ATGRA 80

Nam Jungyoon, who didn’t tell me what I was actually curious about and just teased me insidiously, finally got to the point after a while. He opened his mouth after I punched the wooden desk about twice.

“Actually, it’s a bit different for everyone. I’m a Recessive and Pureum is a Dominant, so there will be a difference there too.”

“That’s true. Compared to regular Omegas, I don’t really get heat cycles either.”

“But you delay yours through a somewhat abnormal method, sunbae.”

“Do you think oriental medicine is abnormal?”

“No? It’s completely normal.”

“Right.”

“Still, take it in moderation. As trashy as it is, there must be a reason the human body was designed that way.”

“Who was the designer? It must have been a newbie. The one who designed it is probably looking at current humanity and thinking, ‘Huh? How did they survive?’”

Despite my cold reaction, Nam Jungyoon chattered on about how I should reduce my intake of the herbal medicine that completely suppresses heat cycles. Whether they’re Western doctors or oriental medicine doctors, they’re all the same when it comes to nagging.

“Assuming you don’t abuse medicine like you do, sunbae, Alphas usually get their ruts at intervals of a month and a half to two months, I think.”

“A month and a half? That’s nice, it’s longer than I thought…”

“Sometimes, if there’s an Omega nearby who can’t control their pheromones, they might experience it on a monthly cycle. It’s fine if they’re imprinted, though.”

“Omegas are on a monthly basis by default.”

No wonder Nam Jungyoon took fewer vacation days than me.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’m hearing about Alphas in detail. The sex education classes at school should have taught this properly. Unless it’s just common knowledge, I can’t say I know much about Alphas in detail.

I saw their physical structure until I was sick of it when I learned human anatomy, but that doesn’t make me an Alpha. Other than the good condition of their core muscles not disappearing as easily compared to other secondary genders, there wasn’t much publicly known information.

“But, isn’t it best to ask the person directly about things like this?”

“How can I ask? It’s embarrassing. Just blurting out a question about his rut cycle is sexual harassment.”

“You asked me.”

“Are you and Jung Pureum the same?”

“…Hah, this is discrimination against the vice-director.”

Nam Jungyoon pretended to cry and stormed out of the director’s office door. He really doesn’t act his age at times like this.

Although it’s not oriental medicine, Jung Pureum probably takes medicine just as much as I do. He has to enter the training camp, after all. Alphas who are active as athletes have consistently taken pheromone control medication since they were young because of this problem.

Therefore, since Jung Pureum has become an Alpha, he must be taking medicine just like other Alphas. Assuming the drug’s components aren’t harsh because he can’t get caught for doping, we can assume his rut cycle comes around roughly once every two to three months.

Thinking about it, this is also a bit absurd. Alpha pheromone control medicine came out quickly, but why is Omega pheromone control medicine still under development? As expected, oriental medicine is superior to Western medicine.

I pushed the desk calendar back to the corner of my desk. I felt a sense of worry, but I decided not to think about it too deeply. If his condition is really bad, he would tell me first. We’ve now confirmed that we like each other, so who knows, we might sleep together once before he enters the training camp.

Even if there are other problems, he won’t keep them a secret from me until the end. The person in question is Jung Pureum, after all.

…A few days after I thought that, I heard a shocking story.

It was thanks to Lee Seolwoo, who visited our clinic after a long time, telling me about the power struggle between the University Athletics Association and the Olympic Federation while he was getting acupuncture on his wrist.

It was a more exciting story than most corporate new-wave romance movies. No, I mean, it’s good for the Republic of Korea if they win a gold medal regardless of which athlete it is, so why are they fighting amongst themselves? It was so interesting that I almost forgot to remove the needle I had placed in Lee Seolwoo’s wrist. If the heat lamp hadn’t beeped at the right time, I would have chatted with Lee Seolwoo the entire time he was getting acupuncture.

“I was worried, but you seem to be doing better than I thought, Director.”

“Worried? Ah, you must be talking about the time the police came to the clinic.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Minjun TV was not a first-time offender. Well, it wouldn’t make sense for someone running a channel like that to not have a red line on their record.

He was a guy who already had a criminal record, so he wasn’t afraid of lawsuits. Thanks to that, I heard he received an enhanced punishment and was sentenced to three years in prison. I hope he eats prison rice and beans amicably with Baek Wonhee.

It was a bit annoying to think about Baek Wonhee and Minjun TV sitting amicably and eating prison rice and beans funded by my taxes. Still, it was better than having a drug trafficker and an attempted murderer roaming the streets.

“No, not about that incident.”

“Is there something else?”

“Director, don’t tell me… you don’t know?”

What don’t I know?

I met the gaze of Lee Seolwoo, who was staring at me with his already large eyes wide open. …What is it?

“Then I’ve brought it up for no reason.”

“What is it?”

“That is… Oh dear, I don’t think it’s my place to say. It would just be stirring up trouble since you didn’t know, Director…”

There are two ways to drive a person crazy. One is to stop talking mid-sentence… and the other is to say, You don’t know? Then I can’t tell you either…

If you’re going to be like this, you shouldn’t have even brought it up! I was dying of curiosity about what I didn’t know.

“If you tell me quietly what it is, I’ll give you a ten percent discount on your herbal medicine.”

“Come on, I’m not the kind of person who’s swayed by money like that.”

“Thirty percent.”

“Give me a better offer.”

“Thirty-five percent.”

“But that’s too good of a discount to refuse.”

“Please think of it as a regular customer service.”

As expected, most problems can be solved with money. If they can’t be solved, one should consider whether there wasn’t enough money.

Lee Seolwoo cleared his throat a few times and then repeatedly asked me to keep it an absolute secret that he was the one who told me. Just as I was wondering what shocking story it was to warrant such a build-up, Lee Seolwoo finally opened his mouth.

“Mr. Jung Pureum, he has a shoulder injury.”

“…What?”

“You really didn’t know?”

He looked completely fine, though? For an injured person, he seemed to use his shoulder just fine?

My head spun for a moment from the shock. I was suspicious that Lee Seolwoo might be trying to pull a hidden camera prank on me.

“He looked perfectly fine on the outside…”

“I’m close with the team doctor on the physical education side.”

Of course you are… At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised no matter who else Lee Seolwoo was close to. This person’s personality is also a bit strange for someone with his looks, but his social skills are top-notch.

“So, it’s not that I deliberately pried into it…”

I think you deliberately pried into it.

“It’s just that I happened to find out by chance. The fact that Mr. Jung Pureum’s right shoulder is a bit uncomfortable…”

I think you found out by specifically prying, not by chance.

I turned my head to avoid looking at Lee Seolwoo with suspicious eyes. Holy moly. Did I, just now, hear about Jung Pureum’s injury from someone else’s mouth?

“I heard this was a complete top-level secret.”

I trembled at this ‘complete top-level secret’ that had been transmitted through the team doctor to Lee Seolwoo and then leaked to me. The Olympics are less than half a year away! And our kid has a shoulder injury!

He didn’t get hit once by Minjun TV, so I had no idea where he could have gotten injured. I was worried that perhaps his school seniors were still bullying the delicate and fragile Jung Pureum. Where is there even a place to hit our kid!

“I shouldn’t have said anything if I knew you’d be this shocked, Director. I spoke out of turn, didn’t I?”

“No, it’s fine… When you leave, please take a packet of herbal medicine at a thirty-five percent discounted price…”

“As expected, you have integrity, Director. Our clinic is the best.”

Even Lee Seolwoo’s slick flattery couldn’t restore my departed sanity. The two-syllable word ‘injury’ had already completely taken over my mind.

Was I considering his rut cycle first, without even knowing my kid was sick? I truly am a trait-ist obsessed with secondary genders. Reflect on your actions, Moon Yeonghwa.

While Lee Seolwoo took his warm packet of herbal medicine and left, I endlessly picked up and put down my phone, debating whether to contact Jung Pureum or not.

There must be a reason why Jung Pureum didn’t tell me. Although it had been completely leaked, he did say it was a complete top-level secret, so perhaps he intended to keep it a secret until the Olympics. The Olympics are that important of a competition, after all.

However, Jung Pureum’s health was just as important as winning a gold medal. If he wasn’t going to be a swimmer for a fleeting moment and then quit, managing his body was always the top priority.

Besides, Jung Pureum loved to swim. He was a guy who found satisfaction in cutting through the water and swimming forward.

Regardless of performance, a shoulder injury was a serious problem for someone who loved their work. He was a guy who had to live in the water for the rest of his life; if things went wrong, he might never be able to compete as an athlete again.

[Pureum]

[Do you]

[Have anything you need to tell hyung?]

In the end, after hesitating countless times, I sent this message to Jung Pureum. The read receipt didn’t appear, as he was probably still in training.

I left my phone face down and leaned back in the director’s office chair.