By Zephyria 
Prologue
“Is this a scammer, by any chance?”
Lee Yeon-rok, who had been spacing out, snapped back to reality at Choi Hwan’s words. He stared blankly, dumbfounded, only to receive a hostile glare from the handsome, almost flamboyant, man. Speechless, he could only stare, and the other man, for reasons unknown, seemed to think he understood something and didn’t reply. Then, another person muttered.
“I already hate this so much…”
He turned his head. Another man was sitting with his legs crossed, exuding displeasure as he glared at him.
He wasn’t as flamboyant as Choi Hwan, the famous actor, but he was a different kind of handsome. His slightly drooping eyes gave a seemingly friendly impression, but his venomous gaze quickly obscured it. Even though it was their first meeting, Yeon-rok could sense an inexplicable resentment in the way he looked at him.
“Choi Hwan-ssi. Lee Yeon-rok-ssi is the first among us to register their ‘Hwamyeong’.”
Finally, another man spoke. Lee Yeon-rok turned his head again.
“So there’s no way he’s a scammer.”
This man’s aura was just as formidable as Choi Hwan, the actor. He was the largest of the three, and even to Yeon-rok, who didn’t know much about luxury brands, the items he wore, from his suit to his watch, were clearly expensive. His gaze and voice were deep, naturally drawing attention. He was the only one who didn’t seem to harbor hostility towards Yeon-rok, but he wasn’t particularly friendly either.
After examining each of the three men, Yeon-rok turned back creakily. He quietly asked the Name Matching Center employee.
“…Are you saying those people are really my Name Partners?”
The employee smiled awkwardly, shattering Yeon-rok’s hope that he would say no.
“Yes, that’s right. Lee Yeon-rok-ssi’s Hwamyeong, or rather, Name Partners, are these three people.”
Since adolescence, Lee Yeon-rok’s life could be summarized as ‘difficult and unlucky’.
The difficulty was a given. He had to live in this harsh world without a guardian. But even in this difficult world, his misfortune made it even more challenging.
Tripping over a stone on the street could be attributed to carelessness. Never winning even the lowest prize in the lottery, never winning at rock-paper-scissors, or always getting the short end of the stick in a game of chance were all possible.
However, every time he tried to buy something he wanted, it would sell out right before his eyes, or it would break soon after he bought it. He would suddenly get drenched by a water splash on the street, get into multiple traffic accidents, all of his orphanage friends who were like siblings would get adopted and leave him alone, and every time he tried to become close to someone, they would inevitably have circumstances that caused them to leave his side. After experiencing these things in succession, he naturally came to this conclusion.
‘I’m really unlucky.’
Still, even when he got into accidents, he didn’t become disabled or suffer serious aftereffects. He wasn’t scammed or targeted by villains, so he was able to live a mediocre life. He graduated from high school with decent grades. Not long after receiving his resident registration card and becoming independent, something truly special happened to Yeon-rok. He developed a ‘Name’.
Yeon-rok was overjoyed when his ‘Name’, also known as ‘Hwamyeong’ in old terms, manifested. Even though the newly formed Name spot ached so much that he couldn’t go to work and had to stay home, he couldn’t stop grinning.
‘I’m going to have a family!’
He had thought he might live his whole life alone without parents or siblings, but now he had a guarantee that his true soulmate would appear. He didn’t envy winning the lottery at all. He almost thought that this was why he had been so unlucky until now.
After suffering for a month, the Name that appeared on his chest was shaped like a four-leaf clover. As soon as his Name fully manifested, he immediately rushed to the Name Matching Center and completed the registration process. And every day, he eagerly waited for his Name Partner to appear.
Name Partners were said to appear as early as within a month, but his destined partner showed no sign of appearing. Even after the average matching period of three years passed, he didn’t receive any contact, so he anxiously spent another two years. These were years he spent alone and lonely, not dating anyone because he would have a Name Partner someday.
‘When my Name Partner appears someday, I’ll treat them well. I’ll live happily with my partner in my house and raise our children well. I’ll treat them as the most precious person in the world.’
With only that hope in mind, he worked day and night, doing overtime to pay off his house loan. At the age of twenty-five, he finally received a call from the Name Matching Center. At the time, he was so sweaty and busy working that he didn’t even realize he had received a call.
“I think you got a call?”
His colleague nudged him and told him, but it was the busiest time, so Yeon-rok didn’t check his phone until two hours later, and his eyes widened.
Name Matching Center, Missed Call
Hot blood instantly rushed through his exhausted body. He had received a call five years after registering with the center. Finally! There were even ten missed calls. I think I’ve finally found my Name Partner… Excited, Yeon-rok moved his trembling fingers and called back, and the employee answered as if they had been waiting.
Lee Yeon-rok-ssi! Why didn’t you answer your phone? Come here quickly. Your Name Partner… is waiting. Time is running out, and they’re about to leave, so you need to come as soon as possible.
“Yes? Right now?”
I’m completely sweaty and disheveled right now? Flustered by the urging, Yeon-rok didn’t even notice that the employee had hesitated suspiciously when mentioning his Name Partner. His mind was only filled with thoughts of his Name Partner.
He was scolded for suddenly taking a half-day off, but they let him go without much resistance when he said it was about his Name Partner. Even though he was being scolded, Yeon-rok was overjoyed, as if he were flying to the sky.
He thought it wouldn’t be right to smell sweaty, so he quickly stopped by his house to take a shower. Standing in front of the mirror, he sighed. He had been so focused on work that he had neglected his appearance, and his hair was overgrown and messy. But he didn’t have time to go to the salon. In the meantime, the employee called again and urged him. Afraid of angering his Name Partner, he frantically searched for clothes.
“Ah! How can I not have a single decent outfit to wear at a time like this?”
He rummaged through his closet, but all he had were work clothes or casual clothes suitable for work. He changed into the least bad outfit and looked in the mirror again, biting his lip. Anyone could tell it was a worker’s look on their way to work, and it didn’t seem right at all. But the employee kept urging him, so he had no choice but to rush out of the house.
Perhaps because he was in such a hurry, Yeon-rok tripped over a stone on the way to catch a taxi. Unluckily, the knee of his pants ripped open, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have time to change, so he limped into a taxi and headed to the Name Matching Center.
When he got out in front of the main gate, he forgot his pain and ran excitedly, and the employee who had been waiting anxiously rushed over.
“Yeon-rok-ssi, come quickly! Everyone is busy, why are you so late? One of them has already been waiting for over three hours.”
“I was working… I came as quickly as I could!”
The employee sighed, barely listening to Yeon-rok’s excuses, and scolded him.
“You should have worn something nicer. And what happened to your leg?”
He didn’t want to come dressed like this either. But he really didn’t have time to buy clothes. He was embarrassed by the employee’s constant glances and sighs, but he was even more excited about the moment he would finally meet his Name Partner. On his way to meet the first stroke of luck in his life, his heart was pounding so hard that he thought it would jump out of his throat.
He was guided by the center employee, and as soon as he got off the elevator, everyone stared at him, causing him to stop in his tracks. For some reason, dozens of people in suits were lined up in the hallway. One of them approached him, glanced at Yeon-rok, and asked the employee.
“Is this Lee Yeon-rok-nim?”
“Yes, this is Lee Yeon-rok-nim.”
“I understand. Lee Yeon-rok-nim, please come this way.”
As he took a step, following the man, the people in the hallway all pressed themselves against the wall and lowered their gaze with their hands clasped in front of them. Yeon-rok was taken aback by the situation, which was quite different from other people’s Name Matching stories. He began to feel uneasy, as if something was going wrong, but he dismissed it as just a feeling.
‘Could it be that my Name Partner is a pretty important… person?’
Various dramas and tragic true stories he had seen flashed through his mind. Cases where Name Partners loved each other to death but the in-laws disapproved and mistreated them, cases where Name Partners were rejected and became so heartbroken that they committed suicide, and the remaining Name Partner regretted it for the rest of their life or followed the deceased… The worst situations Yeon-rok could imagine were only about that level.
‘If I work hard, it’ll be okay…!’
Nervous, Yeon-rok repeated this to himself, constantly smoothing out his shabby clothes.