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SEOUL DAILY FLASH
LEE CHANYOUNG HEIR IN SECRET ROMANCE WITH HIS FATHER’S OWN SECRETARY
“FROM THE START, WE FOUND THEIR CLOSENESS SUSPICIOUS,” SAYS INSIDER.
SEOUL — The heir to the Lee conglomerate is at the center of a media storm after allegations of a secret relationship with none other than his own father’s executive secretary.
Internal sources claim that the bond between Chanyoung, the most sought-after heir of recent months and a cellist with a major European orchestra, and his father’s secretary stopped being strictly professional several months ago. Witnesses report seeing the two in private meetings.
“Everyone assumed it was just a coincidence that they kept showing up in the same places,” said a Lee conglomerate employee. “But apparently, there was more to it.”
Images circulating online show the two arriving together at a luxury residential complex in the early hours of the morning. The secretary’s face and name have been withheld to preserve his safety and privacy.
Investors reacted cautiously in the first few hours, and the Lee family has not yet issued a statement on the matter.
The silence has only fueled the public uproar. The world awaits an official response.
Wonbin had no way of defining the tornado he and Anton had faced over the past few days.
After the first headline broke, everything descended into chaos, and things simply spiraled beyond either of their control.
He wished he could go to sleep and wake up in a different reality, because confronting this massive snowball had brought new nightmares at the end of every day.
Well, it had only been a matter of time before this happened. And it was their fault for postponing the inevitable until there was no way around it anymore…
He watched the alpha carry the suitcases and the two large bags of food into the penthouse in silence.
That serious expression didn’t suit the man he was used to. Even though they had only been officially dating for a few months, Anton had always been the optimistic and cheerful one in the relationship, someone who smiled easily and seemed capable of solving every problem with the greatest calm and simplicity in the world.
His eyes then drifted to what the younger man was carrying.
Wonbin’s mother had gone completely overboard with the gifts… There was no way they would consume that amount of food before it expired. However, that wasn’t what worried him at the moment.
…
He didn’t understand what had happened to leave Anton so stressed so suddenly, and by this point, such secrecy was starting to irritate him.
He was about to ask a question and put an end to the mystery when the other’s phone rang.
Wonbin expected the Lee heir to answer it, but instead watched him reject the call impatiently once again.
Ever since the first call, which had come a day earlier at the Park family’s house, the alpha had become restless… It didn’t sit right with him.
The phone rang three different times that morning. First when they got into the car to leave Ulsan for Seoul, then in the middle of the drive, and now when they stepped into the penthouse.
“Chanyoung… What’s going on?” Anton looked so startled that he nearly jumped at the question.
Wonbin watched him sigh in conflict, run a hand through his hair, and bite his lip.
Honestly? He didn’t want to hear about any more problems. If there was another bomb waiting to explode, he might not be able to keep himself together. The alpha should know that, considering he had been hiding whatever it was from the very beginning.
“Chanyoung-ah…”
“Wonbin-hyung, do you really want to know what it’s about? Because I honestly think it’s better if I don’t tell you. I’m too worried about your mental state.” The hesitant way Anton spoke sent a chill down his spine.
His hands began to sweat from the very start of the speech, which practically screamed obstacles in every possible way. He hurried toward the kitchen to grab a glass of water, almost considering doing something childish and covering his ears while chanting ‘La, la, la!’ as his boyfriend followed him.
“Let me handle it, huh? I don’t want you stressing yourself out.” Anton needed to understand that saying something like that only made things worse, considering he had always suffered from above-average anxiety.
Wonbin swallowed half the water in a single gulp before speaking.
“We promised not to hide things from each other… If you want to deal with it alone, fine. Honestly, I don’t have the strength for any more bullshit these past few days, but… But tell me what it is so I can at least understand why you’re so overwhelmed.” The logic was obvious. If the younger man’s wolf was in turmoil, his own wolf would be affected just as much.
After all the problems they’d already gone through because of the imprinting bond, they should have learned by now not to let their emotions reach such extreme peaks. Especially at a time when Wonbin’s wolf was already acting strangely unstable.
His fingers tightened around the glass as he whispered. “Chanyoung-ah, you—“
“It’s my Harabeoji’s secretary who’s been calling.” Anton didn’t let him finish. He blurted out the truth quickly, though it took several moments for the words to reach his muddled ears.
Oh, shit.
Grandfather??!
Wonbin couldn’t stop himself from reacting, and the alpha wrinkled his nose at the sudden surge of peony pheromones. His body spun around as if he’d been shocked, hurrying to pour more water into the glass with trembling hands.
“Is that… really bad?” His eyes widened the moment he asked, and the silence that followed answered exactly what he feared.
The younger man grunted and pulled one of the island stools over before sitting down. A long, exhausted sigh escaped his lips.
“Somewhat. My Harabeoji is angry and… wants to see us.”
…
Ironically, that short sentence was enough for Wonbin’s overactive imagination to conjure up the image of a genuine boogeyman, along with every possible insult he might hear from such a terrifying creature. Only the anger that overtook him afterward managed to pull him out of it.
“And you were planning to deal with this without even telling me? Fuck, Chanyoung!” The expensive glass nearly cracked from the force with which he set it down on the marble countertop.
The reaction to his outburst was immediate. Anton hurried to explain himself, raising both hands in surrender.
“See? This is exactly what I was trying to avoid… Hyung, you don’t have to go through that ordeal. Let me handle it, huh? I’ll go there and settle everything.” A faint smile appeared on his tired face as he suggested it.
Of course he was freaking out!!! Wonbin cursed again, and his boyfriend finally gave up, rubbing his sweaty forehead and squeezing his eyes shut in self-reproach while muttering something inaudible.
“Yeah, do that, and your family will hate me even more.” The omega gestured impatiently.
The original plan had been to return to Seoul after their brief stay with the Parks, clear their heads for a day or two, and then speak with Anton’s parents.
Just his parents. Visiting his grandfather had never been part of the equation.
Besides, during all the years he had worked as Yoonsang’s secretary, he had never even seen a photograph of Grandpa Lee. People talked about him often, but the chance of actually running into the older alpha had always been nonexistent, since he had retired years ago.
“Wonbin-hyung, don’t say things like that… No one in my family hates you.” Anton corrected him seriously, but it was impossible to believe.
Wonbin had stopped using his phone to check social media, just as everyone had advised, because the last thing he wanted was to read the worst kinds of nonsense. Still, the stares and whispers from the few people who had seen him during this mess revealed exactly what most people thought of him.
Usurper? Manipulator? Gold digger?
He had every reason in the world to panic at the mere idea of sharing a room with strangers.
What were the chances Anton’s relatives would smile when they met him? Not to mention how unethical the situation looked, considering Wonbin was also his boyfriend’s father’s secretary.
He hadn’t even begun to think about the fact that sooner or later he would have to go back to the company and resign. Otherwise, he would completely lose it and tear out all his hair.
“No, no, no.” His mind had wandered down the familiar path of self-deprecation, and he barely noticed when Anton stood up and cupped his face with overwhelming concern. “Hyung, don’t panic… It’s okay.”
‘It’s okay…?’ Wonbin scoffed while struggling to draw air into his lungs. The younger man had the infuriating habit of saying that even when the world was collapsing around them.
He thought about pushing those large, warm hands away, but his difficulty breathing left him too exhausted to resist when the other carried him over to the living room sofa.
Beyond them, the panoramic view of Seoul awakening beneath a blanket of fog stretched across the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Anton knelt in front of him. And somehow, it felt as though an entire hour had passed before Wonbin managed to speak again.
“Chanyoung, your parents… They must be angry at me now. Damn it, what am I even saying? Of course your Harabeoji hates me too.” His voice cracked. Tears streamed down his face. For some reason, he had been far too emotional these past few days.
…
Rejection shouldn’t have been anything new. Even so, experiencing it in real time would hurt far more than he cared to admit.
“Wonbin-hyung, stop that. My parents adore you, and you know it.” Anton looked utterly miserable, his metaphorical golden retriever ears drooping as he tried to convince him. “Hating you would mean hating me... Even if some of them are angry right now, they wouldn’t be capable of feeling something that awful.”
God, he wanted to believe that. But pessimism, as always, was his greatest enemy.
The alpha glanced toward some distant corner of the living room as if preparing to say something that would upset him. As though Wonbin didn’t already have enough on his plate.
“That’s not why I don’t want you to come. You have no idea what it’s like to meet my Harabeoji. It’s… different from what you’re imagining. Let me go alone, Hyung. I’m afraid you’ll completely break if you do this.”
…
The option of staying behind was tempting. The omega bit his lip as he weighed the two terrible choices before him: Not showing up and giving Anton’s grandfather more reasons to hate him, or facing the situation head-on and probably hearing the most horrible things imaginable.
Either way, there was no escaping scrutiny.
“Chanyoung, you met my parents.” He gathered enough courage to look at the other man firmly. Seen from that perspective, refusing this ‘invitation’ would be selfish.
“It’s okay. I can handle it.”
Wonbin watched the exact moment the other’s expression shifted from concern to utter defeat.
“Damn it, Hyung. I can never say no to you.” He grumbled and clicked his tongue.
Half a second of silence passed, broken only by the distant hum of an appliance, before Anton spoke again. This time, his tone was dark, and the expression on his face was one he had never seen since the day they met.
“Wonbin-hyung, I need you to understand what you’re getting yourself into. You’re not mentally prepared to meet my Harabeoji right now. Do you think you can get ready for this? We don’t have much time.” ‘No, I don’t think so.’ His mind answered as he shrank into himself.
The younger man would never say things like that just to scare him. That meant the situation truly was as serious as it sounded.
“You can still back out if you want, of course, but I need to make sure you understand what going there means.” Anton added it carefully, as though that would somehow make him less terrified.
Chanyoung’s grandfather… Wonbin smoothed down his messy hair in a futile attempt to regain some sense of order and looked at the kneeling alpha with determination.
“Okay. Let’s do this. How much time do I have to prepare?” Whatever happened during that visit, he could deal with it afterward.
Half the country was already spreading absurd rumors about him. What was one more?
His question visibly threw his boyfriend into an internal struggle, probably because he hadn’t expected the omega to agree. He remained silent for several seconds before finally accepting that there was no convincing him otherwise.
“One day. That’s all we’ve got… Harabeoji wants to see us the day after tomorrow.”
…
Ah.
It would indeed be nearly impossible to armor his mental state in such a short period of time.
He gripped Anton’s wrist tightly, the same wrist attached to the arm that was supporting his trembling body.
“Okay. I can do this.” The words sounded more like self-encouragement than a declaration. Wonbin wasn’t going to back down. Sweeping the problem under the rug would only make everything worse. They had already done that for far too long. “Tell me what I need to bring and how I should prepare to meet him.”
‘Grandpa Lee can’t be that terrifying.’ His mind reached that conclusion, but Anton’s next words shattered every last bit of hope he had left.
“Hyung, we’re going to have to take care of a lot of things today. My entire family will be present. Harabeoji ordered everyone to clear their schedules for an emergency meeting… You and I are going to be the topic of discussion.”
The entire family.
Parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws.
Wonbin’s eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. Anton would probably end up with a bruise on his wrist from how tightly he was squeezing it.
He was absolutely going to spend the day having a meltdown.