SMC #004

Executive Director Kwon threw down the fountain pen he was holding and covered his forehead. He hated crying even more than leaking pheromones.

“Secretary Kim.”

Coming, coming.

Kim Hui-won, who had been standing like a screen behind Kwon Young-je, quickly stepped forward. He hurriedly supported the sobbing researcher and helped him up.

“Go out and calm down before coming back in.”

“Hngh, I, uh, didn’t do it on purpose….”

“Yes, yes. It’s alright. Just grab onto me and follow me out.”

The researcher leaned his staggering body on Hui-won, clutching his jacket tightly. Perhaps because of the surge of sorrowful emotions, his pheromones became even stronger. Of course, Hui-won, being a Beta, couldn’t sense them.

He led the researcher out of the conference room and sat him down in a quiet place. Hui-won knelt down to meet his eye level. He handed him the tranquilizer and bottled water he had prepared in advance, and the researcher nodded, rubbing his wet eyes.

“I’m sorry… You even warned me in advance. I didn’t know he was so sensitive.”

“It’s alright, it can happen the first time. By the way, it seems like today’s meeting will be difficult… Let’s just have you report the prepared content in writing later.”

“Would it be difficult to attend again?”

“I suppose so?”

Hui-won measured the pheromones emanating from the researcher with a small pheromone measuring device. 68ph. When he showed the numbers directly, the researcher nodded in agreement.

Sniff, snort. The sight of him swallowing his tears and snot was truly pitiful. So, an Omega’s crying face can also stir a person’s heart.

“Um, will I not receive any disadvantages later?”

“That won’t happen. Executive Director Kwon doesn’t hold grudges.”

Only then did he seem to find some stability. The researcher took small sips of the water Hui-won gave him, calming his trembling breath.

“Then, rest for a while.”

“…Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I have a lot of work to do.”

His pity was only temporary, and now taking care of himself was more urgent. As soon as Hui-won left the lounge, he sprinted as if his life depended on it. He stopped in front of the elevator with a skid and pressed the elevator button urgently.

Executive Director Kwon Young-je

[Come within five minutes]

The text message Executive Director Kwon sent a little while ago made him even more anxious. First of all, removing the Omega pheromones that had permeated his body was his top priority.

“Hey, I’m going up now. Please take out the pheromone neutralizer and some clothes.”

He glared at the floor number indicator that was steadily rising and requested help from the secretary’s office. Hui-won took off his suit jacket while holding the phone to his ear. He had become quite skilled at this after experiencing it so many times.

As soon as he went straight to the office, the secretaries swarmed around him. They handed Hui-won a new jacket, and the jacket he had been wearing went into the clothing care machine. Hui-won changed into the new jacket and sprayed the neutralizer all over his body.

“Is it an emergency?”

“No, not that serious.”

He roughly swept back his damp hair and went back outside. All three elevators were going down. It would take a long time to get up to the 22nd floor again. As if pouring oil on Hui-won’s worries, his phone vibrated again.

Executive Director Kwon Young-je

[Return quickly]

[Is this the time to be goofing off?]

“I’m going.”

Hui-won muttered at the consecutive text messages. He glanced at the elevators still stuck on the lower floors and had no choice but to turn around.

He ran down the emergency stairs breathlessly. The surface of the stairs was slippery, and he was about to fall, but Hui-won couldn’t slow down.

He arrived from the 22nd floor to the 9th floor in 1 minute and 30 seconds. He didn’t know how many times he had twisted his ankle while running down the stairs. He walked quickly down the hallway leading to the conference room, calming his breath and straightening his crooked tie and employee ID. After smoothing his disheveled hair, his face became calm as if he had never been in a hurry.

He deliberately skipped knocking and entered the conference room. The inside was a bit chilly, probably because the windows were open. Hui-won carefully read the atmosphere.

Fortunately, the meeting had resumed. A PPT was being displayed on the monitor screen in the front, and Kwon Young-je, sitting at the head of the table, was watching it with a serious face.

He had rushed him to come quickly even though nothing was wrong. It was as if he had some kind of separation anxiety without him.

Hui-won silently went behind Executive Director Kwon and stood like a shadow. As always, behind Kwon Young-je was his place. He put strength into his still-trembling knees and took a straight posture.

On the other hand, Executive Director Kwon’s upper body was leaning against the back of the chair. His upright posture had become more relaxed than before. Even the fingertips tapping on the desk seemed to have a rhythm.

It wasn’t without reason that Kwon Young-je was showing such a sensitive reaction. In fact, he had a serious neurosis about Omega pheromones. Very few people knew about this condition.

Since his first manifestation at the age of 17, he had been receiving all kinds of advances from Omegas. Some people deliberately threw their bodies at the attractive Dominant Alpha when they were in heat, and it was common for them to spray pheromones that stung his nose.

Kwon Young-je couldn’t understand this behavior. At first, he was led by his instincts and couldn’t help but give in, but what came back to him was not a sense of fulfillment but self-disgust. He felt like he was not an intelligent human being but a beast.

The Dominant trait was both a blessing and a tragedy for Kwon Young-je.

The Omegas who clung to him like magnets always poured out excessive pheromones as if they were in heat. It was difficult for Kwon Young-je, who had a more fastidious personality than others, to endure.

Even though his family knew this fact, they overlooked Kwon Young-je’s suffering and instead put Omegas by his side, saying that he should adapt. As a result, he had to be taken to the emergency room after suffering pheromone shock a whopping twelve times in a month. The experience at that time remained a terrible trauma for Kwon Young-je.

At some point, when he smelled Omega pheromones, he would get a severe headache and nausea. In the end, even though he was a Dominant Alpha, he reached the point of rejecting Omegas.

In the past, it was said that it was difficult to live without pheromone fulfillment, but nowadays, with the advancement of technology, it can be sufficiently resolved with medicine. In particular, Apex is constantly developing new drugs for the heat cycle of sentient beings with high-level technology. From Kwon Young-je’s point of view, he could lead the business according to his own desires, so management was his calling.

However, his fastidious personality remained the same. Kim Hui-won was the only one whose stamina was being drained from attending to Executive Director Kwon, who was particularly sensitive to Omega pheromones.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour, ended successfully. Due to the unfortunate incident in the middle, it was delayed by about ten minutes, and the scheduled video conference afterward became urgent. It was when Hui-won was anxiously waiting while looking down at his wristwatch.

Kwon Young-je, who was having a final conversation with the chief researcher, called out in a low voice, “Secretary Kim.” His head naturally went up.

“Yes, Executive Director.”

“I was wondering if I should have lunch with Chief Song.”

Hui-won immediately took out his phone.

“I’ll make a reservation at a restaurant. Do you have any particular place you’d like to go?”

“Damyeon at 1 o’clock.”

“Ah… Damyeon.”

The thumb that was touching the screen stopped. When he raised his eyes, Executive Director Kwon was staring at him intently.

“I’ll make a reservation.”

Hui-won gave a trustworthy smile. There is no NO for a secretary. Whether it turns out good or bad, the only answer to an order is yes.

As he returned to the office, sirens went off in Hui-won’s head. Emergency, emergency. He had to make a reservation no matter what.

Damyeon was a Korean restaurant that had become quite famous after being featured on a public broadcast last week. It was so popular that there were even articles saying that reservations were closed as soon as the reservation window opened.

As soon as Executive Director Kwon entered his office for the video conference, Hui-won summoned all the employees in the secretary’s office. All possible methods were mobilized to make a reservation.

First, he called Damyeon. Of course, the reservation was full. There was no way a same-day reservation would be possible, let alone a few days later.

“I’m really sorry, but are there no VIP seats available?”

High-end restaurants often leave one table available in preparation for sudden visits from VIP guests. Of course, you have to pay a much higher price than the normal price, but price was not important to VIP-level guests.

The result was a failure. Hui-won put down his phone and sighed.

“I did find one posting on the internet for a transfer, but it’s for the evening time today. There are no lunch slots at all.”

Even the secretaries he had trusted delivered bad news. Aaaah, Hui-won squeezed out a groan-like voice and rubbed his face. As the back of the chair was tilted halfway back, it creaked along with him.

“Is this the only way?”

He muttered to himself and then sat up straight again. He grabbed the mouse and clicked a few times, and a messenger window popped up on the monitor screen.

< Helpers (8) [Notice] Let's only talk about urgent matters. Both hands went up on the keyboard. Hui-won began to write one letter at a time, swallowing his embarrassment. 7 [Dear secretaries. I hope you are all at peace today. I was wondering if you are all doing well in this weather with a large daily temperature range.] He left a polite greeting. The numbers quickly decreased, and then the chat followed like a tail. SG/Hong Yu-kyung [Emergency! Everyone pay attention!!] 2 Samgang Corporation/Kim Do-shik [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSomething exploded on Executive Director Kwon's side] 3 Blue Rail/Park Gyu-young [What is it? Tell me quickly, I'm dying of curiosity] 4 The group chat room, which consisted only of executive secretaries from wealthy families, was buzzing. Since the group chat room was one where no news was good news, everyone laughed and made a fuss when Kim Hui-won spoke first. Everyone was quick-witted. 1 [Is there anyone who can make a reservation for two at Damyeon in Cheongdam-dong at 1 p.m. today?] Imperial/Shin Jung-ho [Wow, Damyeon?] 1 [Not easy] 1 SG/Hong Yu-kyung [If anyone can, please contact Secretary Kim Hui-won individually.] 2 Blue Rail/Park Gyu-young [I'll check it out.] 2 Hui-won clenched and unclenched his sweaty palms, staring blankly at the monitor screen. He had done everything he could. Now he had to leave it to fate.