Secretary Gwanggong's Survival Diary-Chapter 17

Tok, tok, tok.

Yoon Taeo had a particular habit.

Whenever he sank deep into thought, he would tap something with his index finger.

And... the thoughts that accompanied that habit were usually not good ones.

For example... whether to twist the neck of a Beta who had cheated on him and lied, or drown him instead—something along those lines.

For the record, that was an actual case he once pondered.

"Sir... we cleared your entire afternoon schedule, so why did you come back so early...?"

It was oppressive.

The silence stretching endlessly from Yoon Taeo.

And those sharp, murderous eyes that looked like they could tear me apart at any second.

So I opened my mouth to speak, but Yoon Taeo didn’t even twitch in his seat, legs crossed, like he hadn’t heard a thing.

Tok, tok, tok.

I swallowed dryly, staring at his finger relentlessly tapping against his thigh, and opened my mouth again.

"Sh-should I bring you some water? You shouted earlier, your throat must be sore... if you’ll just wait a second, I’ll—"

"Stay."

I couldn’t even take a single step.

The murderous aura that seemed to fill the entire room crushed down on me, making me want to flee from his gaze even for just a moment.

But it seemed Yoon Taeo had no intention of letting me off.

"You dare lie to me?"

His voice, muttered toward the back of my head, was steeped in rage.

My heart plummeted.

Could it be... he already found out? That I’m an Omega...?

"Sir..."

I turned around slowly, and saw that his hand had stilled.

Whichever decision it was, it seemed he had reached the end of his deliberation.

"Come here."

I would rather die than go, but maybe because I had just witnessed several men vanish like chunks of meat, my body moved without resistance, as if bewitched, stepping toward him.

Slowly, in tiny, narrow steps, but the distance between us kept shrinking.

"Closer."

I was already standing just one step away, yet he demanded even more.

As I kept inching closer, I wondered if I’d end up stepping right between his now-uncrossed legs—

That was when his hand seized my waist.

"P-please spare me...!"

As soon as those large hands clamped tightly around my sides, the words reflexively burst out of my mouth.

A stupid, idiotic response.

Yoon Taeo wasn’t the kind of man who would let someone live just because they begged for it.

"So you do know you deserve to die."

"...Huh?"

Seriously... did he find out?

I looked down at Yoon Taeo, whose hands were still gripping my waist, but there was no emotion whatsoever in his gaze.

Even though I was the one physically looking down on him, it felt like he was the one completely dissecting me from above, seeing right through everything inside me.

How much time passed like that, I had no idea.

"Take your hand off me.

What, are you asking me to hold it for you?"

Snapping back to my senses at Yoon Taeo’s words, I followed his line of sight and saw my hand was resting on top of his, the one gripping my waist.

The sensation on my palm—soft, warm—

No wonder it had felt strangely nice.

I yanked my hand away fast, and as soon as I did, he forcibly pulled me down to sit next to him.

With strength.

By force.

"If you were going to the hospital, you could’ve just said so.

Why bother lying?"

Ah... thank god.

It didn’t seem like he had figured out my secret after all.

If he knew I was an Omega, he wouldn’t be asking petty little questions like this.

"Ah... that was just, I only stopped by for a second... It wasn’t really lying..."

"Isn’t it part of a secretary’s job to report their movements properly?

Am I supposed to go around looking for a missing secretary?"

Yoon Taeo was a terrifying man.

Setting aside the overwhelming strength typical of an Alpha, he didn’t even need a security team—he had more than enough brutality and power to handle anyone himself.

I mean, the fact that I had never once seen him get hurt in any fight said it all.

And what was even scarier—

He was good at talking, too.

If you’re that strong, at least be bad at arguing to balance things out—

But no, he had no such mercy.

"...I’m sorry..."

Because he was right.

There was no room for excuses.

I could only clumsily twist my fingers together.

"I just...

I was worried you might be concerned..."

"What?"

I must be crazy.

Even knowing I was in a crisis, my brain went ahead and blurted out something without thinking.

"I thought if I kept mentioning I wasn’t feeling well, you might worry...

That’s why I didn’t say anything... I’m sorry."

What the hell.

Why was lying coming so easily right now?

Honestly, I had pretty damn good stamina.

Maybe because my manifestation was delayed, but compared to the average Omega, I had near-top-tier physical endurance.

I could even proudly say I was better than most Betas with trash stamina.

Even handling the brutal workload, I never once came down with some minor illness.

"Why would I worry about Secretary Kim?

I’m pointing out that you couldn’t even maintain a proper reporting system."

"...Ah, that’s my fault.

I’m sorry."

Of course.

This cold-blooded bastard wasn’t going to be swayed by some pitiful emotional plea.

Hearing Yoon Taeo’s voice laced with what sounded like even thicker annoyance made me realize I’d stepped on yet another landmine.

"Lunch."

"...You haven’t eaten yet?"

At his sudden statement, I reflexively asked back, thinking he must have skipped his meal.

But all I got in return was another bone-chilling, terrifying voice.

"Was Secretary Kim always this slow on the uptake?"

"I, I haven’t eaten yet...?"

Without another word, Yoon Taeo began unpacking the shopping bag on the table.

And the things coming out of it were... strange.

"Eat."

He pulled out container after container, setting them on the table, then stood up and moved over to the opposite sofa. freēwēbnovel.com

"...Me...?"

Sigh.

With his heavy sigh, I gave up thinking and started opening the containers one by one.

That single sigh conveyed all the displeasure he was feeling.

From the restaurant name printed on the bag to the food itself, everything looked familiar.

It was from the fusion Korean place we had eaten at during a course meal last time.

If I kept dawdling, who knew what this impatient bastard might do, so I grabbed the chopsticks.

I had no idea what the hell was going on, but the command had been given—Eat.

Even if it was poison, I had to shove it down my throat.

"Slowly.

Why are you swallowing it without even chewing."

Once, twice, three times—

I chewed slowly, almost theatrically, as if to show See? I’m chewing properly, and continued eating.

I felt like I might die from the pressure.

Even though I had my head practically buried in the table, pretending to be focused on the food, I could feel Yoon Taeo’s gaze boring into me from the opposite side.

It would've been easier if he just cursed at me or yelled, but the way he sat there in absolute silence was somehow even worse.

"Something’s off."

It was only after a long time that Yoon Taeo finally spoke again.

"...What is...?"

Summoning my courage, I lifted my head—and the expression on Yoon Taeo’s face was different from what I had expected.

More precisely... he looked like he was smiling a little.

"Just from the way you're eating, you don't look sick at all."

At his words, I flicked my eyes downward toward the table—

and realized there wasn’t a single dish left with any food in it.

It was food enough for more than one person, anyone could tell.

"I’m usually the type who... recharges my stamina by eating when I’m sick...

And this is food personally prepared by you, sir.

How could I dare leave anything behind...?"

Maybe I should switch careers to a news anchor or a party spokesperson or something.

My mouth always tended to run faster the more flustered I got.

But honestly, it was embarrassing.

What the hell had I been thinking, inhaling all that food in a situation like this?

"Cut the bullshit."

"......."

It felt like the conversation wasn't over yet, so I started packing the empty dishes back into the shopping bag and setting it down on the floor.

Yoon Taeo adjusted his posture, getting ready to talk more.

I knew this routine.

It was going to be a long one.

"Why are you trying to make me look like an incompetent CEO, Secretary Kim?"

"Baek—"

"Secretary Baek?"

"I was... thoughtless.

Since it was something I could handle on my own, I didn’t think it necessary to report it..."

Yoon Taeo was serious again.

It seemed he hadn’t calmed down at all from the state he’d been in earlier in the living room.

He had just been holding it in while I finished eating.

"I’m firing the entire secretary team. Just so you know."

"...Firing them?"

"Isn’t it obvious?

If a team of over ten people can’t even outperform one person, they should be fired."

No, that’s not the point here...

Fired?

Since when was it even possible to just fire the secretaries in this company...?

Hadn't they all just quietly been "buried" or had their necks twisted until now...!

Imagining everyone else leisurely leaving to find new jobs while I alone stayed shackled to Yoon Taeo filled me with a sick, envious resentment.

Basically, what he was saying was that the only crime I had committed was working too hard,

and now I'd be stuck by his side, worrying about my life, all by myself.

"Sir."

"What."

"I still think firing the entire secretary team is too extreme.

Everyone has families, and people’s livelihoods are on the line...

Maybe instead of that, we could... reassign work more efficiently...?"

I’m sorry, but I wasn’t about to take the fall alone.

If anyone was going to escape from this terrifying company, it sure as hell {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} wasn’t going to be me.

Unless it was as a corpse, anyway.

"Even now, you're worried about those people."

It seemed like Yoon Taeo was misunderstanding something,

but I had no desire to handle all that work by myself.

If I played this right, I could maybe lessen my load.

"Please give them one more chance, sir."

If any of the other secretaries were here,

they would have strangled me to death for saying that.

They all longed for a safe resignation, even if they never said it out loud.

And right now, I was stealing their chance away.

"Sigh...

Fine.

But make sure something like today never happens again."

After a long silence, Yoon Taeo finally spoke,

and it was something almost impossible to believe.

He had practically never once gone back on a decision he’d made—

but now he was reversing it.

Honestly, I had thrown out that plea without much hope, almost like a petty complaint,

but...?

At the unbelievable turn of events, I reflexively nodded my head.

"If something like this happens again,

I’ll fire you from life itself."

...Sorry, guys.

It looks like the responsibility got a lot heavier than I thought.