By Zephyria 
‘They all have such faces…’
He looked at Choi Hwan’s glamorous face, slightly open and sound asleep, and then at Moon Kyeon-woo’s delicate and pretty face, and his eyes grew dim. It was when he was half-asleep again. He faintly heard the sound of a door opening.
At first, he thought it was his imagination. Maybe it was just a hallucination because he was on edge about the intruder from the night before. The light from the hallway falling on his face as the door opened was also a hallucination. But he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
It might be the guy who tried to break into my room last time…
Yeon-rok, who was very drowsy from the fever and medicine, desperately opened his eyes. He just wanted to confirm that it was his imagination, but a gloomy and dark figure approached and stood there blankly. Yeon-rok’s heart pounded. He was about to scream when his lips parted. The other person raised a gloved finger and placed it on his lips.
“Shh.”
Huh? Only then did Yeon-rok recognize who it was and moved his lips. It was definitely Yeom Cheon-ho, who was supposed to be on a business trip to the US, standing in his room. He could smell the cold wind from the coat he was wearing.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Yeom Cheon-ho silently looked down at Moon Kyeon-woo and Choi Hwan, who were sleeping peacefully, unaware that anyone had come. Because of the hallway lighting behind him, shadows covered his face, and Yeon-rok couldn’t tell what expression he was making. He soon brought a blanket from somewhere and covered Moon Kyeon-woo and Choi Hwan. Then he turned to Yeon-rok.
Yeon-rok didn’t say anything and just stared up at Yeom Cheon-ho with his mouth open. It felt like he was having a slightly scary and strange dream. Yeom Cheon-ho took off his gloves. Then he leaned down and placed his hand on Yeon-rok’s hot forehead to check his temperature. Yeon-rok felt good when his cool hand touched him.
“The spring breeze is still cold.”
He said quietly in a calm and composed voice and lowered the hand that was checking his temperature. His hand was so big that it completely blocked his vision just by lowering it a little. The spring breeze is still cold. In his dazed state, Yeon-rok unknowingly repeated the words in his mind.
“…CEO?”
Yeon-rok called out to him in a whisper, completely defenseless. Yeom Cheon-ho leaned closer. And soon, something soft, cool, and moist, filled with breath, touched Yeon-rok’s lips. As if sharing his breath, Yeom Cheon-ho shared his warm vitality. Until Yeon-rok melted softly and fell back into a hazy sleep, again and again.
“…Huck.”
Yeon-rok suddenly opened his eyes. His body felt light and refreshed. He widened his eyes and replayed his last memories from the night before. He seemed to remember Yeom Cheon-ho saying that the spring breeze was cold and then kissing him, but the cold medicine was so strong that he was constantly drowsy during the night, so he couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.
“…It must have been a dream, right?”
Otherwise, there’s no way someone who went to the US would have come to his room. As he mumbled blankly, Yeon-rok was startled by an unexpected response from the side and jumped.
“A dream? You still have the energy to sleep more?”
“Ack! Why are you still in my room!”
Shockingly and surprisingly, Moon Kyeon-woo was still in Yeon-rok’s bedroom. He looked around frantically and saw that Choi Hwan was gone. He barely managed to untangle the blanket that was wrapped tightly around his body, but Moon Kyeon-woo stepped on the blanket, pressing it down. Yeon-rok glared at him, angered by the gaze looking down at him.
“Get your foot off?”
“You owe me one, right?”
“Owe you? What are you talking about?”
Yeon-rok frowned, not knowing why he was talking nonsense from the morning and also because it was an ominous start. He struggled to get out of the blanket without giving up.
“I gave you medicine and took care of you all night. You owe me, right?”
“When did I ask you to take care of me?”
Yeon-rok glared fiercely at the purely forced claim.
“Then you’ll have to repay that debt.”
Really, neither of these guys listens to a word anyone says. Yeon-rok, who really wanted to get out of this blanket cocoon and go to the bathroom, sighed.
“Debt, huh. How much money do you need?”
“I don’t need money. I have plenty of that.”
“What do you want me to do!”
Yeon-rok, the poorest person in this house, shouted as if urging him to get to the point. He was hungry and felt sticky. He wanted to quickly send Moon Kyeon-woo away, take care of his business, wash up, eat Park Yeo-sa’s delicious food, and report the nighttime intruder to Kim Jeong-seong. After a moment of hesitation, Moon Kyeon-woo said something unexpected.
“I have a stalker.”
Yeon-rok replied very bluntly and coldly on purpose.
“You have a stalker, so what do you want me to do?”
“You’ll have to pretend to be my Darling.”
It was nonsense after all. Yeon-rok was dumbfounded and immediately retorted.
“You have Choi Hwan! What are you doing with your Darling?”
“If Hwan pretends to be my Darling, he’ll be exposed to the stalker and become dangerous.”
“So it’s okay for me to be in danger?”
“At least more than my Darling? And Hwan is a celebrity. It would be a big deal if he got caught up in something like this.”
Yeon-rok was seething with anger. Is it so sad to be someone without a Darling? He felt speechless listening to this as soon as he woke up…
“Stop talking nonsense and use your money to hire someone! Why are you talking crap to me!”
“The stalker knows I live here, right? You’re the only one among the housemates who’s useful. The bodyguards all look and act like they’re guarding someone, and the other servants don’t match the age and gender. Above all, it has to match the information registered in the Name partner database…”
Among the Name partners, Choi Hwan is his precious Darling, so he can’t use him, and he can’t possibly use the great Yeom Cheon-ho, so he chose the easy-to-use Yeon-rok. Of course, Yeon-rok didn’t care. He didn’t even want to look at Choi Hwan even if he gave him ten million won now. As such, he didn’t want to do this without any compensation.
“I’m done, get out!”
“Okay, take a good look at this.”
Moon Kyeon-woo held his phone right in front of his face. Yeon-rok looked at it, wondering what it was, and screamed. He saw a familiar presence in the photo.
“Lime!”
Only then did Yeon-rok realize that his Cherished doll, which he had cherished on his bed, was nowhere to be found. He looked at the photo again. The old and shabby dog doll was sitting quietly on a desk that probably belonged to Moon Kyeon-woo. The vile Moon Kyeon-woo sighed deeply.
“Haa, I can’t believe I have to do something so childish…”
“If you know, then don’t do it!”
“Does Hwan know that I’m going this far for him?”
“You bastard!”
He was being subjected to something that he had only experienced from playful kids when he was in the orphanage, but now he was being subjected to it by a grown adult, which was truly absurd.
“Love makes people so difficult.”
“Haa…”
“If you don’t follow my orders, your cute dog Lime will never see its owner again. How pitiful…”
“You crazy bastard!”
The cold, intellectual, and aloof image he had when he first met him was nowhere to be found. The person in front of Yeon-rok was a petty crazy person who was biased, selfish, and blindly devoted to his Darling. As Yeon-rok hissed, Moon Kyeon-woo said in a serious tone.
“Actually, your doll’s value is very highly rated. It’s being used as a hostage to protect our Hwan.”
He was beyond shameless, and his way of thinking was completely different, so Yeon-rok was speechless. Should he tell Yeom Cheon-ho a little bit? Since the other person is acting so vile, wouldn’t it be okay for me to act a little petty too? As he was thinking that, Moon Kyeon-woo smiled as if he had read his mind.
“Whatever you’re thinking, go ahead and do it. I’m curious to see what the result will be.”
Yeon-rok, who was grinding his teeth, got up as soon as Moon Kyeon-woo let go of his blanket cocoon. He was about to run straight to Moon Kyeon-woo’s room, but the other person said this.
“Just so you know, it’s not in my room.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Moon Kyeon-woo didn’t even pretend to hear Yeon-rok’s emotionally charged curse. “Is that the best you can do?” he said, getting up from his seat and threatening him vilely.
“If you do as I say, your doll can return safely.”
Yeon-rok tore at his hair. What’s wrong with my Name partners? Why is everyone like this? Even in the midst of all that, Moon Kyeon-woo instructed him to take his medicine well for a while and left. Enraged, Yeon-rok threw the medicine packet away, then trembled and picked it up again in the end.