By Zephyria 
Having barely regained his senses, he glared at the letters with wide eyes. After checking a few different numbers and words and marking them with a highlighter several times, Yeon-rok soon tilted his head.
Yeon-rok had once worked in a clothing factory. Thanks to that, he knew roughly about the cost and wholesale price of goods. But in this document, the prices related to clothing supplies were particularly high. Not very high, but still a bit strange. He hesitated and took out a pen from the desk and added a note.
Having checked and rechecked once more in case there was a mistake, Yeon-rok finished the work in about two hours and went to find Yeom Cheon-ho with the documents. He was leaning against the sofa, staring intently at some kind of graph, and gave a tired smile.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“It’s nothing… Um, but. I might have done something unnecessary, so. Here…”
Yeon-rok flipped through the documents and pointed to the part he had found strange earlier. Yeom Cheon-ho raised his thick eyebrows, and Yeon-rok flinched but explained diligently.
“The price is a bit strange. It’s being supplied directly from the factory, so it can’t be this expensive.”
“You think the price is high?”
The man, who seemed to have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, didn’t seem to grasp what was strange even while looking at the part Yeon-rok had pointed out. He must not know the ways of the world because he was a President who bought clothes with six or seven zeros on them without hesitation, so Yeon-rok nodded.
“Yes… If it’s not brand-name clothing and just supplying work clothes, it should be around this much. No matter how expensive it is, it shouldn’t be this amount. There were a few other items with slightly high prices as well.”
Even if it was only a difference of a few thousand won, if these cases were repeated, the difference would amount to tens of millions of won. Even if they were supplying regularly, the difference could amount to hundreds of millions of won in a year. Yeon-rok, who was nervous that he might have done something unnecessary, felt relieved when he saw Yeom Cheon-ho’s lips curving upward.
“Of course, I might be wrong. Maybe there are special options that make the amount high, or…”
“No. You’ve pointed out a very important matter, Yeon-rok. Thanks to you, it looks like it will be a great help.”
Then, Yeom Cheon-ho carefully put the documents that Yeon-rok had checked one by one into a separate envelope. Yeon-rok smiled brightly without realizing it at the words that he had been helpful. Yeom Cheon-ho stared at Yeon-rok like that and reached out his hand. Feeling a strange current, Yeon-rok’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“…CEO?”
Yeom Cheon-ho’s fingertips brushed his flushed cheek. He wondered if he was trying to remove a strand of hair, but on the other hand, it felt like he was just touching a ripe fruit with relish.
“…What’s wrong?”
Yeon-rok asked quietly, feeling embarrassed and restless just standing still. Yeom Cheon-ho just smiled quietly and lowered his hand to lightly grip Yeon-rok’s shoulder. Was it a coincidence? His palm was pressing on the chest where Yeon-rok’s Name was. His handsome eyes curved into a smile.
“For some reason, I have a feeling that you will become a precious person to me in the future, Yeon-rok.”
“Your face is beaming, Young Master? Mr. Yeom Cheon-ho liked the lunch box, didn’t he?”
Park Yeo-sa, who had rushed out as soon as Lee Yeon-rok returned, smiled broadly at his beaming face. Slightly excited, Yeon-rok almost bounced as he ran to Park Yeo-sa and chattered.
“Yes! He said it was delicious. It’s all thanks to Yeo-sa-nim’s recipe.”
“Oh, it’s nothing! It’s because Young Master made it well. I told you, you have a knack for it.”
Park Yeo-sa’s face was filled with fondness for Yeon-rok. Taking the shopping bag Yeon-rok brought, she acted all cute.
“I’m going to try for a Korean cuisine chef’s license, just like you said! I even bought this to ask you to take good care of me!”
It was a set of red ginseng that he had deliberately bought from the department store’s food section with his own money, following Kim Jeong-seong’s advice. Now, Park Yeo-sa’s eyes were overflowing with affection for Yeon-rok. Receiving a look that said she adored him to death, Yeon-rok went a step further.
“I should call you Teacher from now on, Yeo-sa-nim.”
“Oh my, what Teacher are you talking about~! You have to call me Yeo-sa-nim! Otherwise, I’ll be too embarrassed to teach you!”
Just as Park Yeo-sa and Yeon-rok were chatting away in a friendly atmosphere, Yeon-rok felt a gaze and looked around. He stopped before entering the kitchen and met Moon Kyeon-woo’s eyes, who was frowning. The first thing that came to mind when he saw that face was the image of him passionately kissing his lover last time.
Moon Kyeon-woo scanned Yeon-rok up and down for a moment. It wasn’t a look of sudden interest or hostility, but it definitely contained some intention. A subtly unsettling and unpleasant exploration… If he had to categorize it, it was closer to ‘observation.’
Just for a moment, Moon Kyeon-woo soon stopped paying attention to Yeon-rok. Park Yeo-sa asked with a smiling face.
“Kyeon-woo Young Master is here?”
“…Yes. Please get me some coffee.”
The face that said that seemed as tired as Yeom Cheon-ho. However, it wasn’t a face that looked unwell due to a lack of contact with his Name partner. It was simply overwork. Yeon-rok wondered who and how Moon Kyeon-woo, who had a lover, was making contact with, but he didn’t say it out loud.
“Coffee again? You’ll ruin your stomach if you drink that much…”
“I’m busy with work.”
Park Yeo-sa reluctantly made strong coffee and served it with snacks. Moon Kyeon-woo took the coffee as it was and slipped away like a ghost. Seeing that he left the snacks untouched, Park Yeo-sa sighed. Yeon-rok quickly said.
“I’m a little hungry, can I eat them instead?”
“Huh? Would you like to? Well, Young Master needs to gain more weight.”
Receiving all of Park Yeo-sa’s affection, Yeon-rok took a basket of snacks and returned to his room. Eating the freshly baked pie deliciously, Yeon-rok smiled quietly. He quietly recalled the words Yeom Cheon-ho had said to him today.
‘You are the closest person to me, so I can trust and entrust you.’
‘For some reason, I had a feeling that Mr. Yeon-rok would become a precious person to me in the future.’
Close person, precious person.
Those words especially touched Yeon-rok’s most vulnerable part. It was the first satisfaction he had felt after being disappointed by Name partners all along.
The clear ‘Name’ engraved on Yeom Cheon-ho’s body was especially so. Only after confirming it with his own eyes did Yeon-rok feel a sense of connection with the other person for the first time. He felt anew that something, be it God or fate, had given him a partner in life.
Then, there was also a matter to seriously consider.
‘…What does it mean to say that I will become a precious person?’
Yeon-rok, who had been building walls against Name partners all along, seriously thought about a same-sex partner for the first time.
‘Holding hands, or touching faces… I wasn’t at all uncomfortable with touching the other person’s back.’
Besides, when he thought about how wonderful and cool Yeom Cheon-ho was, he thought he might be able to do something embarrassing. It seemed possible. He couldn’t imagine it beyond a certain point, but if the other person was Yeom Cheon-ho, not Choi Hwan or Moon Kyeon-woo…
However, just imagining it made him feel shy for some reason, so Yeon-rok opened the window for a cool breeze and crunched on the snacks. He was thirsty from reading posts on the Name Awakened Community, where he had been virtually wearing out the threshold to learn about same-sex partners. He should have brought something to drink. With belated regret, he shook off the crumbs and got up from his seat.
Yeon-rok’s steps, which had been heading to the kitchen without much thought, slowed down. It was because he heard a low conversation.
“…So?”
“…It wouldn’t be bad.”
Listening closely, it was the voices of Yeom Cheon-ho and Choi Hwan. Curious about what the two were talking about this night, Yeon-rok unconsciously followed the voices. And he stopped abruptly.
Near the decorative fireplace-shaped lamp that was lit for winter, Choi Hwan was grabbing Yeom Cheon-ho by the scruff of his neck. No, to be exact, he grabbed his tie and pulled him. Perhaps because of the light from the fireplace, Choi Hwan’s beautiful eyes shone particularly brightly. He looked at the other person provocatively. Yeom Cheon-ho, with a faint smile, leaned his upper body as the other person pulled.
Then, naturally, the two people’s lips met. It was an explicit and tense kiss, as if sparks were flying between their locked gazes. Seeing that far, Yeon-rok hesitated and stepped back. He continued to back away and headed to the stairs connected to the second floor. And feeling a sense of déjà vu, he sat blankly on the landing.