By Zephyria 
“And I noticed you left this behind last time.”
Inside the small paper bag handed to him was the gold bar Yeon-rok had forgotten—more accurately, the money clip holding the gold bar. The memory of having overheard a somewhat bitter conversation while going to retrieve the clip surfaced. The corners of Yeon-rok’s mouth dipped for a moment before curving into a smile.
“Thank you for remembering to keep it for me.”
“Don’t mention it. I had intended to throw a banquet for you anyway… but a party like this isn’t so bad. It’s quite enjoyable in its own way.”
A birthday banquet thrown by Yeom Cheon-ho—the mere thought of it was overwhelming. Yeon-rok scanned his surroundings. From all directions, green confetti burst forth occasionally along with the sound of popping balloons. The music, the cheers, and the popping of champagne were endlessly cheerful and loud.
Moreover, everyone was too busy partying to actively search for Yeon-rok, which put his mind at ease. Choi Hwan, who had been staring at Yeom Cheon-ho with a sulky expression, suddenly grabbed Yeon-rok’s hand.
“Let’s go over there. You’re the star of the party, so we should enjoy ourselves too!”
“S-should we?”
Choi Hwan was truly like a fish in water. Yeon-rok tried popping balloons filled with confetti and walked over to a giant teddy bear to count the number of presents. He engaged in pleasant conversation with Choi Hwan’s acquaintances and participated in some fun games. Throughout it all, Choi Hwan did not let go of Yeon-rok’s interlaced fingers.
It was fun. It was fun, but… all the while, he could feel a terrifying gaze piercing him from behind. It belonged to Moon Gyeon-woo. It was already infuriating enough for him to find out that the person he had fallen for was someone else’s lover and officially recognized name partner, but seeing them flaunt it so openly seemed to be making him absolutely livid. Shouldn’t he stop poking the bear now? Starting to worry, Yeon-rok whispered to Choi Hwan.
“Aren’t you afraid of the repercussions…?”
“Repercussions? What repercussions?”
Choi Hwan looked back openly at Moon Gyeon-woo’s cold gaze and snorted.
“Do I have to fear things like that just to like you?”
No, you don’t. It’s just that I’m the one starting to get scared…
Meanwhile, Yeom Cheon-ho simply watched the two of them with a relaxed air. Even Choi Hwan couldn’t maintain his composure properly in front of Yeom Cheon-ho. Every time the grip on his hand tightened, Yeon-rok pretended not to notice. He decided to simply be happy about the fact that the three of them had gathered to sincerely celebrate his birthday. Recalling how his relationship with them—especially two of them—had started, he felt genuinely moved.
The heat of the party gradually intensified. Choi Hwan slid over to Moon Gyeon-woo, who had superficially regained his poker face, and asked.
“Hey, are you really leaving at 7? He’s still here.”
“It’s only been ten minutes. Try developing some patience.”
No sooner had Moon Gyeon-woo scolded him than Yeom Cheon-ho glanced at his wristwatch and approached Yeon-rok. Finally, he spoke the words the three of them had been waiting for.
“Yeon-rok-ssi, I enjoyed the party today. I wish I could stay longer, but unfortunately, I must be going now.”
“You’re busy with work, so it can’t be helped! Thank you so much for today.”
“I hope Mr. Hwan and Mr. Gyeon-woo also have a wonderful time.”
Yeom Cheon-ho included the other two, but Moon Gyeon-woo didn’t even answer, and Choi Hwan merely pretended to nod. Despite this, as always, Yeom Cheon-ho didn’t show the slightest hint of being offended. Because he didn’t reveal his emotions, it was impossible to know what he was thinking. However, today, they might be able to uncover a bit of those inner thoughts.
As soon as Yeom Cheon-ho left, Choi Hwan urgently signaled the club DJ. Immediately, the volume began to rise. As the beat quickened, brilliant lasers poured across the room. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Cheers erupted at the sound that vibrated all the way to their hearts. As people flocked in enthusiastically, the three of them intentionally let themselves be swept away by the wave.
Half of the bodyguards Yeom Cheon-ho had assigned were outside, and half were inside. Blocked by the excited crowd, they had looks of half-resignation on their faces. In a situation like this, normal security was difficult from the start, and they couldn’t exercise control because of the pretext of a birthday party. It was a natural result. They had intentionally invited more people than they had notified the security firm about to aim for exactly this. Thanks to that, simply bending their knees slightly was enough to disappear from view.
Soon, the bodyguards lost sight of their targets. While the guards frantically searched through the crowd, the three of them secretly approached Choi Tan-hwan. Choi Hwan urged him on while stuffing a wad of bills into a waiter’s pocket.
“Quick, quick!”
“Yes, sir! I’ll take you right away, hyungs!”
The waiter’s actions were incredibly swift, spurred by a reward greater than expected. While Choi Hwan’s acquaintances intentionally jumped around loudly and set off firecrackers near the bodyguards to block their vision, the three of them successfully exited the club with the waiter’s help.
“This way leads to the parking lot! We can take a friend’s car from there!”
Just as he said, a car with dark tinting was parked there. After quickly climbing in, they narrowly caught up with Yeom Cheon-ho’s car as it was just leaving the parking lot. The bodyguards, confirming that the license plate did not match the target’s vehicle, let them pass without suspicion.
“Haha! We did it!”
Choi Hwan, gripping the steering wheel, was so overjoyed he almost honked the horn. Having followed along out of necessity but clearly displeased, Moon Gyeon-woo crossed his arms defensively and spoke.
“Is it really okay to leave the wheel to him, Yeon-rok-ah?”
“Well, his driving isn’t that bad…”
Yeon-rok’s voice trailed off. It was because he was worried about the future that awaited them. He hoped that the truth Yeom Cheon-ho was hiding wasn’t the worst-case scenario. Surely, he couldn’t be a murderer? It must be that Choi Hwan was just a coward and had misunderstood. However, unlike Yeon-rok, Choi Hwan and Moon Gyeon-woo seemed to be eagerly anticipating the result of tailing Yeom Cheon-ho.
“I looked it up, and they say that even if you condone or conceal a name partner’s crime, it’s applied similarly to the special exemption for relatives.”
The first to speak was Moon Gyeon-woo, whose cheeks were faintly flushed.
“Of course it should be. A person’s life is at stake.”
“But if he goes to prison, we’ll have to visit him.”
“Ah… I guess we have to. Should we go and hold his hand once?”
“We can’t have Yeon-rok supporting him in prison.”
The two of them seemed to be imagining everything up to the point of putting Yeom Cheon-ho in jail. “Hahaha!” They seemed incredibly excited, even laughing out loud. They even discussed methods for collecting evidence.
“I brought a body cam and a voice recorder.”
“You’re thorough. Give me one if you have a spare.”
These people are actually serious? Yeon-rok, who had considered this plan as half-a-joke, was flustered. He spoke cautiously.
“Even so, do you really think CEO Yeom Cheon-ho committed such a crime?”
Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan looked at Yeon-rok as if he were someone naive to the ways of the world and answered without a hint of hesitation.
“It’s entirely possible.”
“Doesn’t he look sinister just by looking at him? Plus, he’s a businessman who made a lot of money. It wouldn’t be strange if he had some dirty secrets.”
Indeed. Except for Yeon-rok, the three of them had absolutely no trust in one another. Their life paths were so different that they would never have been entangled if not for the name manifestation. Even if they had crossed paths by chance, they were the kind of polar opposites who would have drifted apart even faster than they had now.
Choi Hwan continued the pursuit, occasionally changing lanes and maintaining some distance. He spoke in a slightly excited voice.
“In movies, they say if you don’t do it this way, the person you’re tailing finds out.”
No wonder he insisted on driving first; he wanted to do this… But in truth, Yeon-rok was also slightly excited, as this was his first time ever tailing someone. While the three of them chatted, Yeom Cheon-ho’s vehicle eventually headed toward the outskirts of Seoul. The high-rise buildings became sparse, and soon the landscape was dominated by forested hills. Choi Hwan muttered.
“He’s going to a really secluded place.”
Perhaps because he was the biggest coward among the three, Choi Hwan began to feel uneasy. Moon Gyeon-woo’s face turned pale, though it seemed to be due to motion sickness rather than fear. Meanwhile, Yeon-rok felt an intense curiosity. What on earth was Yeom Cheon-ho doing coming to such a deserted place? What kind of work required him to change his clothes and come here every Wednesday evening?
Soon, Yeom Cheon-ho’s car exited the main road and turned onto a remote path. Fearing they would be spotted, Choi Hwan kept as much distance as possible and followed quietly. In the distance, headlights stopped in front of a building and then turned off. The three of them, who had parked their car a fair distance away, also got out.
“It’s so dark.”
Only then did Yeon-rok speak fearfully. It wasn’t the darkness itself, but the accidents that darkness brought to someone as unlucky as him that he feared. Since there were no streetlights, it was the perfect terrain to trip and fall into a rice paddy ditch, which made it even worse.
“Come here, I’ll hold you.”
Moon Gyeon-woo, whose color returned only after getting out of the car, turned on his phone’s flashlight and took Yeon-rok’s hand. Choi Hwan, the biggest coward, stuck close behind Yeon-rok. Moon Gyeon-woo cast a pathetic look at Choi Hwan and then slowly began to walk.