Chapter 28
From every angle, Narae was abangsu. Actually, it was natural. The title of this game was ‘Is Being Abangsu Also a Sin?’
‘So that’s why I’ve been getting countless warnings.’
Because I tried to swear or say sensible things…
Wonyoung finally understood the overall design of this game. Everything was connected to abangsu.
Then Wonyoung had to become more abangsu than he was now. Real abangsu that originated from Heo Wonyoung himself, not from choices or penalties. Only then could he complete the conquest and return home.
“…Thank you, teacher. Thanks to you, I think I understand a bit.”
When Wonyoung bowed in thanks, Semi smiled proudly.
“Not at all. I’m happy to meet a comrade too. Things like abangsu or obsessive seme are called keywords, so when you don’t know something, you can search by keywords.”
“Keywords…”
To think such things existed. Then Kyung Taerim would be ‘obnoxious-bastard-seme’, Ki Siyeon would be ‘young-and-cocky-seme’, and Baek Heegang would be ‘what-do-I-do-if-I-hit-this-crazy-person-seme’.
As Wonyoung arbitrarily attached keywords to each of the three men, Semi spoke again.
“Um, so, I noticed many men have been coming and going to your house…”
“Ah, yes.”
Since he was just thinking about those people, Wonyoung nodded obediently.
“If it’s not rude to ask, what kind of relationship do you have with them…?”
Ah, this person wrote a novel about us. Wonyoung belatedly remembered that fact and hesitated. He wondered if the office worker who spent training time with a character like Siyeon was modeled after himself.
When Wonyoung’s complexion worsened, Semi thought her question was inappropriate and quickly retracted it.
“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s personal. Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”
But Wonyoung, whose face had been turning red and blue alone, quietly spoke up.
“Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“…Your novel…”
“Ah, ah, that’s, I, well, I didn’t ask because of the novel, it’s just… I’m, I’m sorry, Rae-ssi.”
Semi made a tearful face thinking it was all over. If Wonyoung properly confronted her about it, she’d have to take down the novel too. What would she tell the publisher… the sales were good. Semi’s heart became heavy.
But then Wonyoung asked something unexpected.
“The protagonist there… I mean, is the uke your own creation? I’m… not like that.”
“What?”
Semi finally understood Wonyoung’s intention and her face brightened.
“Ah, yes! That character isn’t! What I used in the novel was just the conversation with that young handsome man and the atmosphere of the men I occasionally saw! …Of course, even that wasn’t right, but really, everything else was what I thought up and wrote myself.”
At Semi’s answer, Wonyoung’s complexion also improved.
“Ah, I thought so. I was flustered wondering if I was such a shameless person. I’m glad that’s not the case.”
“Shameless…”
Semi was somewhat shocked, but Wonyoung didn’t notice.
After some more lessons proceeded, Wonyoung stood up from his seat.
“I’ve taken up too much of your time. You must have writing to do. I’ll head back now.”
Then Semi also quickly stood up and bowed politely.
“Oh, yes. Today was enjoyable.”
“Not at all. I’m the one who’s grateful. It was really a big help.”
“Not at all. If there’s anything else I can help with, please let me know anytime. Oh, I’ll send you a list of recommended abangsu works by text!”
“Yes, thank you.”
Wonyoung also bowed politely and left Semi’s house to return to his own home.
Now that he had a clear path, all that remained was to run down that path.
The path of abangsu – lacking, stimulating protective instincts, and acting clueless.
Wonyoung had just taken his first abangsu step.
* * *
Today was the long-awaited first day of work!
With a pleasant wake-up… Huh? Late? Why? I definitely set an alarm…
No way! I set it for 7 PM?! Argh, I don’t know! First I need to wash up… Crash. Ow ow…
“…This is impossible.”
Wonyoung, who had been practicing abangsu in his mind, felt nauseous and judged that he couldn’t continue any longer, so he stopped immediately. He accidentally expressed his feelings out loud and got a warning once.
Most importantly, actually setting the alarm wrong and being late was abangsu-like, so he thought that was enough. Though he couldn’t believe he had made such a mistake.
‘The problem is what that temperamental boss will say.’
Thanks to the water temperature not working as intended, Wonyoung showered alternately with hot and cold water to achieve harmony of yin and yang, then put on the clothes Taerim bought him and left the house.
At that point, there were 30 minutes left until work time, a precarious moment where Wonyoung could barely avoid being late if he ran on all fours.
Thinking he couldn’t be late on his first day, Wonyoung ran with all his might. He didn’t notice that a car was slowly following behind him.
[Stamina has dropped below half.]
Along with that notification, when he arrived, there was 1 minute left until work time. Wonyoung entered with a sigh of relief, but what came back was disappointing news.
“Director-nim had an early morning meeting, so he went there. He won’t return until afternoon, so you’re free to move around until then.”
“What? But I’m a personal secretary…”
“Yes, so Director-nim left you an assignment.”
“An assignment?”
What the secretary manager then placed in front of him was a sheet of paper and a pen.
With a slightly embarrassed expression, he told Wonyoung.
“He said to write and submit ten reasons why Narae-nim is not a spy.”
“…What?”
“He said that’s your morning assignment. If you don’t complete it… he said you’d be fired.”
Wonyoung gaped at the secretary manager in disbelief. Fired? Fired? With the effect of Narae’s face making his expression even more innocent, the secretary manager turned away quickly as if he couldn’t bear it.
“Then please take care of it. You can think of it comfortably and write.”
There seemed to be omitted words like “so hang in there,” but Wonyoung didn’t believe it. Fired! How could he think comfortably when he was in danger of being fired on his first day?
No, the assignment itself was a problem, not just the firing. How dare they give such childish nonsense to the high-level talent Heo Wonyoung.
‘I’ll show my real abilities. Then talk of firing will disappear.’
Thinking that, Wonyoung jumped up from his seat. It was to perfectly clean the director’s office first. When Kyung Taerim returned, he’d probably be shocked…
“Ah, the cleaning is already finished.”
“…Why? I haven’t even been here 10 minutes.”
“Since we’re secretaries, we come to work early.”
According to the secretary manager, all the secretary office staff had come to work an hour and a half earlier than Wonyoung. When Wonyoung asked why he had regular work hours, the only answer that came back was that it was because he was a personal secretary.
“Then I’ll reserve Director-nim’s lunch venue in advance!”
“That’s already done too. He has a full schedule.”
“……”
Wonyoung, who came from being a marketing team leader, inevitably had to be an outsider when it came to secretary work. After several more futile attempts, Wonyoung had to return to his seat with no gains.
In the end, he had only one task left. Writing 10 reasons why he’s not a spy.
Wonyoung, who had been blankly typing “Kyung Taerim die” repeatedly on the laptop screen, soon clicked his tongue and deleted it all.
Then, sighing deeply enough to sink the ground, he began typing.
Reasons why I’m not a spy
- Besides Director Kyung Taerim, I don’t know anyone at HS Group and have no connections.
- Anyway, Director Kyung Taerim is not my type
3…
He was stuck from number 3.
But then, with a ding alarm sound, a mission appeared.
[※Daily Mission※]
Goal: Find ???.
Reward: ???’s favorability +10
“Who is ???? Favorability goes up by 10?”
Favorability going up meant it was one of the conquest characters. But why is it written as “???”?
‘Could it be random? The favorability of whoever I find goes up?’
It was quite a plausible hypothesis. If so, the easiest target right now was Kyung Taerim. That man would come in the afternoon.
‘…He is coming, right?’
Wonyoung sensed an ominous feeling. It seemed better to finish this assignment just in case.
As Wonyoung spent the morning in painful time like this, he still didn’t notice at all that someone was watching him with binoculars from the rooftop of the neighboring building.
* * *
“Hah, why can’t I think of one more?”
Wonyoung complained while tearing at his hair. In front of him was a pile of pulled-out hair.
He skipped lunch and devoted himself to the assignment, but could only write 9 things. To think he was stuck on such a trivial assignment – Wonyoung felt deeply troubled wondering if this was the extent of his abilities. Actually, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he spent almost all his time feeling troubled.
Taerim would return soon. The secretaries were also moving busily. There was just one Wonyoung tearing at his hair among them.
‘Fired? Me?’
That couldn’t be. Wonyoung decided he’d rather have a showdown with Taerim and stood up. Even if he got fired, being fired because of some ridiculous assignment was something that couldn’t exist in Wonyoung’s dictionary.
“Rae-nim, where are you going?”
“What?”
“Director-nim will return soon.”
“Ah… I really need to use the bathroom urgently. I’ll be right back.”
Wonyoung, who was almost caught by the secretary manager, made up an excuse and hurriedly left the secretary office.
He could see Taerim walking from far away. Then Wonyoung’s heart began to pound violently.
[Sensing the crisis of being fired, your heart begins to race.]
[Status: Trembling つ﹏⊂]
