By Zephyria 
Despair crossed the other person’s eyes when he saw the familiar Symbol on Yeon-rok’s chest. Yeon-rok hesitated and stepped back as he reached out his hand. The other person said with eyes that hadn’t given up on the last glimmer of hope.
“W, we need to touch it to see if it’s a tattoo or a real Name Awakening.”
“Um……”
He was right. At the same time, Yeon-rok was only convinced that he was ‘still a stalker’ because he was so persistent. He allowed it, intending to knock the other person down if necessary, and his fingertips carefully touched him. After groping around and staring intently, the other person finally gave up and muttered.
“It’s a real Name……”
Yeon-rok looked down at his ‘Name.’ The four-leaf clover shape was scattered like a black stain or bruise.
This was the big difference between a tattoo and a Name. The shape of a ‘Name’ becomes distorted when it touches the body of someone other than the Name partner. As the other person took his hand away, the distorted Name slowly began to return to its original shape. It was the first time someone had touched his Name, so Yeon-rok was fascinated by the phenomenon, which he was seeing for the first time.
“Hoo-oong, hoo-oo-oong……”
Meanwhile, the other person, who had lost all hope, slumped down and began to cry sadly. Yeon-rok, feeling awkward and embarrassed, tried to tidy up his clothes and leave, but the other person spoke to him.
“You probably think I’m a shameless person who cheated and is acting like this, right? But it’s unfair……”
What is it? Does that mean he didn’t actually cheat?
“It was really just for a moment. I didn’t even meet him a few times……. I really didn’t want to give in, but he seduced me like a fox.”
Um. He was a shameless person after all. Just as he was about to leave without hesitation, the other person grabbed his pants and wouldn’t let go. Yeon-rok, who was nervous, reflexively tried to kick him, but stopped himself.
“Why are you doing this?! Let go!”
“He left as soon as I broke up with Gyun-woo Hyung! He was definitely a bastard who approached me with a purpose! He was definitely trying to separate me and Gyun-woo Hyung! It’s really unfair, unfair……”
“No, let go!”
He barely let go of his pants, but he kept sobbing, so Yeon-rok had no choice but to tear off some tissue and give it to him. He rummaged through his pockets and found a candy, so he offered it to him as well. Only then did the other person regain his senses. He stared blankly at the candy Yeon-rok gave him with a red face and said this.
“If you’re Gyun-woo Hyung’s Name partner, we would have broken up someday anyway, even if I hadn’t cheated.”
The way he muttered was quite pitiful and pathetic. He shouldn’t have cheated. Yeon-rok clicked his tongue inwardly, recalling how Moon Kyeon-woo had ordered bouquets of flowers every day to give to his Darling.
“P, please take good care of our Gyun-woo Hyung…… Please be good to him. He’s a person who gets lonely easily, sob.”
Yeon-rok had to listen to his ex-Darling, pretending to be his real Darling, asking him for a favor with a bitter feeling. Isn’t this something Choi Hwan should have experienced instead…… Why am I doing this? He had an existential crisis.
Yeon-rok, who had finally shaken off his leech-like ex-Darling, returned to the lab. However, there was something he hadn’t considered: because it was a company with strict security, he couldn’t open the lab door with just a temporary visitor’s pass. In the end, he had to knock on the lab door several times to attract attention.
Moon Kyeon-woo, who was holding onto the fume hood and concentrating, widened his eyes when he raised his head to see what was going on. Only then did he realize that Yeon-rok had left the lab. He strode over and opened the door, raised his eyebrows, opened his mouth to say something, glanced at Chief Kim, and spoke in a sweet voice.
“My Darling, I told you not to show your face to other people. Why do you keep doing this to upset me? Can’t you take care of your face?”
Yeon-rok reflexively shrugged his shoulders because he was so creeped out by the way he was acting like an obsessive Darling. And then he belatedly fumbled and put on his mask. He hesitated whether to tell him what had just happened, then leaned forward. Moon Kyeon-woo, who was wary and flinched when Yeon-rok brought his lips to his ear, hardened his face at the words that followed.
“I met your ex-Darling when I went to the bathroom earlier……”
“……The mask?”
“I forgot…….”
Moon Kyeon-woo, his eyes turning fierce, put his arm on Yeon-rok’s body. He dragged Yeon-rok somewhere, pretending to be so friendly. Yeon-rok, who had been dragged to a deserted place against his will, closed his eyes tightly, and a scolding poured out.
“Is that head you have on top just for decoration? Or are your ears blocked? How many times have I told you to wear a mask?”
Of course, Yeon-rok had something to say too. He was upset because he didn’t want to come here, so he argued with Moon Kyeon-woo.
“You try wearing a mask all day! How stuffy is it! And I had some success too. He said he’s really going to give up now.”
I thought I had solved the stalker problem, but Moon Kyeon-woo glared at me with his arms crossed and said,
“Tell me everything, what you talked about and what you did.”
I didn’t really want to talk about it, but I thought of Lime, who was being held hostage, and confessed honestly. And every time I opened my mouth, I was scolded by Moon Kyeon-woo.
“Are you crazy? You should have jumped out of the bathroom right away. How could you just stand there and listen, not knowing what he was going to do?”
“What? Pitiful? Pitiful? What’s pitiful about a cheater?”
“What? You let him touch your Name? Don’t you have any sense of alarm that a person should have?”
Sadly, Moon Kyeon-woo’s scolding sounded quite reasonable to Yeon-rok as well. And when I said that I gave him candy to soothe him, Moon Kyeon-woo lost his words for a moment and stared at me with eyes I had never seen before. What am I going to do with this guy? Isn’t he going to get his liver and kidneys taken away somewhere? That was the look. Of course, Yeon-rok had his own reasons for going this far.
“Anyway, I solved the stalker problem. So give me back Lime now.”
“Ha… When did I ever say my ex-boyfriend was a stalker?”
“……!”
I just assumed he was an ex-boyfriend! He was clinging to me like an octopus sucker, I thought he must be a stalker with that obsession! Yeon-rok asked with a shocked face, wondering if he had done something unnecessary.
“Th-then who is the stalker?”
“I have a few people in mind.”
“Peopllle? How many is that?”
“Because I have more than one ex-boyfriend. It’s a problem if you’re too nice. They’re all overflowing with lingering feelings.”
Yeon-rok was dumbfounded at Moon Kyeon-woo’s cold, nonchalant way of speaking, as if he had no feelings for his ex-boyfriends. So he was used as bait in a situation where Moon Kyeon-woo himself didn’t even know who the stalker was. Moreover, Moon Kyeon-woo had been feeling uneasy ever since he heard that I had given his ex-boyfriend candy to soothe him while he was crying, and then he asked me this.
“How old are you again…”
Yeon-rok, who keenly noticed that he was being treated as if he were stupid or immature, flared up.
“I’m twenty-five! Twenty-five! The same age as Choi Hwan!”
I’ve never been scammed in my life. The same goes for smishing or voice phishing. I’ve lived my life quite smartly.
However, when I mentioned Choi Hwan’s name and looked at Moon Kyeon-woo’s face, it seemed to have backfired even more with that retort. He also knew very well that his Darling was really clueless and easily scammed. Yeon-rok felt like Moon Kyeon-woo was lumping Choi Hwan and himself into the same category, so he raised his voice first to change the subject.
“Lime, no, give me back my doll!”
“Ah.”
Moon Kyeon-woo, who thought of the grimy doll, looked even more troubled.
“Is that it? The usual Cherished doll, or something…”
I could tell what he was thinking as he trailed off. But Yeon-rok had nothing else to say. It was true that it was a Cherished doll. And that it wasn’t an appropriate thing for a grown adult to be holding a Cherished doll.
However, Yeon-rok had his own reasons for doing so. He had no family or friends, so he had no choice but to cling to the doll because he was lonely. But it was too pathetic an excuse to say it out loud. So he just moved his lips, and Moon Kyeon-woo sighed.
“Okay, I’ll give it back. Go home now. What am I going to do with this?”
Yeon-rok clenched his fist tightly. Ah! As a result, it’s good that I got it back somehow, but I’m kind of pissed! It is a Cherished doll, but…!
Moon Kyeon-woo, who returned to the office, gave back the doll and took something out of the drawer and handed it to me. It was a nutritional supplement. When I looked at him with a look that asked why he was suddenly giving me a nutritional supplement, he said this.
“That’s a nutritional supplement that’s good for the brain. Take it every day.”
“……!”
It was the first favor Moon Kyeon-woo had ever done for me, but I didn’t feel good about it. On the way back in the car, feeling like I was being treated like I was lacking, Yeon-rok fiddled with the Cherished doll’s old handkerchief scarf and suddenly remembered.
‘Huh? But clearly…….’
I heard that Yeom Cheon-ho invests in Moon Kyeon-woo’s research.
Then, is Yeom Cheon-ho not just investing for his Name partner, but truly wants research results? Yeon-rok thought of Yeom Cheon-ho, who was as lacking in contact with his partner as he was, and looked tired every time he saw him. Has he ever spent even a single day in perfect condition since his Name manifested?