By Zephyria 
“I shall step out now, so the four of you please speak among yourselves.”
Kim Jeong-seong, having set out the bread knife and individual plates, left the office. The moment he did, Moon Gyeon-woo flared up in anger again.
“What kind of crazy person does this! You deliberately planted someone just to make a person cheat?”
Yeon-rok recalled the memory of encountering Moon Gyeon-woo’s ex-lover in the restroom. He had clearly said:
‘That bastard definitely approached me with a purpose! He clearly wanted to tear me and Gyeon-woo Hyung apart! It’s so unfair, so unfair…’
His suspicion had indeed been the truth. However, Yeom Cheon-ho replied with complete composure.
“There was no coercion whatsoever. According to the reports, they didn’t even put in much effort. All they did was strike up a conversation under the guise of a coincidence and buy some coffee and alcohol. If someone is swayed by a mere, trivial honey trap, they would have eventually fallen for Yeom Cheon-ryul’s tricks as well. In any case, if their love had been steadfast, they wouldn’t have cheated despite the temptation.”
It was a truly brazen response! Moon Gyeon-woo’s face turned red and purple with rage. Just as he was about to retort, he glanced at Yeon-rok and flinched, suddenly adopting a humble tone.
“Yeon-rok-ah, it’s absolutely not that I still have lingering feelings for my ex. I’m just angry because that person played tricks.”
“…Yeah.”
Yeon-rok nodded with a lukewarm expression. Then, remembering how devoted Gyeon-woo had been to his exes, he stared at him intently.
“You were so close, so it’s understandable that you’d be angry. I get it.”
“No, Yeon-rok-ah…”
And then, Yeon-rok wondered how long this extreme devotion he was currently receiving would actually last. While Moon Gyeon-woo broke into a cold sweat, instantly understanding the meaning behind that gaze, Choi Hwan muttered in a daze.
“So it wasn’t a human head being put in a sack?”
“It was a tuna head. There were also a few other fish heads and entrails.”
Wait? Come to think of it, the morning after Choi Hwan had run away in terror, Mrs. Park had grilled some fish. Was that the fish…? Perhaps enraged by the fact that the thing he feared so much was actually nothing, Choi Hwan finally exploded.
“Wait, you colt! You problem child! In the first place, if it weren’t for you, a drug dealer would never have approached me!”
At that, Yeom Cheon-ho listed several names with a gentle expression. Some of them were celebrities that Yeon-rok also recognized.
“Yoo Eun-chae, Kang Ji-hoo, Han Seung-min, Kim Seo-jin, Hwang Ha-ram…”
“Wha—what! How much did you dig into my background! Why them?!”
“These individuals are respectively drug offenders, procurers of prostitution, and gamblers. I suggest you be more selective about your friends in the future. Especially Kang Ji-hoo; he doesn’t just do one thing. He is also involved with gangsters, and wasn’t he particularly clingy toward Mr. Hwan? Oh, for your information, three of these people have no connection to Yeom Cheon-ryul.”
Choi Hwan’s mouth hung open, shocked by the hidden sides of his acquaintances. Yeom Cheon-ho didn’t stop there.
“And three months ago, you were making a drunken scene in front of a club entrance. If I hadn’t stopped it, it would have hit the news long ago. Also, at a certain cocktail bar in Gangnam…”
Choi Hwan flinched, as if something immediately came to mind. He hurriedly stopped Yeom Cheon-ho.
“E-enough! Stop talking! Do you really have to rub it in over a mistake or two?”
As if it wasn’t just a mistake or two, Yeom Cheon-ho twitched one of his thick eyebrows and continued.
“Regardless, since you have unintentionally suffered damages due to my family history, I intended to provide monetary compensation at my discretion.”
Only after hearing those words did Yeon-rok realize why Yeom Cheon-ho had been showering them with an absurd amount of money. A cult—Moon Gyeon-woo, who was clutching his head with a pained expression at being caught up in such an unexpected mess, snapped and finally retorted.
“How can you call that… Do you think money solves everything?!”
“How about three times the current research investment cost?”
Moon Gyeon-woo lost his words. He opened his mouth as if to say something, let out a “huh” sound, seemed to calculate something in his head, and then slumped into his seat, starting to clutch his head again. It seemed to be an amount of money that was impossible to refuse. He let out a sigh.
“The name Yeom Cheon-ryul… I thought it sounded familiar. I was sure I’d heard it somewhere.”
“Only Yeom Cheon-sang would be mentioned in the media. He thoroughly blocked his identity from being revealed after the attack incident. Also, he did a great deal of lobbying.”
Yeon-rok had also vaguely heard of the Heavenly Truth Ming Cult. However, since it was so long ago, he only knew it as a pseudo-religion that had caused a great social stir in the early 2000s. He never imagined that their childhoods would be linked to a cult. Even the manifestation of their names.
“Yeon-rok-ssi, is there anything you wish to say?”
Yeom Cheon-ho asked kindly, addressing Yeon-rok, who—unlike Moon Gyeon-woo or Choi Hwan—had remained tight-lipped. Because his mind was cluttered, Yeon-rok thought for a moment and asked the thing he was most curious about.
“Were we really all in the same orphanage when we were young?”
Instead of answering, Yeom Cheon-ho opened his wallet and pulled out an old photograph. The three of them looked at the same spot simultaneously.
Among the many children in the photo, three caught their eye. Moon Gyeon-woo, looking grumpy as if dissatisfied with something; Choi Hwan, who had been pretty and handsome since childhood; and Lee Yeon-rok himself, between the two of them, with a blank expression, hugging his attachment doll, Yeondu.
However, because it happened when he was so young, Yeon-rok remembered nothing. Moon Gyeon-woo seemed to be the same, his brow furrowed deeply. Only Yeom Cheon-ho, who remembered everything, spoke with a smile in his voice.
“Looking at it like this, aren’t you all cute? Since our ties from childhood have continued like this, it’s almost as if we are brothers. Like brothers who were separated by unavoidable circumstances in their youth.”
Choi Hwan opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to shout, “What kind of nonsense is that?” But Moon Gyeon-woo gave him a sharp poke in the ribs to tell him to shut up.
Moon Gyeon-woo was equally displeased with those words. However, as Yeon-rok quietly looked down and fiddled with the photo, a faint glint of happiness appeared in his eyes. For someone who had always wanted a family, the words that their childhood ties had continued, and that they were like separated brothers, pleased him immensely. Since it involved a cult, he couldn’t show it openly, so only his eyes sparkled.
“Yeon-rok-ssi may keep the photo.”
“Really?”
Yeon-rok, who had been staring blankly at the childhood photo in fascination, snapped his head up.
“I have other photos since I received various ones for reporting purposes.”
“…Then I’ll take this one.”
Yeon-rok carefully took the photo, glancing around tentatively. Moon Gyeon-woo gave him a smile, as if telling him to relax because he harbored no ill will. Choi Hwan, looking just as interested as Yeon-rok, tactlessly requested, “Let me see the photo one more time.”
Moon Gyeon-woo’s eyes twitched as he watched two twenty-five-year-olds, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, harmoniously admiring a childhood photo. Gritting his teeth, he spoke coldly, his voice like a wind from the Arctic ice sea. Having barely calmed down, his speech returned to formal honorifics.
“Regardless, I decline to be any further entangled with a cult. Heavenly Truth Ming Cult? I have to be involved with a religion that committed all sorts of crimes, even human trafficking? Even other sects… even if it’s the Hwamyeong Cult, isn’t the core the same as that damn Heavenly Truth Ming Cult? I no longer wish to be with you.”
The look in Moon Gyeon-woo’s eyes was accusing him, saying, ‘You cult leader.’ Yeon-rok recalled how Moon Gyeon-woo viewed fortune-telling and superstition. And Yeom Cheon-ho was the absolute epitome of such superstitious remnants.
“I am truly sorry, but just as I did not become the leader because I wanted to, that is also not an option.”
Yeom Cheon-ho stated flatly, still with a smiling face. Realizing the extent of the other man’s power anew, the faces of Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan darkened. Only then did Yeon-rok snap out of it and interject.
“Is it because of Yeom Cheon-ryul?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
He answered, still smiling. However, there had been no trace of a smile in his eyes for a while now.
“It is unfortunate, but from the moment you possessed the same Hwamyeong as I do, you became my fatal weakness. The moment you leave my protection, it is as good as being exposed to danger. If you’re lucky, you’ll only be kidnapped. If you’re unlucky, you’ll die. Especially Mr. Moon Gyeon-woo, you must be more careful.”
“What? Why me?”
Moon Gyeon-woo, who was already in a foul mood, reacted sensitively and questioned him. At the following explanation, his mouth fell open.
“Both the Heavenly Truth Ming Cult and the Hwamyeong Cult hold the Hwamyeong in high regard. In our order, a flower name bearer is a person chosen by heaven. However, Mr. Moon Gyeon-woo’s research is aimed at erasing the Hwamyeong. So, how would that research look to the believers, and to Yeom Cheon-ryul?”