ATGRA 56

After the Riritang incident, our clinic lost quite a few regular patients. Some returned after the corrective broadcast aired, but there were far more cases where we lost touch with them completely.

Lee Seolwoo was one of them. He was an early customer who had visited our clinic consistently when it was dead quiet, but he was a regular who stopped coming once the clinic became embroiled in controversy.

If it were me, I don’t think I would keep going to a clinic caught up in a scandal either. There are so many oriental medicine clinics in the world. A quick search for omega-specialized clinics alone brings up dozens of results.

So, I didn’t have any particular hard feelings toward Lee Seolwoo, the regular who left. In the first place, even if it was because of Baek Wonhee, losing a regular was my own fault for poor management.

Still, the news that a runaway regular had returned made me ecstatic. We haven’t even grilled any autumn gizzard shad, yet you’ve come back like this…

“Should we send out a round of clinic advertisement texts through a web messaging service?”

“What are you trying to do now.”

“Goodness, anyone would think I’m about to cause trouble. I’m just trying to do some marketing, you know?”

“You were all depressed about losing regulars…”

“Why? I think it’s a good idea. It is about time for a special discount event on Gongjindan.”

Ms. Kim Miyoung, who had approached without a sound, naturally joined the conversation. She meant that since most people who would buy it at full price had likely already done so, we should increase sales by offering a 10 percent discount.

Ms. Kim Miyoung is truly an excellent employee. I listened intently as Ms. Kim Miyoung detailed a strategy for bundled Gongjindan sales and adding deer antler velvet.

Nam Jungyoon, who personally prescribes Gongjindan, was vehemently opposed to expanding the marketing, but as Ms. Kim Miyoung said, it was time for a more aggressive sales strategy.

“You two are just doing this to get your regular back, aren’t you…”

I pretended not to see Nam Jungyoon, whose workload never seemed to decrease. What is he talking about? I’m absolutely not paying for a web messaging service subscription in order to contact a regular.

However, Lee Seolwoo wasn’t one to wait around either. Lee Seolwoo’s return visit to the clinic came faster than my drafting of the web message content.

“Director, it’s been a while.”

Somehow knowing that I was back, Lee Seolwoo showed up at the clinic, even carrying a box of vitamin drinks.

“I came by once before, but you weren’t here. I thought something might have happened, but I’m glad to see you look healthy.”

“You too, Mr. Lee Seolwoo. You’re here for a prescription today, right?”

“Yes. I’ve been to all the other clinics, but none of their herbal medicine is as good as yours.”

Well, that’s because the directors of other clinics are, with high probability, betas. You would have to go to an omega-specialized clinic to find an omega oriental medicine doctor.

Of course, even an omega-specialized doctor probably couldn’t brew herbal medicine as amazing as mine. Herbal medicine that completely suppresses the heat cycle isn’t exactly common.

I giggled inwardly. I was so happy that Lee Seolwoo had ultimately come back to our clinic. It felt like my skills in oriental medicine were being acknowledged.

Lee Seolwoo said that while he was getting medicine, he might as well get some acupuncture too. Right, our clinic is the best at acupuncture too. We are experts not only in pharmaceuticals but also in acupuncture. I felt incredibly proud of myself as I led Lee Seolwoo to the acupuncture room.

Lying on the bed in the acupuncture room, Lee Seolwoo stared at me intently. Was it because it’s been a while? Lee Seolwoo seemed a little different too. He was still handsome, but the way he looked at me was strange.

“Is it your wrist that’s bothering you?”

“Yes. I strained it while carrying some things the other day, and it’s been hurting ever since.”

I decided to just pretend I didn’t notice Lee Seolwoo’s gaze. In life, a regular patient might come back after a long time and look at you a little meaningfully.

I skillfully inserted the needles and turned on the heating pad over his wrist. After telling Lee Seolwoo to rest comfortably, I was about to leave the acupuncture room when Lee Seolwoo stopped me.

“Director.”

“Yes?”

“Did Mr. Jung Pureum happen to mention me?”

“…Pardon?”

My perfectly functioning train of thought declared a strike. I looked at Lee Seolwoo, unable to hide my bewilderment.

This is strange. I’m sure I put the needles in his wrist, so why is he saying something so weird? No matter how I checked, I hadn’t placed any needles in Lee Seolwoo’s head or the back of his neck.

“I didn’t know, but it turns out we go to the same university.”

Lee Seolwoo said he had run into Jung Pureum in front of the physical education building. It was unsolicited information, but for some reason, the thought of simply replying, “Oh, I see!” and turning to leave didn’t cross my mind. The cheerful mood I’d been in just moments before quickly dissipated.

Lee Seolwoo had shown interest in Jung Pureum before. He had been uncomfortable with the decently handsome recessive alpha Nam Jungyoon, but he had taken a liking to the good-looking Jung Pureum. And at the time, I also thought it would be good to know a dominant omega, so I had wanted to introduce Lee Seolwoo to Jung Pureum.

After all, if he hit it off with a dominant omega, it could be helpful to Jung Pureum in many ways. I had judged that even without imprinting, a dominant omega could help with his pheromone control and stability. Since I was a recessive, I couldn’t help with those things at all.

Besides, the two were in a similar age range. Lee Seolwoo was older than Jung Pureum, but at most, there was only a three or four-year difference.

It was just a few months ago that I had hoped Lee Seolwoo and Jung Pureum would get along well, partly to deal with the messy contract I’d written with Jung Pureum. But now, I found Lee Seolwoo’s interest irksome to a degree that was difficult to understand rationally.

On top of that, the fact that Lee Seolwoo was still showing interest in Jung Pureum was getting on my nerves excessively. Was the fact that the two people I had tried to set up now had a connection really something to be this unpleasant about? I was struggling to even keep up with my own emotions.

“If you go to the same school… it might be best to be a little careful. Pureum’s competition is coming up soon, so it would be a problem if he becomes unstable in various ways.”

I must be feeling this way because I’m worried about Jung Pureum’s pheromone instability. Since it hasn’t been long since he stabilized.

Jung Pureum would surely handle it well on his own, but the thought that the two of them might suddenly get close made me uncomfortable. It seemed even more so because the university was a space I couldn’t carelessly interfere in.

“That’s right. He was a bit unstable until a few days ago. His pheromones…”

“…”

“I was worried, so I tried to suppress them with my pheromones a few times, but he avoided me like the plague.”

My mood, which had been on a downward curve, plummeted straight into the abyss. The fact that Jung Pureum had avoided Lee Seolwoo was the only good news in all of this.

Why is this getting on my nerves so much? I wanted to grab Lee Seolwoo right now and lecture him, “Un consensual pheromone showering is sexual harassment!”

“So, what is the relationship between you two, really? I thought you were a couple, but when I asked, he said you weren’t.”

“Pureum did?”

“Yes. He said you’ve never dated…”

He was right, but my mood, which had hit rock bottom, started to drill through the Earth’s core. To prevent my feelings from showing on my face, I put on a full-blown business owner’s smile.

“We’re just… slightly special neighbors.”

I might have unknowingly emphasized the word ‘special’ a bit, but Jung Pureum and I were, just as the words described, simply next-door neighbors.

Sometimes closer than family, and sometimes we sleep in each other’s arms… but the expression ‘dating’ didn’t fit us. Because we really aren’t dating. We’re just really close—a neighborhood hyung and his dongsaeng.

However, it was absurd that Lee Seolwoo was properly aware of this fact. He couldn’t explain it properly to his coach and ended up getting dragged to a training camp, but I guess he told Lee Seolwoo straight?

“Well then, please rest. I’ll be back in a little while to take out the needles.”

Lacking the confidence to maintain my business owner’s smile any longer, I turned my back in a hurry. I couldn’t ruin my business by failing to distinguish between my personal and professional life in this sacred clinic.

“Director, is something wrong?”

“Pardon? No? Nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect and I’m in a very fine state.”

“…Then why does a person like that have such an expression? Your face is pale, too.”

Ms. Kim Miyoung, who was sitting at the reception desk, spoke up as soon as she saw me come out of the acupuncture room.

When I checked in Ms. Kim Miyoung’s hand mirror, my face was indeed deathly pale. I looked like someone who had just received shocking news.

I mumbled that it was nothing. When I said it was because I hadn’t yet recovered from the fatigue of resting at my parents’ house, Ms. Kim Miyoung worried about me, saying I should get more rest.

As soon as I returned to my office, I collapsed into my chair. Right now, even I found it difficult to understand my own state.

When I opened the drawer of my office desk, I saw the crumpled and worn contract. Looking back, it dawned on me that Jung Pureum and I had also made a ‘contract,’ just like in one of those cliché romance dramas.

It was only a few months ago, but it already felt like a past life when I wrote this contract.

With a newfound feeling, I scanned the contract carefully. Looking at it again, the contents of the contract were a bit strange. There was nothing beneficial for me, but there was nothing particularly beneficial for Jung Pureum either.

How much more could he learn about alphas and omegas by going on dates with me? It would have been faster to just attend an academic sex education lecture.

At that time, I was desperate to appease Jung Pureum and avoid a lawsuit, so I would have signed it without a second thought even if the contract had a clause demanding we dance the Macarena together every month.

But things were different now. Jung Pureum clearly had no intention of suing me. His family was still favorable toward me as well.

Looking over the contract with a cool head after the situation had improved, everything seemed strange. To anyone, this contract was a typical ploy straight out of a romance drama.

In my mind, it was as if my mom was whispering like a devil, ‘You’ve watched dozens of romance dramas with me, and you’re only realizing this now?’ A giant bell went dong, ringing loudly in my head.

“Could he possibly… like me?”

No wonder he said he liked me something like 3,977 times.

“And could I possibly… like him?”

Holy moly.

For a while, I clutched my head with both hands, trying hard to deny my suspicion. I really need to stop watching so many romance dramas.