By Zephyria 
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[LOL, looks like they just read some novel]
[Coming into a name manifestor cafe and talking about polyamory…]
[This is a cafe you can only join if you have a name manifestor certificate, yet non-manifestors always find a way to sneak in]
[If I had to answer, wouldn’t it be YES? I had a partner I was dating when my name first manifested, so I was in deep denial at first, but eventually, my heart just went to them. It’s fate. Just look at the divorce rate, which is less than a single digit; that’s your answer.]
[It would be a real headache if you had multiple name partners lol]
Yes! It’s a fucking headache! At this rate, my head is going to split open! Even here, Yeon-rok couldn’t mention that he had multiple name partners. He already had two celebrities—Yeom Cheon-ho and Choi Hwan. It wasn’t for nothing that Kim Jeong-seong and Choi Hwan had repeatedly urged him to keep it a secret.
“Sigh, I don’t know…”
Polyamory with Yeom Cheon-ho, Moon Gyeonu, and Choi Hwan…? Is that even possible…? He couldn’t imagine a future where he was with these three people at all. There was one comment that provided some small comfort.
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[But not all name manifestors live sexually. I’ve been with my partner for 10 years now, and we just hold hands or hug. We’re just like best friends. I bet there are others like me.]
This seemed actually possible. After that, he scrolled through the community posts, but his head only grew more cluttered, and he tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling asleep. And then, an incident occurred that instantly blew away all of Yeon-rok’s anguish.
When he went down for breakfast, Kim Jeong-seong and Jo Jun-ho were sitting together drinking coffee. Perhaps because of the shared empathy that comes from being in a supportive role, the two of them got along quite well.
“Hyungs, good morning everyone!”
“Good morning, Yeon-rok-nim.”
“Yeon-rok-ssi, good morning!”
Greeting them energetically, Yeon-rok looked around. He was wondering if Moon Gyeonu or Choi Hwan were there.
For the past few days, Yeon-rok had been trying his best to avoid encountering the two of them. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—neither of them had taken any further special actions toward him. However, it didn’t feel like their feelings had disappeared or changed, but rather that they were quietly waiting beneath the surface. Yeon-rok’s policy was to pretend not to notice as much as possible, regardless of what they did.
‘You never know. Their feelings might cool down in the meantime.’
The reason Yeon-rok didn’t dare date anyone was that he was terrified of the eventual breakup. If a name partner, of all people, became his lover, he would surely give them his entire heart. If they were to break up after that, he felt he would be devastatingly hurt. He didn’t have the confidence to act as cool and composed as those three.
“Our young master, breakfast is Western style today.”
Yeon-rok, who still held the position of Mrs. Park’s favorite, gratefully began his meal. It was just as he pressed down on the yolk of a sunny-side-up egg to pop it. The phones of Kim Jeong-seong and Jo Jun-ho, who had been leisurely drinking coffee, rang almost simultaneously. Upon checking their phones, both of them choked at the same time. Even while coughing violently, they didn’t take their eyes off the screens. Worried, Yeon-rok asked.
“Are you two okay?”
“I-I’m fine. I’ll be just a moment…”
Acting strangely flustered, Kim Jeong-seong stood up. He hurried away, making a phone call as he walked.
“Is that true? Where was it spread? What about the cleanup?”
Jo Jun-ho rubbed his face with his hand, glanced at Yeon-rok, and spoke awkwardly.
“Come to think of it, is Hwan finished with his shower? I should go help him with his clothes!”
Left alone, Yeon-rok narrowed his eyes. What was this? Why were those two leaving while acting so conscious of him?
Curious about the issue that could fluster both Secretary Kim Jeong-seong and Manager Jo Jun-ho at once, Yeon-rok tilted his head. He figured they would tell him if it were something important and continued his meal. For some reason, it became noisy upstairs, and he heard the sound of someone rushing out. By the time he finished eating, Kim Jeong-seong returned.
“Yeon-rok-nim, there is something I need to tell you…”
Feeling a growing sense of dread, Yeon-rok put down the juice he was sipping. It seemed something had gone seriously wrong.
“What is it? What happened?”
“Well… a dating rumor regarding Choi Hwan-nim has broken…”
Gasp. Yeon-rok covered his mouth. A dating rumor—it suddenly hit him again that Choi Hwan was a famous actor. He became intensely curious about who the rumor was with and asked.
“A dating rumor? Who is the other person?”
“The other person… is you, Yeon-rok-nim.”
“…What?”
Yeon-rok’s jaw dropped. Choi Hwan hadn’t even properly confessed to him yet, so a dating rumor? What on earth did this mean? Kim Jeong-seong handed the shocked Yeon-rok a tablet. In a photo prominently displayed at the top of an article from a yellow journalist outlet, Choi Hwan and Yeon-rok were kissing. Yeon-rok screamed.
“Ack! We never did this! Isn’t this a composite?!”
“It is not a composite. Judging by the clothes, it seems you two were photographed while exercising.”
Yeon-rok searched his memory. Come to think of it, while exercising, Choi Hwan had once told him something was on his face and removed it. Even then, he had thought they were so close that it wouldn’t be strange if they kissed, and because of the angle, it really looked like they were kissing. Trembling, Yeon-rok began to read the article properly.
[Actor Choi Hwan, obscene behavior with a same-sex lover outdoors…]
Isn’t this clickbait insane? Even if they did kiss, how on earth is that obscene behavior! While screaming internally, Yeon-rok scrolled down and lost his words.
‘Did Choi Hwan ever make a face like that?’
The gaze and expression he wore while looking at him were so soft and affectionate that they truly looked like a couple. It was even more so because there was a photo of Choi Hwan personally opening a water bottle cap and handing it to him.
“My arm was in a cast! Why did they cleverly crop out the arm in the cast!”
Trembling, he read the content of the article and became even more appalled. That they met at a club? That he spent Choi Hwan’s money like water at a luxury boutique…?! That he offered everything to him as soon as he received his settlement? That he prevented him from meeting his family?! It was a malicious narrative that mixed in small bits of truth.
Most shocking of all was the faint mosaic that barely covered anything. Anyone who knew Yeon-rok would recognize him instantly.
“D-don’t they usually keep the identity of civilians secret? Is it okay to mosaic it like this?”
“This is a very low-quality article, and it seems there was external interference.”
“External… could it be…”
Yeom Cheon-ryul? As if reading Yeon-rok’s thoughts, Kim Jeong-seong nodded.
“The tip itself came from Choi Hwan-nim’s family, but the speed at which the materials are being spread is strangely fast. Naturally, we will try to block it as much as possible. The company has a separate press response department…”
After Kim Jeong-seong refreshed the page a few times, it suddenly showed as a non-existent page.
“See, it goes down this quickly.”
Seeing that, Yeon-rok felt much more relieved. However, unable to erase the anxiety in a corner of his heart, he asked just in case.
“Was this the only article that went up?”
“…No.”
“How many went up?”
“Hmm… perhaps it’s better if you don’t know. For now, how about staying home today? It would be best to stay away from the internet as well.”
Yeon-rok was devastated by the unimaginable incident. No wonder it had been noisy upstairs earlier; it must have been the sound of Choi Hwan and Jo Jun-ho rushing out after hearing the news.
“Please don’t worry too much. This isn’t the first or second time we’ve fought a media war.”
After carefully soothing Yeon-rok, Kim Jeong-seong also hurried away. Mrs. Park tried to comfort him as well, but it was of no use. He fell into a semi-panic state. By lunchtime, people in the knitting group chat began talking about Yeon-rok. To be precise, this kind of conversation was taking place:
[Repost. This photo. The quality is trash, but. Doesn’t Choi Hwan’s lover, Yeon-rok, look like our youngest? hehe]
[Oh, you’re right. He really looks like our maknae]
[But wait, he actually does look like him..?]
Kim Jeong-seong had told him to stay away from the internet, but unable to overcome his anxiety, he eventually accessed a portal site.
When he searched for ‘Choi Hwan,’ there were still dozens of articles. Fortunately, in the photos posted by famous news agencies, Yeon-rok was properly mosaiced, but his heart still sank. Suddenly, the words Choi Hwan’s father had said in the department store parking lot came to mind.