* * *
[Assistant Manager Kim: Assistant Manager Gil, Assistant Manager Gil!
Assistant Manager Kim: Have you heard?
Assistant Manager Kim: Something huge happened at the company while you were in Shanghai.
Assistant Manager Kim: The internal forums are blowing up right now.]
Monday, after a busy Shanghai business trip and a weekend break.
As soon as Wookyung escaped the packed subway, he checked his phone and saw a flood of messages from Assistant Manager Kim.
“I don’t care. I don’t want to know. I’m not interested.”
Why did Assistant Manager Kim always message him about this kind of thing?
Sure, they joined the company at the same time, but that didn’t mean they were friends.
“Haah…”
Following the flow of people surging forward, Wookyung moved quickly, catching snippets of a conversation beside him.
“Apparently, Alpha Director and Omega Manager had a huge fight yesterday. Alpha Director’s mother told him he had to either get married and have a child by the end of the year or at least get engaged to another Omega by then.”
“Like that hasn’t happened a hundred times before? Normally, Alpha Director would smooth things over… But what’s up with his mom now?”
“Probably because of the new hire. Even she must see that he’s more capable than her son, so she’s worried about passing the company down to him.”
“Even so, it’s not like having a kid just happens overnight… Oh, wait. If he’s a dominant Alpha, I guess it could.”
“If he really sets his mind to it, there’s nothing stopping him.”
It wasn’t hard to guess which Alpha and Omega they were talking about.
Wookyung let out a sigh.
‘Can’t they talk about this outside the office?’
This was exactly why he hated workplace relationships.
“But would he really go that far? I heard the Omega Manager has been putting off marriage to focus on his career.”
“Who knows? Maybe he’s just holding out to raise his own worth.”
That was an ignorant take. If Manager Shin had really been that pragmatic, he’d have gotten married ages ago.
“Think about it. Alpha Director has resisted countless Omega advances, but he’s still clinging to Manager Shin.”
Whisper, whisper.
Wookyung didn’t want to listen, but the gossip kept forcing its way into his ears.
And, of course, it just had to be about people he actually knew.
“If they do end up married and have an Alpha child, his family will be thrilled.”
“Of course. And since they’re both dominants, their kid will be dominant too.”
“True. That’s why—oh, wait. I almost let something slip. That’s why Alpha Director’s mother won’t let him go.”
Walking behind the gossiping employees, Wookyung sighed again.
He wanted to pick up his pace and pass them, but he held back in case they recognized him.
Being in the high-profile TF team meant his face was more well-known than he liked.
And everyone in the company knew about his connection to the Alpha Director and Omega Manager.
So, like it or not, he had to endure it.
By the time he finally reached his desk, he felt completely drained.
“Oh my, Assistant Manager Gil. Your business trip must’ve been rough. Your pretty, handsome face looks so worn out.”
Returning with an iced coffee, Assistant Manager Pyeon offered some odd words of comfort.
What kind of evaluation was that? Pretty or handsome—pick one.
“You worked hard.”
She didn’t ask why he looked tired, just offered simple sympathy.
Wookyung nodded in response.
At that moment, his phone buzzed again.
[Assistant Manager Kim: Hey, Assistant Manager Gil. So mean! Why are you leaving me on read?
Assistant Manager Kim: Did you see it yet? I swear, it’s crazy.
Assistant Manager Kim: The team atmosphere is awful right now.]
Three more messages in rapid succession.
He didn’t deal with Manager Shin or Director Min directly, but it seemed his teammates were struggling.
“So what? What do you expect me to do about it?”
None of it affected him personally.
If they were going to fight, he just hoped they did it somewhere far away from him.
One good thing about this company is that everyone is so busy handling their own work that they don’t really have time to care about office gossip…
“Assistant Manager Gil, have you heard? That manager and Director from the other team got into a fistfight at the office.”
Or so he thought.
But apparently, that’s not entirely true.
Assistant Manager Oh, who had just walked into the office, started talking to Wookyung.
His eyes were gleaming with interest—it seemed like he found this topic quite amusing.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Ah, well, I guess you wouldn’t have had time to hear about it. But didn’t anyone on your team tell you? Or are you not that close with them?”
Wookyung stared at Assistant Manager Oh, trying to figure out if he was trying to pick a fight.
But it didn’t seem like his words carried any particular intent.
Without waiting for an answer, he was already striking up a conversation with two people from the design team.
Wookyung glanced at them in disbelief, only to lock eyes with Director Choi, who had just arrived at the office.
At his questioning look, Wookyung simply shook his head, indicating it was nothing, and turned back to his monitor.
It had nothing to do with him anyway, so he didn’t want to waste his energy on it.
[Assistant Manager Oh: Aren’t we going to have a team dinner?
Assistant Manager Pyeon: A team dinner?
Assistant Manager Oh: Yeah. No matter how busy we are, we work together, don’t we? We’ve never even had a meal together.
Assistant Manager Pyeon: What does everyone else think?]
It was late afternoon, just before the end of the workday, when Assistant Manager Oh suddenly dropped this unexpected suggestion in the group chat.
A team dinner, huh.
Wookyung rarely attended department dinners, company-wide gatherings, or even team outings, so this wasn’t a topic he was particularly excited about.
[Senior Associate Sun: Sounds good. As long as it doesn’t run too late.
Senior Associate Lee: I’m okay with it too.
Assistant Manager Oh: Then how about today? Since we’re talking about it anyway.]
Assistant Manager Oh had an annoyingly strong sense of initiative.
For some reason, the others readily agreed as well.
Even Associate Choi signaled that he’d join, leaving Wookyung as the only one who hadn’t responded.
What should he do?
As he hesitated and looked up, he once again locked eyes with Director Choi.
For some reason, their gazes had been meeting a lot today.
Just as he was pondering this, an image of the director eating alone flashed through his mind.
If it’s a team dinner, they’ll probably use the company card.
Then, out of courtesy, they should at least inform Director Choi.
Finding an excuse he normally wouldn’t have even considered, Wookyung started typing.
[Me: If we’re having a dinner, should we let the director know too?]
Maybe it was just his imagination, but the chat seemed to go silent for a moment.
He knew he had just said something completely oblivious.
But he had no regrets.
[Assistant Manager Pyeon: Since we’re doing it, that sounds good.
Assistant Manager Oh: If the director joins, we can eat something expensive.
Assistant Manager Oh: You’re the one asking, right, Gil?]
Since he had brought it up, it was only natural that he’d be the one to ask.
Wookyung sent a quick “Got it” and immediately stood up from his seat.
“Director, do you have time after work today? Everyone’s getting dinner together, and we’d love for you to join if you’re available.”
He kept his message brief, to the point.
He had a feeling the director would agree without hesitation.
“I’d like to, but unfortunately, I already have plans.”
…Or not. Unexpectedly, Director Choi declined.
“Take the company card. Order whatever you want, no need to worry about the cost. But don’t overdo it—everyone still has to work tomorrow.”
A true model boss.
The moment he handed over the sleek black card, Wookyung didn’t even have to look back to know that his teammates were silently cheering.
“Thank you.”
“Enjoy yourselves.”
Director Choi responded casually before returning to his work.
Wookyung gave a small nod in thanks and turned away.
Immediately, he was met with eager stares.
He held up the black company card, and under the fluorescent lights, it gleamed with weighty significance.
His teammates broke into silent cheers, their faces lighting up.
As he sat down, his messenger app blinked continuously.
A heated discussion was underway about where to hold the dinner.
Suggestions flew back and forth—meat or seafood, restaurant or diner, bar or lounge—until they finally settled on: first, a hearty sushi meal, followed by drinks at a classy bar.
Work wrapped up smoothly after that.
And as soon as the clock hit six, everyone shot up from their seats.
The restaurant was a fifteen-minute walk away—coincidentally, the same place where Wookyung had once eaten a rice bowl with his father.
After finishing their meal, they headed to the second venue.
“This place is amazing. Celebrities come here all the time, and even chaebols drop by now and then. I went out of my way to bring you all somewhere special, so look forward to it.”
Assistant Manager Oh puffed up with pride as he led them inside.
Which was why Wookyung was struggling to understand what was happening now.
“P-please… help me. Help me.”
The voice was unsteady.
The man staggered, desperately clinging to Wookyung.
At a glance, it was obvious—this wasn’t just someone drunk off their ass.
“Hey, where’d that bastard go?! Find him!”
“Shit, he got away while we weren’t looking. This is your fault!”
“My fault? How the hell was I supposed to know he’d run when we pumped him full of pheromones?!”
The mix of cursing voices, the way the trembling man clung to him in fear…
This wasn’t just some random drunk incident.
He had just gotten tangled in something much bigger than he expected.
* * *
