The Secretary's Power (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Hye Won, whimpering, moved Tae Beom onto the bed and fled the room without even looking back.
Buttoning her long cardigan, she scanned left and right down the hallway—then stared blankly at the room door.
When Lisa Jang had thoroughly embarrassed her, Tae Beom had handed her a room key, so she naturally assumed it was her own room.
“So it was the Managing Director’s room all along. No wonder it felt excessively spacious.”
He must have been flustered, completely drenched as he was, and in his urgency, he’d offered his own room to her.
And now, drunk as he was, he’d surely forgotten he’d given his room away.
“Ugh, what if I’d walked in while he was taking a bath?”
The dizzying image flashed through her mind, and Hye Won tightly shut her eyes, then opened them again.
With her hair still wet, she awkwardly turned away, vaguely avoiding the stares of passersby in the hallway.
This won’t do—I should head down to the lobby. I’ll just ask at the front desk.
Hye Won trudged downstairs toward the lobby.
The lingering warmth from holding Tae Beom still clung to her, and she rubbed her shoulders as if brushing off dust.
“What? My name isn’t on the room reservation?”
Whoa. Hye Won’s eyes widened. The staff member, having checked the room status, added further explanation.
“We confirm there’s no room reserved under Ms. Yoon Hye Won.”
“Then, is there a room reserved under Yusun Airlines?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Oh…”
Hye Won groaned in frustration.
She’d assumed her own room must exist since she’d stayed in Tae Beom’s room, so she came straight to the lobby—only to find her name missing from the reservation list.
Since this business trip had been arranged in a rush, she figured something must have slipped through the cracks and lifted her head.
“Then I’ll book a room right now.”
“Understood, ma’am. Shall I reserve a standard room for you?”
“Yes. Wait a moment.”
Just as Hye Won reached for her credit card, she froze.
Oh—my phone. I left it in the room.
“Ah, I’m with Yusun Airlines, but I don’t have my credit card right now. Could you please reserve the room for me and I’ll settle it tomorrow morning…?”
Hye Won rambled nervously, then trailed off mid-sentence. She realized from the check-in attendant’s expression that this simply wouldn’t be allowed.
“I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“We apologize for not being able to assist you, ma’am.”
Though it was an affiliated hotel, affiliation didn’t mean they could conjure up rooms out of thin air or accommodate every unusual request.
Hye Won turned away without pressing the staff further.
Having suddenly lost a place to stay, she slipped out of the lobby, embarrassed.
“It’s cold…”
It was still a chilly spring night. The biting wind clung to her damp, unruly hair.
“My mind’s completely blank. Ugh.”
She’d drained every ounce of her strength confronting Lisa Jang, leaving her utterly exhausted—no energy, no will left to cleverly overcome this crisis.
“Sigh… Whose fault is this? It’s all mine.”
Just moments ago, when Tae Beom entered the room—
More than anything else, the fear of being misunderstood had surged over her.
“Ugh, you idiot! What do you do when you leave without your phone? Seriously…”
All she could think was that she had to get out of there fast. She should’ve grabbed her phone, but in her panic, she’d completely forgotten it—charging on the nightstand—rushing out with nothing but her body.
Just like that, she’d become penniless.
“Sigh…”
Hye Won crouched down, bending her knees.
It was already past midnight.
I should go back inside the lobby. Sit on the sofa. Or… would that make the staff uncomfortable?
No, it’s freezing—I need to go in soon. My head’s cold. It hurts. I really need to get inside.
But her body felt impossibly heavy, too weighed down to follow the thoughts circling in her head.
Hye Won’s eyelids slowly drooped. This was the price of an excruciatingly long and draining day.
The faint glow of dawn seeped through the gap in the blackout curtains, casting a hazy light into the room.
♬♪♩♬♪♪♬♩♬♪♪
A shrill, obnoxiously loud mechanical ringtone assaulted his eardrums as if the ceiling were collapsing.
Tae Beom, who had fallen asleep face down, snapped his eyes wide open.
♬♪♩♬♪♪♬♩♬♪♪
He reached toward the source of the sound, fumbling around until his hand landed on a phone.
Still half-asleep, he stared at the phone for a moment, then quickly turned off the alarm.
The alarm had gone off before five in the morning—an unfamiliar tune he’d never heard before. He studied the unfamiliar phone model for a while, then sat up.
Leaning on his elbows, he rolled onto his side and looked down at the phone. Absentmindedly flipping it over, he noticed a credit card tucked into the back—allowing him to confirm the owner’s name.
It was Hye Won’s phone.
Wondering why it was here, he hurriedly turned on the light and scanned the room. Glancing at the untouched space beside him, he slowly shifted his gaze—spotting a laptop and a woman’s jacket sitting conspicuously on the table.
Those also belonged to Hye Won.
“…Ah. Last night.”
Tae Beom pressed his forehead. He remembered handing his room key to Hye Won—and realized she must have stayed here.
She’d definitely panicked and run off when he, completely drunk, barged in unexpectedly.
He let out a long sigh and raised his head. Last night, after chatting with Captain Yang Yong Jin, he’d ended up drinking far too much.
He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again, trying repeatedly to shake off the lingering drowsiness.
♬♪♩♬♪♪♬♩♬♪♪
“Whoa! Jeez!”
The alarm blared again, obnoxiously loud. Startled by the jarring noise, Tae Beom quickly silenced it.
“Guess I’m hearing every bizarre alarm tone out there,” he chuckled to himself, amused despite himself.
Hye Won must have been terrified last night. Though he couldn’t remember clearly, he was certain she’d stayed here.
Thinking of how badly he must have frightened her stirred a pang of guilt—and urgency to clear things up before any major misunderstanding took root.
♬♪♩♬♪♪♬♩♬♪♪
He turned off the third alarm without further surprise, then absentmindedly fiddled with the phone for a while.
She’s probably asleep by now. With no more alarms to disturb her, she must be sleeping soundly.
Before explaining anything or returning her phone, I should go work out first. With that thought, he got up from bed.
He slipped her phone into his pocket.
After finishing his workout at the hotel gym, Tae Beom took one final lap around the hotel grounds. He always preferred outdoor exercise to the confined gym.
“Managing Director! Managing Director Ha Tae Beom!”
Just then, a voice called out from behind, and Tae Beom stopped, pulling out one earphone.
The man rushing toward him was none other than the hotel manager.
“Did you sleep well, Managing Director?”
“Yes. What’s the matter?”
This wasn’t the time for formal greetings—he’d wanted to keep running before his body cooled down, and he exhaled a slightly impatient breath.
The manager’s reply was unexpected.
He explained there’d been a hotel error: one room hadn’t been assigned.
“A room wasn’t assigned? What do you mean?”
Tae Beom pulled out his other earphone. The manager looked deeply troubled.
“Last night, the room reservation was changed from Kim Yang Hoon to Yoon Hye Won, but due to staff changes, the update was missed.”
Tae Beom listened quietly, momentarily confused—then his eyebrows twitched as understanding dawned.
“So Assistant Manager Yoon couldn’t use her room?”
“Yes. Our records show she never checked in.”
“Huh.”
Tae Beom sighed in disbelief, pulling Hye Won’s phone from his pocket to look at it again.
“Is Assistant Manager Yoon using another room, perhaps?”
“No. She inquired about a room last night, but it was declined.”
“Huh…”
Huh… Then where on earth did she go?
Tae Beom stared fixedly at the manager, who bowed deeply in apology, admitting it was the hotel’s fault.
“I’m truly sorry. This was entirely our mistake.”
“Where is Assistant Manager Yoon now?”
“We believe she’s the female guest sleeping on the lobby sofa. We didn’t want to wake her without first confirming with you…”
“The sofa? You mean Assistant Manager Yoon slept on the lobby sofa? Since last night? Until now?”
“There’s no excuse. I sincerely apologize.”
“What on earth is this…”
Tae Beom’s face twisted in anger. His heart pounded so fiercely it made his head throb.
A torrent of emotions—panic, guilt, fury, and frustration—surged through him, clenching his fists tightly.
Without another word, he turned toward the lobby. He started walking, then quickened his pace—until he was running.
Suddenly, a fragment of last night’s supposedly erased memory surfaced: Hye Won, her hair soaking wet.
“Huff… huff…”
Entering the lobby, Tae Beom scanned every corner—but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find Hye Won asleep anywhere.
“She was right here just a moment ago…”
The manager, who’d followed him in, pointed toward where Hye Won had been. She’d vanished without a trace.
“You may go. We’ll discuss this later.”
“Yes, Managing Director. Understood. My apologies again for our shortcomings.”
Once the manager left, Tae Beom stood in the lobby, staring at the empty sofa. His chest rose and fell heavily, still catching his breath.
His heart kept beating uncomfortably. He realized the memories accumulating between him and her lately were anything but welcome.
An unwanted sense of guilt kept piling up. She wasn’t the kind of person he should feel guilty toward—someone he shouldn’t feel even a speck of remorse for.
“How did she even sleep sitting there?”
He couldn’t picture her posture. Had she curled up tightly? Or just thought, “Screw it,” and sprawled out however she could?
Suddenly, he thought of a Chihuahua—how it shrinks to the size of a palm when curled up—and laughed bitterly to himself.
That tiny thing sure knows how to be a handful. Do I really have to watch over her every single detail?
All at once, a mountain of things he needed to say piled up, and he urgently wanted to see Hye Won. No—even if there was nothing left to say, he needed to see her right now.
Only by seeing her safe face and calm eyes with his own eyes could he quiet his racing heartbeat.
Just then—
♬♪♩♬♪♪♬♩♬♪♪
Her phone rang, and he quickly looked down. The alarm, silent for a while, began blaring again.
As he reached to turn it off, he paused. A note beneath the alarm caught his eye: [Final confirmation for report submission].
Report. Report.
“…Ha.”
The searing emotions burning inside him cooled into ice in just a few seconds.
His grip tightened on the phone. Tae Beom looked down at it, then slowly raised his head.
Report. A report to Vice President Ji Seok.
What kind of report required setting an alarm to double-check first thing in the morning?
All traces of sympathy vanished. The urge to see her face, just to feel better, disappeared completely.
“Managing Director!”
A clear voice echoed through the lobby. Tae Beom turned toward the sound.
Hye Won was running toward him, her face bright—as if all the distress from yesterday had been thoroughly washed away.
Tae Beom slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, slipping her phone back into his pocket.
“Managing Director! You’re awake?”
…His heart swayed—then settled back into place.
He looked at Hye Won’s cheerful face—acting as if nothing had happened—with cold, distant eyes.
She fidgeted her fingers, then opened her mouth to speak.
“Did you sleep well? Managing Director, um, about last night—you see, I ended up in your room…”
He turned away from the footsteps that had waited for her all along.
Tae Beom walked past her as if he hadn’t heard a single word, growing steadily more distant.
Her smile—clearly nothing but a lie—was more than enough to ignite his anger.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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