By Zephyria 
“I saw you on the roof, why. How could I not recognize you when you were kissing so openly? You seemed like you were head over heels for each other, but you got a new boyfriend as soon as you broke up?”
Moon Kyeon-woo shrugged as if he didn’t care, even after hearing Yeon-rok’s criticism.
“There’s nothing wrong with being nice to your boyfriend or falling in love quickly.”
“Womanizer…….”
“Womanizer? That’s a very incomprehensible insult. I have never been unfaithful to my partner every time I’ve dated. Unless it’s the other way around.”
Moon Kyeon-woo answered calmly and sat down in front of the computer. As Yeon-rok watched him work, he suddenly remembered what Choi Hwan had told him. The story was that Moon Kyeon-woo’s ex-boyfriend had cheated on him, which led to their breakup.
“Why would they cheat if you’re so nice to them?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Moon Kyeon-woo stopped his hands, which had been rapidly tapping on the keyboard, and briefly looked up. His head tilted slightly to the right.
“Why do they stab me in the back so much when I’m so nice to them? I really can’t understand it…….”
A voice that seemed to express a deep sense of disillusionment from having experienced such situations so many times slipped out. But as if nothing had happened, Moon Kyeon-woo quickly hid his emotions and focused on his work again. Yeon-rok scoffed and soon growled.
“Give me back my doll, you bastard!”
Lime wasn’t just a Cherished doll. It was a really important object to Yeon-rok. To others, it was just a worthless and old doll, but to him, it was surprisingly the closest thing he had to family. As he was spewing curses, Moon Kyeon-woo ignored him and said,
“It doesn’t matter how much you curse, I don’t care. You’re just hurting your own mouth. Besides, I’m aware that my personality isn’t great.”
He so readily admitted that he was a jerk and a terrible person that it made the person attacking him feel absurd.
“You know that and you still do it?”
“I do it because I know. It’s enough to be good to my people, even if I’m a bad guy to everyone else, right?”
Yeon-rok was momentarily speechless at the shameless answer. To be honest, he was a little envious of Moon Kyeon-woo’s boyfriends. Why did his ex-boyfriend cheat when he was so devoted? If it were him, he would never do that to a devoted boyfriend…….
Yeon-rok, having lost the will to talk, scratched and knocked on the display case door, trying to open it. Moon Kyeon-woo didn’t care and focused on his work with terrifying concentration.
Yeon-rok, wandering around the office like a stray cat that had been picked up, eventually collapsed on the sofa, exhausted. He dozed off like that and was startled awake at some point. Moon Kyeon-woo was standing there with his arms crossed, silently looking down at him. Yeon-rok, still half-asleep, stammered.
“Wh-what is it.”
“Wake up. It’s time for lunch.”
Lunch? Yeon-rok, perked up his ears, groggily got up and blinked. There was a blanket over his body. He looked at Moon Kyeon-woo, wondering if it was possible, and Moon Kyeon-woo answered nonchalantly.
“What would people think if they came in and saw that I didn’t even put a blanket on my boyfriend?”
That’s right. There’s no way he would take care of me out of good intentions. As Yeon-rok yawned and got up, Moon Kyeon-woo clicked his tongue and reached for the mask. He turned his head to the side, resisting because he hated wearing the mask, and Moon Kyeon-woo grabbed the back of his neck.
“You’re a lot of work.”
“You have bodyguards anyway…… and you’re mostly at home……! Ah, I just don’t want to wear it……!”
“Tsk. Just stay still for a bit.”
“Ugh!”
“Look at how disgusted you are. I’m just trying to keep you as safe as possible, why won’t you listen?”
“Then don’t bring me here in the first place! Tell the police to report the stalker!”
“Bringing you here, whether the stalker sees it or not, was essential, so just accept it. And do you think I haven’t tried reporting it to the police?”
After arguing back and forth, Moon Kyeon-woo finally managed to pull the baseball cap down over his head. Yeon-rok scratched the back of his neck, which had been gripped, with a sulky face. It felt itchy for no reason.
“What are we eating for lunch?”
Moon Kyeon-woo, who had glanced at Yeon-rok’s eyes sparkling with anticipation even as he asked the question gruffly, reached out his hand and answered.
“Go and pick whatever you want to eat. And your hand.”
Yeon-rok looked warily at the white hand reaching out to him. Perhaps because he was a researcher, his hand was smooth and straight without any calluses.
“……Why?”
“We have to pretend to be boyfriends right now. At least hold hands.”
Reluctantly, he slowly reached out his hand, and Moon Kyeon-woo snatched it like a bird of prey. It was almost the first time since they had lived in the same house that they had touched each other with mutual consent. He vaguely remembered the touch of his hand checking his pulse when he had collapsed, but that was closer to a medical procedure…….
Moon Kyeon-woo’s hand was somewhat cool. But as they held hands, it soon became warm. It felt strange to be holding hands and pretending to be close with someone he disliked. He was also very conscious of the fact that everyone who passed by was looking at Moon Kyeon-woo and then at him with curious faces.
Soon, Yeon-rok became distracted by something else. Perhaps because it was a wealthy company, the cafeteria was not like the usual ones he knew, but rather like a department store food court. Each area offered different types of food, and all of this was even provided free of charge to employees and visitors.
“Okay, you can scan your visitor pass here and choose your food. Let’s pack it up and eat it together in the office. What do you want to eat?”
Moon Kyeon-woo said in a very friendly voice and led Yeon-rok to the kiosk. Yeon-rok, who still hadn’t adjusted to his attitude, just felt creeped out. He scanned his visitor pass on the kiosk as he was told and chose Western food. Moon Kyeon-woo chose the same area and menu as Yeon-rok, as if he had entrusted his ego to him. But strangely, he was choosing one more menu item. Knowing that the other person didn’t eat much, Yeon-rok asked, puzzled.
“Are you going to eat two?”
“No, you eat a lot. So I got you more.”
He said kindly and added, so no one could hear, “Pig.” Pig……! As Yeon-rok glared, Moon Kyeon-woo had a rare, cheerful look on his face.
Moon Kyeon-woo took Yeon-rok around with him, making sure he had dessert and even taking him for a walk in the company park. Many people were curious about Yeon-rok’s identity and the reason why he had covered his face so thoroughly. Every time, Moon Kyeon-woo would make statements that Yeon-rok found impossible to accept, with a smiling face.
“My boyfriend is younger and shy, so he’s a bit embarrassed.”
“He’s so handsome that I told him to cover his face.”
“You’re not interested in my boyfriend right now, are you? I’m not kidding.”
“I usually want to watch me work, so I brought him along to observe and research.”
“Why does he keep talking to me? Is he really interested?”
The amazing thing was that people took his socially inept remarks in stride. How often have they seen this kind of thing… Among them, there was one thing that Yeon-rok couldn’t just let go of, so he mulled it over, rubbed his goosebumped arm, and asked quietly.
“Observation and research, what on earth does that mean?”
“Do you know how strict the security is here? I can’t just bring you to the company easily just because you’re a researcher’s Darling.”
Yeon-rok, who was unnecessarily frightened by the nuance of the expression ‘observation research,’ immediately tried to escape. However, Moon Kyeon-woo, who noticed the sign, whispered “Lime” as viciously as a devil, so he had no choice but to follow along dejectedly. Moon Kyeon-woo, who had his arm around him like a shackle, said this.
“You seem to have some kind of prejudice because it’s research, but don’t worry. I said observation. I’m just going to watch.”
“I want to go home……”
Moon Kyeon-woo didn’t even pretend to listen and dragged Yeon-rok into the lab. In the lab, a researcher was sitting in front of a fume hood1) staring intently inside. Inside the hood were various experimental tools, including a flask.
“Chief Kim. Are the results out?”
The other person, who was very focused, was startled. He turned around, carefully took his hand off the experimental equipment, and closed the sliding door.
“No, Seonbae. I’ve made about half the progress, but I haven’t gotten any valid values yet. I think it might be a problem with the dilution ratio.”
“Or it could be because of the catalyst.”
Yeon-rok quickly lost interest as the conversation continued in a way that was difficult to understand. While looking around the lab, the researcher glanced at Yeon-rok as if curious. Moon Kyeon-woo smiled, wrapped his arm around Yeon-rok’s waist, who was keeping his distance, and naturally pulled him closer.
“Ah, this is my Name partner. I said I was bringing him today, right?”
“Wow! I’ve heard a lot about you from Team Leader Moon. It’s nice to meet you like this. Thank you so much for your cooperation with the research today!”
Researcher Chief Kim grabbed Yeon-rok’s hand and shook it up and down as if excited. Yeon-rok really wanted to run away because his tightly held hand was so hot, showing how much he liked it. Fortunately, Moon Kyeon-woo quickly intervened and separated them.
“I wouldn’t want you to touch my Darling without permission.”
Footnote
An experimental device with a ventilation function that prevents the leakage of toxic fumes