My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan Chapter 99

While I was off dreaming alone about having the ring remade, Jung Pureum was stroking his left pinky finger with a deeply shy expression.

I’d given Jung Pureum all sorts of gifts over time, but I’d never seen him this happy. After the children’s Lego set that turned out to be the worst gift ever, I thought I’d never see that face again.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re staying the night, right?”

“Here?”

Jung Pureum, nodding with his cheeks flushed pink, was incredibly cute.

Even though I knew that if Jung Pureum wanted to, he could overpower me within three seconds, he still looked cute to me. This must be what love is.

I rubbed my eyes, which seemed to have gone slightly insane, with the back of my hand and shook my head. My heart wanted to stay glued to Jung Pureum and write a new chapter in history, but the Olympics weren’t over yet.

“I should head back to the lodging soon.”

Nam Jungyoon and Kim Miyoung had warned me that if I came back today, they’d kick me out of the hotel, but they wouldn’t actually do that. If absolutely necessary, I could just book another room here.

“…Why?”

“What do you mean why? The closing ceremony isn’t over yet. Your events are done, but you’ll have other schedules.”

“But we’re now engaged to be married.”

“That’s true, but… you have to go to the closing ceremony too. And I have to go back to Korea in two days.”

“….”

“Besides, there are reporters all over the place. What if weird rumors start circulating?”

“…Not staying the night when we’re engaged is illegal.”

“What kind of law is that?”

“I just added it to the constitution.”

The illogical conversation continued. Yes, one netizen did say that since Jung Pureum was good at both swimming and looking good, we should make him president.

But talking about the constitution just because I won’t stay the night shows Jung Pureum isn’t presidential material either. I let out a hollow laugh and took out the half-eaten raw chocolate.

“Stop talking nonsense and eat some chocolate.”

As I fed him a piece of raw chocolate, Jung Pureum, who had been whining for me to stay, became quite docile. He probably hadn’t even dreamed of snacks like this while on his diet.

I put another piece of raw chocolate into poor Jung Pureum’s mouth. Since he had no more Olympic events to compete in, this much should be fine.

While I was busy feeding and taming Jung Pureum with chocolate, he chewed thoughtfully and then asked about future plans.

“Where would be good for our honeymoon house?”

“We haven’t even had the wedding yet, and you’re already talking about a honeymoon house.”

“I was thinking I should prepare the household goods.”

“I should be the one preparing those. You just bring your body.”

“Hyung….”

“Your body is the best gift.”

At my words, Jung Pureum looked deeply moved. And then, instead of reaching for more chocolate, he sheepishly set it down.

“I’ll do my best not to lose this body.”

Why does he have to say things like that so pitifully? With that build… anyone would think he’s Shim Cheong being sold off for three hundred seok of rice.

Anyway, Jung Pureum persistently clung to me, who had no intention of staying the night. The most absurd thing he said was that we could just hold hands and sleep, so I didn’t need to worry about pheromones.

With us clinging together like this, my head was already spinning; there’s no way holding hands and sleeping would eliminate pheromone effects.

“If you’re worried about me affecting other athletes with unstable pheromones, we can just go ahead and imprint now.”

“No. There’s no mood here.”

“….”

“Hyung will properly prepare for the imprinting this time.”

I had spectacularly failed at the ring due to my size estimation, so I was determined to succeed at the imprinting at least. I recalled in my mind the high-end hotels famous as sacred sites for alpha-omega couples to imprint.

These days, hotels even sell heat-rut cycle packages and such. I’d book one of those packages and make sure that the imprinting, one of life’s biggest events, would be a success.

If I’m going to do it, I should do it right. I couldn’t just rush through the important event of imprinting in some temporary Japanese hotel like hiding a game of Go.

“Hyung is sometimes… particular about the strangest things.”

“Particular? How is that strange. Imprinting is such an important event in life. Once it’s done, you can’t undo it, you know? Even if the marriage fails, you have to carry the imprint for life.”

“I’m going to carry the marriage for life too….”

“That’s why we have to be careful. I’ll scatter rose petals on the bed and set up candles on the floor. Like in a romance drama.”

I don’t think the romance dramas I watched with my mom actually had that many scenes like that, but I wanted to try it at least once. This kind of thing is secretly a fantasy.

Until now, it had been such a distant story that I was somewhat indifferent to it. But now that I had Jung Pureum, it was a close problem.

Preparing for the wedding would probably be quite enjoyable too. I’d heard that many couples break up while preparing for the wedding. Still, Jung Pureum and I would be fine.

Because we have a lot of money. This is exactly what I’d been running the clinic so diligently for.

“I haven’t seen hyung in so long, I really don’t want to part like this. I want to stay together a little longer.”

“That’s… me too.”

“Can’t you really stay just one night? The bed here is really fluffy.”

Jung Pureum cast his eyes down pitifully. When I thought about it, staying one night didn’t seem so bad.

I had to return to Korea before the closing ceremony anyway to run the clinic. Even though his events were over, Jung Pureum couldn’t just leave Team Korea, so if we parted now, it was clear we wouldn’t see each other for several more days.

Besides, it was a monumental day where we’d even proposed to each other; I’d feel bad leaving Jung Pureum all alone.

I’d tried to separate work and personal life.

But when Jung Pureum clung to me like this, it wasn’t easy. Because I wanted Jung Pureum as much as he wanted me.

“We’re just holding hands and sleeping, got it?”

“Of course.”

When I gave my definite answer after deliberating, Jung Pureum, who had been hanging his head, snapped it up. As if he’d never had a dejected expression, he was overflowing with vitality.

No matter how I thought about it, that pitiful expression was clearly put on for show. Otherwise, how could someone who’s not even an actor change expressions so quickly?

After our brief agreement to ‘just hold hands and sleep,’ we lay on the same bed holding hands. Since I hadn’t brought a change of clothes, I wore a bathrobe provided by the hotel.

Jung Pureum endlessly stroked the ring on my left ring finger. It seemed he was very pleased with the ring he’d given me.

“You’re not wearing the other ring.”

“I only have one left ring finger.”

“Then I’ll wear the other one around my neck.”

“Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable in the water?”

“I won’t be able to wear it in the water… but I still want to keep wearing it.”

I’m no jewelry expert, but I know that water and jewels don’t mix well. Common sense dictates that pool water isn’t good for jewelry. Especially since the ring I gave him is silver, it’ll tarnish at the slightest contact with water.

“It’s fine to wear it all the time. If it gets damaged or lost, I’ll have a new one made for you.”

This is what having a wealthy older lover is for. I subtly gazed at Jung Pureum, who was leaning his head against my chest.

But when it actually came to just holding hands and sleeping, I felt a little unsatisfied.

I should have asked for at least a kiss. The little reason and social face I had left were screaming in my head that I shouldn’t, but I no longer blinked at those screams.

I lowered my head and kissed Jung Pureum on the cheek. The refreshing scent of soap stimulated my senses.

“You said we’d just hold hands and sleep…”

“Kisses like that are just child’s play, so it’s fine.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I just added it to the constitution.”

As if it really were just child’s play, I held Jung Pureum’s chin and peppered him with small kisses. Jung Pureum, with his eyes slightly closed, endured my kiss bombardment.

Then, as if thinking he couldn’t just be on the receiving end, he kissed me back. A kiss that was a bit too intense to be called child’s play followed.

Our pheromones naturally mingled in the hotel room. Since it had been a while since we’d actually been physically intimate, it was hard to restrain ourselves.

I held Jung Pureum as if cradling the back of his head and continued the long kiss. Through the slightly parted bathrobes, Jung Pureum’s hand naturally slipped in.

“This doesn’t seem like child’s play anymore.”

“Kids shouldn’t do this.”

“Right.”

“But I’m not a kid, so it’s okay.”

I was dumbfounded. As long as the Olympics weren’t over, he couldn’t just hole up in a hotel, yet he fearlessly started groping my chest.

Had he decided to make it obvious that he’d ‘slept with the person he publicly proposed to’? I firmly grabbed Jung Pureum’s wrist near my chest.

But it was also hard for me to completely push Jung Pureum away. I was also a helpless slave to desire.

“We’ll imprint on the day hyung says we will.”

“Hey, if you do this…”

“I won’t imprint, so can’t we just do a little more?”

“….”

“I missed you so much….”

Jung Pureum buried his head between my neck and shoulder.

I reached out and pulled Jung Pureum into my arms.