ATGRA 50

At the same time, Jung Pureum was sitting in the student union building with a gloomy face. A national athlete, what’s so great about that, to tear apart the relationship between me and hyung like this…

Of course, being selected as a national swimmer was a very important matter. Swimming was not only Jung Pureum’s career path but also suited his aptitude, and to do it for a long time, a stable athletic career was essential.

However, separate from knowing that, Jung Pureum was too miserable.

Moon Yeonghwa wanted Jung Pureum to succeed, even at his own expense. It was a rare, self-sacrificing attitude from him, who always muttered, ‘Please let me be the one who succeeds!’

Sometimes, it seemed Moon Yeonghwa still thought of Jung Pureum as being around twelve years old. To still see him as a kid even after they had slept together twice and he’d sung a song of his affection for him. At this point, his cluelessness was a talent.

“Haaa…”

A sigh that could make the ground sink escaped him. He couldn’t stop even though he knew sighing like this would drive away good fortune. There was no more good fortune to drive away. After Moon Yeonghwa’s return to his family home, Jung Pureum had become the unhappiest man in the world.

As I thought, is there really no other way than to just push through with my body? Should I just match my cycle and have a few amazing days… He was so desperate that such thoughts even crossed his mind.

However, after sleeping together just twice, Moon Yeonghwa had chosen to return to his family home, saying it was interfering with Jung Pureum’s career. It was truly extreme. Every time Jung Pureum felt that his long-time crush was not normal, like now, his heart shattered.

“Huh?”

As Jung Pureum was about to collapse the floor of the student union building with his sighs, a familiar figure stopped in front of him.

“The Director’s boyfriend?”

At the words ‘Director’ and ‘boyfriend,’ his gaze instinctively shot up.

“…Do you know me?”

The word ‘boyfriend’ was quite pleasing. Jung Pureum brazenly looked at the person standing in front of him, with no intention of correcting their misunderstanding. The face looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember who it was.

The person, who looked like an omega at a glance, had a familiar face, as if he had run into them a few times somewhere. However, even as he searched his memory, he couldn’t easily recall who it was.

The only omega Jung Pureum knew well was Moon Yeonghwa. For Pureum, who had a narrow circle of acquaintances despite getting along with everyone, he didn’t have any dominant omega acquaintances to exchange greetings with like this.

“It’s me, Lee Seolwoo.”

Who is Lee Seolwoo…

Even after he said his name, Jung Pureum didn’t recognize him, and Lee Seolwoo burst out laughing. It was a refreshing smile that looked like it belonged in a sports drink commercial.

However, regardless of whether a stunningly beautiful person was smiling brightly in front of him or not, Jung Pureum was still in a distraught state. Lee Seolwoo explained to the indifferent Jung Pureum that he was a regular patient at our clinic.

“Ah, I see. No wonder your face was familiar.”

As soon as our clinic was mentioned, Jung Pureum’s attitude immediately became polite. His change in demeanor was swift.

“By any chance, are you a student here?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, we’re alumni!”

Lee Seolwoo clapped his hands. Jung Pureum, too, couldn’t just openly ignore the person who was so overly pleased to see him, so he just nodded his head.

“The Director was going to introduce us to each other. Do you really not remember?”

“Ah.”

“It’s a little weird for me to say it myself, but I don’t have a face that’s easy to forget.”

Only then did Jung Pureum remember Lee Seolwoo. …Ah! The person who was forcibly mobilized for the ‘Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in an Oriental Medical Clinic?’ project!

No wonder it felt strange that a dominant omega he had no memory of knowing was acting familiar with him.

“Can I sit next to you?”

“Yes, sure.”

Since he hadn’t rented out the entire student union building, Jung Pureum made space for Lee Seolwoo to sit. Jung Pureum was kind to everyone like this, but he didn’t feel like getting close to Lee Seolwoo.

Moon Yeonghwa had gone all the way to his family home because of his pheromones, and there was nothing to be gained from getting involved with Lee Seolwoo, a dominant omega, here. Since they were both dominants, they wouldn’t have a big influence on each other, but Jung Pureum wanted to be as careful as possible.

He had to stabilize his pheromones as soon as possible so he could formally protest to the coach and get his spot back.

Before, he hadn’t been this attached to being selected for the national team, but now it felt like he would have to die if he couldn’t become a national athlete.

Besides, Lee Seolwoo was the person Moon Yeonghwa had tried to pass him off to. Jung Pureum didn’t even remember his face properly, but he hadn’t forgotten that incident, at least.

If he made even the slightest acquaintance with Lee Seolwoo, Moon Yeonghwa would surely think ‘what a windfall’ and try to set him up with Lee Seolwoo. He’d act like a matchmaking company employee, saying it’s a profitable business even if dominants imprint.

Another sigh escaped him at the thought of an excited Moon Yeonghwa playing matchmaker. Hyung is a real fool… A fool with only a good brain…

It was Lee Seolwoo who quickly caught Jung Pureum as he was about to get up and trudge towards the swimming pool.

“Is the Director doing well?”

Jung Pureum stopped in his tracks at the mention of the Director. Lee Seolwoo, as if enjoying Jung Pureum’s reaction, started to ramble on about things he hadn’t even been asked.

His point was that he hadn’t visited the clinic since the Baek Wonhee and rirangtang incident, and he was curious about the well-being of the Director and Vice Director.

“I thought you’d know well, since you’re the Director’s boyfriend. Please tell him I’m sorry I haven’t been able to go lately. I really haven’t switched clinics, and I’ll be visiting soon.”

“…”

“I definitely haven’t switched to another clinic, you know?”

It seemed he had switched, found the herbal medicine didn’t work, and was now trying to come back.

Jung Pureum had no trouble figuring out Lee Seolwoo’s hidden meaning. That herbal medicine that completely suppresses heat cycles seemed to be very effective. It was no small feat that it was bringing back a runaway regular.

“Even if you go to our clinic now, Yeonghwa hyung won’t be there.”

“What? Why?”

“…He went down to his family home.”

With those last words, Jung Pureum completely turned his back on Lee Seolwoo. He still hadn’t corrected the misunderstanding about being the Director’s boyfriend.

Jung Pureum was in low spirits the whole time. He couldn’t be in a good mood when Moon Yeonghwa wasn’t nearby.

Still, he went to training without fail. Occasionally, some sunbaes who noticed the state of Jung Pureum’s pheromones would try to pick a fight, but he ignored them all.

When Jung Pureum, who would usually have laughed and played along, walked past with a blank expression, the sunbaes who had come to pick a fight moonwalked away.

Kim Yongha, who had his own guilt, didn’t even come near Jung Pureum. It was because he had shrewdly realized that if he got on his wrong side this time, it would be big trouble.

However, unlike the sunbaes who were reasonably cautious, the coach was still being unreasonable.

“Don’t you dare think you can lie to me just because I’m a beta.”

“…”

“The ban on your participation will remain in effect until the team doctor concludes that your pheromones have stabilized.”

Pheromone stabilization? How do you even do that…

To be honest, Jung Pureum wasn’t bad at managing his pheromones even when he had just become an alpha. There was a bit of immaturity due to the sudden manifestation, but it meant he wasn’t as much of a mess as Moon Yeonghwa thought.

As the god of alphas would have it, Jung Pureum knew how to moderately control his pheromones as if he had been an alpha from the start. He had only pretended he couldn’t in front of Moon Yeonghwa to try and show off his passion.

Having grown up watching his alpha mom and older sister, there was no way he couldn’t do that much. Jung Pureum was confident in handling his own body. A very athlete-like way of thinking.

However, after Moon Yeonghwa’s unauthorized visit to campus, his pheromone control started to go haywire. It was no use asking for help from Jung Saebom, who was disgusted by his pheromones.

The coach took this opportunity to ban him from the national team selection match he had worked so hard to get, in order to crush his spirit. A new key card called ‘pheromones’ had fallen into the coach’s hands.

Everyone, including the team doctor, cited anxiety as the cause of Jung Pureum’s pheromone instability. The team doctor, in particular, said that excessive stress about the national team selection could be the cause.

To Jung Pureum, it sounded ridiculous. As expected, just as Moon Yeonghwa said, the Western doctors didn’t know anything. Excessive stress from the national team selection? That was impossible for the ever-so-carefree Jung Pureum.

He had never felt burdened by his career. He’d do well anyway without being too ambitious! He did well when he was a beta, so now that he was an alpha, he’d win something! If not now, there’s always four years from now!

The one who was stressed about Jung Pureum’s career was Moon Yeonghwa. Moon Yeonghwa was terrified that Jung Pureum wouldn’t be able to win a medal. Jung Pureum, on the other hand, was more stressed by Moon Yeonghwa making strange decisions while talking about his future. Hyung thinks too much about the future. A fool who only knows the future…

Of course, he understood why Moon Yeonghwa was like that. Jung Pureum, who had been quite cunning since he was young, used to often pretend to be pitiful to hear about the recent hardships from the hyung next door who was eight years older than him.

Who would have known that the past where he whined to gain sympathy would come back as this karma? Jung Pureum repented for his pretentious childhood.

But Moon Yeonghwa was the type of person who would never talk about his own struggles unless you were sniffling beside him. The one who fell in love first is the sinner, and Jung Pureum had no other choice.

In fact, Jung Pureum wasn’t particularly sad about being ignored for being a beta. What was more absurd was that Moon Yeonghwa, a recessive omega, didn’t see him as a potential partner just because he was a beta.

In the end, people only see the results. If Jung Pureum achieved good results without a secondary gender transformation, whatever disregard he had suffered would just be used as another element of his success story.

He might have even been able to instill some hope in other betas, including the coach. Because he would have realized the phrase Koreans love: ‘If you do it, you can succeed!’

“Hey, you okay?”

One of the sunbaes who usually envied Jung Pureum approached him. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t come to pick a fight, as he had a canned drink in his hand.

“Drink this and pull yourself together. The coach is just trying to break your spirit. It’ll be fine once your pheromones stabilize. You’re the best among us, so there’s no alternative.”

Being comforted by the same person who just a few days ago had said, ‘Is it nice to participate alone?’ gave him a new perspective.

Jung Pureum accepted the canned drink with a word of thanks. He didn’t plan on drinking it, thanks to the various drugs the sunbaes were taking, but it felt like his head was clearing up a bit.