By Zephyria 
Time flew quickly from the lonely and desolate winter, and May was already drawing near.
Regardless of that, Choi Hwan’s low mood was quite concerning. Perhaps because he was always childishly frolicking and whining, his quiet demeanor felt unfamiliar. So, on a day when both Yeom Cheon-ho and Moon Gyeonu had gone to work and only the two of them remained, Yeon-rok summoned his courage at lunchtime and spoke to Choi Hwan.
“Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll keep it a secret from Jun-ho Hyung, so just tell me anything.”
“Huh?”
Choi Hwan, who had been staring blankly at his phone in a slump, looked up in surprise. After obtaining his Korean food cooking certification, Yeon-rok had become capable of making a vast array of dishes. Blinking, Choi Hwan fumbled through his pockets and pulled out his wallet.
“Then, maybe tteokbokki…”
He habitually offered the money. In the past, Yeon-rok had taken money from him without a shred of guilt, but he couldn’t do that anymore. With a sigh, Yeon-rok pressed the bills back into Choi Hwan’s hand.
“Go buy some drinks and keep the rest.”
Baffled, Choi Hwan obediently left with his bodyguard to buy drinks. In the meantime, Yeon-rok began to cook. Since his cast made his arm uncomfortable, he asked Mrs. Park to help with prepping the ingredients and assisting with the cooking. He could have just asked Mrs. Park to handle the meal entirely, but he wanted to make it with his own hands, even if only in this capacity. He had only just finished making the sauce, but Choi Hwan was already sitting quietly at the table, gulping in anticipation.
After finishing the tteokbokki, he chopped up some vegetables found in the fridge and made fried sides. Dumplings, vegetables, shrimp, and sweet potatoes were fried to a golden, crispy perfection. He intentionally made the tteokbokki spicier than Choi Hwan’s usual preference, topped it with cheese, and added two sliced soft-boiled eggs. When he set it down alongside the fried food, even Yeon-rok’s mouth watered.
Choi Hwan ate the tteokbokki with great relish. Despite constantly hissing from the heat, he dipped the soft-boiled eggs and fried sides into the sauce. By the end, his tongue was practically burning, but he managed to finish every bit, finishing off with a yogurt drink. A look of complete satisfaction washed over his face. It seemed his melancholy had faded to some extent, but Yeon-rok didn’t stop there.
“Let’s go out. You need to see some sunlight to live. You need to exercise, too.”
The advantage of living in a neighborhood where not many people wandered around was that even a celebrity like Choi Hwan could get by just by wearing a hat.
For several days, he fed Choi Hwan “junk food” tailored to his tastes for lunch and dragged him outside to exercise in the sun. Finally, Choi Hwan regained his former brashness. Seeing him draped in luxury goods that Kim Jeong-seong had sourced from overseas, posting photos for his fans on social media, Yeon-rok felt a sense of pride. Walking together was quite pleasant, and he liked that Choi Hwan enjoyed his cooking.
To be honest, while feeding him tteokbokki, ramen, fried rice, and yangjangpi, he was worried on the other hand. Since he was an actor, he wondered if he was gaining too much weight… But strangely, it seemed like he was gaining muscle rather than fat. Since the other man already had a great physique, Yeon-rok, feeling the contrast, poked his own flat stomach while walking beside Choi Hwan.
“Want some water?”
Choi Hwan held out a water bottle to Yeon-rok, who was panting after walking a bit too fast up a sloped path. It wasn’t just the physique that differed. Perhaps because he moved around so much, his stamina was on another level. With a flushed face, Yeon-rok nodded while gasping for air. Since his arm was still in a cast, Choi Hwan kindly opened the cap and handed it to him.
Yeon-rok drank the water hurriedly. In the process, some water leaked and trickled down his neck to his chest. As he roughly wiped it away with his hand, he felt an intense gaze. Confused, he looked up to find Choi Hwan stretching.
Tilting his head, Yeon-rok casually handed the water bottle back. Choi Hwan, fluttering his damp t-shirt, spoke.
“Haa, the weather has warmed up a lot. It’s not cold at all even without an outer layer now.”
Because he had gotten hot while exercising, he had tied his jacket around his waist. Choi Hwan looked at Yeon-rok’s chest and spoke softly.
“It’s all visible.”
“…? What is?”
Since the other man was reacting strangely, Yeon-rok hurriedly looked down at his chest. He wondered if his nipples were embarrassingly prominent. However, since his chest was merely a bit wet, he looked back with a questioning face, and Choi Hwan cleared his throat.
“That… the name.”
“Ah, I thought it was something else. What’s the big deal about the name being visible?”
He gave the other man a light punch, as Choi Hwan was acting strangely innocent with a smirk. Choi Hwan fiddled with the area of his own chest where his name would be located and stared intently at Yeon-rok.
“…You have something on your face.”
“Where?”
Yeon-rok rubbed his face, but Choi Hwan only shook his head. Eventually, out of frustration, Yeon-rok asked, “Take it off for me,” and Choi Hwan moved as if he had been waiting for the request. His hand approached hesitantly, brushing past the hair to lightly touch the cheek. Being name partners, a pleasant warmth radiated from the point of contact. Because the distance was excessively close, Yeon-rok blinked. It wouldn’t have been strange if they suddenly kissed.
“Did you get it?”
“…I think I’m really lucky that you’re my name partner.”
Yeon-rok’s eyes widened at the sudden remark. Suddenly feeling embarrassed by the situation, Yeon-rok subtly pulled back. Rubbing the cheek where Choi Hwan’s hand had touched, he spoke playfully on purpose.
“Weren’t you the one saying we weren’t on the same level?”
“No. Thinking about it now… I was the one whose level didn’t match yours.”
The gaze staring at him without wavering for a second was quite serious. Yeon-rok began to feel flustered. Why is he acting like this? To say such mature things, did he suddenly turn over a new leaf? For now, Choi Hwan shook his head.
“I don’t care about levels. It’s just a difference in tendencies between people.”
“I guess so…”
Choi Hwan readily agreed with Yeon-rok’s words. After learning about his family history, Yeon-rok felt he roughly understood why Choi Hwan had developed such a personality. Far from providing emotional comfort, his family had only exploited him, and since he was a famous actor, people flocked to him, but there were few he could trust.
“I wish you were my family.”
“Huh?”
This statement truly shook Yeon-rok. Because “family” was the goal he had pursued since he was a child. Even until now.
Choi Hwan’s comment just now hit Yeon-rok’s heart precisely. It didn’t seem like a remark made because he had noticed Yeon-rok’s wish. That’s why it felt even more sincere. With a heated gaze and flushed cheeks, Choi Hwan was telling him with his entire body that he was focused on him.
“You said it before. That name partners are considered to be in a common-law marriage legally. Then isn’t that the same as being family?”
“I did say that, but…”
Wasn’t that just a line used to kick out Choi Hwan’s parents? Because so much had happened after welcoming the name partners, Yeon-rok had never even considered the letter ‘m’ of marriage with them. In the first place…
‘We can’t exactly have a joint wedding for four people.’
So there was no way he could think about a marital relationship. Whether Yeon-rok was confused or not, Choi Hwan continued to look at him with a flushed face and spoke. It was a fresh, youthful expression with a smile that Yeon-rok had never seen before.
“Having a family like this is really great.”
That was truly a statement that Yeon-rok’s heart could not help but react to. He could only part his lips, not knowing how to respond, when Choi Hwan smirked and gave him a friendly nudge.
“Let’s go home now.”
“Uh, yeah…”
Even after returning home, washing up, eating dinner, and lying in bed, Yeon-rok remained in a daze. After absentmindedly kneading Yeondu, he finally couldn’t hold it in and blurted it out.
“Does he… maybe like me…?”
Or was it just an overactive ego? Confused, he stared blankly up at the dark ceiling. Moon Gyeonu’s and Choi Hwan’s words swirled in his head.
‘I guarantee it. No one will be able to like you more than I do.’
‘Having a family like this is really great.’
And finally, Yeom Cheon-ho.
‘Because Yeon-rok-ssi is simply my precious person.’
Yeon-rok let out a silent scream and tore at his hair. Now he couldn’t even sleep. Eventually, he picked up his phone and entered the name manifestor community. Then, he diligently wrote a post.
[What would it be like if you had multiple name partners?]
This is just a hypothetical, but
What would it be like if you had multiple name partners?
I heard that name partners are naturally drawn to each other.
Then if there are several, are you drawn to all of them?
Do I have to do polyamory?
His fingers trembled particularly hard as he typed the word “polyamory.” Perhaps because of the clickbait title, replies came in quickly despite the late hour.