ATGRA 51

There was no time to be down. While I was doing this, hyung was surely being tormented at his family home.

Jung Pureum had never been to Moon Yeonghwa’s “family home” in person. However, he knew well that it was a den of demons, a place that turned people into zombies, and a never-ending source of nagging.

[Hyung]

[Are you alive?]

Perhaps because of how much of a hellscape it was, Moon Yeonghwa’s replies on the messenger kept getting slower.

It didn’t feel like he was ignoring the messenger while having a pleasant time with his family whom he hadn’t seen in a while. At this speed, it definitely meant he was either being held captive by his parents or he was in front of his grandfather.

Jung Pureum had never exchanged friendly greetings with Moon Yeonghwa’s family, but he was well aware of their tendencies and attitudes from what he had heard.

When Moon Yeonghwa was with his family, his eyes would instantly turn lifeless. Besides, hadn’t he been complaining since last year, disgusted by the marriage arrangement meetings his family kept pushing on him?

As he thought of “marriage arrangement” and “Moon Yeonghwa” together, he could feel his pheromones becoming unstable. Having rarely felt anxious about anything else in his life, Jung Pureum didn’t know how to handle this kind of anxiety.

[y]

[i’m alive]

[save me it’s my 13th game of Go]

That was all the reply he managed to get.

Jung Pureum let out another sigh, heavy enough to make the ground sink.

“The ground is going to collapse at this rate.”

Jung Pureum lifted his head and looked at the person who had spoken to him. The person he had seen that morning, Lee Seolwoo, was raising his hand near Jung Pureum.

“You were doing that this afternoon too. Why do you keep sighing like that?”

It was a very friendly attitude. Jung Pureum shrewdly surveyed his surroundings. The upperclassmen seemed to be still training or had already gone home.

Being seen with an omega on campus would clearly not lead to anything good. Jung Pureum stopped Lee Seolwoo, who was about to take a step closer to him.

“There are reasons I can’t talk for long on campus.”

“Ah, you said you’re in the physical education department, right? I guess your competition is coming up soon.”

“…”

“You don’t have to be so careful with your words. I noticed this afternoon. That your pheromones are unstable.”

To think that the upperclassman who usually picked fights with him was worried, and an omega he barely knew could notice so quickly. Jung Pureum lamented his ability to control his pheromones. How could this be? I thought I was good at it, but I guess not.

If not that, it must be because his fixation on Moon Yeonghwa was greater than he had thought. When there was no hope at all, this crazy one-sided love had actually been bearable. Because even if Moon Yeonghwa rejected him, he would only shed a few tears and be done with it.

But things were a little different now.

Every time he saw that Moon Yeonghwa cared for him, even just a little, Jung Pureum grew restless and hovered around him. He didn’t hesitate to pull all sorts of tricks to satisfy his selfish desires.

And yet, the result was unstable pheromones. Jung Pureum mentally sought the god of alphas. Oh, god of alphas! You have to do proper maintenance!

“This is a bit of a sensitive question, but did you perhaps break up with the Director?”

“…”

“Alphas usually get unstable then.”

Lee Seolwoo spoke, a look of genuine curiosity on his face. In the end, Jung Pureum had to drag the insatiably curious Lee Seolwoo away from the physical education department’s vicinity.

There was no telling when and where someone like Kim Yongha might be listening to their conversation. Lee Seolwoo followed Jung Pureum with a look of pure innocence.

“Oh, if that’s the case, I’ve made another mistake. You’re not angry, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Did you break up?”

“That’s not it either.”

A look of disappointment briefly crossed Lee Seolwoo’s face.

“Ah, I see. You’re still lovey-dovey.”

“That’s not it either.”

“Pardon?”

“We never dated, so how could we break up…”

“Ah…”

“…”

“I’m sorry…”

A deathly silence fell between the two of them. Lee Seolwoo clamped his mouth shut as if he had never been the one asking all sorts of questions.

Still, it was a relief that he had some basic sense. After asking Lee Seolwoo to refrain from acknowledging him at school, Jung Pureum turned his back first.

“Ah, wait! Just a moment!”

However, Lee Seolwoo was a man who did not know how to give up.

Lee Seolwoo, who had quickly grabbed Jung Pureum’s arm, held out his phone to Jung Pureum.

“I won’t talk to you at school, so just give me your number.”

Jung Pureum agonized over it.

He wasn’t the type to be harsh to others in the first place. He generally got along with everyone and had been raised as a reasonably polite young man under a strict mother and a benevolent father.

But at that moment, Jung Pureum had a premonition that giving Lee Seolwoo his number would lead to big trouble. The god of alphas, who wasn’t doing proper maintenance, was instead sending him a revelation.

Unlike Moon Yeonghwa, Jung Pureum was also quick-witted. Lee Seolwoo wasn’t hitting on Jung Pureum the person right now, but on Jung Pureum the alpha.

A bell rang ‘dong’ in his head. All of Jung Pureum’s thought processes began to twist, thinking, ‘Damn, how do I turn this down?’

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a phone as of today.”

“…Pardon?”

“It just disappeared. That’s what happened. Well then, goodbye.”

Of course, Jung Pureum’s phone was perfectly fine. It even vibrated, as if a messenger notification had arrived at just the right time.

Lee Seolwoo, unable to hide his dumbfounded expression, watched as Jung Pureum bowed his head to him and disappeared. What the, I thought only the Director was strange, but his boyfriend is a little strange too…

As soon as he managed to shake off Lee Seolwoo and get home, Jung Pureum checked his messenger.

Even though he wasn’t a physical education student, Lee Seolwoo walked incredibly fast, as if using some sort of special footwork. He had almost been caught again.

[Grandfather is telling me to go on another arranged date]

[With a Western medicine doctor, of all people]

[How could he set me up with a Western medicine doctor?]

Jung Pureum breathed slowly to calm his trembling heart. Lee Seolwoo had been a shock, but Moon Yeonghwa’s messages were of no help in stabilizing his pheromones either.

The two words, “arranged date,” sent his condition crashing back to rock bottom.

It was a word he couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes over. An arranged date at twenty-eight? The only silver lining was that the other person was a Western medicine doctor. Unless the world was ending, Moon Yeonghwa was in no state to be with a Western medicine doctor.

[Hyung]

[Absolutely not]

[How can you go on an arranged date with a Western medicine doctor]

Jung Pureum tapped on his phone’s keyboard with supreme patience. An arranged date isn’t okay even if it’s not a Western medicine doctor! Most alphas probably wouldn’t get along with my hyung, but still, it’s not okay!

Perhaps Jung Pureum’s pathetic persistence worked, because a reply came from Moon Yeonghwa saying he thought so too. A sigh of relief escaped him automatically.

“I think I’m getting old because of hyung…”

If you counted all the times he’d had the life scared out of him because of Moon Yeonghwa, Jung Pureum ought to be older than him.

[Well whoever it is, they probably won’t be as good as the alpha I created]

[If we don’t have anyone to marry later on]

[should we just get married?]

[lol just kidding]

God of alphas… your little lamb feels so miserable he could die right now… Jung Pureum gripped his heated phone tightly. Even in that state, he screenshotted Moon Yeonghwa’s message, just in case.

Hyung probably sends messages like this without a second thought. There was a glimmer of hope, but Jung Pureum had been through too many trials to get excited like an amateur.

[Hyung]

[I screenshotted this]

Moon Yeonghwa sent a series of [ㅋ]s. I guess hyung finds this funny… With his hopes crushed and his heart shattered, Jung Pureum sprawled out on his bed.

Just then, his phone vibrated again. Despite his miserable state, Jung Pureum quickly checked the messenger. There was no telling when Moon Yeonghwa’s replies might slow down again.

However, instead of a new message, there was a text message from an unknown number.

[It’s Lee Seolwoo ^^]

[Your phone is safe, right?]

“Ugh, why are my arms getting goosebumps.”

As I rubbed my arms vigorously, my mom said it was all because of air conditioning sickness and raised the AC’s target temperature.

I was idly lying in the living room at home, enjoying the air conditioning. While I was at it, I also ate the watermelon, oriental melon, and peach that my mom gave me.

Lying down and just picking at fruit was a paradise of its own. Haha! Leaving my work to others and doing this… It doesn’t make life worth living; I’m so worried I could die.

Is our clinic running okay? I’d already called Ms. Kim Miyoung three times since morning, earning me a warning that if I called one more time, she would block my number.

“You’re not even staying for long, just get some rest.”

My mom kept feeding me fruit. This fruit is good for this, that fruit is bad for that… In any case, my habit of fussing over the hot and cold properties of food is something I got from my mom.

Because my dad lost at rock-paper-scissors and went to the clinic in my mom’s place, it was just me and my mom at home on a weekday afternoon.

We were enjoying a rare, leisurely afternoon, binge-watching my mom’s favorite romance dramas. Actually, I wasn’t enjoying it; only my mom seemed to be having fun.

“Grandfather talked to you about an arranged date, didn’t he?”

Just when I was about to get immersed in the drama, my mom would attempt an assassination like this. How on earth am I supposed to rest?

On the television screen, a currently popular romance drama was playing. Like most dramas of its kind, the plot was predictable.

A chaebol alpha male lead recognizes the omega female lead who is working at his company disguised as a beta, blackmails her into signing a contract, and after a contract relationship, the two of them genuinely fall for each other—that kind of story.

Even though my mom had seen over twenty dramas like this, she giggled like a young girl every time she watched one.

“Son, I want a doctor for a son-in-law.”

“Why do you say ‘son-in-law’ with the same tone as wanting an ice-dispensing water purifier? No, in the first place, a Western medicine doctor in our family is…”

“You, a young person, shouldn’t be so narrow-minded. What’s wrong with a doctor? Mom wants a son-in-law with a professional-sounding occupation.”

“A Korean medicine doctor is also a professional-sounding occupation.”

“Goodness. That Korean medicine doctor business. I’m so sick and tired of Korean medicine doctors.”

My mom waved her hand dismissively. Even though she’s a Korean medicine doctor herself… What followed was some strange nonsense about how she couldn’t be satisfied with anyone less than a naturally born alpha chaebol male lead now.

“You know the arranged date I found for you? I heard he makes money almost like a chaebol. Plus, he’s a dominant alpha. Totally male lead material, isn’t he?”

“…Ah, Mom!”

“Listen, son. Don’t you think we should have a drama-like experience at least once in our lives? It’s too boring for our lives to only have medicinal herbs and acupuncture tool kits. So, to go for the medical romance genre, you have to try dating a doctor and things like that.”

Day three of returning to my family home.

I had come to despise all Korean dramas. Who was the person who showed my mom a medical romance drama…?