Born to Be a Secretary

The gleaming limousine spat Heewon out and immediately drove away.
Squinting slightly against the bright sunlight pouring down from above, he made a hand visor. Leaving work while the sun was still up was a rare occasion in his role as an executive secretary.

As soon as he entered his home, he took off his jacket and collapsed onto the sofa.
Though he had said he was fine, the body aches remained, and the persistent mild fever left his limbs feeling heavy and limp. Having lain face down for thirty minutes unwilling to do anything, he sluggishly shifted his body, reminded that he needed to take his medicine.
At that moment, his phone buzzed incessantly. Expecting it to be a work message, he checked it and saw it was a text from “Park Yuseong.”

A man he had met briefly, but the message was nothing but curses from start to finish. Heewon snorted in disbelief.
In summary, it was a bitter complaint about being toyed with. Had they even dated or done anything? It had been nearly a month since they last saw each other.
Of course, Heewon was partly to blame for cancelling twice and avoiding meetings afterward. But since they weren’t even in a relationship, and any meeting would have been purely for sex, what kind of responsibility could there be?

Still, the other party seemed to have a different view. Park Yuseong was persistently contacting him to the point of obsession, and starting about a week ago, the texts grew full of insults. As Heewon showed no reaction, the tone only worsened.
[“I hope you meet someone good. I hope you never contact me again.”]
After sending this reply, he blocked the number immediately. If he couldn’t manage himself, what was the point of a relationship?

The desires for sex and romance that had come like a fleeting whim had long since faded. Right now, he barely had the strength to recover his broken condition.
Heewon loosened his necktie that was choking him along with his exhausted breath and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. His only thought was to take a shower first, then take his medicine and get a good sleep.
Despite getting enough rest, his physical condition showed no improvement.

As his repeated mistakes piled up, the other secretarial staff were starting to worry about Heewon’s state. Usually as sharp and efficient as Executive Director Kwon Youngjae himself, Kim Secretary’s continuous blunders stood out more than ever.
“Are you kidding me?”
A stack of documents scattered at his feet. Heewon stood with his hands behind his back, grinding his teeth. The hand gripping his wrist trembled.

“Secretary Kim, how long am I supposed to keep putting up with this?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What exactly is your problem? Can’t you get your act together?”

Kwon Youngjae unleashed his anger without holding back. It was unprecedented for him to show this much emotion.
The mistakes themselves were minor, but repeated one after another, they had worn down Kwon’s patience completely.
Recent work stress had been unbearable. The secretary who should be his agile right hand kept messing up and now was barely functioning like a sickly chicken. Eventually, his frustration exploded.
“Get out. Don’t even show your face here for a while.”

“...Director, at least let me review the paperwork errors again.”
“Didn’t you hear me say get out?”
“......”

When Heewon didn’t move, Kwon glared at him a long moment then pressed the intercom button.
“Bring this secretary in to take over the work.”
Heewon bit his lip hard. He wasn’t entitled to feel resentful over Director Kwon’s scolding when he was clearly at fault. But his heart didn’t obey him.

Soon, this other secretary entered the office. Surprised for a moment by the messy room, the newcomer quickly composed himself and approached Kwon.
The two calmly discussed the handover. Kwon was instructing the new secretary on the tasks Heewon should handle.
Heewon bent down and picked up the papers scattered on the floor. The desolation he felt was indescribable, but he swallowed it silently.

After gathering the crumpled documents, he bowed toward Kwon. Until Heewon turned to leave, Kwon did not glance at him once—treating him like a complete invisible man.
Outside, the secretarial staff ran over with pale faces. Heewon had no energy to smile and stood quietly by /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the office door.
Secretary Ji hesitated but handed over some wound ointment. When Heewon looked at it with dazed eyes, she whispered, “Director, you’re bleeding…”

“…Ah.”
Only then did his lips sting. He had unconsciously been biting his dry, cracked lips until the skin tore.
Heewon thanked her and took the ointment, but his hand holding it drooped weakly to the floor. No motivation stirred inside him, and he couldn’t even figure out where to start.

“...Sorry, I keep showing such a pathetic side.”
“Director Kwon was too harsh. It wasn’t something to get that angry about.”
“No, it’s my fault.”

For perfectionist Director Kwon, mistakes were unforgivable. Knowing that, he kept making them—Heewon’s own fault. He forced himself to take a step forward. Once seated, he logged into the company intranet and clicked the personnel management tab.
Vacation Request (3 days)
Reason: Medical treatment

After clicking a few times, he put down the mouse. Staring blankly at the powered-off monitor, he slowly began to pack up.
“Secretary Ji, I’ll forward calls, so please answer them.”
“Yes, Director.”

It was rare for Kim Heewon to take leave. Even when sick, he came to work every day, but now he finally reached his limit and had to take sick leave.
Since Director Kwon told him not to come near for a while, no one would be looking for Kim Secretary. That was probably for the best. The secretaries hoped Heewon would finally take care of himself.
He packed his belongings and left the office. While booking a hospital appointment on his phone, an uneasy feeling crept in.

Surely it wasn’t anything serious. He’d recover quickly. Trying to suppress the rising anxiety, he hurried his steps.
“Kim Heewon, you had a blood test this morning, right?”
“Yes.”

He deliberately went to a top-tier hospital. He could no longer ignore symptoms that failed to improve. The doctor examined the blood test results carefully.
“A more detailed examination seems necessary. I’ll refer you to the clinical genetics department.”
“Excuse me? Clinical genetics?”

Heewon asked in a puzzled voice. Meanwhile, the doctor was quickly preparing a referral form. Hearing the keyboard clacking, Heewon felt this wasn’t right and rested his hand on the desk.
“Doctor, I think there’s some mistake. I’m a Beta.”
“The blood pheromone level came out high. See here?”

“No, doctor, I said I’m a Beta.”
“Yes, yes. Let’s proceed with the test and then I can confirm. You don’t need to wait and can go straight to clinical genetics.”
He protested, but the doctor responded calmly.

Forced to transfer departments, Heewon was bewildered as he underwent an ultrasound and pheromone type tests and soon faced shocking news.
“You have manifested as an Omega. Congratulations.”
“Excuse me? What did you say I was?”

“Kim Heewon, you’re an Omega. The fever and muscle pain are common pre-manifestation symptoms. Usually, there’s about a week of severe manifestation pain, but in your case, the latent period was long and the symptoms mild.”
“What did you say?”
Repeating the question like a parrot, the genetics doctor spun in his chair with a completely unfazed expression. He had dealt with many Betas in denial, so there was even a manual for handling such cases.

With a warm smile, the doctor said,
“I understand you’re shocked.”
“Doctor, I had a genetic test just a few months ago… and I was definitely a Beta then.”

“That’s possible. Timing-wise… it’s been about a week since manifestation. If you had the test before that, it’s natural it came out Beta.”
“Can an adult manifest like this?”
“It’s most likely during puberty, but manifestation can happen any time.”

“I haven’t even smelled pheromones until recently!”
“If you get the injection today, pheromone activation will begin and you’ll be able to detect pheromones from others.”
“What if I don’t take the injection? Can I keep living like a Beta now?”

The doctor looked horrified as if hearing nonsense.
“That would be dangerous!”
“I think this is worse.”

“You must accept it. Especially early on, adapting to pheromones can be difficult, so take a break from social activities for a few days. Our nurse will teach you medication usage, precautions, and heat cycle education. You must complete this before going home.”
The genetic confirmation was stamped loudly.
Genetic Code: Ω-Male Body

What had never even been a joke was now a reality.
Coming out of the hospital, Heewon stood dazed in the street like a lost vagrant. His hands were full of diagnosis papers and medicine bags for submission to his company.
Me, an Omega? Really?

The only thought in his mind at that moment was one thing.
I’m screwed. Director Kwon is going to try to kill me.