Born to Be a Secretary

A heavy sigh sounded as if the solid ground itself might collapse.
Heewon absentmindedly rubbed his cheek. The skin beneath his palm felt smooth and slick. It was because he’d soaked himself thoroughly with virility just last night.
He glanced sideways. Kwon Youngjae, who had gotten up earlier, was adjusting himself in front of the mirror. Unlike Heewon, who was still half-naked, Youngjae was impeccably dressed in a full suit with a tie. His calm expression made it seem as if nothing had happened the night before.

Finally fastening his watch, Youngjae noticed Heewon’s gaze fixed on him and slowly turned his head.
Seeing Heewon’s utterly devastated expression, he smirked as if he’d expected it. The smile was brief before his face returned to its usual coldness. He said sharply,
“If someone saw this, they’d think I raped you.”

“…Executive Director.”
When a harsh scraping sound came from his throat, Heewon covered his mouth with his fist and coughed a few times. Suddenly, a small water bottle flew toward him.
“Looks like it’s time to pull yourself together.”

“……”
“Still in heat?”
“No, it’s… over.”

Heewon quickly turned his head away and hurriedly drank the water. As moisture filled his cracked, dry mouth, his mind cleared somewhat. The heat cycle was definitely over, but why was he still sweating so profusely?
He had made so many mistakes it was hard to list them all. The worst was, of course, that he had ended up sleeping with Kwon Youngjae, and second was wetting himself in front of him.
Both were beyond his control. He thought maybe he could be excused since he wasn’t fully in his right mind… Ah, and he had kissed Secretary Song too in front of them — what a crazy mess!

Every time Heewon recalled what he had done, he buried his face in the thin blanket. Inside, silent screams and curses flew wildly.
By now, Youngjae, fully dressed and ready, had been watching Heewon squirming on the bed for a long while.
At first, he had been somewhat tolerant, but now his irritation was growing. It was obvious that Kim Heewon was writhing in regret.

With both hands shoved into his pants pockets, he tilted his head askew. He had no patience left to watch such a pitiful sight.
“Need more time to mess around? I can give you five minutes.”
“…What?”
“Cut the nonsense and get ready to go. The flight’s at nine.”

Hearing that sharp voice, Heewon snapped to attention. He frantically searched for the clock on the wall. The nine o’clock flight left very little time.
Youngjae must have booked a new flight while Heewon was asleep. The lone suitcase placed inside the room caught his eye. When had that appeared? The man was thorough to the point of frightening.
With no time to think, Heewon stretched his legs under the bed. As he stood up, a clump of semen trickled down between his legs. The chilling feeling made his body freeze involuntarily.

His eyes rolled sideways. As if glaring in complaint at the culprit who’d left the mess, he caught Youngjae’s slow downward glance. The latter remained silent for a while after seeing the semen dripping onto the floor.
Then, in his usual indifferent tone, Youngjae replied,
“It was an unavoidable situation. Don’t try to shift the blame.”

“Still, I should have… No, it’s all my fault.”
Heewon rubbed his complicated expression for a long time. He grabbed the warm blanket, still imbued with heat, and wrapped it tightly around his bare body.
Youngjae scoffed inwardly. After all they’d done, it was absurd to see him suddenly trying to cover his nakedness.

Throughout the long journey to the airport, heavy silence lingered in the taxi.
The cramped space kept the two no more than a handspan apart. They could sense each other’s presence and even hear each other’s breathing. Compared to the comfortably seated Youngjae, Heewon was tense, tightly locking away his pheromones. He didn’t know how to look at Youngjae, much less how to start a conversation.
Amid the turmoil in his mind, the uncomfortable tension stretched endlessly. In six years, they’d never treated each other this way; his heart grew even more uneasy. Even during Youngjae’s rut, the next day had passed without awkwardness.

Lost in his thoughts while staring out the window, Heewon was suddenly interrupted by a low voice beside him.
“You can take emergency contraception within three days.”
Heewon turned his head slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected Youngjae to keep obsessing over that issue.

“I will take the pills… but I probably won’t get pregnant.”
That look said, What the hell are you ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ talking about? Heewon swallowed dryly and explained the situation he had kept hidden so far.
“Professor Hong said I’m almost infertile. That… my reproductive organs aren’t properly formed.”

“Then why are you making such a sour face?”
The glare was sharp. Did Youngjae really not know?
“Well…”

“First time having sex?”
“This is the first time I’ve gotten into such trouble.”
Heewon felt hopeless about the future. He barely dared to lift his face.

His back was unusually hunched, and his voice kept crawling along the floor. Youngjae looked at him with obvious displeasure, sighing heavily with a furrowed brow, smoothing his creased forehead without turning his head.
“The other staff don’t know our situation, and I made sure Secretary Song is keeping her mouth shut, so there won’t be any problems. Just pretend you don’t remember anything.”
“…Executive Director, you’ll forget it too, right?”

“Well…”
“Please, forget it.”
Heewon begged earnestly, but Youngjae only glanced sideways. His expression remained utterly unreadable.

“Exactly what are you talking about?”
“……”
“You begged me once to fuck you. You rode me, grinding on top. Oh, are you talking about breaking the bed?”

Hearing a calm recounting of past acts, Heewon squeezed his eyes shut. Ah… just curse me already, Youngjae.
“I don’t mind if you tease me now. Just forget everything once we get back to Korea. You have to.”
“You’re really selfish. Thinking you’re even just because we fucked once.”

Youngjae slowly crossed his long legs. His pristine black shoes, free of dust, twitched at the tip.
“I don’t really intend to remember it. If you want, we’ll act like nothing happened.”
“……”

“Consider it a favor I did for you once. I’ll consider yesterday’s debt settled.”
“Yes.”
Normally cold and unfeeling, Youngjae’s harsh voice now felt oddly comforting. Heewon was glad the matter wasn’t given much weight. Only then did he finally let go of some worries.

“I’ll handle the matter with Chairman Takano, so just know that.”
But that too was brief. Youngjae’s calmly spoken words sent a chill down his spine. He knew everything. Heewon looked up pale as death.
“What… are you going to do?”

Youngjae cast a quiet glare. Though he kept silent, his expression was cold and resolute — clearly ready to act. He was the kind to always repay what had been done to him.
“It’s not just anyone, it’s the chairman of Fujino Pharmaceuticals. If a scandal breaks out, it would obviously harm business. I don’t want you, Executive Director, to be in trouble because of me. There’s nothing to lose… after all, not even a finger was touched.”
“Keep talking. I’m curious how much I can endure.”

At that stern warning, Heewon sealed his lips tightly. He swallowed his trembling breath. Youngjae wasn’t the type to act rashly, but still, the unease remained.
“This is related to me. I have the right to intervene.”
“What can you do? You just obediently swallowed that strange tea from Chairman Takano and obeyed him, right?”

“……”
“That old geezer means nothing. You don’t care at all how I’m feeling right now.”
“Executive Director.”

“Get your head straight. If you keep messing up, causing problems at work because of regrets over yesterday, I won’t tolerate it anymore.”
Youngjae turned his face away, refusing further conversation. In the uncomfortable silence, Heewon’s heart burned painfully. He lowered his head and senselessly picked at his nails.
Not caring at all? That was nonsense. No one cared about him as much as Youngjae did.

The next day, the two arrived at the hospital early. Although the regular checkup date was still far off, there was a more urgent reason.
After a simple test, they waited for a consultation with Professor Hong. They had agreed beforehand to keep their secret only between themselves and the professor.
Professor Hong was slightly surprised that Kim Heewon’s heat cycle had started earlier than expected. She was even more taken aback to hear his partner was Kwon Youngjae. She pressed her temple gently.

She had encouraged sex but had never told them to be so close. Had she said it strangely?
“I’m really dizzy.”
She sighed deeply, focusing again on the test results. Her eyes widened in surprise at the numbers.

“Youngjae, your rut’s over?”
The timing meant Youngjae’s rut had preceded Heewon’s heat cycle. Whether a chain reaction or not, Youngjae’s pheromone levels had been neatly reset.
“Is that so?”

Even hearing that, Youngjae showed little reaction. He thought silently that something was different.
Feeling a sharp gaze, he glanced sideways to see Heewon quietly staring at him. The message in his eyes was clear. I’m not the only one in heat?
Youngjae turned his gaze away carelessly. Looking brazenly forward, Heewon had no choice but to turn his head as well.

Professor Hong tapped the test paper with her pen, holding her forehead. It was unclear from her expression whether she was worried or relieved. She probably didn’t know herself.
“From now on, their cycles will probably synchronize.”
“You need suppressants just in case. What if something like this happens again? How will you take responsibility?”

“I’m tired of this, really.”
Professor Hong exhaled sharply. Her fingers quickly typed out the prescription. Soon, the printer spit out the paper. The warm prescription included the requested emergency contraception and pheromone suppressants.
“What will you do from now on?”

“What do you mean?”
“Your cycles have synchronized. Are you two… forming some kind of partnership?”