By Zephyria 
“Why are you changing the subject? I want to know the reason.”
When he asked again, Yeom Cheon-ho paused for a moment. Yeon-rok unknowingly swallowed hard. It felt like the moment he was finally getting closer to the ideal Name partner relationship he had been thinking of, and his chest kept swelling. His body temperature rose, and his chest tickled. All his nerves were focused on the other person.
“Hmm. It’s a bit difficult.”
“What’s difficult…”
“There wasn’t really a special reason. Would you be upset if I said it was just because I wanted to?”
The truly elegant and wonderful man replied in a low voice.
“Yeon-rok’s condition seemed bad, so I wanted to help him recover faster, and his sleeping face looked too harmless, and his lips also looked dry…”
“It seems like there are many special reasons.”
Yeon-rok, who replied sullenly, suddenly felt an impulse and reached out his hand. Yeom Cheon-ho remained still even as Yeon-rok grabbed his shoulder. His calm eyes widened slightly. Yeon-rok quickly stole a kiss on his soft lips and said confidently.
“This is what it really means to have no special reason.”
Yeom Cheon-ho didn’t get angry. He just looked at him with a strange gaze and then slowly licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. Soon, Yeon-rok’s face burned hotly.
‘Have I gone crazy? What courage made me do this…’
He belatedly regretted getting drunk, it seemed. He felt anxious, wondering if the other person might be angry. Even so, Yeon-rok couldn’t take his eyes off Yeom Cheon-ho. He was half afraid and half expectant, waiting for the other’s reaction. Yeom Cheon-ho’s body slowly leaned forward. It was an intense gaze that didn’t even blink.
That’s when it happened. Knock, knock! The ordinary knocking sound startled Yeon-rok as if it were thunder.
“Yeom Cheon-ho, may I come in?”
“Ah.”
As if suddenly awakened from a dream, Yeom Cheon-ho made a low sound. He quickly hid the inner thoughts he had slightly revealed and smiled at Yeon-rok before giving permission. Kim Jeong-seong, who opened the door and came in, was surprised to see Yeon-rok’s face flushed red.
“Yeon-rok, you seem to have a fever. Shouldn’t you go to the hospital after all?”
Only then did Yeon-rok realize that Kim Jeong-seong still didn’t fully understand the situation. After hearing the explanation, Kim Jeong-seong was relieved.
“That’s a relief. I really thought you were unwell. Thanks to you, Yeon-rok, Yeom Cheon-ho was able to avoid a great predicament.”
Kim Jeong-seong, who was extremely loyal to Yeom Cheon-ho, sent a truly grateful look. Just like when he fended off Choi Hwan’s parents last time, it seemed he had quite the talent for acting. Feeling a little proud, Yeon-rok suddenly became earnest.
“I’m really tired today. Can’t I really go home now?”
Avoiding Yeom Cheon-ho out of embarrassment, Yeon-rok cried out desperately.
…Even though he said that.
When he woke up, he was still in the hotel room. Yeon-rok recalled the events of last night. He decided to stay a little longer to pretend to be resting, fearing that leaving immediately might arouse suspicion from that Jin Eui-seong. However, while lying on the bed in case someone came in, he had fallen asleep from intoxication.
Yeon-rok rubbed his eyes, having slept so soundly that he wouldn’t have noticed if he’d been carried away. He felt that his face was a little swollen from sleeping so deeply. There was no one around.
“Young Master, are you awake?”
Opening the bedroom door, Park Chung-seong and Jeong Bo-eun greeted Yeon-rok happily. It seemed that Yeom Cheon-ho and Kim Jeong-seong had left first, leaving Yeon-rok to sleep soundly.
“Wow, is it already lunchtime…?”
Yeon-rok murmured in a lowered voice. The hotel bedding must be good. His condition was exceptionally good. Or perhaps it was because he had been in such prolonged and close contact with Yeom Cheon-ho yesterday.
Since he had woken up in the hotel anyway, he ordered room service and shared it with the two. Later, when he tried to check out, the general manager surprisingly rushed over to personally see Yeon-rok off. He was so concerned about his condition that Yeon-rok had no choice but to feign illness.
When he returned home, Park Yeo-sa was organizing dozens of packages with the servants. They were piled up in front of Yeon-rok’s room, and Yeon-rok was surprised and asked, seeing that they were all luxurious gift bundles at a glance.
“Park Yeo-sa, what are all these? Who sent them?”
“Our Young Master is here? The sender should be written on the card.”
Even though gifts had arrived like a mountain, she didn’t make a fuss but acted as if it were natural. Yeon-rok tore open a card attached to a gold bundle and read it. It was from a clothing company, expressing their hope for a continued good relationship and wishing him a speedy recovery. Kim Jeong-seong, who had come home at that moment, explained to the bewildered Yeon-rok.
“These are gifts sent by the people who greeted you yesterday, Yeon-rok. It seems the news that you collapsed has spread. There are quite a few health foods. Ah, Park Yeo-sa, here’s a set of ginseng.”
“I’ll boil it thoroughly and give it to our Young Master.”
Park Yeo-sa happily swept away the ginseng sets, which seemed to be more than a few boxes at a glance. Yeon-rok was bewildered by the mountain of gifts that would take all day just to unpack and asked.
“Do I have to send something in return…?”
“These are customary gifts, so most of them are handled by the secretary’s office. Ah, of course, if there is someone you are particularly close to or want to treat well, you can send a reply directly.”
Since there was no one like that, Yeon-rok shook his head. He doesn’t even remember properly the dozens of people he greeted yesterday. He sat down and started unpacking the gifts one by one. There were so many different kinds that it was more fun to unpack than he thought. He was diligently unpacking, gathering the food items separately, when he heard a crashing sound and Choi Hwan strode up to the second floor.
“You!”
Yeon-rok frowned, putting down the pretty amber-colored liquor bottle he was about to take out, as he was suddenly pointed at. Why pick a fight as soon as you see me?
“Why didn’t you come home yesterday! Did you, did you sleep out?”
“…? Yeah. I slept at the hotel.”
At those words, Choi Hwan trembled like a vibrating bell. His face turned pale, and he asked urgently.
“You slept alone, right…?”
Could he say he slept alone? Yeom Cheon-ho and Kim Jeong-seong were in the same room, but as a result, Yeon-rok was the only one who slept in the bed, so he nodded.
“I guess? I was drunk and just passed out… But why are you asking?”
Choi Hwan’s face brightened again, and he approached closely. Bending his tall frame, he circled around like a dog or cat that had seen its owner come home with the scent of a strange animal on them. He unnecessarily hooked his fingers on the collar and pulled it. Yeon-rok, who thought he had been picking a fight for no reason since earlier, became annoyed.
“Ah, what are you doing?”
“You…”
With a face full of things to say, Choi Hwan only moved his lips before suddenly raising his voice, huffing and puffing.
“Always remember that you’re my Name partner! Got it?”
“When I didn’t match your standards, you ignored me, and now you’re saying Name partner?”
Yeon-rok retorted, and Choi Hwan shrank back again as if he hadn’t raised his voice at all. Choi Hwan fidgeted and sat down nearby, saying.
“Th, that was when we weren’t close…”
So, does that mean we’re a little close now? Does he at least know the sins he committed before? Yeon-rok took out some fruit preserves and stared at him, and Choi Hwan, taking it in a certain way, apologized softly.
“Sorry…”
Whether he apologized now or not, it didn’t matter to Yeon-rok, so he listened with one ear and let it out the other. Choi Hwan cautiously helped unpack. While doing so, he kept asking if this was his taste. Thinking he wanted some, he gave him a few, and he became happy and went back to his room. He had thought before, but he was truly fickle and had a distracting personality.
And a few days later, Choi Hwan came to find Yeon-rok and suddenly asked.
“Didn’t my settlement come in this month?”
“Ah, that’s right. I was going to show you, but I forgot.”
Yeon-rok, who was diligently decorating a miniature terrarium, got up from his seat. After declaring ‘Your money is all my money’ last time, Yeon-rok really started managing Choi Hwan’s assets.
‘Are you really okay with me managing your assets? If you entrust everything to me like this, I might embezzle some in the middle.’
‘Do whatever. I don’t care. Just do it all yourself.’
Yeon-rok had threatened Choi Hwan, but he just passed it all on, saying it was a hassle. With no choice, he diligently looked through the past records with the asset manager that Yeom Cheon-ho had assigned. First of all, he was spending a considerable amount of money on Choi Hwan’s parents every month, so he fixed that first.
As a result, it was decided to send only 1 million won per month.