ATGRA 65

Once I realized that, I found it even harder to concentrate on the blind date.

I couldn’t say for sure since we had just met, but Park Sungjin was a pretty decent person. At the very least, he looked polished on the outside, and it was clear he was good at social interactions. His skill in picking topics that wouldn’t make others uncomfortable and leading the conversation was also impressive.

Even at the Korean set meal restaurant, Park Sungjin led most of the conversation. I picked at my food and answered his questions like a machine.

“I heard you originally declined this meeting once.”

Around the time dessert was served, Park Sungjin brought up the topic of this blind date. I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

“Well, Mr. Yeonghwa is still young to be thinking about marriage.”

“That’s part of it, and I don’t have any thoughts of getting married.”

“That’s the same for me. I’m not really into marriage either.”

Park Sungjin was thirty-two. He was still on the younger side too. My grandfather thinks it’s a big deal if you’re over thirty and don’t have kids, but these days, getting married at that age was considered early.

Still, it was on the later side for someone with a secondary gender. Alphas and omegas often hurried into marriage compared to betas. It wasn’t because of anything else, but because many sought to avoid heat or rut through imprinting.

In this harsh modern society, how could one live with a body that needed to rest for three to seven days? Nowadays, paid leave is sometimes available for each cycle, but usually, unless you work for a large corporation or a public enterprise, such benefits were hard to expect.

“Is running your hospital going well?”

“I have a lot of employees. There are other directors too.”

I’m so jealous. I should hire a few more employees soon too. Now that Baek Wonhee is in jail, it was time to hire full-time employees instead of just part-timers.

Because Ms. Kim Miyoung was so good at handling everything on her own, I hadn’t felt short-staffed until now. I was paying her a sufficient salary, but it was time to hire more people and take responsibility for the welfare of Ms. Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon.

“Actually, I think I should be the one asking you, Mr. Yeonghwa. Is running your clinic going well? Aren’t the cycles longer for omegas?”

“I’m fine. I have an herbal medicine that completely suppresses the heat cycle.”

“There’s an herbal medicine like that?”

“I made it. It sells pretty well too. I’m still developing an herbal medicine that completely suppresses the rut cycle, though.”

“That’s amazing. When the medicine comes out, please give me a little hint. I’d like to try it too.”

He seems to be quite open-minded about oriental medicine for a Western doctor, doesn’t he? I re-evaluated Park Sungjin inwardly.

Not only Western doctors, but many people think of oriental medicine as groundless folk remedies. They don’t even know how scientific and great a field of study this is!

Of course, it’s true that you can’t cure cancer or tumors with oriental medicine. Although you can dull the pain, anything more is difficult without the power of modern medicine.

However, I don’t think oriental medicine is merely folk remedies. It’s a grand… field of study with tradition and history.

I sipped the sujeonggwa served for dessert and chattered on about how great oriental medicine is. As I suddenly became talkative, Park Sungjin started to respond to my words with a bewildered face.

I don’t know about other things, but he is definitely a person who will do well in social situations. Every time Park Sungjin chimed in, I got excited and talked my head off about the types of herbal medicine I made.

“That’s fascinating. I thought only the Gongjindan was amazing.”

“That’s just the one that got the most attention.”

“Haha, well, everyone is a bit more generous towards alphas.”

Just a moment ago, I was thinking of just having lunch and parting ways, but as I started to connect with Park Sungjin, I began to feel excited.

To me, who hadn’t made many friends my age since middle school, Park Sungjin was quite an interesting person. I still didn’t feel any romantic attraction, but I thought I might develop a human-to-human liking for him, similar to what I felt for Lee Seolwoo.

“Oh, I pre-booked movie tickets. I guess time flew by while we were talking.”

“Movies?”

“Yes. Do you like romance?”

Moreover, Park Sungjin and I had the same taste in movies. As soon as I heard he liked melodramatic romances from big corporations, a revelation struck me like lightning. What? I might be able to become good friends with this person?

We’re both doctors, just from different schools of thought, and our mothers are friends, so he’s someone who has been vetted once in a way. On top of that, we even have similar tastes. It was as if someone had set us up.

I decided to see the movie with Park Sungjin. Because there are no bad people among those who like melodramatic romance movies.

The movie theater was packed. It seemed even more crowded than when I came here for a date with Jung Pureum.

“The movie that just came out has pretty good reviews.”

It’s not easy for a Korean-style melodrama to get good reviews. Seeing the poster with the famous actor’s face plastered on the front, my expectations soared. It was now hard to believe that I had just met Park Sungjin today; I felt that comfortable.

“Are you a couple? If you’re a couple, we’ll give you a popcorn size-up.”

However, regardless of all my expectations and comfort, I couldn’t help but think of Jung Pureum.

The problem was that I had wandered around too many places with Jung Pureum under the pretext of a date. Everywhere I went, the memories I had with him came to mind first. Even with Park Sungjin next to me, I kept thinking of Jung Pureum.

“We’re not a couple.”

It was because of that that I spoke before Park Sungjin could. We were on a blind date, but we weren’t a couple.

“Oh, you say that so bluntly, I’m a little hurt.”

“It’s true that we’re not a couple.”

“But isn’t there a possibility?”

“…”

“Haha, I’m kidding.”

I thought he was polite and courteous, but he has an unexpectedly playful side. I revised my assessment of Park Sungjin once again. I thought he wasn’t interested in me because he said he didn’t want to get married.

For someone who said he liked melodramatic romances, Park Sungjin didn’t cry at all throughout the movie. Only I sobbed during the ‘cry!’ scenes forced by the big corporation.

Still, he didn’t miss the entire running time by staring at someone else’s face like Jung Pureum. He had a bored expression throughout the movie, but it felt a bit suspicious when he said it was fun as soon as it ended.

After coming out of the movie theater, I continued to observe Park Sungjin’s expression. He was mostly smiling, but he seemed to be somewhat disappointed.

“You cry a lot.”

“I tend to easily succumb to the tear-jerking scenes forced by big corporations.”

“You must be very sensitive.”

The reason I got into Park Sungjin’s car without any suspicion was because he offered to give me a ride. Afraid that Park Sungjin might smoothly buckle my seatbelt for me, I quickly fastened it as soon as I got in.

“I had a really great time today.”

And, I beat him to the punch with a farewell remark.

The blind date itself went smoothly, but the goal I had hoped to achieve through this blind date had been shattered early on. Even though I met a decent person, I ended up just thinking about Jung Pureum.

It wasn’t that I was attracted to Jung Pureum because there were no alphas around me. I was just attracted to Jung Pureum. It just so happened that he changed from a beta to an alpha.

After spending a day with Park Sungjin, that fact felt very real. If I had really been attracted to Jung Pureum because of a lack of alphas around me, I should have felt a romantic attraction to Park Sungjin as well.

But, unfortunately, I didn’t feel any emotions towards Park Sungjin. Didn’t I just feel unpleasant when he faintly released his pheromones at the movie theater? I was fine when Jung Pureum couldn’t control his.

“Just drop me off at the station, and I’ll go from there.”

“Are we parting ways already? What a shame.”

“Haha, we should call it a day early to get at least a little rest.”

Let’s be flexible as fellow business owners and get a little bit of our weekend back. Park Sungjin would probably understand what I meant.

However, contrary to my expectations, Park Sungjin didn’t seem to have any intention of dropping me off at the station.

“Then shall we meet next week?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking you out for a second date right now.”

…Why?

If I had known this would happen, I would have just walked to the station. I only took a ride, even if it meant moving like a turtle, because I didn’t want to walk through the crowds in this crowded Gangnam.

With an awkward face, I mumbled that a second date was a bit… It wasn’t that I disliked Park Sungjin, but if we met several times for second dates after a blind date, I didn’t know what kind of talk would go on between the adults.

Park Sungjin must have known that fact too, so I didn’t understand why he would ask for a second date. Why would a guy who said he had no intention of getting married do something as risky as asking for a second date? It’s like carrying firewood and jumping into a fire.

“Because I like you, Mr. Yeonghwa. I thought we had a good atmosphere today, didn’t we?”

“Ah… that, I… I’m not interested in dating either.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m very sorry.”

Since he had just passed Gangnam Station, I would have to ask him to drop me off somewhere else.

I rolled my eyes and observed Park Sungjin. In this situation, if I suggested we just be friends, that would be a complete negative, right? It was my first blind date, so I had no idea how to end the meeting.

“Wow, you have no shame.”

While I was pondering something like ‘108 healthy and proper ways to break up with a blind date’, Park Sungjin spoke again.

“The amount of time and money I’ve invested in you, it’s a problem if you play hard to get like this.”

It was a ridiculous statement. I paid for my own coffee and I bought the meal, so what cost was he talking about? There’s no way to show off like that just for booking movie tickets.

Suddenly, in my head, the god of omegas started mashing a red button. Warning! This bastard seems to be a real bastard!