The Secretary's Power (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“I’m sorry, Tae Beom ssi. I don’t think this is going to work out for me…….”
It was an exceedingly quiet night.
An even quieter voice rang out from the other side of the phone.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…… I’m sorry…….”
The love we had barely managed to hold onto for so long ended with a hollowness that felt almost too easy.
Because of a dream he hadn’t had in ages, Tae Beom tossed and turned in bed.
His deeply furrowed brow still carried the emotions of that day untouched. His tightly closed lips parted under ragged breaths.
She said she was leaving, that she couldn’t hold on any longer, yet not a single word came out of him.
What was he supposed to do, how was he supposed to live from now on if she just disappeared like this—tears swallowed his questions, leaving him lost.
“I’m sorry…….”
That was the first time he realized just how terrifying the words “I’m sorry” could be.
His throat, frozen with fear, hurt as if it were tearing apart. His heart beat irregularly, making him think it wouldn’t be strange if it stopped at any moment.
So, so how are you going to live from now on? What were you planning to do without me—
The questions that had piled up to the point of bursting were incinerated by scorching sorrow. Only after the call ended and he spent a long while in a time where he could no longer hear her tear-soaked words did he collapse into his seat.
……Should I now wish for your unhappiness? Or should I hope for your happiness.
How could I welcome you when you’re crushed by unhappiness and crying yourself away.
And how could I look forward to you dyed in happiness, smiling without me.
He had fallen into an abyss of weightlessness where he could choose nothing.
“I’m sorry…… Tae Beom ssi…… I’m sorry…… I’m sorry…….”
Was it from that moment?
It felt like a hole had been punched through his chest—empty and stinging—and when morning came he would open his eyes curled up in a ball.
There could be nothing to replace her—
Ah. So this is how I’ll live the rest of my life. Living a meaningless existence like this.
I’m nothing more than the seed of a family that takes pride in its mountain-like fortune, neither more nor less.
The princess sleeping in alcohol.
I suppose I’ll spend the rest of my life just looking at the princess sleeping in alcohol…….
Tae Beom’s eyes snapped open. The lingering dream flew away like an arrow, and at the same moment, Hye Won’s drunken face floated up clearly.
He hurriedly turned on his phone to check the time. 4:30 a.m.
“Wonder if she’s awake.”
Lying back down comfortably, Tae Beom put his phone down.
Last night. Like being struck on the head with a major textbook by the family’s sworn enemy, no matter how much he shook her, Hye Won didn’t budge.
Time passed mercilessly, and Tae Beom racked his brain over every possible scenario.
A hotel or his own house naturally came up as strong candidates, but Tae Beom shook his head hard as if denying it.
After eliminating other possibilities for various reasons, only the police station and the office remained.
Spitting out every curse he knew, Tae Beom supported Hye Won and returned to the company.
He thought about laying her on the managing director’s office sofa, but deciding it constituted insubordination, he left her sprawled on the floor.
Phew. He twisted his tie once, caught his breath, then looked down at the collapsed Hye Won. He tossed her diagonally slung bag onto her desk and turned away coolly.
“It’s cooold…….”
He stopped after a few steps.
Even in that state, the demands of the princess sleeping in alcohol were perfectly clear.
Phew…… Letting out a long breath, Tae Beom went into the managing director’s office, grabbed several days’ worth of piled-up newspapers, and came back out.
He dropped them on the floor with a thud and rolled the princess in alcohol onto the newspapers. Watching the nicely round Hye Won roll, he unconsciously smiled for a moment.
He started to leave but stopped again. Looking up at the office ceiling, he quietly held out his palm to check the temperature, then took off his jacket.
He dropped it over her body and neatly removed her clearly uncomfortable shoes, placing them side by side.
After walking a few steps, he turned back one last time, carefully spreading the jacket out again to cover her properly.
“She’s probably awake by now. She’s not a bear.”
Trying to breathe comfortably and fall back asleep. But that lasted only a moment. Tae Beom checked the time on his phone again.
“You’re not getting away with this today.”
Argh……
Tae Beom eventually got up. She couldn’t possibly still be in the office. Unless she was a bear hibernating through winter, no human with functioning senses would do that.
Convinced she had gone home, Tae Beom finished showering anyway.
The bear-like princess was still in the office.
✶
“Hey there, has our princess arrived?”
Six o’clock in the morning.
Spotting the light leaking from the managing director’s office, Hye Won stealthily slipped inside.
Her face clearly showed she had just washed up in the communal rest area provided as a company benefit; Hye Won fidgeted awkwardly.
Tae Beom, who had just arrived, took off the jacket he was wearing and hung it on the coat rack.
At that, Hye Won quickly walked over holding his jacket.
“Um, this…….”
“You have no manners. If you slept well under it, you should at least get it dry-cleaned before returning it. Who do you think is supposed to handle the aftermath?”
“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking!”
“I’m already well aware that your thoughts are always short and insufficient, so please come up with a new way to apologize from now on.”
“Yes…….”
She had nothing to say even if he nitpicked a thousand ways. Hye Won bit her lip gently and put the jacket down.
Dressed in a vest, Tae Beom sat at his desk. Neither of them had slept properly.
“Did you sleep well?”
Tae Beom asked, looking at Hye Won’s haggard face.
It felt like a question impossible to answer, so Hye Won hesitated for a moment.
If she said she slept well, it seemed she would be scolded for sleeping peacefully after causing someone so much trouble.
“Did you sleep well, I asked?”
If she said she didn’t sleep well, it seemed he would curse her for not at least sleeping well after all the trouble she caused.
“Well, um, so-so…….”
In times like this, a vague answer is best.
As Hye Won hemmed and hawed, trailing off, Tae Beom smirked.
“Assistant Manager Yoon Hye Won.”
Ah. Now it’s really time for the harsh words.
Hye Won tensed up completely, shrinking her shoulders.
“Yes. Managing Director.”
“Let me be perfectly clear: I never forced alcohol on Assistant Manager Yoon Hye Won. Please remember that you drank it because you wanted to.”
“Yes…… Of course it was voluntary on my part…….”
“On the way back after the company dinner ended, while supporting a completely drunk Assistant Manager Yoon Hye Won, we ran into six regular employees and five security guards.”
“…….”
“Thanks to someone, my already fearsome image is rising in real time. Is that just my imagination?”
“I’m sorry…….”
Hye Won bowed her head deeply. Everything after passing out drunk yesterday had been completely edited out of her memory.
There was no way she had walked to the company herself, found the English newspapers kept in the managing director’s office, spread them neatly on the floor, and slept there—the process was obvious.
The jacket left beside her was decisive proof that he had brought her here.
Watching Hye Won, who unlike usual didn’t know where to put herself, Tae Beom interlaced his fingers.
“Getting black-out drunk at the first company dinner. And in a situation where only the two of us—the subordinate and her superior—were left.”
Even with ten mouths she would have nothing to say.
She couldn’t even protest that he had only drunk with her out of pity because she was drinking alone at the inauguration ceremony.
“I spent some time last night thinking about how exactly I should take this.”
“It’s…… not…… I didn’t have any…… ulterior motives…….”
“Of course not. Naturally there shouldn’t be.”
Speaking firmly, Tae Beom stared at Hye Won.
Hye Won’s face, with all the light makeup she had put on completely wiped off, looked very clean. It had a pure freshness that strangely suited this not-yet-bright morning.
When she smiled she was overwhelmingly lively, almost too much to handle; when she kept her mouth shut she made people pointlessly concerned—Tae Beom raised an eyebrow at Hye Won’s peculiar aura.
“I’m sorry, Managing Director. I will make sure this never happens again.”
“You absolutely must be careful. Because next time you open your eyes, it might not be the office floor.”
As Tae Beom stood up from his seat, Hye Won looked up.
The sound of steady footsteps echoed. At the steps that seemed to be approaching her, Hye Won flinched, but Tae Beom passed by her.
“The morning meeting is at ten.”
“Yes. Managing Director.”
“So there seems to be plenty of time to go home and come back.”
“Ah…… Yes. Understood.”
Having said what he needed to say, Tae Beom started walking again and left the managing director’s office first.
Phew…… Hye Won let out a small hot breath and opened her eyes wide. Then she looked down at the jacket that hadn’t returned to its owner.
“I thought I was going to get fired. Phew.”
Looking around, Hye Won picked up the jacket and sniffed it.
That scent, that fragrance that had comforted her through the night.
“I need to get it dry-cleaned. I should hurry home. Heh.”
It was his woody fragrance.
✶
“Assistant Manager Yoon!”
Hye Won, who had gone home, washed up neatly, and come back to work, stopped in her tracks.
“Sunbae-nim!”
It was Section Chief Kang Seok Hoon, who until recently had worked with her in the Management Strategy Headquarters.
Hye Won smiled brightly in greeting, and Seok Hoon approached. He tapped her shoulder as if it had been a long time.
“Assistant Manager Yoon. So you’re still alive?”
“As you can see.”
The two who met in the lobby happily exchanged greetings.
“Are you just arriving now?”
“Huh? Ah, I had some work. What about you, sunbae-nim?”
“I stopped by a vendor on the way.”
They walked side by side. Section Chief Kang Seok Hoon had been Hye Won’s first mentor, whom she followed like a mother bird.
She liked Seok Hoon’s clear-cut personality. She always remembered the gratitude from her rookie days when he casually made work easier for her.
Walking with Seok Hoon brought back memories of the peaceful department atmosphere, and Hye Won let out a small breath.
Seok Hoon glanced at her and opened his mouth.
“Tough, isn’t it?”
“Ah, no. I’m not even at the level of doing real work yet. I’m just causing trouble everywhere.”
“That can’t be. After all the effort I put into raising Assistant Manager Yoon into an outstanding talent, how could you be a burden?”
Their steps toward the elevator felt considerably lighter. Hye Won laughed out loud for the first time in a while.
Ah. Looking down at the two beverage bottles she was holding, she offered one to Seok Hoon.
“Sunbae-nim, here, take this.”
“You didn’t buy this for me. Doesn’t this drink have another owner?”
“No, it was one-plus-one, so I bought two.”
Actually she had wanted to give one to Tae Beom in case he was suffering from a hangover like her, but as she walked she thought it might seem nosy.
Seok Hoon accepted the drink she offered.
“I got a drink, so I should buy you lunch. Let’s eat together.”
“Oh, really? Jackpot!”
Hye Won kept bursting into clear laughter and cheered softly, making Seok Hoon laugh along.
“The Strategy Department felt empty after Assistant Manager Yoon disappeared.”
Stopping in front of the elevator, Seok Hoon said quietly.
Hye Won gripped the beverage bottle tighter.
“If I had known the transfer would happen this fast, I would’ve treated you better. Kind of regret it.”
“You already treated me more than enough. If it wasn’t for sunbae-nim, I wouldn’t even be here.”
“Well. I think if Assistant Manager Yoon wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be here.”
Hye Won looked up at Seok Hoon. The moment their eyes met, Tae Beom—who growled—and her mentor Seok Hoon were clearly, unmistakably different.
Maybe the reason she could endure even when buried in work or harassed by a difficult department head was because Seok Hoon had been there.
For some reason tears welled up. She, who never acted spoiled, suddenly wanted to whine.
Hng, sunbae-nim……
“I was always grateful to you. I left without even properly saying that.”
“If you talk like we’ll never see each other again, I won’t get to hear a proper greeting. What should we eat for lunch?”
Always warm and someone to be thankful for.
My mental pillar, sturdy windbreak, the mentor I want to emulate.
“I can gratefully eat anything sunbae-nim buys me.”
“You saying that just makes it more burdensome. What should I buy so people say I treated you well.”
At that moment.
They were creating a cheerful, friendly atmosphere with laughter, when Tae Beom suddenly appeared beside them as if waiting for the next elevator.
Startled, Hye Won instinctively shrank her shoulders.
“Assistant Manager Yoon Hye Won.”
“Yes. Yes, Managing Director!”
Looking at the descending elevator, Tae Beom spoke.
Seok Hoon gave Tae Beom a silent bow, and Hye Won’s eyes widened.
“Prepare for a business trip.”
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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