Private Secretary - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Private Secretary Episode 21

His tone was polite, but the content was anything but. Of all the orders he had given so far, this one was the most unpleasant and irritating.

[…I’ll wait.]

When Lee Seol didn’t respond, he said he would wait and hung up the phone.

Who in the world makes a request like this? And asking me to buy gasoline at 10 PM at night?

Saying he’ll wait and then just hanging up – is that it?

Like someone who had been attacked out of nowhere, Lee Seol stared blankly at her phone in a daze.

Soon, a message arrived from Tae-san’s number. The address started with Gyeonggi-do.

“Wow, this is a bit much, isn’t it?”

No wonder. Kang Tae-san’s voice had been excessively polite and gentle.

“Just the same. He’s doing exactly the same thing as Kim Se-na. I take back what I said about feeling sorry for him. Take it back. Ptui ptui.”

Lee Seol clearly expressed her displeasure at the message Tae-san sent, but reluctantly got up from her seat.

“I really hate this, I hate it.”

Of course, even if he had asked her to bring oil from the United States instead of Gyeonggi-do, she would have to bring it since that was her role, so Lee Seol had no choice.

Moreover, he hadn’t given an arrogant command as usual, but had even made the request in a relatively gentle tone.

It was dirty and petty, but complying would be the proper duty of a subordinate employee.

“Hey, but this is really too much. Some people get picked up in their socks, and others are told to buy oil at this hour. This is totally like a princess and a servant girl.”

Lee Seol lamented endlessly even while changing into outdoor clothes.

“Right. Lee Seol. This is what being an office worker is. Not being controlled by emotions and just getting the assigned work done. How clean and simple. Since it’s come to this anyway, I should pray for that equally annoying Kang Tae-san and Kim Se-na to live happily ever after for a hundred years.”

Lee Seol gathered her car keys and simple belongings and went outside.

It was an outing that happened exactly one hour after coming home.

* * *

So Lee Seol drove for quite a while toward the address Tae-san had sent.

Then she spotted a car stopped on the opposite side of the road and Tae-san standing next to it.

When she turned her car around and parked it in front of his car, Tae-san walked over.

“You could have come a bit faster.”

“…I came as fast as I could.”

It wasn’t exactly a reproachful tone for being late, but she had expected him to at least say thank you for coming out of courtesy.

Lee Seol, whose feelings were hurt again by the criticism as soon as she arrived, spoke curtly without even looking at Tae-san.

Just as Lee Seol was about to open the trunk and take out two 10-liter gasoline containers, Tae-san approached and reached out first.

Lifting the two gas containers easily, he immediately went to his car and started refueling.

At that moment, Kim Se-na, who had been sitting in the passenger seat of Tae-san’s car, opened the door and got out.

“I’m sorry for making you come all the way here.”

She spoke with an apologetic smile, but Lee Seol, who wasn’t in the mood to respond rationally, just nodded roughly.

The feeling of being a servant who came to attend to her mistress was much more awful than expected.

“You can put in the rest, right?”

“Excuse me?”

“Where are your car keys.”

“…In the car….”

“You finish refueling this, then take my car and fill up what’s lacking. I looked it up and the gas station isn’t that far.”

“Department Head.”

“I’ll borrow your car for a bit.”

No matter what, this isn’t right.

If the gas station isn’t that far, why doesn’t he go and refuel himself instead of trying to borrow someone else’s car?

Lee Seol, suddenly heated up, quickly grabbed Tae-san who was trying to get her car keys.

“Ah.”

Tae-san looked back and forth between Lee Seol’s hand holding him and her face, then let out a low sigh.

Then he opened his wallet, took out all the cash inside, and handed it to Lee Seol.

…What is this supposed to be now?

Unlike in movies or dramas, she realized painfully for the first time that when a person is too flabbergasted and angry, they freeze up and can’t say anything.

If she were a character in a scenario, she would have immediately asked coherently what he was doing.

But she was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t say anything, as if her words were blocked.

“What, is it not enough?”

“….”

“This is all I have right now. I’ll give you more next time, so for now do as I say.”

And Lee Seol realized one more fact. That some people might cry when they get too angry.

Lee Seol glared fiercely at Tae-san, her eyes growing hot against her will.

At that moment, Kim Se-na, who had been watching the situation from a little distance, approached closer.

“Right, that’s too little for someone who came all the way here on purpose.”

When Lee Seol saw Kim Se-na trying to take out her wallet from her bag, she couldn’t stand it anymore.

A deep disgust for the two of them washed over her, to the point where she wanted to hit her past self who had thought highly of Tae-san and felt favorable toward him just moments ago.

But even in the midst of this, the unchanging reality was that he was still her boss and she was his secretary.

Lee Seol barely suppressed her boiling anger with deep breaths.

“It’s not about the money… No matter how much you’re my boss, Department Head, you can’t just use your subordinate’s personal property as you please.”

“Right. That’s why I’m giving you money. As a way of saying thanks for your hard work.”

“No. I don’t need it.”

“Han Lee Seol.”

“The gasoline I brought should be enough to get you to a nearby gas station. Wouldn’t it be better to quickly refuel and leave rather than arguing with me like this?”

“….”

“But I absolutely cannot understand why you insist on borrowing my car.”

“I’m tired from wasting too much time on the road. I don’t have the luxury of stopping at a gas station to refuel on the way. That’s why I want to borrow your car.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not my fault, is it? What I can do as a secretary is limited to buying and bringing gasoline. I don’t like other people riding in my car.”

Lee Seol spoke calmly but firmly stood her ground, and Tae-san looked quite offended, as if he hadn’t expected her to refuse so decisively.

Kim Se-na, who had been quietly watching the two of them, smoothly intervened.

“I’m sorry. Tae-san must have become very sensitive. Even I think it’s not right for us to travel in the secretary’s car. We’ll manage on our own from now on, so please go ahead first, Secretary. Thank you for coming all the way here.”

“Se-na, wait a minute.”

“No, do as I say. She was kind enough to bring gasoline all the way here, so how can we try to take her car too? That’s too shameless, Kang Tae-san.”

As the old saying goes, the sister-in-law who stops you is more hateful than the mother-in-law who scolds you – those words were exactly right.

Lee Seol resented Tae-san, but strangely, she disliked Kim Se-na even more.

What was even more absurd was Tae-san, who showed his displeasure openly when Lee Seol said no, but immediately backed down when Kim Se-na intervened.

“…Right. If that’s really what you want, then there’s nothing I can do. As you said, I’ll refuel myself and manage on my own, so you go ahead first.”

Tae-san spoke curtly, seeming quite hurt.

Regardless, Lee Seol was equally displeased.

She had to maintain courtesy as a secretary, so she bowed in greeting and was about to return to her car.

“Still, take the money. I’m the one who called you out in the middle of the night.”

“I still don’t want this kind of money.”

Even if it looked like pointless pride in Tae-san’s eyes, she didn’t care.

No matter how much she liked money and got into this job because of it, she didn’t want to miserably accept money in a situation like this.

If it had been the usual Tae-san, he would have urged her to take it so she wouldn’t regret it later, but perhaps sensing that Lee Seol’s mood was different from usual, he didn’t insist further.

Instead, he picked up the gas container and started refueling, and Lee Seol turned around and walked toward her car.

“Excuse me, Secretary.”

When Kim Se-na called out to her again, Lee Seol squeezed her eyes shut and opened them.

“Yes?”

The moment she turned toward Kim Se-na without thinking, bright headlights attacked her eyes.

Lee Seol, momentarily blinded, staggered.

Beep-!

She couldn’t see ahead because of the strong light, but the moment the horn sound pierced her eardrums, Lee Seol instinctively sensed danger.

She threw her body forward, embracing Kim Se-na and rolling on the ground.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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