TSG 131

Se-hyun is a personal secretary.

It has been over six years since he transmigrated into the novel, and it’s been four years since he became Shin Tae-oh’s personal secretary.

Believing that assisting Shin Tae-oh, the supporting character, would improve his own life, he willingly became his executive assistant.

“Se-hyun?”

But now, he’s no longer a personal secretary.

Se-hyun, who had been gazing at the highway sign, turned slightly at the voice calling his name from the passenger seat. Shin Tae-oh, who used to always sit in the back, now frequently occupied the passenger seat ever since Seyeon started driving. At this point, he naturally sat there as if it was his rightful place.

Shin Tae-oh, perfectly dressed from head to toe, was sitting with his back straight, worried about wrinkling his clothes.

Not that it was necessary—his clothes were of such fine quality that they hardly wrinkled. Still, he was even worried about flattening the back of his hair. Well, whatever. If he wanted to sit uncomfortably, so be it.

“What is it, sir?”

Glancing occasionally at Shin Tae-oh’s perfectly sculpted side profile, Seyeon asked. Shin Tae-oh was still ridiculously handsome, but his stiff demeanor made him look like a statue.

“I was going to ask if it’s okay.”

“Yes, it’s fine. You look very handsome.”

Considering how much time he had spent primping that morning, there was no way Shin Tae-oh could be anything less than perfect.

But Shin Tae-oh shook his head as if that wasn’t what he meant.

“Not me, you. I was asking if you’re okay.”

Immediately understanding what he meant, Se-hyun looked back at the road ahead.

Since the day they confirmed the pregnancy at the hospital, they had been preparing a lot throughout the weekdays.

First, Se-hyun judged that he could no longer handle as much work as before. Shin Tae-oh had the same thought, so they reduced the workload. Se-hyun prepared handover documents for other secretarial staff and passed them to Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho.

When asked why so suddenly and told about the pregnancy, Chief Secretary Lee nodded silently and left, only to return later with a congratulatory cake and help redistribute Seyeon’s duties among the other staff.

Next, Se-hyun stepped down from being Shin Tae-oh personal secretary. After all, a personal secretary had to keep following Shin Tae-oh around. In fact, they had to move and prepare even more than Shin Tae-oh himself. Se-hyun could no longer handle that. While he might manage sitting and making reservations, Se-hyun had been more active on his feet until now.

After organizing all the work like that, they set off to the countryside to formally greet Se-hyun’s parents.

“Of course I’m fine. That’s why I’m driving like this.”

Before departing, Se-hyun stopped Shin Tae-oh who said he would drive.

Thanks to Shin Tae-oh’s involvement in adjusting Se-hyun’s work, they were able to organize things faster and depart comfortably today. Feeling sorry that Shin Tae-oh hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night because of this, Se-hyun insisted on taking the wheel.

Though he didn’t know Shin Tae-oh would sit so stiffly in the passenger seat without even taking a nap.

“You don’t look well.”

“That’s… not because I’m unwell. It’s just that I have mixed feelings.”

Although there was supposed to be a new life in his belly, Se-hyun still couldn’t feel anything emotionally. So he had just been thinking, ‘I guess I’m pregnant,’ but as he thought about meeting his parents, it started to feel more real.

Once they receive his parents’ blessing for marriage, Se-hyun will spend much more time with Shin Tae-oh as his Omega, not as a personal secretary. It meant that the life he had been living until now would change.

So throughout the drive, Se-hyun found himself thinking about how long it had been since he entered the novel, and how he had come this far. Without realizing it, his expression had become serious.

Se-hyun tapped the steering wheel with his index finger.

“I’m starting to really feel that Honey Rice Cake is here.”

Feeling his cheeks tingle under Shin Tae-oh’s gaze, Se-hyun gently pressed the accelerator.

“The stable life I’ve been living is starting to shake again, you know.”

‘Again’ referred to the many worries he had before becoming Shin Tae-oh’s lover. For a while, Se-hyun wasn’t sure if he should let Shin Tae-oh into his life, so he held back his feelings for him.

When Shin Tae-oh lost consciousness, Se-hyun deeply regretted his hesitation about his feelings for him, and that’s when he began to embrace his feelings and started a new relationship withShin Tae-oh. But now, not long after, another new chapter had begun—a child.

“If it’s burdensome, just tell me.”

Se-hyun slowed down and glanced at Shin Tae-oh. He wondered what Shin Tae-oh, who had always been happy since Honey Rice Cake came along, was thinking to say such a thing. A person who seemed incapable of having negative thoughts…

“I’ll try to handle it alone.”

“…”

“Se-hyun can keep doing what he’s been doing, and I’ll take care of Honey Rice Cake and raise them well.”

“Taenyang… Someone might think Honey Rice Cake is coming into the world tomorrow.”

Shin Tae-oh’s sudden seriousness felt so out of place that Seyeon couldn’t help but summon his nickname for him. Whatever Shin Tae-oh was imagining, Seyeon wouldn’t be living as before during the pregnancy anyway.

“And why are you doing it alone?”

Se-hyun entered the tollgate and started heading towards the national highway. They were getting close to his parents’ house.

“Did you conceive Honey Rice Cake alone?”

It was a joint responsibility. That’s why they were on their way to seek his parents’ blessing for marriage. Once approved, they would get married.

Getting married earlier than expected was beyond Se-hyun’s expectations, but it’s not that he disliked Shin Tae-oh. Anyway, he had no intention of leaving Honey Rice Cake’s upbringing solely to Shin Tae-oh.

“I wouldn’t say I accepted Honey Rice Cake’s arrival easily.”

While using up all those test kits, Se-hyun stopped doubting the pregnancy, but he wasn’t entirely at peace. He often imagined the child’s face and what their life as parents might look like.

“I just thought about it. I’ll have another important role in my life after being a personal secretary.”

“Is that so? Then I won’t worry anymore. But tell me anytime if there’s something difficult.”

Shin Tae-oh held Se-hyun’s hand, caressing it.

“You know I value you more than myself, right?”

Se-hyun nodded, then suddenly turned towards Shin Tae-oh when the car stopped, as if a thought had occurred to him.

“Between me and Honey Rice Cake?”

“…We’re here. Let’s get out.”

Shin Tae-oh quickly got out of the passenger seat and grabbed the fruit basket and various gifts from the back seat. Although his hands were full, his steps were light as he went to meet Se-hyun’s parents.

Se-hyun saw Shin Tae-oh reflected in the rearview mirror.

“Shin Tae-oh’s Omega, Honey Rice Cake’s dad…”

He muttered the roles he would take on in the future.

***

Kim Hye-soon, who was peeling some fruits brought from the fruit basket, looked up.

“Honey Gulp (Kkulggeok-ee)?”

“No, Honey Rice Cake(Kkulteok).”

She had thought it was something to gulp down, but it turned out to be rice cake instead.

Kim Hye-soon lowered her eyes back to the fruit. She resumed peeling as if nothing had happened, and watching this, Se-hyun couldn’t help but laugh. The apple peel was getting thick. At this rate, there might be nothing left.

“That’s good. Congratulations.”

His mother’s congratulations came out as awkwardly as the thick apple peel.

She could just be surprised, why was she trying to hide it?

“If you’re worried we might think strangely of it, you don’t have to.”

His mother waved her hand, putting down the apple that had shrunk to the size of a plum.

“I’m okay with premarital pregnancy.”

Her wavering eyes didn’t look okay at all, but she was clearly trying not to make Se-hyun feel burdened.

“Mr. Shin, please eat too.”

“Thank you.”

As Shin Tae-oh ate the shrunken apple diligently, Se-hyun’s mother nudged his father’s side.

“Ahem. Is that all you have to say?”

Thinking they had finished eating and there was nothing left to do, Ahn Baek-cheon urged them to get to the point. Thanks to him openly setting the stage, Shin Tae-oh could speak more comfortably.

“We came to ask for permission.”

“Seems like you’ve already done everything before getting permission, oof.”

His father, strongly elbowed by his mother, belatedly tried to manage his expression as if nothing had happened.

“We came to ask for permission to marry.”

“…”

“Yes. This is absolutely not because of Honey Rice Cake. I’ve always talked about marriage, and the timing just happened to be right.”

Shin Tae-oh said solemnly, with both fists resting on his kneeling legs. Se-hyun’s father, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

“It doesn’t seem like the timing is right, but rather late…”

Hit once again by his mother’s elbow, his father decided to move to a different spot with Shin Tae-oh.

“Se-hyun, go bring some alcohol.”

Sensing that his father meant homemade liquor rather than just any alcohol, Se-hyun moved as instructed.

“Is one bottle enough?”

When Se-hyun asked for confirmation before entering the kitchen, Ahn Baek-cheon, still staring at Shin Tae-oh, said:

“…Bring three bottles.”

Ahn Baek-cheon gripped the empty glass, looking at Shin Tae-oh with disapproval. One might think he disliked him as an unwanted son-in-law, but Se-hyun knew that wasn’t the case.

“We need to see it through to the end.”

Only then would he decide if this man deserved his child.

When people get drunk, their true selves tend to come out. So depending on what that nature revealed…

“Se-hyun, I love you. I’ll love only you for life. Se-hyun, am I still handsome? I hope you fall for me every day. I hope our Honey Rice Cake looks like Se-hyun. Then I’d be able to see my beloved Omega Se-hyun and little Honey Rice Cake Se-hyun.”

…He’d decide whether or not to give his blessing.