By Zephyria “My memory is hazy after the reception. But I know Secretary Kim took me home.”
“……”
“Why? Did I make a mistake or something?”
At the probing question, Kim Hui-won’s hand paused. He didn’t even glance up, stubbornly focusing his gaze on the area around Executive Director Kwon’s neck.
“No, I just asked because you seemed very drunk.”
The paused hand resumed its diligent work. Before long, the tie was knotted perfectly. Hui-won pressed the knot he had made with his fingertip, then released it. Stepping back, he widened the distance that had narrowed.
“No problem. Let’s go to work.”
After arriving at the office, they each focused on their work at their respective desks. Despite the fatigue from the drinking session that had lasted until dawn, Kwon Young-je maintained an unwavering demeanor.
He had no hangover, and surprisingly, his head felt clear. Considering he had fallen asleep crumpled on the sofa, he had gotten quite a good night’s sleep.
Knock, knock. The rhythm of the knock was familiar. Inevitably, Secretary Kim opened the door and entered. His arms were full of documents to be approved.
Hui-won approached the desk and began to arrange the documents for easy viewing. Kwon Young-je watched him for a moment, then refocused his gaze and concentrated on his original task. His eyes, which had been casually scanning the documents, twitched slightly. Before long, his eyebrows furrowed.
His cool gaze shifted back to the side. Kim Hui-won, who had just finished arranging the documents, was straightening his back. His movements froze as if he felt the gaze.
“Is something wrong?”
Outwardly, he seemed no different than usual, but Secretary Kim’s pheromones were swirling wildly. This wasn’t just a one-time occurrence. Yesterday, they had fluctuated erratically, and he had considered pointing it out, but dismissed it as a matter of his condition. Yet today, he was showing the same signs without fail.
His heat cycle was still a long way off. Could his cycle be shifting? Given his unusual timing of manifestation, it wasn’t impossible.
Kwon Young-je slammed the fountain pen he was holding down on the desk. He braced himself on the desk and stood up, reaching out to grab Hui-won’s nape and feel it. Contrary to his expectations, only a cold temperature touched his palm.
“Executive Director!”
However, Kim Hui-won recoiled in surprise more than necessary. Kwon Young-je’s brow furrowed in response to the even more turbulent pheromones.
“Secretary Kim, your pheromone control is a mess right now.”
When he indirectly pointed out that he was leaking pheromones everywhere, Hui-won’s usually composed face instantly stiffened. Then, only his earlobes flushed bright red.
He hadn’t expected him to be so shocked. Kwon Young-je was equally taken aback as he looked down at his secretary’s face. Hui-won, who had turned pale, moved his lips a few times before bowing deeply.
“…I’m sorry. I will correct it.”
Faced with his sincere apology, Kwon Young-je was at a loss for words. Watching him struggle to suppress his pheromones, he himself was speechless. Kwon Young-je took a deep breath and ruffled his hair.
It wasn’t so much that it bothered him, but rather that it was just on his mind. It was closer to concern.
He had become accustomed to Kim Hui-won’s pheromones. The days when he felt repulsed were long gone. He could tolerate his secretary’s pheromones, and just as Kim Hui-won felt comfortable with his pheromones, so did he.
Only awkward air lingered in the space where the pheromones had ceased. Hui-won, who had barely managed to compose himself, spoke first.
“May I leave now?”
“Yes.”
Hui-won left with a refined greeting.
Kwon Young-je found himself watching his retreating figure, which seemed to be lost in worry, for a long time. He couldn’t easily sit back down, and continued to stand there staring at the closed door for a long while.
Outside, Hui-won stood in front of the door, rubbing his troubled face. A sigh escaped him involuntarily.
“General manager, are you alright?”
The secretaries, seeing him sighing heavily in front of the office, looked at him with concern, one by one. Their faces seemed to ask if something had happened inside again.
“I’m fine, no problem.”
But in reality, he wasn’t fine.
Executive Director Kwon was so sensitive that he might have caught Hui-won’s subtle changes faster than others. But it was true that he couldn’t even control his own body and showed his inexperience. There was no room for excuses.
Hui-won returned to his desk. He resumed his work as if nothing had happened, but the fingertips that were organizing the documents trembled slightly. His heart, which he couldn’t control, kept beating faster. He felt like he was burning inside.
After that, Hui-won was always conscious of his surroundings and developed the habit of suppressing his pheromones even more thoroughly. Spending all day in a state of tension, his impression gradually became sharper.
As the late afternoon approached, the secretaries began to prepare to leave, one by one. As they picked up their bags, they looked at Kim Hui-won, who was massaging the back of his neck, with pity. The general manager’s face looked very tired, as if he had been under a lot of stress for the past few days.
“Are you working late again today?”
“Don’t worry about me, just go home. Good work.”
Hui-won smiled faintly and sent the secretaries off first. He was more tired than usual because he was also mentally exhausted, but he didn’t want to make the other secretaries feel pressured.
Only after everyone had left did Hui-won slowly exhale. Left alone in the empty space, he could finally release the tension that had been like shackles.
He took out an old, outdated cell phone from the drawer. It was a device he used for secondary purposes, and he had installed a dating app on it a while ago. As soon as he unlocked it, messages began to flood in as if they had been waiting.
It was an app that was used quite actively among sentient beings.
Dating, continuous pheromone exchange—no matter how nicely they were packaged, the purpose was still to find a one-night stand or a sex partner. Hui-won pondered as he looked at the endless stream of messages. What should he do? Should he just go for it?
Suddenly feeling pathetic, he threw the phone far away.
“…Haa, seriously.”
With a long sigh, he covered his face with both hands. He rested his elbows on the desk, feeling despondent, and didn’t even hear the approaching footsteps because his mind was so hazy.
It was much later that he smelled the familiar pheromones, his face still covered. Startled, he looked up and found Kwon Young-je standing next to him.
He was leaning against the partition next to the desk, his face tilted as he stared at the flashing phone. He was clearly reading the incoming messages.
“Sex partner?”
A chilling voice was heard. Hui-won was so surprised that he could only gape. He had no idea what to say.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
A questioning voice flew at him. From his sharp gaze, Hui-won could sense a ruthless determination not to let him off easily, no matter what excuse he made. There was no way out.
He turned his chair slightly to face Kwon Young-je. With a feeling of repentance, Hui-won carefully revealed the truth.
“I… I feel like my pheromone control has been breaking down lately.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know why either. I think it’s because I’m worried about my heat cycle… I guess it’s because I’ve never experienced it before. I think I keep messing up because I’m psychologically anxious.”
A brief silence flowed. His silent gaze stared at Hui-won’s face as if to pierce through it. Kwon Young-je, who had been trying to understand the meaning, suddenly narrowed his brow.
“What does that have to do with finding a sex partner app?”
As expected, he wouldn’t let it go so easily. Hui-won hesitated before revealing his honest thoughts.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I slept with an Alpha once? A kind of preliminary learning…”
His expression was beyond dumbfounded, it was absurd. Kwon Young-je’s eyes were visibly twitching.
“I want to open up your head and see how your thought process works.”
He pressed his temples and glared at him mercilessly.
“Is this the best you could come up with?”
“I’m serious. And there’s no other way.”
“Delete it.”
Kwon Young-je flicked the phone and sent it flying towards Hui-won.
“Delete that trashy app right now.”
Was a dating app such a terrible thing? Well, maybe it was an unacceptable problem for a Dominant Alpha young master who only lived in a pure zone.
Hui-won touched the phone with a sullen face. Whether he deleted it or not, the eyes that were watching him until the end were quite stinging.
When he pressed and held the home screen with his thumb, the apps shook as if an earthquake had struck. Just as he was about to press the delete button, a cold voice flew and pierced him without fail.
“Put your lip back in?”
Now he was even criticizing his expression. Hui-won pushed his protruding lower lip back into place.
After deleting the app, he showed the clean screen.
“I deleted it.”
Nevertheless, Kwon Young-je still seemed displeased. He let out a long, deep sigh.
“If you’re going to meet someone, meet someone decent.”
“Yes, I’ll try.”
He had only given a textbook answer, but his expression was subtly stiff.
Hui-won looked around and slowly pulled out his chair and stood up.
“I’ll go buy dinner. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll buy whatever I want.”
He fled the office as if running away. For now, the best thing to do was to avoid the situation.