By Zephyria 
Kim Hui-won was a special case. He passed the rigorous media entrance exam and entered a major domestic media company as a reporter in the social affairs department, which was notoriously difficult to get into, but after six months, he decided it wasn’t for him and left the company.
Afterward, he joined Apex. Apex was a pharmaceutical company that developed specialized medicines for Alphas and Omegas, in other words, sentient beings, and had a global influence.
Kim Hui-won’s company life was quite smooth. He had a natural talent, was eloquent as a former reporter, and was quick-witted. There were rumors that a golden maknae had joined the public relations team.
When Kim Hui-won was a first-year newbie, Kwon Young-je had joined the company the year before. Everyone knew that he was a direct descendant of Chairman Kwon. It was also well-known that he was engaged in a fierce succession battle with his cousin, Kwon Young-ho, for the position of the next President.
Kwon Young-je was a Dominant Alpha who had only walked the elite path. He formally joined the company as an employee and was quickly promoted to Team leader in just one year. It could be seen as a privilege of the owner’s family, but his exceptional skills also supported it.
The two first met at a report meeting of the public relations team. The presentation that day was given by a three-year Seonbae, and Kim Hui-won was in charge of supporting his Seonbae.
Because Kwon Young-je arrived thirty minutes earlier than scheduled, the public relations team leader, who was the presenter, was frozen stiff. Even though it wasn’t his first presentation, he was incredibly nervous.
‘Hui-won, what should I do? I’m so nervous, my stomach hurts…’
‘It’s okay, Team leader. You can do well.’
Kim Hui-won skillfully soothed his Seonbae and continued with the preparations. He greeted each person who entered the conference room and, when the room was almost full, he set up drinks on the table.
Kwon Young-je watched Kim Hui-won’s hands as he put down the paper cups. Short, neatly trimmed nails and clean shirt cuffs without any stains. Above all, there was almost no scent coming from the man. When he stood close by, he couldn’t even smell the common fabric softener.
A short-sized paper cup was placed in front of Kwon Young-je. It was an Americano close to espresso. It was the coffee he enjoyed drinking.
Wondering if it was a coincidence, he looked around and saw that different drinks were placed at each seat. It was a consideration of the preferences of those attending the meeting, not just his.
Then the presentation began. The presentation, which had been going smoothly without any problems, was temporarily interrupted due to a projector malfunction.
In the midst of the crisis of the presentation being interrupted, Kim Hui-won handed out printed materials containing the PPT data to the attendees and quickly arranged for a large monitor to be brought in and connected to the laptop. His arrangement skills were excellent.
Kwon Young-je watched this scene without missing a thing. He memorized the employee ID card hanging over his neat jacket several times. Public Relations Team Employee Kim Hui-won.
He deliberately requested a meeting with the public relations team and met him five more times after that. After seeing his unchanging appearance each time, Kwon Young-je became certain.
‘Have you ever thought about being an executive secretary?’
‘I can meet all the conditions you want. I’ll match your salary as well as your benefits to the highest level in the industry.’
‘I’ll treat you well. Let’s trust each other and work together.’
The offer from someone who would become the President of the company in the future was frankly attractive. Kwon Young-je was a capable man, his private life was clean, and he was considered a nice person with manners, which was rare among the chaebols.
The fact that they were the same age was a bit of a concern, but in the company, rank takes precedence over age. He wasn’t naive enough not to know that. Besides, where else would he not be younger? It’s better to take care of someone the same age than to take care of a young brat.
After a week of deliberation, Hui-won accepted the offer. Since then, he had been Kwon Young-je’s right-hand man for six years.
Thanks to his meticulous personality and natural sense, he adapted well to the job of executive secretary. A major flaw of Kwon Young-je was that he lacked humanity, but he was rarely hurt by it. This was because Hui-won’s mentality was so strong.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. People ask how he does such a difficult job. Whenever that happens, Kim Hui-won answers.
It turned out that being a secretary was his calling.
* * *
Hui-won once again checked the attendees of the weekly report meeting that would be held shortly. Since Apex is a pharmaceutical company related to traits, the proportion of sentient beings was significantly higher than in other companies.
Among these, checking Omega employees separately was one of the most important tasks. Everyone is an adult and a modern person who can take care of themselves, but accidents can happen at any time.
In particular, since Kwon Young-je is a Dominant Alpha, Omegas often made mistakes in front of him.
Therefore, he always had to pay attention. Hui-won, who is a Beta, still finds the world of sentient beings difficult. But what could he do? His boss was a Dominant Alpha.
After finishing the preparations, he got up from his seat. He picked up the jacket hanging on the back of the chair and looked around the office.
The secretary’s office in the morning is usually busy. Organizing the approval documents coming up to Executive Director Kwon, scheduling appointments, and the internal phone rang non-stop. Because his boss was blessed with work, the secretaries also had a tremendous amount of work to do.
“Secretary Lee. When does our new recruit start work?”
“The 1st of next month.”
Soon, if more people are added, it will probably be easier than it is now. Hui-won said, fastening his jacket buttons.
“You have to report to the Executive Director, so organize the new employee’s application and employment report and send it up.”
“Yes!”
Then Hui-won went into the office. He reminded Executive Director Kwon of the meeting schedule and helped him put on his jacket.
Executive Director Kwon also puts down what he was doing without complaint and receives his assistance. As if the scolding from earlier had never happened, both of them were acting as usual.
A clean relationship without any lingering feelings. That was the secret to a relationship that could run smoothly for six years.
The conference room on the 9th floor was famous for having the best lighting in the Apex building. Beyond the wide glass windows, you could see the open Seoul Forest. Of course, no one enjoyed the view.
Because it was a place to report research results in front of Executive Director Kwon, the tension floating in the air was visible. In particular, the faces of the researchers, who were wearing suits instead of the familiar white coats, were all stiff and rigid.
“Hello, researchers. I’m Kim Hui-won, the executive secretary of Executive Director Kwon Young-je. Excuse me, but are you feeling okay today?”
Hui-won carefully approached the researcher with the Omega trait and asked. The researcher with a stern impression glared at Hui-won. Her sharp eyes scanned the other person up and down.
“Are you the one who sent the email last time?”
“Yes, I’m asking again because I didn’t get a reply.”
“I didn’t reply because it was rude.”
The reaction was quite cold. Hui-won hid his embarrassment and only smiled. There are occasionally people who show such sharp reactions.
He understood. The notice to pay attention to pheromone management may sound coercive and shameful at first glance.
“I’m sorry. But I ask for your cooperation for a smooth meeting. I know this is your first time sitting with Executive Director Kwon, and he is very sensitive to pheromones. We have emergency medicine prepared, so if you need it…”
“Do you know that you’re crossing the line right now? You’re only managing Omegas and leaving the Alphas alone! If this isn’t discrimination, what is it!”
“I’m sorry.”
Hui-won apologized repeatedly. He had no choice but to back down because the researcher’s words were somewhat true. He had no authority to force anything more here.
Then the meeting began. Just when it seemed to be going smoothly, the meeting was interrupted in less than ten minutes. The sensitive Executive Director Kwon frowned.
“Who is releasing pheromones right now?”
Silence filled the conference room. Everyone was rolling their eyes without saying a word.
Among the twelve attendees, one was Beta. Eight were Alpha. And three were Omega. The sentient beings were busy shaking their heads, saying it wasn’t them.
Then Executive Director Kwon’s expression became even more ferocious. No matter how handsome he was, an angry Executive Director Kwon was terrifying.
“Can’t you hear me? I’m asking who is coming to the meeting without being able to control their pheromones.”
If he asked like that, they wouldn’t be able to answer even if they wanted to. You could even hear the sound of swallowing in the quiet conference room.
People were slowly looking around. At first, they didn’t know, but after Executive Director Kwon pointed it out, Omega pheromones were being detected. Whoever it was, they seemed to be in a tense situation where control was difficult.
“I, I’m sorry…”
Eventually, one person volunteered to raise their hand. It was the researcher who had sharply questioned Hui-won earlier. Her face showed that she had never expected to be pointed out by Executive Director Kwon.
“Weren’t you notified in advance?”
“That’s… that is.”
The researcher’s face gradually turned red, and tears welled up in her big eyes. Finally, the tears burst. As her emotions became more intense, the pheromones began to spread to the point where it was difficult to control.