10 rules of a Secretary chapter 10

I slumped into a chair, almost burying myself. I had a paper cup of mixed coffee in hand. It had long since gone lukewarm, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

Drinking it all meant returning to work and facing that horribly insufferable boss again.

Even if that wasn’t the case, it was almost time to go. I checked the time on my phone. 1:23 PM. Exactly 7 minutes until the end of lunch break.

Though if the boss called during that time, I’d have to run even if I was eating, fortunately, for the past four years, lunch breaks had been relatively quiet.

Moreover, today he had a personal appointment and went out, so even if I was a bit late after lunch, there was no one to nag me.

I blinked at the white ceiling blankly, then slowly raised myself, thinking about the afternoon meeting for the Sharing House. The Sharing House was a kind of charity work.

“Not just a kind… it is charity work…”

There wasn’t anything the boss did that didn’t involve money, but personally, I liked the Sharing House project the most.

The Sharing House was a project that rented out apartments to teenagers leaving orphanages with minimal deposits for five years. It was like rental apartments but set at the bare minimum for deposits and rent.

Of course, kids with clear backgrounds and good character were selected. Although it was a charitable project, they avoided ruining their reputation by choosing the wrong people.

‘Still, it’s not easy to do such things… the boss is a good person.’

It might be because of the memories of wandering like an outcast due to having no home. I tried to disperse the overly positive image of the boss.

Thinking about work was better, so I recalled the five photos of the model I had received a week ago.

The project, now in its fifth year, roughly went like this: once a year, various designers submitted proposals, and five teams were selected.

The chosen teams’ models were then evaluated by the working staff.

Thanks to this, there were many good articles about it. Articles about discovering new architects and generously investing in charity projects for the underprivileged often appeared.

I took a shallow breath as I recalled the tasks for today. I needed to check the press release and submit the meeting materials to the boss.

I sluggishly got up, gulped down the cold mixed coffee, and crushed the paper cup. The words of a secretarial staff about considering the environment lingered in my mind.

I thought about carrying a tumbler next time as I left the lounge.

“Oh! Secretary Seonyul!”

I smiled awkwardly at the familiar nickname. It had become well-known. Initially, some secretarial staff started it as a joke, but soon enough, almost everyone in the company knew it.

Secretary Seonyul. Secretary Seonyul. Seonbi. (TL: Biseo is Secretary in Korean. Seonbi are scholars during the Goryeo and Joseon periods of Korean history)

Quite a straightforward nickname, isn’t it? Although I was quite different from the moral and incorruptible Seonbi people thought I was, most people believed I was genuinely a Seonbi.

Just like this man.

“Assistant Manager Gong.”

I emphasized “Gong” and looked at him.

If I’m a Seonbi, does that make you an engineering student?

But all I saw was a smiling man when I turned. I wondered if my words had little impact as I looked at him blankly. His arms were full of thick documents.

Only then did I realize he was one of the staff attending the afternoon meeting.

“Are those the meeting materials? There’s still… about an hour until the afternoon meeting.”

It was exactly 1:30 PM. Plenty of time until the meeting. I organized my thoughts on what I needed to do and glanced at the documents in his arms.

Perhaps understanding my confusion, Assistant Manager Gong scratched his neck and responded.

“I thought it’d be better to prepare in advance. I’m presenting today! Haha, did you use the lounge today? I heard the secretarial lounge is better.”

“It just happened that way. I’ll help you prepare for the meeting.”

“Seonbi? The CEO will be back soon. Isn’t everyone in the company aware of how busy Seonbi is? I’m fine.”

I gently smiled at the kind response. It was always nice to have one more person recognize my hard work.

Saying I was fine, I took some of the documents from Assistant Manager Gong’s arms.

The printed materials briefly outlined today’s meeting.

Walking down the hallway, I greeted a few people with nods and then casually asked while looking at Assistant Manager Gong’s closely-cropped hair.

“Assistant Manager Gong, you’re an engineering major, right?”

“How did you know? I majored in computer science!”

“…It just seemed like it. You have that engineering student vibe.”

What I meant as a teasing comment was taken seriously. I half-listened to Assistant Manager Gong enthusiastically talking about his major.

My resolve to help Assistant Manager Gong vanished as soon as it began.

The moment I opened the door to the small conference room and placed a printed document on the table, my phone started buzzing madly, demanding attention.

Naturally, the six letters spelling out ‘CEO Han Doha’ appeared on the screen like a tidy little hell.

Smiling awkwardly and feeling apologetic, I softly told Assistant Manager Gong, “Um… I’m sorry, I need to go.”

“Haha, it’s fine! I expected this!”

Assistant Manager Gong’s face showed he wasn’t surprised at all. The realization that I was CEO Han Doha’s number one official slave hit me anew.

With a clumsy smile, I bowed my head and left the small conference room to take the call.

“Yes, CEO.”

― Secretary Seonyul, it’s 4 minutes and 28 seconds past lunchtime and you’re not at your desk. What if I need you and you’re not there?

“I was in the small conference room organizing materials for the afternoon meeting. I’ll head up right away.”

I had a personal lunch appointment and left an hour ago, planning to be back by the meeting time. Why did he always hassle me like this?

After all, I was only going back to the office, specifically the secretariat.

Responding politely, I waited for the elevator to go to the floor where the secretariat and CEO’s office were.

“Didn’t you have a personal appointment today, CEO? Did it go well?”

― It’s nice that my secretary cares about my personal matters, makes me happy.

I pondered whether he was serious or not, then replied calmly as an eight-year veteran who worked for money.

“Of course, I’m interested. I need to keep track of all your schedules. Are you coming to the office?”

― No, I’m still far away. Be ready.

“…Yes, understood. I’ll see you when you return. Should I send the afternoon meeting materials now, or will you check them in person?”

I barely managed to say what I needed to, feeling a headache coming on. Why was he bothering me when he wasn’t even in the office?

But I always kept a basic level of respect for those who paid me.

Quietly, I got into the elevator and glanced at the phone screen, hearing no response from CEO Han.

The elevator was designed to maintain a signal, so the call wouldn’t drop midway.

Time moved very slowly on the screen.

After a long silence, I couldn’t help but ask, “CEO?”

― What did you have for lunch, Secretary Seonyul?

“Just a variety of good things.”

― What exactly?

It was an insistently persistent question. He would certainly criticize me if I hadn’t eaten, so I gave a vague response.

“I ate a lot of delicious food. I’m so full I could roll.”

― I don’t need an assistant who overeats and rolls around. But it’s good to eat something. See you at the office.

A low chuckle echoed past my throat. Why did he care whether I ate or not? But I quietly acknowledged and got off the elevator. Perfect timing— the call ended as the doors opened.

Stepping out energetically, I scanned my employee ID and entered the waiting room. Two colleagues, Yoon Sanghye and Kang Yeonkyu, greeted me.

“Hello, Secretary Seonyul.”

“Had a good lunch?”

“Yes, how about you?”

“Just coffee. I stayed in the break room. Couldn’t bear the thought of going out. Lunch breaks are always crowded.”

They nodded in deep agreement. With so many companies around, it was hard to understand why lunch breaks were all the same time.

But even bad laws are still laws, and in this era where such customs were entrenched, there was nothing an ordinary office worker could change.

Yoon Sanghye looked concerned and cautiously asked, “So, you didn’t eat lunch? You should have. There’s a meeting today, and you’ll need to be there for the minutes…”

“It’s not the first time. I’ll just eat something at home later.”