Chapter 7: Goodbye, Sweet Potato

“Are you all right, Young Master?”

He really is a pushover.
He really is.

In the novel, most of the things the lunatic said to Secretary Kim were orders.
And extremely short ones at that.
Even though Secretary Kim must have been much older than me.
And when Ha-min disappeared, the lunatic had harassed him endlessly, calling him incompetent.
Secretary Kim in the novel really had the ultimate job from hell.

He got cursed at by someone younger than him, had to take care of everything for him, and was worked to the bone to such an extent that I honestly wondered, ‘If the lunatic hadn’t been rich, wouldn’t Secretary Kim have killed him?’

Yet he endured working under that lunatic.
At first, I thought he was putting up with it because of the money or simply because the novel needed him to.
But…… maybe he endured it because he was just a pushover.

Even in this situation, he was worried about the lunatic.
Seriously…… Secretary Kim is the best!

I liked everything about him from top to bottom.
I really should make good use of him!

“Yeah…… I’m fine…….”

I put on the saddest expression I could manage.

Damn, sorrow appearing on such a handsome face.
A pushover like Secretary Kim would probably fall for it completely.

“……Young Master, if you don’t mind, may I ask why you’re going abroad?”

Just as I’d expected, Secretary Kim had fallen for it.
Now I just had to make him pity me even more!

“……Watching Ha-min made me realize that I’ve been living my life all wrong.
I used my family’s power to torment people, and I even committed crimes…….
Back then, I was too immature.
I think I’m finally coming to my senses.
Maybe that’s why I started thinking that I wanted to start over.
I’m still young, so I want to quietly reflect on my mistakes and live out the rest of my life that way.”

Of course, I meant quietly living as a rich unemployed man!

I lowered my head slightly and continued in a trembling voice.

How about it, Secretary Kim?
I look so pitiful you could just die from sympathy, right?

I glanced at him, and Secretary Kim had completely fallen for it.
The corners of his eyes were red, and it looked like he might even cry.

“Don’t worry, Young Master.
I will make all the arrangements exactly as you wish.”

Secretary Kim, you really are such a ho…… no, such a kind man.
Our Secretary Kim really is the best!

“Secretary Kim, no, Secretary Kim-nim.
Thank you for everything.
I don’t know how sorry I am for everything I’ve done to you.
On a day like this…… can you forgive me?”

“Forgive you, Young Master?
Are you not the one who hired me when I still couldn’t find a job at my age, and even helped pay for my sick younger sibling’s surgery?
After that, you continued to keep me as your exclusive secretary.
If anything, I am the one who owes you a debt of gratitude.
I will continue to do my very best to serve you.”

And then Secretary Kim finally started crying.

What?
Were we really that close?

Was that why he had taken care of me so thoroughly all this time?
And the lunatic had actually done something that kind?

Since the lunatic’s family history never even appeared in the novel, there had been absolutely no story concerning Secretary Kim.
He was simply ‘Secretary 1,’ the sort of secretary who cleaned up after the protagonist in any novel or drama.

Putting together Secretary Kim’s tearful account of his moving history with the lunatic, it went roughly like this.

After being discharged from the military and graduating from college, Secretary Kim was twenty-seven years old and still unable to find a job, getting scolded and looked down on everywhere he went.
Then, on this particular day, he was rejected from yet another job interview.
To make matters worse, his younger sibling had recently fallen ill, leaving him with medical bills he couldn’t afford.

Overwhelmed with misery, Secretary Kim had apparently gone out for a drink during the day and cried his eyes out.

And, as fate would have it, the company that had rejected him was the lunatic’s father’s company.

The sixteen-year-old lunatic happened to be passing by and, noticing that he had an opening for a personal secretary, hired Secretary Kim on the spot.

Judging from the lunatic’s personality, I suspected he probably already had a secretary who had either resigned because they couldn’t stand his temper or been fired because the lunatic didn’t like them, but…… whatever.

Anyway, the lunatic generously paid for Secretary Kim’s younger sibling’s surgery and medical expenses.

It seemed pretty obvious that he had done it to get Secretary Kim indebted to him so he could work him to death, but since Secretary Kim was this grateful, I decided not to question it.

Thanks to the generous salary from working as the lunatic’s secretary, his younger sibling recovered quickly, and the lunatic gained the enthusiastic support of Secretary Kim’s entire family.

The salary was probably high because it was such a hellish job, but…… anyway, Secretary Kim vowed to remain loyal to the foul-tempered lunatic.

On top of that, the sixteen-year-old trash lunatic was treated as the family’s biggest headache and was completely ignored by everyone at home!

Seeing that, pushover Secretary Kim began to think of the youngest Young Master as a troubled child who had simply become twisted because he wanted to be loved.

And so Secretary Kim devoted himself wholeheartedly to taking care of me, believing that all the things the kind Young Master who had helped him did were simply the desperate actions of a child trying to win the love of an indifferent family.

It was a truly tear-jerking story.

As I listened to Secretary Kim’s story, I briefly wondered if perhaps the lunatic had actually been a good kid when he was young……

But the more I listened to Secretary Kim’s tearful story, the more it seemed like the sly owner of this body had simply recognized a pushover when he saw one and taken him hostage with his kindness.

No wonder he had been able to put up with this lunatic.

‘Well, whatever.
A good thing is a good thing.’

I simply smiled.

When I smiled, Secretary Kim smiled along with me.

Since things had become so heartwarming, I decided to start speaking politely to Secretary Kim from now on.

Secretary Kim waved his hands in surprise, but I ignored him and insisted that I was going to use honorifics.

I was uncomfortable speaking informally to someone older than me!

In the end, Secretary Kim couldn’t beat me and agreed, then continued with his report.

Once we became closer, I’d call him hyung and give him some vacation time, too.

Of course, he’d probably wave his hands in protest again, but those cute reactions were fun to tease him about.

I could understand why the lunatic had kept Secretary Kim by his side.

“The withdrawal process has already been arranged, but since the student is normally required to process the withdrawal personally, it has been delayed.
I’ve already spoken with your homeroom teacher, so it should be processed quickly, but if you’re all right with it, Young Master, it seems that going there personally would allow it to be approved immediately.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.
You’ve worked hard, Secretary Kim-nim.
Please have the car prepared right away.”

I had no idea you had to personally process your own withdrawal from school.

It was a little unsettling to go back to the school where that sweet-potato airhead was, but for the sake of my happy unemployed life, this much was nothing.

I smiled as I answered Secretary Kim, who had worked so hard.

I could feel Secretary Kim flinching, still not accustom

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