with no ambition—he hadn’t even been fazed when his coach banned him from competing for crushing his spirit.

There were only two people in the world who could succeed in breaking Jung Pureum’s spirit where even that coach couldn’t. One was his older sister, Jung Saebom, and the other was me.

I patted Jung Pureum’s back like an owner soothing a frightened large-breed dog. There, there. Hyung understands everything, it’s okay… All sorts of words swirled in my head, but I couldn’t easily open my mouth.

“Pureum-ah.”

“…”

“Um, what should I say, well…”

But what could I do to give a proper comforting?

No matter how much I racked my brain, no suitable words for the situation came to mind. I fumbled and raised my hand to stroke Jung Pureum’s fluffy back hair.