By Zephyria 
“You don’t seem to be feeling well. Should I give you a kiss? ……It’ll be much more effective that way.”
Moon Gyeon-woo’s eyes widened at those words. With a pounding heart, Yeon-rok thought to himself.
‘This is like a medical treatment.’
He recalled how he had hurriedly kissed Moon Gyeon-woo three weeks ago when the man had been nearly kidnapped while bleeding from the head. Of course, the current situation wasn’t as urgent as it was then. However, he felt he would be too sorry if Moon Gyeon-woo caught a cold because of him. He was a quite busy man, after all. How difficult would it be if he had to work without being able to rest properly?
Soon, the smile that had appeared on Moon Gyeon-woo’s face faded. It wasn’t an expression of rejection. Holding Yeon-rok’s hand, he replied in a low voice.
“If you’re okay with it, would you?”
After holding his breath for a moment, Yeon-rok slowly leaned in. He lightly pressed his lips against the other’s dry lips. They overlapped. Sharing their breath, their lips remained pressed together for a long time. He kept reminding himself that this was a medical treatment. However, this particular treatment had a tendency to shake one’s heart far too much…….
As expected, it was effective; Moon Gyeon-woo’s body temperature rose, and he stopped coughing. Yet, for some reason, the hand gripping his own was trembling slightly. He had been fine while kissing, but the moment he noticed that tremor, heat rushed to Yeon-rok’s ears.
Pulling his lips away, Yeon-rok fidgeted with his fingers awkwardly. Moon Gyeon-woo spoke in a voice even lower than before.
“Do you… want to see more stars?”
“……Yes.”
Nodding obediently, Yeon-rok spent a long time peering at beautiful things through the telescope. As he handed the turn over to Moon Gyeon-woo, he asked.
“Can I see these from the rooftop when we go back home?”
Just as Moon Gyeon-woo was nodding, saying he would install one on the rooftop, the sound of someone approaching, crunching over gravel, was heard. Turning his head, he saw Park Chung-seong, whose expression did not look good.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but would the two of you mind returning to Seoul as soon as it gets light?”
“Why? What happened?”
Since they always shared their schedules, the bodyguards knew there were still plans for tomorrow morning. Seeing them come find them like this meant something had definitely happened. At the words that followed, Yeon-rok gasped in shock.
“CEO Yeom Cheon-ho has collapsed.”
Yeon-rok wanted to return immediately, but the bodyguards dissuaded him. They argued that it wasn’t that urgent and that it was dangerous to travel at night after the rain. Instead, they decided to leave early in the morning and stop stargazing to go to sleep.
After arriving home and barely eating breakfast, they moved to the hospital where Yeom Cheon-ho was admitted. Moon Gyeon-woo had been subtly showing his displeasure because their schedule had been ruined, but he was momentarily speechless upon seeing Yeom Cheon-ho.
“He’s more ignorant than I expected.”
It was a scathing criticism, but Yeon-rok understood. That was how bad Yeom Cheon-ho’s appearance was. His face was pale without a trace of color, and the area under his eyes was dark. It was shocking to see his beard starting to grow in rough patches, as if he hadn’t been able to shave properly. He was a man whose self-management had always been perfect. His lips were chapped, and it was pitiful to see him holding a handkerchief over his nose to stop a nosebleed.
Yeon-rok quickly grabbed Yeom Cheon-ho’s hand to try and stop the nosebleed, but he flinched. Despite the warmth of the hospital room, the hand was as cold as ice. Yeom Cheon-ho offered an apology first.
“Thank you both for coming. And I am sorry for interrupting your trip…….”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
Yeon-rok quickly shook his head, but Moon Gyeon-woo shot him a look as if asking if he had known about this. Letting out a deep sigh, he sat in a chair and gripped Yeom Cheon-ho’s wrist. Regardless of how much he disliked the man, it seemed he couldn’t just leave a patient alone.
“Why do you insist on grinding yourself down working alone? You’re going to die from overwork at this rate, so please do things in moderation.”
It was unclear whether he was worrying or criticizing.
“Haa, making people go back and forth for nothing.”
……It seemed to be the latter. Yeom Cheon-ho replied while pushing away the laptop he had been clinging to even in the hospital.
“It’s because I’m essentially doing the work of two people. One side’s work just isn’t being processed quickly enough.”
From Yeon-rok’s perspective, it looked like he was doing the work of three or four people, not two. After a while, Kim Jeong-seong appeared holding a folder of documents. As expected, his complexion wasn’t great either. With his boss being ground down like this, it was only natural that his closest aide wouldn’t be faring well.
“Would the two of you like some drinks?”
“No, I’m fine. You look busy enough as it is.”
“It’s alright. I’ll just have a subordinate do it.”
As he said, perhaps because Yeom Cheon-ho’s workspace had shifted to the hospital room, secretaries and employees were constantly coming and going. Yeon-rok drank the beverage brought by another secretary while holding Yeom Cheon-ho’s hand tightly. Even so, Yeom Cheon-ho showed no signs of improving.
“I can’t believe it could get this bad…….”
Yeon-rok muttered, surprised once again. When he had collapsed due to contact deficiency, he had received an explanation like this at the hospital.
‘Name manifestors must be especially careful about contact deficiency. There are several stages before the physical condition completely collapses, and at each stage, the amount of contact required for recovery increases exponentially.’
To put it simply, it was as follows:
Stage 1: Poor condition and occasional nosebleeds. Normalcy can be restored by holding hands for a few minutes.
Stage 2: The body begins to deteriorate in earnest; symptoms such as chills, pain, headaches, insomnia, hypersomnia, and depression may occur.
Stage 3: This is around where Yeon-rok had been when he collapsed. At this level, recovery is only possible if the name partner stays by their side all day. Up to this point is considered mild.
Beyond that were Stage 4, Stage 5…… and various severe medical symptoms that eventually led to death.
While there are individual differences, name partners can generally maintain their health by holding hands or kissing every single day. However, if even that is neglected, it means that the worse the condition becomes, the harder it is to recover. And to Yeon-rok, it seemed that Yeom Cheon-ho was in a much more serious state than he had been when he collapsed, perhaps because it was compounded by overwork.
‘Come to think of it, I was able to recover because Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan provided contact all night. ……And thanks to the CEO kissing me.’
Yeon-rok looked at Yeom Cheon-ho with concern. In his heart, he wanted to give him a deep hug, but he was very conscious of Moon Gyeon-woo. The latter had been glancing at Yeon-rok’s hand, which had been holding Yeom Cheon-ho’s wrist, for some time now…….
As they continued to hold hands aimlessly, Moon Gyeon-woo clicked his tongue. With a sigh, he pulled Yeon-rok’s hand away from Yeom Cheon-ho’s wrist, not just coldly, but ruthlessly. Although the two of them had continued to provide contact, Yeom Cheon-ho’s complexion didn’t improve much. Moon Gyeon-woo sighed, seemingly dissatisfied with that. It meant that Yeon-rok would have to stay here.
Actually, if you thought about it, one person was enough. No, usually a name partner is just one person, so that is the general case. Although recovery was slow, just Yeon-rok holding his hand was maintaining the status quo, if not improving it. For example, right now it was like having one battery attached, whereas last time, Yeon-rok had been like having three batteries. If the intensity of contact increased, it would be like fast charging.
Nevertheless, Moon Gyeon-woo had been providing contact as well because he wanted to minimize the time Yeon-rok spent touching Yeom Cheon-ho.
“I’m sorry, Yeon-rok-ah. I have to go now. I actually pushed myself to take a day off. I wanted to spend the morning alone with you, but I didn’t expect to waste time in a hospital like this.”
To openly belittle someone in front of a sick person……. However, Yeom Cheon-ho was no pushover and didn’t even blink.
“Don’t mind me and please go ahead. Yeon-rok-ssi will stay with me.”
Yeom Cheon-ho’s skill at provoking Moon Gyeon-woo while smiling gauntly was no joke. Moon Gyeon-woo clenched his fist for a moment, then smiled and turned to Yeon-rok.
“Yeon-rok-ah, I still feel a bit chilly……. Would it be okay if I touched you a bit?”
“Why are you asking something like that? You can just hold me.”
Since they no longer asked for permission just to hold hands, Yeon-rok nodded, puzzled. Then, Moon Gyeon-woo reached out, suddenly cupped Yeon-rok’s cheek, and gave him a kiss. Right in front of so many people!