GalaxyTL
Why does Kang Jinwook keep paying attention to Secretary Choi Sunwoo?
Kang Jinwook's expression suddenly stiffened as he pondered. What was I just thinking?
"Interest? No, that can't be it."
There was no way. Maybe in the past, but not now. He was sure he had no such feelings left. It would make more sense if he was only concerned because he wanted to figure out what that guy was secretly thinking.
"Yes, that makes more sense."
From the start, Kang Jinwook didn't like how Choi Sunwoo had suddenly appeared, claiming to be his secretary. He was well aware that someone had intentionally orchestrated that situation. Thinking that Sunwoo had willingly agreed to it only made him more irritated.
"And honestly, do you and I really need to be doing this?"
Kang Jinwook's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Sunwoo's question.
"You and I?"
The words grated on his nerves.
"Yes, you, Kang Jinwook, and me. What kind of significant relationship do we have?"
Sunwoo spoke harshly, the cautious attitude he had shown earlier now completely gone.
"We're not exactly nothing."
"And what are we then? Employer and employee?"
Sunwoo scoffed. While in the original story, Secretary Choi had been so obsessed that he was practically stalking him, to Sunwoo, Director Kang was just a former boss.
To add a bit more, Kang Jinwook was just a dangerous person who could easily eliminate him at any moment.
"Didn’t that relationship end when I resigned?"
"There’s more to it than that."
Huh? What else could there be? Sunwoo's expression turned puzzled. Kang Jinwook glared at him.
"We're in a relationship with marriage in mind, aren’t we? Fiancés. Don’t you know?"
Kang Jinwook enunciated the word "fiancé" clearly, each syllable emphasized.
"What?"
Sunwoo shouted as he jumped up from his seat. His heart pounded with shock.
"What kind of nonsense is that!"
He even unintentionally spoke informally to Kang Jinwook.
"Oh, have you forgotten that too because of your memory loss?"
Kang Jinwook crossed his arms and spoke mockingly.
"You used to say it endlessly, didn't you? That I’m your fiancé."
"No, that doesn’t make any sense…."
Sunwoo's mind grew even more chaotic. This wasn’t part of the original novel at all.
Sunwoo tried to recall the original story. The project he had worked on almost as one with the author for two weeks was still fresh in his memory.
But nowhere in the original did it mention that Secretary Choi Sunwoo was Director Kang’s fiancé.
"If that were true, it wouldn't have been some minor detail!"
With such a significant backstory, he wouldn’t have been a mere side character but would have played a much more substantial role.
The story’s focus would have been much greater.
He wouldn’t have been a character who disappeared after just a few brief appearances.
"What?"
Wait a minute. What was I just thinking?
"Villainous side character!"
As the word flashed through his mind, Sunwoo's face showed a stunned expression, as if he had just been hit on the back of the head.
Suddenly, something he had completely forgotten surfaced.
"Could it be... that I got transmigrated into the pre-revision version?"
Sunwoo thought back to the novel that had driven him to hell for two weeks. More precisely, he recalled the novel before the author had extensively revised it.
And finally, Sunwoo remembered that the original setting for the character Choi Sunwoo was different before the revisions.
"Yes, that makes sense... In the pre-revision version of the novel, Sunwoo was indeed Kang Jinwook’s fiancé."
That’s right. The original setting by the author had Choi Sunwoo as Kang Jinwook’s fiancé. To be precise, it was a marriage arranged by their families, with no real interest from Kang Jinwook.
Kang Jinwook’s father, Chairman Kang, had invoked an old promise between their families and sent Secretary Choi to work under Kang Jinwook as a parachute placement in the secretarial office.
The idea was for him to learn the job and strengthen his relationship with Kang Jinwook.
But the author was concerned that Secretary Choi’s role would become too prominent, so just before launching the novel, the character’s backstory was drastically reduced, and his setting was completely overhauled.
Thus, the original Choi Sunwoo was downgraded from a villainous side character to a mere background extra.
"Wait, then what happens next?"
What was the plot of the original novel before the revisions? Since the story was heading in a completely different direction from what he had initially thought, Sunwoo had to go back and reconsider everything from the beginning.
"Ugh…."
Was it the sudden influx of information? His stomach suddenly started to throb with pain.
"Choi Sunwoo!"
As Sunwoo clutched his stomach and bent over, Kang Jinwook, who had been watching with suspicion, rushed over in alarm.
Sunwoo’s face, contorted with pain, had gone completely pale.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Kang Jinwook asked, his tone sharp, but Sunwoo had no energy to respond. The pain in his stomach felt like something was squeezing him from the inside.
"My stomach…."
As Sunwoo clutched his stomach again, Kang Jinwook's expression also twisted with concern. He quickly scooped Sunwoo into his arms. Supporting him with one hand on his thigh and the other on his back.
Under normal circumstances, Sunwoo would have been mortified to be carried in a princess-like manner, but he was too overwhelmed to care.
Kang Jinwook carried Sunwoo effortlessly deeper into the house. At the end of the corridor were several guest rooms prepared for visitors.
Kang Jinwook headed straight into the first room and immediately moved towards the bed.
"I’ll call a doctor. Hang in there for a moment."
Kang Jinwook, with a stern expression, looked down at Sunwoo, who was now lying on the bed.
"No! It’s okay. I’m okay now."
Before Kang Jinwook could leave, Sunwoo hurriedly called out to stop him.
A doctor? That would be a disaster!
"You don’t look okay."
Kang Jinwook frowned, still eyeing Sunwoo, who was pale and clutching his stomach.
"It was just a sudden stomach ache. I’ll be fine if I rest."
"You… never mind. Fine, then. Just rest."
Kang Jinwook was about to retort but stopped himself. It didn’t seem right to keep pestering someone who was clearly in pain.
Sunwoo, on his part, looked surprised at how readily Director Kang agreed to let him rest, considering how he had been pushing and bullying him earlier.
"Yes."
But if he was being offered the chance to rest, he would gladly take it. He also needed some time alone to process everything.
Sunwoo quickly closed his eyes. He could still feel Kang Jinwook’s gaze burning his forehead and cheeks, but he stubbornly pretended to be asleep.
After a while, he heard the door close. Sunwoo cautiously opened his eyes, relieved to see that Kang Jinwook was gone.
With a sigh, Sunwoo slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard. Earlier, it had felt like something was twisting and pinching his stomach, but now the pain had subsided.
"Let’s organize this…."
Sunwoo began to think carefully as he rubbed his stomach. What was the setting for the side character before the revision?
In the revised version, Secretary Choi falls for Kang Jinwook at first sight and approaches him. In the original version, the side character was Kang Jinwook’s childhood friend from elementary and middle school.
The side character was engaged to Kang Jinwook.
The side character’s grandfather had saved Kang Jinwook’s grandfather a long time ago, so the Kang family regarded the side character’s family as benefactors. The two families’ elders had arranged the grandchildren’s marriage based on this bond.
It was Kang Jinwook’s father, Chairman Kang, who placed the side character in the executive secretarial office. And the one who orchestrated all this was the eldest son, Kang Jintae.
"But why did he do that?"
Sunwoo tried to recall the original novel, rubbing his stomach gently. He was close to remembering something but couldn’t quite grasp it.
"Oh…!"
He finally remembered!
"He wanted to weaken Director Kang’s power."
The eldest son, Kang Jintae, had lost his position as the group’s heir to Kang Jinwook, a dominant alpha. Kang Jintae was also an alpha, but he couldn’t surpass Kang Jinwook’s overwhelmingly superior genes.
So Kang Jintae had reminded his father of the beta side character and sent him to Kang Jinwook. The idea was to mock him by pairing him with a beta who couldn’t conceive, to prove that Kang Jinwook was no better than him.
"Kang Jintae is so petty."
How could he do that to his own brother? At least now, Sunwoo understood why Kang Jinwook and the secretaries had acted the way they did.
Kang Jinwook had brought in the side character due to the machinations of his father and brother, so naturally, he was even less fond of him.
"He probably wanted to get rid of him."
But even someone as powerful as Kang Jinwook couldn’t go against Chairman Kang, who controlled Taesung Group.
The secretarial staff, known for their loyalty, must have been aware of this and thus treated the side character with disdain.
"So that’s why he was so insistent on keeping me around when I said I was quitting?"
Sunwoo tilted his head, pondering. It still didn’t seem to fully explain everything.
There must be some other reason.
"Would he tell me if I asked?"
Sunwoo thought as he absently rubbed his stomach, organizing his thoughts before lying back down on the bed. He felt a bit feverish, probably from all the mental exertion.
"I shouldn’t overdo it. I can’t overdo it."
Hadn’t his stomach hurt earlier because he was stressing too much?
Now that the pain had subsided, Sunwoo felt relieved.
"Sorry, baby. Daddy will be more careful."
Sunwoo apologized to the child in his belly and closed his eyes.
He had figured out why things had unfolded the way they had, so he could take his time sorting out the rest after some rest.
Maybe it was because he had gotten up early, taken a walk, been shocked, dragged around, gotten angry, and argued… it had been a very eventful half-day. Sleep quickly overtook him.