“D-damn… this is fucking good.”
Jung Hwangyu’s voice reached my ears as I sat there eating rice, lost in thought. When I glanced over, he was already shoveling food into his mouth like nothing had happened, as if the earlier uproar had never existed. Watching that, the mess in my head gradually settled. No one disliked seeing someone enjoy food they’d cooked.
Looks like my cooking skills hadn’t died after all. If I hadn’t been a gangster boss, maybe I would’ve become a chef. It started as a hobby, sure, but I even had certifications.
Born as a gangster family’s young master, I’d grown up fairly idle and wealthy, and I’d tried pretty much everything I wanted when I was young. Cooking had been one of those things.
‘He eats well. Really eats well.’
With that yellow hair, looking at him like this felt like raising a golden retriever.
Personality was the exact opposite, though. I watched his blond hair sway for a moment, then sank back into my thoughts.
Secret Romance with the Housekeeper was a 19+ novel that revolved around the housekeeper heroine. And Park Gyumin, an extra in that novel, was an orphan. To earn money, orphan Park Gyumin took a job as a housekeeper in a gangster household that paid a high hourly wage. He was timid and cowardly, but to survive, he stubbornly endured life in that house. Then one day, a new housekeeper joined—who turned out to be the heroine.
‘The heroine….’
She was a sunshine-airhead type on the surface. But if you looked closer, she was a sly, fox-like, cunning bitch who’d grown up without a wrinkle in her life and assumed everyone else was just as positive as she was. In reality, she was extremely realistic, cold, and calculating. Her entry into this gangster household had been orchestrated by a rival gang—she was basically a spy.
She entered the house to extract information and ended up seducing all the brothers. Every step of that process was obscene and provocative. It was practically a story about seducing them with her body and grinding away at them.
‘That was possible because of it… Omega.’
The reason bodily seduction even worked was because the novel had a slight fantasy element mixed in.
That was the omegaverse setting.
I’d learned about it for the first time through this novel.
‘Omegaverse.’
In this world, there weren’t just men and women—there was another classification. Alpha, Omega, and Beta. Simply put, Alphas were exceptional people—smarter or stronger than ordinary folks. Omegas were the opposite: delicate, feminine in aura, and despite being male, capable of becoming pregnant.
Betas referred to ordinary men and women. Both Alphas and Omegas could emit pheromones, which the book described as powerful enough to make people lose all reason and crave each other. On top of that, they had heat and rut cycles, during which they supposedly sought each other like beasts that had lost all rationality.
All the gangster brothers in this household were Alphas. That was why, to prevent any unpleasant incidents, all servants were hired as Betas. Which meant Park Gyumin was a Beta as well. However, the heroine infiltrated the household while hiding the fact that she was an Omega. She naturally released pheromones, aroused them, and made them pounce on her. One by one, she seduced them with her body and turned them into her men—that was the story.
That process had been pretty arousing, honestly. And for the record, the character I’d possessed—Park Gyumin—was…
A tragic extra who fell head over heels for the heroine despite being a Beta.
‘The fact that Jung Hwangyu came looking for me instead of the heroine means… she hasn’t shown up yet.’
If that was the case, the choice I had was whether to interfere with the original story or not.
Not interfering was simple. I could quit the job immediately. Everything in the original story happened because of entanglements with this family. But realistically, quitting right now wasn’t an option. I needed to find out whether this world was truly identical to the one I’d lived in. And even if I left this house right away, I had nowhere to go, given that I had no real memories of Park Gyumin. And who knew—maybe once the novel reached its ending, I could return to my original world….
The odds were slim, but it was a pretty convincing hypothesis.
After all, me entering this novel was unrealistic to begin with, so who was to say I wouldn’t just snap back just as unrealistically?
‘Alright. Screw it. I’ll endure.’
Since I knew the original story, as long as I avoided the heroine, our paths probably wouldn’t cross much. At this point, I could just think of it as watching the original up close, live comfortably, and only make sure to survive the moment I was supposed to die at the end.
I decided to think positively.
“Hm-hm. Good meal. Keep cooking like this.”
Jung Hwangyu, who’d been acting like a rabid dog earlier, spoke with a satisfied smile—it seemed my cooking had really hit the mark. I nodded vaguely, put the dishes into the sink, and started washing them.
Doing dishes too, huh. Since I’m a housekeeper, I’d better get used to this kind of work.
‘So… what now?’
After wiping the water off my hands with a towel, I walked past Jung Hwangyu, who was still standing there blankly, and headed back to the room where I’d first opened my eyes. I figured I’d go back and slowly recall the novel’s contents.
What the heroine did….
Aside from seducing the male leads, all she really did was help Park Gyumin a little.
And by “help,” I meant verbally. All the miscellaneous work was handled by Park Gyumin. The heroine just lived like a princess, being waited on by both the male leads and the extra Park Gyumin.
“Hey, aren’t you going to wake Jung Hwangyeong? If he’s any later, he’ll be late.”
I stopped walking at the voice from behind me. To think Jung Hwangyu could actually be useful….
He probably told me because I looked off somehow. Jung Hwangyeong was the fourth child of this family and, practically speaking, an extra just like me. He rarely appeared—a disliked seven-year-old who currently attended kindergarten. Their parents had died early, and the three remaining brothers were all indifferent, so no one really took care of him, leaving him pretty warped.
“Oh, thanks.”
When I turned around to thank him, Jung Hwangyu flinched and pretended not to notice.
“…While I’m at it, one more question. Where’s Hwangyeong’s room?”
“Aah, fuck! Seriously, go to a hospital! There’s something wrong with your head!”
I knew what needed to be done, but unfortunately, there was no way I’d know where Jung Hwangyeong’s room was.
I shamelessly asked for help again. Jung Hwangyu, foul-mouthed but oddly usable, exploded with irritation yet still told me, letting me safely find Jung Hwangyeong’s room.
* * *
‘This should be it, right?’
The house was so huge that I barely managed to find the room while recalling Jung Hwangyu’s explanation. At least it was on the same floor. Judging by the nearby staircase, there were more floors above.
If I remembered correctly, it was a three-story house….
Am I cleaning all this by myself?
With this much space, they definitely needed at least one more housekeeper.
Knock knock knock-.
I knocked on Jung Hwangyeong’s door. There was no sound from inside.
“I’m coming in.”
I already knew he wouldn’t answer, so I opened the door without worrying about it.
Inside, maybe because the curtains were drawn, I could only make out vague shapes at first. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, objects began to take form.
‘Is that him?’
On a bed large enough for three grown men to roll around on, there sat a small child wrapped up in a blanket. Despite his tightly furrowed brow, his round face and chubby cheeks were unbelievably cute.
“So cute.”
“……?”
“Ah, pardon me. Young master. It’s time to go to kindergarten.”
I spoke while imitating Park Gyumin’s manner of speech from the novel.
I’d already spoken casually to Jung Hwangyu, but since Jung Hwangyeong was a first meeting and still a child, I thought it best to act as usual. Kids get stressed over even small changes.
Jung Hwangyeong stared at me with a sulky face, then got up. He was already dressed in his kindergarten uniform, like he’d finished preparing in advance.
‘He listens better than I expected?’
With his bag packed, the child walked ahead expressionlessly, not acting like a kid at all. I stared at his back for a moment, then followed.
“Uh, young master. You should eat first.”
Jung Hwangyeong shook his head.
“Hm, well, if that’s the case.”
Thank goodness. I hadn’t prepared anything….
I was sighing in relief internally when I felt a sharp gaze from somewhere. When I turned my head, Jung Hwangyeong was glaring at me.
‘What’s with him?’
That dissatisfied look made me wonder if I’d done something wrong. I was about to ask when Jung Hwangyeong suddenly turned his head away and walked on again.
“Hey, the brat’s up?”
Jung Hwangyu, sitting on the sofa watching TV, spoke familiarly to Jung Hwangyeong. Jung Hwangyeong ignored him, went to the front door, and silently put on his shoes.
“Look at that rude little brat—… w-what? What’s your problem?”
I stared blankly at Jung Hwangyu instead. Thankfully, maybe he sensed the killing intent hidden behind my vacant stare, because he clamped his mouth shut. If he’d said one more word, I’d been ready to shut that loud mouth with my fist. Was it really okay to talk like that in front of a child?
I was being careful myself….
“Oh? Let’s go together, young master!”
At that moment, Jung Hwangyeong opened the door and went outside. I hurried after him. A black car was waiting out front. A tall man who looked like a bodyguard naturally approached and put Jung Hwangyeong into the car.
I just stood there, staring blankly. The man didn’t even acknowledge me—he drove off immediately with Jung Hwangyeong inside.
‘…This scene.’
I recognized it. When Park Gyumin explained to the heroine how Jung Hwangyeong got to kindergarten, the same thing happened—the two of them just drove off mid-explanation.
Leaving the kid aside… that ill-mannered bodyguard bastard. No respect for elders. Maybe I should pick a day and give him some discipline. I’d thought I’d mellowed out with age, but maybe because I’d gotten young again, my old, fiery temper kept trying to resurface.
‘…Calm down. Calm down.’
Come to think of it, I realized I hadn’t heard Jung Hwangyeong’s voice even once while bringing him out. Did the book ever show him talking? I couldn’t quite remember.
In the novel, Jung Hwangyeong was just a gloomy, twisted youngest child who appeared briefly and was then forgotten.
The heroine barely paid him any attention either, focusing only on the three older brothers. Ah—there had been one time she’d shown interest.
The Jung Hwangyeong kidnapping incident!
‘…Well, that’s still far off.’
Thinking it was an episode that had nothing to do with me for now, I turned and went back into the house.