By Zephyria 
“If you’re going to force your way in, you should at least act like a knight.”
Moon Gyeon-woo scolded him coldly, but Choi Hwan acted as if it went in one ear and out the other. Even to Yeon-rok, that attitude seemed truly obnoxious. Furthermore, in a short amount of time, Choi Hwan had come out dressed quite brilliantly. He was wearing that fluorescent orange outfit Yeon-rok had given him previously, and it was obvious he was putting every ounce of effort into grating on Moon Gyeon-woo’s nerves. For someone already famous to wear such a flashy outfit—he must be blinded by jealousy. Yeon-rok clearly saw a stress-induced twitch in Moon Gyeon-woo’s eyelid for a split second.
“So, whatever. Where are we going?”
Choi Hwan, sitting in the driver’s seat, asked while turning on the navigation. Yeon-rok, sitting in the back with Moon Gyeon-woo, was also curious, but Moon Gyeon-woo simply recited the address and said:
“You’ll know when we get there.”
After driving for an hour, they arrived at a botanical-themed book cafe. With tropical palms and all sorts of lush greenery everywhere, the atmosphere was refreshing. Upon seeing the bookshelves packed with books, Choi Hwan’s face crumpled.
“What the… You came all this way just to read books?”
“If it’s useless to you, feel free to go back.”
Naturally, Choi Hwan had absolutely no intention of going back. Moon Gyeon-woo familiarly reserved a private room, suggesting he visited often. Between the hot spring resort and the astronomical telescope from last time, it seemed he preferred quiet environments and hobbies to match.
Since there were quite a few people around, Choi Hwan hurriedly covered his face with sunglasses and a hat, heading straight into the private room without even taking a moment to pick a book. Although it was a private room, it consisted of glass walls and partitions decorated with climbing plants, so Choi Hwan curled his body as much as possible to avoid being noticed.
On the other hand, the two of them leisurely browsed the shelves before entering the private room. Moon Gyeon-woo sneered at him and pushed a philosophy book that looked difficult in front of Choi Hwan.
“I brought this specifically so you could fill in your shortcomings. Read it carefully and try to acquire some semblance of culture from now on.”
Then, as if to make a point, he began reading a thick English original he had brought. He looked truly noble.
“Sigh…”
Choi Hwan wanted to say something out of spite, but he held it back for now. Determined not to lose to the other, he firmly set his mind and opened the book. Yeon-rok, looking at the books the two were reading, lowered his gaze to his own.
<My Sweet Orange Tree — Required Reading for Youth>
‘At twenty-five, I’m twenty-four internationally. If you round up, I’m still close to being a youth.’
Yeon-rok, who didn’t feel confident reading an English original or a philosophy book, naturally rationalized it and opened the book.
The reading time was surprisingly peaceful and pleasant. However, for Choi Hwan, who loved clubs, this refined and quiet book cafe was truly boring. Soft classical music flowed through the air, and there wasn’t a single alcoholic beverage to be found on the menu. Within minutes, Choi Hwan began to squirm. The way he stubbornly endured it, despite looking like he was dying of boredom, seemed like a truly commendable effort to Yeon-rok.
“How did you even get into Korea University?”
“I’m a science major. This is literature.”
Choi Hwan spoke confidently. His face was a mask of misery after enduring it for nearly two hours. Moon Gyeon-woo laughed openly, but Choi Hwan only glared, mindful of the attention. As they left the book cafe and stood before the elevator, vitality returned to his handsome face. Yeon-rok shouted cheerfully on purpose.
“I’m getting a bit hungry, shall we go have lunch?”
Perhaps because he had watched Choi Hwan suffer so much, Moon Gyeon-woo nodded with a generous expression. The problem came next. Beep—. Yeon-rok looked up at the warning sound.
“Huh? Is it full?”
It was fine on the way up, but the moment they boarded the elevator, the ‘Full’ indicator lit up. Naturally, it wasn’t because of the weight of the three of them. It was because the bodyguards had boarded as well. Moon Gyeon-woo stopped holding back.
“Hey, get out.”
“What? You’re telling me to get out, right now?”
“The person who forced their way in should be the one to get out. Who else would it be?”
At Moon Gyeon-woo’s rebuke, one of the bodyguards quickly spoke with an embarrassed face.
“I will take the stairs.”
“No, Choi Hwan will get out.”
As Moon Gyeon-woo openly persecuted him, Choi Hwan, who had spent a miserable time at the book cafe, no longer tried to endure it. He scoffed.
“Why should I get out? And if I don’t, what are you going to do about it?”
“Now, young masters… please don’t do this.”
The bodyguards, who had been just as bored as Choi Hwan and had spent the entire time at the book cafe eating and drinking, felt apologetic. They seemed to think the elevator was full because of the weight they had gained in the meantime. Unable to just watch that, Yeon-rok stepped in. He mediated between the two.
“Don’t do that. I’ll just go down the stairs with the bodyguards. That’ll work.”
“Why would you get out, Yeon-rok? There’s a specific unwelcome guest who should get out here.”
Moon Gyeon-woo, who had been venomous since before they departed because his date was being interrupted, seemed determined to gift Choi Hwan the humiliation of going down the stairs alone. As people kept coming and going, the warning alarm in the elevator continued to ring incessantly. Choi Hwan scoffed and crossed his arms.
“Then try and make me get out. Ah! Instead of this, let’s just settle it today. If you’re not confident, you can stay there, you cowardly bookworm.”
“This guy, seriously…”
Moon Gyeon-woo had a fairly slender build. Perhaps because of that, looking provoked by the word ‘bookworm,’ he followed Choi Hwan out of the elevator. Although it was still quiet, Yeon-rok, starting to worry about people’s gazes, shouted anxiously.
“No, I said I’d go down the stairs! Is this really something to go this far over?!”
As the commotion broke out, a cafe employee glanced over from behind the glass door, wondering what was happening. Noticing this, one of the large-framed bodyguards quickly stepped down to block the front of the door. This was to prevent anyone from filming. Another bodyguard stood firmly, blocking the stairs leading up. In the meantime, Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan began to bicker in earnest.
“You playboy bastard, I didn’t like you from the start!”
“Coming from a fool who played around sloppily in clubs.”
“What, sloppy fool? Who are you calling sloppy? If you lined up your exes, you could cross all of Seoul. Besides, you were the latecomer to begin with!”
“While I’m being nice, don’t mention my exes. That’s all finished history!”
Moon Gyeon-woo, who was already sensitive about the existence of his exes, flared up at having his weakness poked and went as far as grabbing Choi Hwan by the collar. At that, the other two bodyguards remaining in the elevator quickly rushed out and began to actively pull them apart.
“Now, young masters. Let’s not do this here. Please?”
“I told you one of us would take the stairs.”
“That’s right. Since it became full because we ate like pigs earlier, we should be the ones to walk down.”
Because the two of them were hidden by the bulk of the bodyguards, Yeon-rok stood on tiptoe. In the meantime, the waiting time ended and the elevator doors slid shut. A flustered Yeon-rok quickly pressed the open button, but the timing was too late.
“…Huh?”
Wait, am I the only one going down? Feeling absurd, he stared blankly at the descending floor numbers. He worried if the two of them would start throwing punches while he wasn’t there. Just as he thought he would have to go back up as soon as he reached the first floor, the floor number stopped. The elevator came to a jarring halt. Suddenly, he broke into a cold sweat.
“No, right?”
Yeon-rok spoke to the elevator for no reason.
“It’s not broken… right?”
However, the stopped number showed no sign of changing. He had thought things had been quiet lately, but his wretched bad luck had finally struck. Tearing at his hair, Yeon-rok pressed the emergency button and screamed.
“Someone is trapped in here!”
Yeon-rok was rescued about an hour later. As the elevator doors opened, he coldly brushed off the people trying to hold him and apologize, and ran somewhere. It was the restroom. Because he had drunk so many beverages at the cafe, his bladder was on the verge of bursting.
After emptying his bladder and emerging with a haggard face, Yeon-rok suddenly grabbed Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan—who were asking if he was okay—by their collars. He then barked at the two, whose eyes had widened.
“While I’m being nice, let’s just go home quietly today.”
Although it wasn’t their fault, Yeon-rok’s voice was ominous, as he had almost had an accident in the elevator. The two of them quietly nodded.
“…Okay.”
Whether it was because of the collar-grabbing or because they had reflected on their actions while Yeon-rok was trapped in the elevator, they fortunately managed to return home without further commotion.
For a while after the elevator incident, Choi Hwan and Moon Gyeon-woo behaved themselves. Or perhaps they were only pretending to do so in front of Yeon-rok, or they were so busy that they had no time to breathe, despite pretending otherwise.
As expected, it seemed the movie Choi Hwan had filmed previously was nearing its release date. Thanks to that, he only came home briefly to sleep. Promotional photos and videos with Choi Hwan’s face displayed prominently began to appear on the internet.
During this time, Yeom Cheon-ho, who was as busy as before and could barely be seen until evening, called him.
“Yeon-rok-ssi, if it’s alright, could you attend this weekend’s auction in my place? I should be able to attend the latter half of it myself if possible.”
“An auction?”
As soon as he entered the study, Yeon-rok, who had first grabbed Yeom Cheon-ho’s hand to maintain contact, asked back in confusion.