NOVEL NEXT c1
A tall building in the heart of Seoul. A man gracefully walked to the top floor of the building, which was too high to look up at. With deep black hair and brown eyes, the man who fit the description of “charmingly handsome” looked relaxed more than anything.
“Has the representative arrived?”
Kwon Ihyeok, the representative of Taesung Construction and one of the few dominant alphas in Korea, entered the representative’s office while receiving greetings from the surrounding staff. He hung his suit jacket and was about to sit down when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Ihyeok granted entry without even asking who it was. The reason he didn’t ask was because there was no need. There was only one person who would knock on his door and enter without hesitation.
“Good morning. Representative.”
“Hello, Hyeseong.”
Ihyeok smiled, looking at Hyeseong, who opened the door and entered at exactly 8:51 every morning. Even the greeting was always the same. The phrase “good morning” had never changed since Hyeseong had been his secretary. What was even more interesting was that despite saying “good morning,” his face didn’t look good at all.
“I will give you the morning report.”
“Ah, I just got to work and haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet.”
“Don’t whine like a child, it doesn’t suit your age.”
It wasn’t something one would usually say to their boss at work, but Ihyeok just smiled instead of scolding him. Hyeseong quickly flipped through the tablet he was holding and slowly began the report.
“The meeting with Wolhyang Corporation this morning has been canceled.”
“Why?”
“A scandal article broke out this morning. The director of Wolhyang was photographed entering a hotel with another omega.”
“Didn’t that person get married last year?”
Ihyeok sat in his chair and stroked his chin. Hyeseong nodded his head, agreeing.
“Then why get married in the first place? It’s bothersome. If you want to enjoy yourself like that, don’t get married at all.”
Ihyeok’s cold voice filled the room. Rather than pointing out the social issue of committing adultery, his reaction that the person not only behaved promiscuously but also couldn’t handle the consequences of their own actions and messed things up clearly revealed Ihyeok’s usual thoughts.
“That marriage was a strategic one anyway.”
But to Hyeseong, such an attitude was already familiar to the point of being obvious.
“If you’re curious about the article, I’ll send it to you.”
“No need.”
Ihyeok waved his hand as if to say to move on to the next agenda item.
“Next, it seems we will likely be selected as the construction company for the Haewonsi housing redevelopment maintenance project.”
“That’s good news.”
“Yes. Of course, it is. Since you personally put in force.”
At Hyeseong’s sharp remark, Ihyeok gave a small fake cough as if caught off guard.
“I told you so many times to abandon the habits from your gang days.”
“You know too. Sometimes this is stronger than money.”
Ihyeok waved his palm. Hyeseong let out a deep sigh. It’s not that he doesn’t know that. He had been under that person since those days.
“That concludes the work-related report…”
“Hyeseong.”
As Hyeseong was about to bring up the next important matter, Ihyeok spoke up quite seriously. Hyeseong stared at Ihyeok without a word.
“Last time when I went on a business trip to England, I went into rut, right?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Hyeseong’s face remained expressionless as before.
“Are you sure there was no omega I touched at that time?”
“…I believe I told you last time that there wasn’t.”
“But it’s strange. It’s strange that I have no memory, and it’s also strange that the rut ended quietly without anything happening.”
Ihyeok furrowed his brows slightly with a serious face as if recalling the past. The narrowing of his brows was proof that he really couldn’t remember no matter how hard he tried. Hyeseong shook his head without changing his expression at all.
“There’s nothing strange. That day when you went into rut, you collapsed and the medical team was immediately dispatched to administer suppressants and you fell asleep. I’ve said this over a hundred times.”
Not a hundred times, Ihyeok smiled. But soon he hardened his face again.
“Still, investigate just in case. If I held an omega that I have no memory of, it could become a big problem later.”
“Yes. I will do that. But you’ll have to entrust that matter to my successor.”
“Huh?”
Just as Ihyeok was gesturing for Hyeseong to leave, Hyeseong took out something from his pocket without batting an eye.
Resignation Letter
“I will work until the end of this month and then quit.”
Ihyeok looked at the neatly placed resignation letter on the desk and then up at Hyeseong.
“The reason?”
“Personal reasons.”
Despite calmly placing the resignation letter down, Hyeseong waited for Ihyeok’s reaction with a more tense heart than anyone. From the moment he came to work this morning, he had imagined this very moment dozens of times.
Given Ihyeok’s personality, he might not accept the resignation letter if Hyeseong said he was quitting.
“……”
But Ihyeok’s gaze as he scanned the resignation letter somehow seemed light. For a moment, Hyeseong thought that what he had imagined might not happen.
The bond they had built over a long time if it could be considered long, amounted to only this much. Hyeseong, who had been waiting for Ihyeok’s answer, felt relieved that he could safely quit, but for some reason, his mouth tasted bitter.
“…Okay. I’ll process it. You can go.”
Hyeseong bowed his head and left the representative’s office without hesitation. As soon as he came out, Hyeseong let out a long sigh. Ihyeok’s space was filled with his pheromones. A cozy and sweet citrus scent that didn’t match his sharp impression.
Hyeseong tried hard to wipe away the scent that seemed to linger on the tip of his nose.
“Team leader, are you not feeling well?”
As Hyeseong entered the secretarial office, Han Seohee, a colleague on the secretarial team, approached from the side, seeing that Hyeseong’s complexion had worsened a bit.
“No, I’m fine.”
Hyeseong shook his head with an obligatory smile. After all, he couldn’t say that he ended up like this because he couldn’t get his mind off Ihyeok’s pheromones, could he?
Hyeseong began organizing work folders one by one. And there, unexpectedly, he found his resume with his personal information written on it. It was a document he had created a long time ago to make a resume sample.
[Name: Chun Hyeseong Age: 26]
Hyeseong, who was scanning the information containing his personal details with emotionless eyes, paused for a moment.
[Type: Beta]
Hyeseong, who had been in a daze for a while, put his hand on the keyboard. His gaze gradually sank as he saw the letters he had timidly typed after erasing the word Beta.
[An omega pretending to be a beta]
Looking at the letters he had written like that, Hyeseong let out a self-mocking laugh, closed the document, and moved it into the recycle bin.
Hyeseong woke up at 7:30 AM sharp in his modest office near the company, as soon as the brief alarm sounded. Unlike most office workers, he didn’t linger in bed and got up immediately, tidying the bedding and heading straight to the bathroom.
From showering to drying his hair and preparing breakfast, everything was done mechanically without any unnecessary actions. For breakfast, he preferred simple options like salad or cereal, nothing excessive. Scanning the overnight news on his phone while eating was also part of his routine.
[Haewonsi Redevelopment Construction Company, Winner Between Daehyun and Taesung is Taesung Construction?]
Hyeseong clicked on the article and read it slowly. Since it was written by a media company on friendly terms with Taesung anyway, there was nothing to worry about, but he still read each word carefully just in case. Fortunately, there were no issues of concern.
[Isn’t Taesung a gang company? Even gangs live well these days.]
Hyeseong’s brows furrowed as he read a comment on the article. He immediately took a screenshot of the comment to save it. He planned to send it directly to the company’s legal team upon arriving at work.
“…I won’t be doing this much longer either.”
Hyeseong slowly stood up, looking at the empty bowl. The time he changed clothes and tidied up to leave the house was exactly 8:10 AM. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the company. Taking the bus was faster, but he walked as a form of exercise.
“Good morning, Mr. Cheon.”
“Yes. Good morning.”
After entering the company, Hyeseong greeted the employees and headed straight to the in-house café on the 1st floor. The reason for coming to work early was to have a cup of Americano while roughly organizing today’s tasks. As he was sitting in his usual spot, scanning his tablet, a dark shadow loomed in front of Hyeseong.
“Mr. Cheon Hyeseong, go easy on the coffee. You’ll get a hole in your stomach at this rate.”
A playful voice. Even without looking up, he knew who it was.
“Good morning, Director Kang.”
“Hyeseong is no fun at all.”
Kang Seongjin, a director at Taesung Construction and someone who had been with Kwon Ihyeok from the bottom up, plopped down in front of Hyeseong.