PIA 54

It was Monday morning. Ji-an stepped off onto the shiny corridor of the floor where Jeong Hee-seo’s office was located. The black marble that had reflected his messy face distorted by Jeong Hee-seo’s pheromones on the first day he entered this world welcomed him.

It had only been about a month since he came to this world, but it felt like ages ago and just yesterday at the same time. Ji-an looked around, captivated by the strange sensation.

After the voice left, Ji-an broke his lunch contract for two days. It was a slap in the face that made him want to cry, and it was just when he wanted to avoid Jeong Hee-seo… anyway.

As he hesitantly headed towards the secretary’s office where Secretary Yoon would be, the eyes of those sitting all turned towards Ji-an. They were all wearing similar suits, just as they had appeared on the first day.

Secretary Yoon was visibly happy to see Ji-an and waved his hand.

“Welcome, Mr. Ji-an! I’ve been waiting for you.”

Ji-an had expected Jeong Hee-seo to be angry about not receiving his call and continuously avoiding the lunch appointment since that disastrous day, but Jeong Hee-seo remained silent.

Unable to even break the employment contract he had signed, Ji-an just stared at his phone when a concise message arrived from Jeong Hee-seo early Monday morning.

[Come to work. To my office. ]

Ji-an knew too. That he had felt embarrassed that day on a human level. Perhaps he acknowledged that Ji-an had gone into hiding under the guise of taking sick leave to visit a urologist. Premature ejaculation is a legitimate disease, and…

“Hello.”

“You came early. To be honest, I was worried you might not show up, but I’m glad you made it.”

“…”

“Oh, the General Manager is not in the office because he has a meeting.”

Secretary Yoon, who noticed that Ji-an was looking for Jeong Hee-seo with his gaze, answered the question that hadn’t even asked. Ji-an’s brow furrowed slightly.

Well, it was better that he wasn’t there. Ji-an was feeling awkward about seeing his face anyway, so it was a relief.

As Ji-an nodded silently in relief, Secretary Yoon smiled awkwardly and added an unnecessary explanation.

“He was waiting for you to come to work, but then an urgent meeting came up so he left.”

“…I see, but I didn’t say anything.”

“…”

Secretary Yoon stared at Ji-an for a moment, then mumbled “Okay, understood” and clapped his hands together. He seemed quite perplexed, but Ji-an couldn’t understand why.

“Here’s your intern employee ID card.”

Ji-an was given a necklace with a square plastic card on a blue string. He was also warned not to lose it as it functioned as an access key card. After that, he was shown the lounge area for drinks and light snacks, and received a laptop and basic stationery supplies.

The last thing Secretary Yoon introduced was the desk designated as Ji-an’s seat. It felt quite nice to place the laptop and stationery provided on a clean, new desk.

It was just strange that the place was inside the General Manager’s office.

“Can’t I sit outside instead…?”

At Ji-an’s question, Secretary Yoon frowned in discomfort.

“That… seems like something you’ll have to discuss with the general manager. It’s outside my discretion…”

“…”

“… And since the general manager has been designated as your mentor, you must sit here.”

Secretary Yoon, who calmly drew a line despite Ji-an’s slightly earnest pleading gaze, was a more stern person than expected. Perhaps he felt sorry for leaving Ji-an, who was standing there awkwardly, in an unattended office, so he offered a helping hand.

“Since the general manager is not here right now, let’s leave first.”

Secretary Yoon led Ji-an to the break room. He took out a cold drink from the fridge and opened a bag of snacks. Ji-an recalled the memories of his first day as he looked around.

The long corridor leading out from the general manager’s office was the path Ji-an had frantically fled through on the day he first fell into this world.

On one side of the hallway sat employees from the general manager’s office, all wearing similar suits, and the place where Ji-an was now was a cozy resting area further back.

Secretary Yoon opened Ji-an’s laptop while handing him a bottle of lemon-scented sparkling water.

“Your ID here is the same as your email address, and the password is…”

Secretary Yoon began walking Ji-an through the basic things step-by-step.

There wasn’t much special about it. Just registering the messenger to communicate with Secretary Yoon, accessing the company email inbox, and the authentication key required for internet access. After the two huddled together for a while, team members peeked their heads out from behind the partitions.

“Secretary Yoon, who is this person?”

“Can we join for tea time too?”

They looked younger than Secretary Yoon. Their attitudes were starkly different from when Ji-an had seen them sitting at the secretaries’ office earlier. Their gazes full of curiosity and interest landed on Ji-an.

“Why do you all leave your desks?”

“The general manager isn’t here anyway, so what’s the problem?”

A man with a loose expression said with a smile. Secretary Yoon patted Ji-an’s shoulder and introduced him to them with a helpless expression.

“This is Seo Ji-an, who was selected for the government’s youth internship mentoring program to do an observation. As everyone knows, the person designated as Mr. Ji-an’s mentor is the general manager.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Ji-an greeted the team members with an awkward face. Jeong Hee-seo had warned Secretary Yoon to clarify things properly so Ji-an wouldn’t be misunderstood as a nepotism hire or from some shady conglomerate family.

“I’m still learning, so please be kind to everyone. “If I ask you anything, please tell me.”

The team members looked at Ji-an with inquisitive eyes. It wasn’t because they doubted him—they had already witnessed Jeong Hee-seo’s behavior from last week until this morning. There was no way to hide that the two weren’t ordinary acquaintances but had a deeper connection.

The rumor had already gone round since last week’s belated announcement that the general manager’s office would also cooperate with the youth mentoring project.

From the fairly accurate recollection that Ji-an was the young man who had barged into the general manager’s office a month ago, rumors that were quite close to the truth were spread around, such as that he was a relative, that he was a student at a prestigious university, or that he was the child of a conglomerate.

Despite having seen many accounts of chaebol owners’ outings on anonymous online communities for office workers, their boss Jeong Hee-seo had remained quiet until now. Aside from being notoriously strict to the point of draining people’s vitality, he had no scandals or personal issues—he was a clean slate of a boss.

Hence, what piqued their curiosity the most was the exact relationship between Jeong Hee-seo and this suspicious “youth intern.” One Alpha employee’s single remark instantly made Ji-an a hot potato.

‘I remember clearly. When I came to the general manager’s office a month ago, the pheromones were so intense there’s no way I could have been confused. That person is an Omega. In terms of pheromones, it seems dominant.’

‘Really? Then what is his relationship with the general manager?’

The topics they talked about through company messengers and at bars after work did not cool down even after the weekend.

And now that they were faced with the real person, there was no way they couldn’t be intrigued.

Two of the people surrounding Ji-an exchanged glances. The most vibrant-looking one asked Secretary Yoon:

“Secretary Yoon, shall we have a welcome party for him today?”

Everyone’s eyes lit up with excitement simultaneously. Ji-an looked at Secretary Yoon, thinking it must be due to his own discomfort. Secretary Yoon, who had been sipping the carbonated drink, coughed heavily at those words.

“A company dinner? Absolutely not.”

Secretary Yoon glanced at Ji-an with a flustered expression.

“Mr. Ji-an … that… he can’t drink.”

“We don’t usually have drinking parties anyway. We can just go for desserts.”

“Um…”

Secretary Yoon was flustered, having run out of excuses to avoid the party. He hadn’t thought of an excuse because he hadn’t expected this situation. Wouldn’t it be fine as long as no alcohol was involved? His boss would undoubtedly frown upon Ji-an briefly going out with others, even to a coffee shop.

Secretary Yoon knew Jeong Hee-seo very well.

“Oh come on, there’s a newly opened handmade cake shop in front of here. Let’s go there.”

“Yeah, let’s fill our stomachs with cakes there and then go for a cone.”

“Just seize the opportunity, a chance to have fun.”

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with getting an infusion of youthful energy every now and then? Though I’m not saying to go clubbing with someone we just met.”

The member who seemed to be the youngest flattered Secretary Yoon teasingly. At this point, even Secretary Yoon had a look of resignation.

“Aren’t you all getting a bit too excited?”

Even Secretary Yoon’s voice sounded less forceful, reflecting the softened stance. Because he thought that if public opinion was like this, even Jeong Hee-seo would not be able to win.

“It’s not that I don’t have time…”

Amid the atmosphere persistently prompting his response, Ji-an reluctantly gave an answer close to permission, but trailed off lacking confidence. He wondered if this was an appropriate place for him to join.

Moreover, Ji-an found this situation awkward. It wasn’t that he lacked social skills or had difficulty with people.

Ever since crossing over to this world, Ji-an tended to be gripped by a strange feeling whenever he saw people other than the characters he knew move about so vividly.