By Zephyria 
Listening carefully while eating breakfast, the house was quiet again today. While Yeon-rok was sleeping soundly, Choi Hwan and Moon Kyeon-woo seemed to have diligently gone to work. He sighed without realizing it.
“What should I do to pass the time today?”
As a result of trying to study for a certificate these days, Yeon-rok was able to realize that studying is not his cup of tea, as he felt when he was in school. So, he was aimlessly going in and out of job search sites, wondering what he should do. Yeon-rok complained to Kim Jeong-seong.
“Hyung, where should I get a job?”
Kim Jeong-seong, who was drinking coffee while listening to Yeon-rok’s lament, gently stopped him.
“Is there really a need for you to get a job? Since you have enough financial support, you can spend your time leisurely doing your favorite hobbies.”
“But I don’t really have any favorite hobbies… I don’t know what to do…”
In the past, he had worked day and night with the sole purpose of living happily in the same house with his Name partner. For him, who lived alone, the house was only used for the purpose of eating breakfast, going to work, eating dinner after work, and sleeping. He worked like that from Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays, he slept all day, watched some TV, and slept again.
This was the routine he had lived until now.
It’s not like he lived without fun from the beginning, but it became like this after he broke up with his lover. At first, to forget the pain of the breakup, and then to save money to buy a house. But as things turned out like this, he felt like he had lost the purpose of his life and was floating in the air.
When Yeon-rok answered with a blank look, Kim Jeong-seong, who was quietly looking at his face, showed a strangely embarrassed look.
“Well, you don’t have to have a hobby! Let’s watch a drama or something.”
Yeon-rok quickly smiled and replied, thinking that he had made the person embarrassed for no reason, even though it wasn’t a serious story. But Kim Jeong-seong put down his coffee cup and said with a determined face.
“No. I will definitely find a hobby for Lee Yeon-rok-nim.”
“Yes? I’m really okay.”
“I will find it no matter what.”
“Secretary Hyung is very busy.”
“I’m not busy.”
There’s no way that someone who isn’t busy wouldn’t be able to rest and would be busy typing on a laptop while drinking coffee. Yeon-rok tried to dissuade Kim Jeong-seong, but he was persistent.
And that afternoon, people dressed in suits visited the house. Is it just my feeling that they look like people who were waiting to move Yeon-rok’s luggage for some reason? While Yeon-rok was craning his neck like a meerkat and watching, they emptied one of the guest rooms. After doing something for a few hours, they smiled and spoke to Yeon-rok, who was curiously loitering nearby.
“Would you like to take a look?”
“Really?”
Yeon-rok, who had been waiting for it, gave them each a can of drink, saying they had worked hard, and quickly stepped inside. And he was so surprised that he opened his mouth wide.
“Wow…”
“If you need any materials, please tell us anytime.”
“Thank you for your hard work! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome. We just did what we had to do. We’ll be on our way now.”
After the people left, Yeon-rok slowly looked around inside. A large table was placed in the center of the room, where the closet and bed had disappeared. The four walls were occupied by shelves and drawers, and one side was filled with all kinds of things.
After just looking around for a while, Yeon-rok took one of them out. It was a set consisting of a sketchbook, pencils, paints, pastels, etc. Next to it was a set of colored pencils and a coloring book. Next to that were carving knives and wood, knitting, brushes and Korean paper, a camera, a plastic model box, a puzzle, Lego, bonsai, a keyboard, musical instruments, and a handicraft set that seemed to be able to make various things…
At least one of these will be to your liking, the intention is strongly conveyed. Very touched, Yeon-rok sent a text message to Kim Jeong-seong, thanking him. A smiling emoticon came back, saying to enjoy it. Yeon-rok muttered unconsciously.
“It would have been nice if Secretary Hyung was my Name partner. Too bad.”
“My goodness, Gyun-woo, you have amazing dexterity.”
“Hehe, really?”
Yeon-rok beamed at Park Yeo-sa’s compliment. In front of him was sobulgogi, Korean marinated beef, meticulously prepared with Park Yeo-sa’s help. As Yeon-rok neatly packed the sobulgogi into a lunchbox, carefully arranging the other side dishes as well, Park Yeo-sa watched with a satisfied gaze and asked,
“Have you ever thought about getting a Korean cuisine chef certification? I can help you.”
“Isn’t that difficult?”
“I think it would be easy for you, Gyun-woo!”
“Really? You think so?”
“Of course, really! I don’t make empty compliments.”
A Korean cuisine chef certification… Yeon-rok’s ears perked up.
Over the past few days, Yeon-rok had been diligently spending time in the hobby room Kim Jeong-seong had set up for him. At first, he casually worked on jigsaw puzzles, and then he tried fiddling with various things. Looking at the results, Yeon-rok thought,
‘Am I really good with my hands?’
Come to think of it, he had rarely been scolded for incompetence while working. But showing the results to Park Yeo-sa or Kim Jeong-seong only brought praise, so he couldn’t get an objective assessment. Still, a Korean cuisine chef certification involved using his hands, so he thought he could do it without losing interest.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing right now. Yeon-rok, having packed even fruit into the lunchbox, asked worriedly,
“Will it suit CEO’s taste?”
“Of course! You made it so well. We tasted it together, remember?”
There was a reason why Yeon-rok was working so hard on the lunchbox today. Yeom Cheon-ho had suggested through Kim Jeong-seong that they have lunch together at the company if he didn’t mind it being a bit dull. Yeon-rok had accepted and cautiously asked if he could bring a packed lunch, to which he readily agreed.
‘I can’t treat him to an expensive meal, but I can at least make him some food.’
He wanted to repay him in this way, at least. As he continued to pack his own lunch, Choi Hwan appeared, having some free time after a busy shoot and lazing around at home. Sniffing the air as if drawn by the scent, he rubbed his bleary eyes and asked,
“Oh, did Yeo-sa make this? It smells deli…”
“Yeon-rok made it! Isn’t he good at it?”
“Ciou…”
Having already been treated to ramen by Yeon-rok a couple of times, he reacted like Pavlov’s dog. It meant he was swallowing his saliva while looking at Yeon-rok again.
“Want some?”
At Yeon-rok’s arrogant offer, Choi Hwan, after some internal conflict, sat down. He now habitually took out his wallet from his pocket, slammed down some money, and glared.
“I’ll only eat one bite each. Who knows what you put in it.”
“MSG…”
A while later.
“Agh!”
Yeon-rok scoffed at Choi Hwan, who was suffering as if he had eaten the ramen again and left for the exercise room to burn calories, and picked up the lunchboxes. They were quite heavy. Arriving at the company, he handed one of the lunchboxes to Kim Jeong-seong, who greeted him with a smile.
“Hyung, you haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”
“No, but should I really be receiving something like this?”
“I just packed some for Hyung while I was at it!”
Yeon-rok, having moved Kim Jeong-seong and feeling proud, got into the elevator. Unlike last time, he was guided not to the reception room but further inside. Feeling a strange sense of confinement, Yeon-rok opened the door to the office and soon realized why.
‘There aren’t any windows?’
From the moment he got off the elevator, he hadn’t seen a single window. The reception room last time was the same, and so was this office. He wondered if they deliberately didn’t install any windows for security reasons as he looked around.
“CEO…? I’m here…!”
Did he go somewhere for a moment? In the unfamiliar, empty space, Yeon-rok sat awkwardly on the sofa in the corner. It was so plush that his body seemed to sink into it. As he was half-melted into the sofa, admiring the office, he heard the sound of a door bursting open inside the office.
“It’s not like it’s the first or second time we’re burying them, so take care of it yourself. And make sure there are no police reports like last time because you didn’t kill them properly and dispose of them… And how long do I have to clean up after you?”
Yeom Cheon-ho, who had been talking on the phone in a testy manner, discovered Yeon-rok. Instantly, a smile, as if painted on his face, spread across it.
“…I have an important guest, so I’ll hang up now.”
As Yeon-rok jumped up, the tall Yeom Cheon-ho strode over to greet him.
“Yeon-rok.”
Then, he grabbed his hand. Yeon-rok swallowed hard and smiled back. Today, the other man’s grip felt stronger than usual.
“Your hands are cold. Was it very cold outside?”
“Haha, yes, a little…”
He brought a thick blanket from somewhere and handed it to Yeon-rok. Then, placing the lunchboxes on the table, he asked casually,
“By the way, did you happen to hear the conversation I was having earlier?”