The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary - c90

Hyeseong first headed to the bathroom. After taking off his clothes with dirt here and there and putting them in the laundry basket, he washed his body with cold water. One surprising thing was that his body was completely drenched in sweat.

 

He hadn’t noticed while moving around outside, focusing on work. Hyeseong, who would always take a shower with lukewarm or hot water even on hot summer days, had no choice but to wash with cold water this time.

 

“My face is still red.”

 

After finishing the shower and drying his hair, his reflection in the mirror still showed a flushed, reddish face. It seemed like the heat had gone down a bit after washing, but he must have gotten an unexpected heatstroke.

 

Aside from his head feeling a bit dizzy, there was nothing particularly uncomfortable, so Hyeseong didn’t take it seriously. After going to the kitchen and having a hearty lunch of bibimbap mixed with vegetables and rice, Hyeseong rested for a bit and went back outside.

 

His destination was a large mart in the city center. He had accidentally overheard from the neighborhood ladies that it had recently opened and was having a grand sale.

 

When he lived in Seoul, he mainly used online early morning delivery services. He didn’t have much time, and with a system that could deliver what he wanted right to his doorstep with just a click, he didn’t feel a strong need to visit a mart.

 

But after coming down here, surprisingly, he found it quite fun to shop in person, compare prices, and find good items.

 

Hyeseong now understood why his aunt had gone all the way to a mart in a distant neighborhood just because they were having a big sale when he was young.

 

In front of Hyeseong, who got off the bus, a really huge mart came into view. Advertisements for various events and the voices of employees enthusiastically promoting through microphones also sounded friendly.

 

“Ah…”

 

As he was about to enter with excited steps, his head strangely spun. Hyeseong held his head for a moment, waiting for it to calm down.

 

Still, he had come all this way, so he thought he would buy what he needed quickly and go back rather than turning around. Anyway, he had to do some shopping as the refrigerator was empty.

 

Hyeseong turned on the memo app on his phone, looked at the list of items to buy one by one, and quickly put them in the cart. Even in the process, he didn’t forget to thoroughly compare prices.

 

But as time passed, his body strangely began to feel more and more uncomfortable. The headache worsened, and even though he thought the heat had subsided, his body kept gradually heating up.

 

“Excuse… Excuse me…!”

 

At that moment, someone suddenly grabbed Hyeseong’s wrist.

 

Startled, Hyeseong reflexively twisted his body to be on guard against the person. Standing where he turned was a young man around Hyeseong’s age, wearing a mart vest, with a serious expression.

 

“Why are you doing this…”

 

He seemed to be an employee, but did Hyeseong put something in the cart that he shouldn’t have taken? The employee’s expression was a bit odd to just call him over. Beneath the soft brown permed hair, his eyes showed a hint of embarrassment.

 

“I apologize if this is rude, but… You’re an omega, right?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Do you know that you’re emitting a lot of pheromones right now?”

 

The employee whispered quietly while looking around. He seemed to be considerate of Hyeseong. Hyeseong felt like he had been hit on the head, blankly opening his eyes.

 

What did he just hear? Pheromones? When he went to the hospital last time, he had learned from the doctor how to control his pheromones as much as possible.

 

Of course, it was difficult to control them perfectly at once, but Hyeseong was quite confident in learning and practicing something.

 

In fact, even when he went around various places in the city with Dohyun or visited a large department store, he had never heard of any trouble caused by pheromones, such as the words the alpha at the hotel had muttered about him.

 

“What’s your heat cycle like?”

 

Heat cycle? What was that? It was as if his thoughts had stopped, and nothing came to mind. Heat, wasn’t that an omega’s estrus?

 

“Well, first of all, you shouldn’t be here like this. You should quickly go home. It’s quite common for cycles to get disrupted, so it seems you didn’t know, but for now, it’s best to avoid crowded places.”

 

“Okay…”

 

The young man seemed to be an alpha, judging by his appearance. He had a flushed face due to the overwhelming pheromones from Hyeseong.

 

Hyeseong managed to hold onto his senses with the thought that he was currently causing harm to others and quickly left the mart.

 

Gradually, his head throbbed, and he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body without realizing it. It seemed impossible to take the bus in this state. Hyeseong barely grasped his trembling hands and turned on the taxi app.

 

When he first went to the hospital, he had received education about useful systems for omegas to know. One of them was an app that allowed him to call only taxis driven by beta drivers. Thinking he did well to install it on his phone in advance, Hyeseong called a taxi without hesitation.

 

Thanks to the quickly arriving taxi, Hyeseong was able to return home straight away. He swiftly opened the drawer. There was a guide on traits that he had received from the hospital. It contained basic knowledge about omega traits.

 

Hyeseong grabbed his spinning vision and quickly read through the text.

 

Omega’s Heat Cycle

 

It was common knowledge that alphas and omegas had a unique estrus period. Even though Hyeseong had lived as a beta, he was somewhat familiar with such aspects as he had to assist Ihyeok, an alpha.

 

Nevertheless, he hadn’t thought about his own heat cycle since manifesting as an omega. It was an action uncharacteristic of him, who was thorough in everything, but there were reasons for it.

 

“Hyeseong, since your pheromone glands are just starting to develop, you don’t have to worry too much about estrus for now. Although your pheromone levels are rising steadily, it’s still not showing signs that would make one suspect estrus.”

 

Hyeseong recalled what the doctor had told him during his last checkup. The doctor had clearly said that since he had only recently fully manifested as an omega, it would take some time for his pheromone glands to develop to the point of having estrus.

 

So, they had agreed to come for regular checkups, check the pheromone levels, and predict when the heat might come. That’s why he hadn’t expected to experience heat anytime soon.

 

But why? Why did the heat suddenly come out of nowhere like this?

 

“Until then, it’s best to avoid situations where you’re heavily exposed to an alpha’s pheromones as much as possible. We don’t know how your unstable pheromone glands might be stimulated.”

 

“That time…”

 

A few days ago, a drunk Ihyeok had breathed his pheromones onto Hyeseong. He thought he had simply lost consciousness due to the overlapping intoxication, but was that not it?

 

Hyeseong bit his lip hard. He took out the medicine box underneath the manual.

 

It was a heat suppressant that he had received along with the manual. However, the problem was whether it would actually work.

 

At that time, the doctor had said that for someone with a unique trait like Hyeseong, commonly used suppressants might not be very effective, so while taking them in an emergency, it was best to visit the hospital as quickly as possible.

 

But now, he had no strength to go to Seoul even if he were to die soon. For now, Hyeseong took the suppressant and went to lie down on the bed. He could only hope that this medicine would help.

 

It would be okay once some time passed; the heat wouldn’t last forever.

 

With that thought, Hyeseong tried to suppress his anxious heart and closed his eyes tightly.

 

The phone placed by his pillow buzzed briefly. It was an alarm indicating that Ihyeok had sent a message.

 

* * *

 

Several black sedans appeared one after another in front of a high-end Japanese restaurant. Seongjin and Taesung’s key executives got out of the cars in turn. Today was the day for Taesung’s key executives to gather and have a meal together.

 

“Kwon Ihyeok, what are you doing? Everyone’s gathered inside.”

 

Seongjin approached Ihyeok, who was standing at the end of the corridor, staring at his phone after saying he was going to the restroom.

 

“Yeah, I’m coming. Let me just send a text.”

 

“What’s wrong with you these days? Why do you keep looking at your phone?”

 

Seongjin glared at Ihyeok with a sullen expression. Ever since he had gone down to Seo-in City, he had started acting a bit strange, and it was even more so these days. He wouldn’t stop looking at his phone, and last time, he had uncharacteristically canceled an important business trip on his own.

 

Even Seongjin, who was always scolded by Hyeseong for being insensitive and tactless, could notice that Ihyeok had changed in some way recently.

 

“Whether I look at my phone or not, what’s it to you?”

 

“It’s not a big deal. But it’s strange because you didn’t use to do that. And that weird expression of yours too.”

 

Ihyeok glared at Seongjin.

 

“What expression? Whenever you look at your phone, you smile like some high school girl writing a love letter.”

 

For a moment, Ihyeok barely managed to hold back a cough that was about to come out. A high school girl writing a love letter? It was a very Kang Seongjin-like analogy, but somehow, it wasn’t entirely wrong, so he felt guilty.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Who are you contacting so much?”

 

“None of your business. Move, I’m going in.”

 

Ihyeok lightly pushed Seongjin and walked down the corridor, perhaps feeling awkward. Seeing Ihyeok avoiding him with an awkward attitude, Seongjin tilted his head.

 

“That guy definitely has something going on…”

 

Not knowing what Seongjin was muttering behind him, Ihyeok didn’t take his eyes off his phone even as he went to the reserved room. The screen showed a conversation with Hyeseong.

 

[Did you have a good dinner?]

 

[I came to a Japanese restaurant. Should I pack something for you here? Hyeseong, you like sushi, right?]

 

Hyeseong remained silent in response to the consecutive text messages.

 

[If you don’t reply, I’ll just pack whatever I want and bring it.]

 

After sending one more text like that, Ihyeok entered the room.