ATGRA 63

Playing with Jung Pureum was always enjoyable because I acted younger than my age.

Sometimes Jung Pureum would startle me by coming on strong without warning, but he was someone who made me feel more comfortable than anyone else.

He knew my tastes well, did what he liked in moderation, and acted in a way that didn’t make me uncomfortable.

Jung Pureum always seemed accustomed to this kind of thing. As far as I knew, he had never dated anyone, but he was naturally considerate of others, so he seemed to be good at this too.

I don’t know who will end up with him, but whoever marries him is truly blessed. He’s good at housework, has a kind personality, an amazing body, and is a national athlete…

Thinking that far made my heart ache.

What a waste! It seemed like Jung Pureum would be too good for any omega. Even Lee Seolwoo, a dominant omega whom I once thought was decent, now didn’t seem good enough.

“Pureum-ah.”

“Yes.”

“Are you close with Lee Seolwoo?”

“Hyung, why are you asking that while eating Icheon rice ice cream?”

Then when should I ask?

I sighed as I scooped up ice cream from my cup.

Although Jung Pureum had commented that Lee Seolwoo was a ‘strange person’, I felt unsettled. Because in romance dramas, characters always end up falling in love with someone they initially evaluated poorly.

I was definitely not jealous; I was just worried about Jung Pureum. He was the type who would fall for someone immediately without knowing anything if I prodded him a few times. What if Lee Seolwoo, who was prettier than me, decided to seduce him?

Jung Pureum just stared at me, unaware that his ice cream cone was melting. He looked as unsettled as I did.

I was horrified to see the ice cream running down Jung Pureum’s hand.

“Hey, if you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”

“I’m going to eat it.”

“It’s all melting. Come here.”

I hurriedly grabbed Jung Pureum’s hand and pulled him closer. When I took a big bite of the slowly melting ice cream cone, Jung Pureum’s eyes fluttered. Surely, a hyung who buys him beef wouldn’t be stingy about eating a bit of this, right?

I scooped up some of my cup ice cream and shoved it into Jung Pureum’s mouth.

“Hyung…”

“If it’s not enough, I’ll buy you more, so don’t look at me like that.”

“It’s not like that…”

What do you mean it’s not like that? I saw that disappointed look on your face. Everyone says I’m dense, but I think I’m pretty perceptive. I’m quite good at reading other people’s expressions.

But Jung Pureum kept denying it. Seeing his steadfast attitude that he wasn’t bemoaning the loss of ice cream, I was bewildered.

“Then eat it before it melts.”

Hesitantly, Jung Pureum took a big bite from the opposite side of the cone I had bitten. But the white ice cream running down his large hand… looked strangely odd.

I immediately smacked my forehead. Jung Pureum looked at me again, startled. Don’t be surprised, hyung is just possessed by a lust demon. That hit just now was an act of exorcism.

Honestly, I’m still not thrilled about going to meet another alpha. As I said before, you can’t trust strange alpha guys. They may look like good people on the outside, but most of them are rotten with elitism on the inside.

To have a sense of elitism just because their core muscles are well-maintained. It might sound absurd, but the world is full of idiots who believe they are superior because of trivial things.

However, the current state of licking my lips just by looking at Jung Pureum must be fixed. And to stop licking my lips, I needed to be sure that I was attracted to Jung Pureum who had changed from a beta to an alpha, not Jung Pureum himself.

Only then would I be able to come to my senses and behave properly. If I became sure that my attraction to him was due to his trait, I would quickly snap out of it. I couldn’t stoop to the same level as the guys I had been cursing all this time.

“As I said before, I’m not interested in anyone other than you, hyung.”

“…If someone heard that, they’d think it was a confession.”

“It is a confession.”

Jung Pureum came on strong without warning again. It was amazing that I hadn’t noticed his affection until now when he spoke like that.

Suddenly, my faith in myself wavered. Am I unexpectedly dense? But I felt a little wronged too. Jung Pureum had been saying things like that since he was very young.

Didn’t he sing about marrying me even when he was in elementary school? How could I have noticed when I’ve been hearing that he likes me consistently for 8 years like a round song?

“What are you saying while eating ice cream? Forget it, flattery won’t get you more.”

Jung Pureum laughed at my retort. Even though I was openly pretending not to know, Jung Pureum seemed quite okay. As if this was perfectly natural.

“…Why do you like me so much?”

Suddenly, I wondered why Jung Pureum liked me so much.

It’s natural to like a hyung who buys you beef often. However, Jung Pureum showed me affection beyond just a neighbor hyung who buys him food. Even though I had never done anything more for Jung Pureum.

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“You finally know that I like you.”

“…”

“There are so many reasons why I like you. Can I tell you all of them?”

I was speechless.

After acknowledging Jung Pureum’s affection, I felt like I kept getting swept up in it. I couldn’t just casually retort, “Yeah, hyung likes you too,” like before.

I just kept my mouth shut. Whatever I said would sound like an excuse.

My heart pounded at the thought that if I let my guard down even a little, I might blurt out, “But I think I like you too.” If I misbehaved in this situation, it was clear I would lose my mind and end up stroking Jung Pureum’s forearm.

My social standing screamed, “You can’t do that!” My last remaining conscience held up a placard behind my social standing that read, “Do you even have a conscience?”

“Well, where would you find a hyung like me?”

I jumped up from my seat and threw the empty ice cream cup into the trash can. As expected, this won’t do. I need to go on that blind date and get my head straight.

The day before the blind date, Nam Jungyoon carefully invaded the director’s office. It was literally an ‘invasion’. Because he entered without knocking.

“What’s up?”

“I heard you’re going on a blind date, Sunbae.”

Ms. Kim Miyoung…

I thought I should really get rid of the Adlay tea bags in the pantry this time. She said she would keep it a secret since it was the director’s business, but she had already spilled everything to Nam Jungyoon.

“Pureum doesn’t know yet, so don’t worry.”

There’s no way I wouldn’t worry. Who knows when or how Ms. Kim Miyoung will tell Jung Pureum about this fact?

Nothing will change if Jung Pureum finds out about my blind date. Jung Pureum’s heart, which likes me, will ache, though.

But I didn’t say a word to Jung Pureum because I didn’t want that. It’s better to go quietly than to stir up trouble for no reason.

I unwittingly bit my lower lip slightly. If Jung Pureum clung to me with a tearful face, telling me not to go on a blind date, I would have no choice but to say ‘okay’.

“It’s my private life, but everyone is too interested.”

So my words came out unnecessarily sharp to the innocent Nam Jungyoon.

Nam Jungyoon also frowned slightly at my reaction.

“It’s obvious to everyone that you two are digging your own graves, so how can I just sit by?”

“I wasn’t digging my own grave, was I? I’m exempt from military service.”

“Sheesh, I’m jealous.”

“Then you become an omega too.”

“Ah, Sunbae! This defensive attitude when you’re at a disadvantage! It’s one of your hundred flaws, Sunbae.”

“Why do I have a hundred flaws?”

“Actually, you have more than that, you know? I just shortened it on purpose.”

“Hey! I’m better than you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

An argument almost at the level of lower elementary school students ensued. Nam Jungyoon and I huffed and puffed facing each other.

I’m human too, so of course I have many flaws. But surely not up to 100? When I clenched my fist and slammed it on the director’s office desk, Nam Jungyoon raised his voice, saying that desk was solid wood.

Is solid wood more important than me right now? I shouted at my one and only deputy director like an adolescent boy, asking what he knew.

“Why wouldn’t I know you, Sunbae?”

“We weren’t even that close in college!”

“That’s because you were a loner, Sunbae!”

It was so annoying that he didn’t lose a single word. When I slammed the solid wood desk again, Nam Jungyoon jumped up and down, saying I’d hurt my hand.

“No, I’m just dumbfounded. Even passing ants know you’re dense, Sunbae, but to decide on a blind date because of that? Being extreme is a disease at this point!”

“That’s unfair! Why wouldn’t I be perceptive! I had to read the professors’ moods so much!”

“What do you mean, read the mood! Sunbae, your nickname in college was ‘Nunmasae’!”

“What?”

“A bastard who ground up his perceptiveness and drank it!”

…I had a nickname like that?

After blurting out my nickname that even I didn’t know, Nam Jungyoon clutched his forehead as if he had taken more damage. Considering I had many enemies around me in college, it wasn’t that bad of a nickname, but he was making such a fuss.

“Do you know that Pureum likes you, hyung?”

Eventually, Nam Jungyoon exploded and attempted to reveal the truth. He must have been very frustrated too. I looked at Nam Jungyoon, who was panting as if he had revealed some great secret.

“Hey, you think I wouldn’t even know that?”

I didn’t know until a few days ago.

“I’m someone with at least a minimum amount of perceptiveness too.”

If it weren’t for Lee Seolwoo and my mom, I almost wouldn’t have even had that minimum amount.

But now that I know, isn’t it fine?

I reflected on my nickname, Nunmasae. I don’t think I’m that bad. Anyway, since I realized it myself before Nam Jungyoon confessed the truth to me, there is room for improvement.