ATGRA 89

For a very brief moment in college, Nam Jungyoon liked Moon Yeonghwa. That is to say, he had a crush on Moon Yeonghwa for about three days.

Anyone is bound to become a follower if someone appears like a god and saves them from a doomed group project. To Nam Jungyoon at that time, Moon Yeonghwa was like a savior of his GPA. Now, he was like a savior of his salary.

Whenever he was with Moon Yeonghwa, he might not be sure of other things, but he felt like he was working properly. The results matched the effort, and even when unfair things happened occasionally, he could persevere without giving up.

However, Moon Yeonghwa had absolutely no interest in Nam Jungyoon.

Nam Jungyoon was an Alpha, too, but Moon Yeonghwa saw him as nothing more than a pebble rolling on the street. It wasn’t that he was only uninterested in Nam Jungyoon. Moon Yeonghwa was simply indifferent to everyone.

Even that nasty Baek Wonhee had tried to get along with Moon Yeonghwa at first. It was true that he approached him because he thought Moon Yeonghwa was a Beta, but the fundamental reason for the ‘approach’ was interest.

But the result was disastrous.

Moon Yeonghwa had no interest in Baek Wonhee either. He wouldn’t have been interested even if Baek Wonhee had been a Dominant Alpha instead of a Beta. It seemed Moon Yeonghwa couldn’t even imagine that others might feel a romantic attraction towards him.

Moon Yeonghwa’s self-esteem, which had been shattered by his surroundings time and time again, always seemed to recover quickly. However, once something is broken, it can never return to its perfect form. Needless to say, the same was true for something that had been broken multiple times.

Moon Yeonghwa was more delicate than he looked. At least, that’s how Nam Jungyoon felt. The reason he remained oblivious to someone liking him until the very end was likely not because he was genuinely clueless, but because of an underlying distrust in himself.

However, separate from understanding him, Nam Jungyoon got goosebumps on his arms whenever he recalled Moon Yeonghwa’s subtle popularity during their college days.

Thinking back, it was amazing that he himself had liked that clueless person for even three days. If that feeling had lasted just a little longer, Nam Jungyoon would have died early from a stress-induced illness.

Objectively speaking, Moon Yeonghwa is a pretty decent person, aside from his temper and cluelessness. At least, his looks are plausible.

So it wasn’t surprising that the many people who were enchanted by his appearance alone were swept away like autumn leaves after getting to know his personality. It was difficult to like someone for a long time who couldn’t understand even when you directly expressed your feelings.

[Pureum]

[Are you training well?]

[I have good news and bad news for you]

[Which do you want to hear first]

However, there existed a human being who ignored all these adverse conditions and had a one-sided crush on Moon Yeonghwa for eight years.

Nam Jungyoon, who had lost all affection for Moon Yeonghwa in just three days, felt that Jung Pureum, who had endured that cluelessness for eight years, was amazing.

It would be one thing if he was a respected sunbae, but how could he like someone who was the worst kind of person for a one-sided crush for eight long years?

Nam Jungyoon’s heart ached every time he saw Jung Pureum clinging to Moon Yeonghwa and fawning all over him. Pureum! Hyung really thinks you’re too good for him!

Jung Pureum was a charming person even in Nam Jungyoon’s eyes. He was affable, smiled a lot, and was kind to everyone! Nam Jungyoon liked Moon Yeonghwa who paid him well, but in terms of personality, he thought Jung Pureum was much better.

So, he helped Jung Pureum out, knowingly or not. Kim Miyoung, who worked with Nam Jungyoon, was also on Jung Pureum’s side, not Moon Yeonghwa’s, so there was nothing to hold him back.

Jung Pureum didn’t refuse Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon’s help either. Especially during the clinic’s opening period, Jung Pureum was in a position where he would have borrowed even a cat’s paw. If someone offered to help, he had to be grateful enough to bow.

Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon’s assistance was quite effective. In the end, Moon Yeonghwa also started to pay proper attention to Jung Pureum. Even to Nam Jungyoon, it was noticeable that Moon Yeonghwa liked Jung Pureum.

As they say, sincerity moves heaven; after making a fuss for eight years, that clueless bird is finally learning some sense.

Nam Jungyyoon thought as he averted his eyes from Jung Pureum and Moon Yeonghwa making out in the acupuncture room. Pureum, please marry that person and don’t release him into society…

But then, Hong Seonghyun suddenly appeared.

Of course, Hong Seonghyun is a Beta. A Beta with an incredibly low chance of ending up with an Omega. He had even been married once. Although he was divorced, his ex-spouse was a Beta woman.

So it was ridiculous for him to suddenly be attracted to Moon Yeonghwa, an Omega man. However, Nam Jungyoon had a feeling. Feelings weren’t something only Kim Miyoung could sense.

Hong Seonghyun… you liked Moon Yeonghwa, didn’t you…

It was a truly terrible feeling.

Nam Jungyoon lamented upon seeing Hong Seonghyun blush at the mere words ‘I can trust you’. No! Don’t! Moon Yeonghwa now has a boyfriend who’s eight years younger! You’re seven years older! And you’ve been married once!

It was a talent, if you could call it that, to attract people with such large age gaps, both older and younger. Nam Jungyoon began to suspect that there might be a water vein flowing around Moon Yeonghwa.

[Good news first]
[Wait]
[It’s not another blind date, is it?]

A while later, a reply came from Jung Pureum.

It was a little after 8 PM. Nam Jungyoon, who had been lying in bed watching YouTube, shot up and checked the message from Jung Pureum.

[Not a blind date]
[The good news is]
[We hired another associate director]

At the news that they had hired another associate director, Jung Pureum sent a puppy sticker with a fanfare. Nam Jungyoon became miserable again. How could a good kid like you…

[What’s the bad news?]
[It’s not that you collapsed or got sick again, or some weirdo is hitting on you, or your heat cycle came unexpectedly, or a rival clinic opened nearby, is it?]

Jung Pureum’s reply grew long, as if he had so many things to guess for the ‘bad’ news. Nam Jungyoon read the message from Jung Pureum and was newly impressed. …Wow, all of those things actually happened.

[Sunbae is healthy]
[No rival clinic has opened either]
[It’s just that]
[The newly hired associate director]

Nam Jungyoon hesitated for about three seconds, wondering if he should tell this to Jung Pureum, who was in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province.

[Seems to like sunbae]

However, his finger that pressed the send button was faster than his reason. The hand is faster than reason… Nam Jungyoon stared at the chat window where the ‘read’ mark had instantly disappeared.

After a long silence, three crying puppy emoticons popped up in a row in the chat window. Nam Jungyoon lamented once again. No, seriously, how could a nice and cute kid like Pureum…

Meanwhile, Jung Pureum, who heard Nam Jungyoon’s tattling, punched a wall without realizing it.

“Oh my god, you scared me. Why the sudden show of strength?”

“I’m telling you, Pureum would have been good at martial arts instead of swimming. Or Taekwondo would be good too.”

While the other athletes standing next to him laughed, Jung Pureum couldn’t smile. The newly hired associate director likes Moon Yeonghwa? What kind of thunderbolt from a clear sky was this?

“Hey, are clueless people popular?”

“What are you talking about? Why would they be popular if they’re clueless?”

“I hate clueless people. Don’t most people avoid them?”

“It’s frustrating to be around them. Clueless people.”

“But, why on earth…”

Why do so many people flock to Yeonghwa hyung?

As Jung Pureum pressed his forehead and sighed, the athletes gathered around him one by one. They were like hyenas expecting an interesting story.

“Why? Did your boyfriend cheat on you? Is the person you’re seeing the clueless type? Is he giving you a hard time?”

“I knew it. Pureum, you’re still young so you don’t know, but when you’re stuck in a training camp, everyone cheats.”

“This isn’t the army, what are you talking about ‘cheating’?”

“The army and the training camp are similar. We just don’t do the digging, but we work out more than soldiers.”

“Well, that’s natural since we’re athletes.”

“…It’s not like he’s cheating.”

The athletes who had gathered in small groups chattering fell silent one by one at Jung Pureum’s dejected response.

“It’s just… I’m worried that while I’m gone, someone might make a move on my hyung…”

“Oh my.”

“Our Pureum, I didn’t see him that way, but he has a bit of a jealous streak, doesn’t he?”

“I knew it. The other day, when we asked to see his boyfriend’s face, he ran away from us. Said he’d wear out.”

“Hey, why do you keep saying you knew it from a while ago?”

Even as his surroundings grew noisy, Jung Pureum’s mood remained low. If he was a newly hired associate director, he would be stuck with Moon Yeonghwa all day, just like Kim Miyoung or Nam Jungyoon. Since the clinic was his workplace.

How anxious had he been when Nam Jungyoon first appeared at our clinic? His heart had dropped when he heard Nam Jungyoon say that Moon Yeonghwa was ‘popular’.

However, Nam Jungyoon was a much more sensible person than Jung Pureum had expected. Although he respected and liked Moon Yeonghwa as a person, he didn’t see him as a romantic partner. If it was a sensible person like Nam Jungyoon, he could be at ease even if he was stuck next to Moon Yeonghwa all the time. Because sensible people generally don’t think of Moon Yeonghwa as a potential partner…

But, the newly appeared associate director was a complete unknown to Jung Pureum. He didn’t know his face, let alone his name, secondary gender, or even his age.

And such an unknown person was showing interest in Moon Yeonghwa.

Even while thinking that the interest wouldn’t last long once he experienced Moon Yeonghwa’s cluelessness, he wanted to run out of the training camp right now, grab onto Moon Yeonghwa, and plead, “The one who likes you the most is me!”

“Tell us what’s going on, just between us.”

Just then, one of the athletes Jung Pureum was closest to sat down nearby. The shooter, who was around the same age as Kim Miyoung, persuaded Jung Pureum to confide in her, who was like an aunt to him.

The reason Jung Pureum, who would normally have insisted it was a secret, opened his mouth was because the middle-aged athlete sitting in front of him was so much like Kim Miyoung.

So Jung Pureum gave the close athletes surrounding him a little taste of his eight-year-long one-sided love story.