ATGRA 61

Contrary to my worries, the lady next door was very composed. Only Jung Saebom, with a disgusted look on her face, threw an apple at me. I’m not even Gregor Samsa from Kafka’s novel, yet I’m being pelted with apples like this.

If the athletic Jung Pureum hadn’t caught the apple flying at me, I would have become the first oriental doctor in history to die from being hit by an apple.

“I told you not to have a lovey-dovey scene in our house…”

Jung Saebom gritted her teeth. Goodness, that’s going to put a strain on her jaw joint later…

Regardless of what her daughter was doing, the lady next door took me, who was about to leave, back to her house, sat me down, and peeled an apple for me. I knelt in someone else’s living room and diligently picked up and ate the beautifully cut apple pieces.

“You haven’t been by at all, but I see you’ve come to cheer Pureum on since his competition is tomorrow.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Right, once the trials are over, feel free to come and go as you please. This is an important time for you too, Pureum, so for now, just focus on the trials.”

Being like this, I felt like a daughter-in-law visiting her in-laws for the first time in a while. Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong (well, I had, but the lady seemed okay with it), I felt like a major criminal.

I stuffed my mouth full of apple and mumbled, sneaking glances at the Jung siblings.

Jung Saebom looked like she wished I would get out of her house as soon as possible, but Jung Pureum clung to me and wouldn’t let go.

I tried nudging him in the side to tell him to get a clue and back off, but the guy, who had already evolved into a leech, was quite bold even in front of his mother and older sister.

“Yeonghwa, I’m always grateful to you.”

The lady next door suddenly started a gratitude-attack on me as I struggled with Jung Pureum attached to me.

Hearing her say she was grateful jolted me to my senses. I was a guy who would have no excuse even if she grabbed me by the hand and threw me in the living room, so I couldn’t understand what she could possibly be grateful for. Even though I’d eaten a lot of fruit, my mouth felt dry.

“If it weren’t for you, how would Pureum have been able to compete in the trials?”

I unwittingly checked Jung Pureum’s expression.

Although she didn’t go into specifics, the lady was thanking me for making Jung Pureum an alpha.

What on earth is a trait? I had heard that his record was better now as an alpha than it was when he was a beta. However, even as a beta, Jung Pureum had been an excellent athlete.

Of course, if his trait hadn’t changed, it would have been difficult for him to compete in the trials, regardless of his record. This was a field that valued alphas, who are influenced by pheromones, more than betas who produce consistent records.

Thanks to becoming an alpha, Jung Pureum got the chance to compete in the national team selection trials. This was a very clear fact. It was cheap and dirty, but in a way, it was only natural for the lady next door to say such things.

The problem was that Jung Pureum was right next to me. No matter how easygoing Jung Pureum was, there was no way he could hear that and be okay…

“That’s right. It’s all thanks to Yeonghwa hyung.”

…Or was there?

I looked at Jung Pureum, who was laughing cheerfully and putting an apple in my mouth. He truly looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.

As I recalled, Jung Pureum had occasionally been a little disappointed about being a beta. It wasn’t because of swimming, and all he ever did was wistfully ask me, ‘Is it because I’m a beta?’, so it might have just been my misunderstanding.

Come to think of it, even though it was hard for him to succeed as a swimmer just because of his trait, he didn’t seem to resent his trait very much. Ever since he was young, Jung Pureum was the type to swim another lap in the time he would have spent being frustrated.

“You don’t need to be so self-conscious. You seem to think that going from a beta to an alpha is a bad thing, but for Pureum, it was actually for the better.”

“…”

“You have never once been a bad influence on Pureum.”

I think his pheromones became unstable recently because of me… I wanted to refute her words somehow, but my lips wouldn’t move easily.

Jung Saebom, having eaten all of her share of the apples, left first. The reason was that just looking at my face made her feel so frustrated, as if she’d eaten a sweet potato, that she couldn’t stay in the same room.

“I’ll enjoy the Gyeongokgo you sent.”

“Ah, yes. It should be fine for Mister to have it. If he takes one spoonful a day…”

“In-law… no, ahem. Tell your mother I’ll enjoy it.”

Didn’t she just say in-law?

For a moment, it felt like I’d heard things, but seeing the lady’s solemn face, I was certain I had misheard. There was no way the lady next door would say something like that, unlike my own mother.

When I got up to say I was leaving, Jung Pureum shot up as well, saying he’d walk me out. What was there to walk me out for when I lived right next door? Even when I tried to push him off, saying it was fine, Jung Pureum was completely stubborn.

“Yeonghwa.”

The lady next door called me before I left through the entryway. When I turned around, tense, she slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s good that you’re thinking of Pureum, but you need to take care of yourself first. Understand?”

Her words were filled with affection and concern.

Whenever the rather brusque lady next door was like this, I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t her real family, but sometimes this place felt like my home. A place I could always return to, a place with people who would support me no matter what problems arose…

The twenty-year-old Moon Yeonghwa was a freshman filled to the brim with stubbornness and obstinacy.

The world was not very kind to Moon Yeonghwa. Why would an omega want to open an oriental clinic when he should just find a good alpha and get married? What kind of business could a guy who had to take a week off every time his heat cycle came possibly run?

Attendance was important for university lectures. But Moon Yeonghwa was a recessive omega, so he couldn’t avoid his heat cycles. Because of that, no matter how well he did on exams, he got an A- instead of an A+. His trait always held him back.

The few alpha professors would casually make lewd jokes. Wouldn’t it be better to just snag a good alpha and get married? Yeonghwa, you’re pretty enough.

His already foul temper got worse, and Moon Yeonghwa always ended up getting into fights with people who picked on him. Other people could just live their lives, but Moon Yeonghwa always had to prove something.

How smart he was, how strong-willed he was, that he wasn’t swayed by others’ pheromones…

If he wasn’t better than others, he’d hear, “Well, that’s an omega for you.” If he got sick in the middle of something, he’d hear, “I knew he’d be like that.”

How detestable the phrase ‘love yourself’ sounded! Moon Yeonghwa was sometimes just flabbergasted. Hey! I’m trying to love myself, but you guys keep getting in the way!

‘Come over and have dinner.’

The lady next door was the first person to offer such unconditional kindness to Moon Yeonghwa. Although she did use him as a sort of free acupuncturist later on.

Anyway, the first time was truly an act of unconditional kindness. It was thanks to the lady next door that he met the twelve-year-old Jung Pureum, who was walking home from school with a tteok-kkochi in each hand.

Unbeknownst to Moon Yeonghwa, Jung Pureum, who had been completely smitten with him since he was young, offered Moon Yeonghwa a tteok-kkochi with a heart full of ulterior motives. It was the greatest expression of interest a twelve-year-old could show.

From then on, life became a little more bearable for Moon Yeonghwa. Since he was getting free meals, his life was probably more bearable in a literal sense as well. His emaciated face filled out, and a sense of ease appeared on the face that had always worn an “I’m going to kill everyone” expression.

Sitting the eight-year-younger Jung Pureum down, Moon Yeonghwa would unabashedly talk about killing his professor. Jung Pureum was an excellent listener even when he was young. Whenever Moon Yeonghwa said he would kill his professor, Jung Pureum would chatter that he would do his best to destroy the evidence.

It was a truly precious relationship.

Moon Yeonghwa didn’t want to ruin this relationship. A relationship where they supported each other. A relationship where, at my lowest point, I could casually say, “I’m having a hard time.”

This was why he had instinctively avoided Jung Pureum’s affection. Becoming lovers would make things more special, sure. But wouldn’t they break up someday?

If he remained just an older brother he knew, he could see him for life, but if they became lovers, it would end someday. If he broke up with Jung Pureum, his ties with the family next door would end too.

Knowing this, he didn’t want to develop into a relationship with a predetermined end. He didn’t want to grow distant from the people who had always been with him during his hardest times. He was scared that a bond formed regardless of traits would change because of a mere trait.

[Do well]

[You have to become a national athlete first if you want to grant your hyung’s wish]

On the day of the selection trials, Moon Yeonghwa was too busy running his clinic to go and cheer in person. It wasn’t a race that would change just because he was there, anyway. So Moon Yeonghwa just sent Jung Pureum a few messages.

Since he had cheered him on in person yesterday, Jung Pureum wouldn’t be upset about this. Besides, applying for spectator tickets for the national team selection trials, held at an alphas-only swimming pool, was difficult in the first place.

“Director, are you okay?”

“…Huh? Yes.”

“Why are you so spaced out?”

“It’s Pureum’s selection trials today.”

“Oh, the national team selection trials?”

“Yes. I’m a bit worried.”

“Anyone would think you gave birth to Pureum.”

I did, in my heart. Moon Yeonghwa smiled awkwardly along with Kim Miyoung’s light laugh.

“By the way, it’s really amazing. That you and Pureum are so close.”

“That’s because Pureum is very accepting of me.”

“That’s true, but you also seem to like Pureum a lot, even if you pretend not to. I thought you had trouble getting attached to others.”

“Me?”

“Yes. It’s not my place to say, but if people don’t think for a moment, they easily hurt you. I was like that too.”

Kim Miyoung, who had said, “It’s a relief he didn’t become an omega,” upon seeing Jung Pureum go from a beta to an alpha, wore an awkward expression.

“Maybe that’s why, at first, I thought it would be hard to get close to you. It’s fine now, of course…”

“Really? I thought the Nurse Assistant and I were close from the beginning…”

“Now we’re totally cross-generational mega best friends.”

They might not be mega best friends, but she was a trustworthy colleague. At least, Moon Yeonghwa was willing to believe Kim Miyoung if she said she could make meju from red beans.

“So, as your mega best friend, can I ask you one thing?”

“What are you trying to ask that you’re buttering me up like this?”

“Director… are you really going on a blind date?”

At Kim Miyoung’s direct question, Moon Yeonghwa’s eyes widened. He hadn’t told anyone, so he had no idea how Kim Miyoung knew.