By Zephyria 
As he lifted his head, Yeom Cheon-ho’s eyes were gleaming secretly. Yeon-rok’s breath hitched for a moment. He replied stiffly, creakingly,
“…A little, bit?”
“There were some parts of the conversation that could be misunderstood, weren’t there?”
“Just a little…?”
Yeon-rok couldn’t say anything other than “a little” since earlier. Words like “burying,” “not killing properly,” and “police report” were swirling in his head. The story of Bluebeard came to mind as well. Yeom Cheon-ho stared at Yeon-rok for a moment, then smiled and said,
“Actually, it’s nothing much. Among the businesses I’m involved in, there’s also livestock farming, and this time, there was an epidemic, so we had to cull a large number of pigs. The damage is significant, and above all, the disposal of the carcasses is quite complicated. If we don’t do it properly, we’ll get complaints about noise and odors.”
“Ah! Ah, I see. I thought…”
“Hahaha! Anyone who heard that would think I was a serial killer, wouldn’t they?”
“Haha! Hahaha! I guess so!”
While smiling back, Yeon-rok subtly pretended to open the lunchbox and pulled his hand away from Yeom Cheon-ho’s. It was understandable that he was dealing with dead livestock, but it was still a bit scary… And the pigs were pitiful too… He quickly changed the subject.
“Um, I packed some lunch with Park Yeo-sa’s help.”
“It must have been a bother, but thanks to you, I’ll be able to have a delicious meal.”
At Yeom Cheon-ho’s words, Yeon-rok felt like someone supporting their lover. It was the first time Yeon-rok had packed a lunch for anyone, and he awkwardly picked up his chopsticks. He was sure it was delicious, judging by Choi Hwan’s reaction, but he was still nervous. Yeom Cheon-ho took a spoonful of rice and side dishes and smiled.
“It’s delicious.”
“I’m glad! It’ll be just like Park Yeo-sa’s cooking.”
“Indeed. You’re very skilled, Yeon-rok.”
Yeon-rok’s shoulders lifted as Yeom Cheon-ho praised him too. The other man was still difficult and now a little scary, even suspicious, but he was the only one among his Name partners who treated him well. In the friendly atmosphere, Yeon-rok’s heart melted. He had deliberately packed a lot, and Yeom Cheon-ho finished it all without leaving a single grain.
Feeling proud, he was tidying up the empty lunchboxes, preparing to leave, when Yeom Cheon-ho suggested,
“By the way, if you don’t mind, could you help me with some work today? I’m so busy these days that I need any help I can get.”
Hearing someone, especially his Name partner, say that they needed him, Yeon-rok’s face brightened. Even so, he hesitated and said,
“I can help you as much as you want. But I don’t know if you know, I’ve never done office work before. I won’t be of much help.”
“It’s not that difficult. It’s just that it’s a document that I can’t entrust to just anyone for security reasons. Now, would you like to take a look?”
Yeom Cheon-ho grabbed Yeon-rok’s hand, helped him up, and led him. The seat Yeom Cheon-ho sat him in was none other than the CEO’s seat. Yeon-rok’s eyes widened as he sat in the heavy executive chair that screamed “I’m the President’s seat,” with a gleaming golden nameplate that read “CEO Yeom Cheon-ho.”
“Oh, this, this seat is…”
“It’s alright. Sit comfortably.”
Yeom Cheon-ho patted him on the shoulder as if to ease his tension and headed to the cabinet behind him. He opened the door by entering a password and took out a stack of documents. He picked out a few of them and placed them in front of Yeon-rok along with a tablet.
“Compare these documents with the data on the tablet and mark any differences in numbers or words with a highlighter. Could you check even the smallest lines of text?”
“Um… Yes! I can do it!”
If it was something like finding the differences between pictures, Yeon-rok, who had no experience, thought he could do it well enough. Yeom Cheon-ho said he was counting on him, left Yeon-rok in the President’s seat, and went to sit on the sofa with the remaining documents. Yeon-rok swallowed hard and cautiously began comparing the data.
As he strained his eyes, comparing and reading each word, he realized. These were documents related to the details of goods that had been or would be supplied to a place called HM Foundation. Seeing as it had the same name as Yeom Cheon-ho’s Capital, it seemed to be an affiliate. While checking other numbers and words, Yeon-rok asked Yeom Cheon-ho, feeling unnecessarily guilty.
“But is it really okay for you to entrust me with these kinds of documents?”
He couldn’t understand why he was entrusting him with such seemingly important documents. At Yeon-rok’s words, Yeom Cheon-ho replied without taking his eyes off the documents.
“Of course. You share a Name with me, Yeon-rok, don’t you? You’re the closest person to me, so I can trust you.”
Name, or Name partner in modern terms. Yeon-rok recalled the director and some adults at the orphanage calling it Name when he lived there. Perhaps because it was an old-fashioned term, or because Yeom Cheon-ho said it, it felt like a rather antique term. Yeon-rok’s heart completely melted at the words that he was the closest person to him, so he could trust him. Yeom Cheon-ho added in a cheerful voice,
“If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.”
Since the other man had set the stage like this, Yeon-rok hesitated but cautiously brought up something he had been really curious about for a while.
“Could I ask where CEO’s Name is?”
Actually, he was curious about where everyone else’s Name was too. But it was difficult to ask Choi Hwan or Moon Kyeon-woo, so he had just been wondering all along.
“Of course. I can even show you.”
Yeon-rok lifted his head, eyes sparkling. Yeom Cheon-ho, who had taken his eyes off the documents and met his gaze, gave a leisurely smile. He had only straightened his upper body, which had been bent forward, but perhaps because of his physique, an overwhelming presence naturally flowed from him.
“Shall I show you?”
“If it’s alright with you, CEO…?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Yeom Cheon-ho stood up. He approached so close that Yeon-rok had to tilt his head back, and took off the suit jacket he was wearing. Then, a mature scent that had been lingering on his skin wafted over him. Yeon-rok was already an adult, but there was no other way to describe the scent.
Yeom Cheon-ho folded the jacket he had taken off once and placed it on the wooden desk. Then, he loosened his tie. The sound of it sliding felt strangely loud. Because he placed the long navy tie on Yeon-rok’s wrist, Yeon-rok couldn’t move his hand at all.
Then, a long, white hand began to unbutton his shirt. One, two, three…
Even though it was right in front of him and it was just another man unbuttoning his shirt, Yeon-rok’s face strangely flushed. How many times had he seen guys with the same thing attached to them getting dressed and undressed while working? He had even casually used the shower room with them. But for some reason, Yeom Cheon-ho’s undressing made Yeon-rok very nervous. He couldn’t even exhale carelessly.
Yeom Cheon-ho, having unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his muscular abdomen, turned around. The white shirt that had been covering his broad back slid down. Yeon-rok’s wide eyes followed the shirt as it slid down and stopped.
Above his right latissimus dorsi, where the shape of his muscles was clearly defined from how hard he worked out, was a Symbol that looked exactly like Yeon-rok’s. This was Yeom Cheon-ho’s ‘Name’. It was as if they had taken the Symbol he had been seeing every day and stamped it out of a mold.
Yeon-rok, without even realizing that the tie on his wrist was falling, involuntarily reached out his hand. The moment his fingertips touched the clover-shaped Name, Yeom Cheon-ho’s back stiffened. Yeon-rok was also surprised.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
His fingertips felt hot. He had felt his condition improving just by holding hands, but touching the Symbol was even more so. This feeling that his body was welcoming the other man at a cellular level was truly unfamiliar and amazing. In Yeom Cheon-ho’s eyes, which were turning to look at Yeon-rok in surprise, there was also a strange light. It was clear that he was also experiencing someone touching his ‘Name’ for the first time.
“…It’s alright. Thanks to you, my condition has really improved.”
While speaking politely, Yeom Cheon-ho put his shirt back on. Yeon-rok, feeling a strange sense of regret, curled his fingers. His cheeks were burning, so he cleared his throat.
“I, I don’t have any more questions! I’ll… get back to work.”
As Yeon-rok was flustered, Yeom Cheon-ho chuckled softly while buttoning his shirt. He bent down, picked up the tie that had fallen on the floor, and casually dusted it off. Before Yeon-rok, who was embarrassed, could apologize for dropping the tie, he casually smoothed the collar of the clothes he was wearing.
“Come to think of it, you’re wearing the clothes I bought. It looks good on you. It suits you well, as expected.”
He said so casually and started tying his tie and went back to his seat to start working. Unlike the composed Yeom Cheon-ho, Yeon-rok’s face was red and he was in trouble for a long time.