By Zephyria 
“Yeah. We have to let the reporters catch a glimpse of it subtly.”
After roughly tidying up his clothes, the journey to the broadcasting station felt like a covert intelligence operation. It was because the reporters were practically foaming at the mouth, as Choi Hwan’s scandal had broken not long ago. While Choi Hwan openly entered through the main gate to draw the attention of the reporters and fans, Yeon-rok, whose face was less known, secretly infiltrated the station. Fortunately, no one recognized him.
A few minutes later, they reunited near the radio broadcast studio. Choi Hwan walked over with a smug look and said,
“I think a few reporters saw my bruises. I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Jo Jun-ho confirmed this while reading a recently published article. In the photo within the article, Choi Hwan looked like a rugged, wild beauty. In other words, he looked handsome even when beaten up. Everyone would be dying to know why Choi Hwan’s face was bruised. His calculation was to gather that firepower to expose his family’s tyranny.
Worried, Yeon-rok checked Choi Hwan’s complexion. He looked exhausted, likely from being hounded by the reporters, but he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. He gave Yeon-rok a friendly pat on the shoulder.
“Let’s get inside. I want to get an autograph from Ms. Yoo Eun-ha.”
Once they entered the studio, the PD, the writer, and the host, Yoo Eun-ha, welcomed them warmly. When Yeon-rok mentioned he was a longtime fan, Yoo Eun-ha gladly gave him an autograph. The subsequent broadcast also proceeded smoothly without any major issues.
As mentioned beforehand, the amount Yeon-rok had to speak was not much. Furthermore, Yoo Eun-ha was considerate of Yeon-rok, who was a civilian, and didn’t ask any mischievous questions. Choi Hwan was skilled at this, as if he had done this many times before. Yeon-rok watched him with curious eyes. Whenever he saw him being sincere about his work, he felt like a different person.
‘Honestly, he is kind of cool.’
Because his usual words and actions were so light, his charm stood out particularly in moments like this.
Yeon-rok snapped back to reality and focused on the broadcast. Even though his part was small and his face wasn’t visible, it was a live broadcast, so he was nervous and stared intently at the script. Glancing at him, Choi Hwan stealthily took his hand. Then, he mouthed the words:
‘It’s okay. Don’t be nervous.’
This guy, why is he suddenly acting so mature… Feeling awkward, Yeon-rok fiddled with their interlaced fingers. Yoo Eun-ha smiled upon seeing the two of them.
“You two look so affectionate that it makes my heart feel lonely as a single person. Come to think of it, I’m curious about your first meeting. Where and how did you two meet?”
Focusing on the warm heat flowing from the hand he held with Choi Hwan, Yeon-rok spoke calmly into the microphone.
“Our first meeting was ordinary. Like other name manifestors, we met at the name matching center.”
“So it was a meeting at the name matching center. How did you feel when you first saw Mr. Choi Hwan, partner? If it were me, I wouldn’t have believed it. To think that the Choi Hwan is my name partner?”
“Haha, yes. Actually, I couldn’t believe it at first, so I asked the staff. I checked several times if I had come to the right place.”
Naturally, he couldn’t be honest about their first meeting. Choi Hwan’s first words had been, ‘Is this person perhaps a scammer?’ Thus, after passing through the writer’s hands, their first meeting was described like the beginning of a romance novel.
Following that, they naturally verified the official certification documents of manifestation from the name matching center. This was to dispel any suspicions that he might be a fake name partner. After sharing some fabricated, sweet stories about their daily lives, the broadcast reached its midpoint. The PD’s face beamed, seeing how high the listenership was. He gave them a big thumbs-up.
“Yes, we’ve heard the sweet love story of actor Choi Hwan and his partner. Now, let’s change the subject. Actor Choi Hwan, I hear you have something to say regarding the so-called ‘scandal’ this time.”
“That’s right. There is something I absolutely want to say. Um… it’s hard to bring up.”
Choi Hwan frowned his straight eyes and gave a very bitter smile. Seeing his sorrowful face that looked as if he had a tragic story, the eyebrows of Yoo Eun-ha and the other staff members naturally drooped. However, strangely, Yeon-rok alone felt that Choi Hwan was acting right now.
“I grew up in an orphanage until I entered elementary school.”
Surprised, Yeon-rok’s gaze turned toward Choi Hwan. This was a story he knew nothing about. It was because he had only seen his own script and not Choi Hwan’s.
“I’m not saying my current parents aren’t my biological parents. I have an older brother and sister, but the family fortune declined after I was born, and perhaps because a newborn was a burden, I alone was sent to the orphanage.”
Choi Hwan spent time in an orphanage too? In that moment, Yeon-rok recalled Moon Gyeonu’s words.
‘I’m an orphan. I have no parents, so there’s nothing to tell.’
Moon Gyeonu, Choi Hwan, and Lee Yeon-rok had all experienced living in an orphanage. Yeom Cheon-ho had a father, but their relationship was like enemies, and his mother wasn’t mentioned at all. It meant that all four of them shared a similar void.
If this was a commonality they possessed because they were name partners, wasn’t it a truly strange and sorrowful coincidence?
“I reunited with my family when I was six. Luckily, I was able to become a child model. Once I started earning money, my parents came to get me immediately. At first, I was truly happy. I thought I finally had a family and could be with them.”
The history that followed was, no matter how one heard it, child abuse itself.
When Choi Hwan was active as a child model, there wasn’t much awareness regarding children’s labor hours. It was an environment unimaginable by today’s standards. These people called parents worked Choi Hwan as if 24 hours a day weren’t enough. And occasionally, they would grant affection as if doing him a favor, continuing the gaslighting. Often, he was beaten only in places that weren’t easily visible to others.
Thus, from his childhood until now, most of the money he earned had been exploited. Listening to Choi Hwan’s story, Yoo Eun-ha gasped.
“To think such things happened, it must have been so hard for you. This is something that truly should never have happened.”
“Actually, I intended to hide this story for my entire life. The most precious thing to me was my acting career, and I didn’t want to be tied down by this past. In my own way, I wanted to receive an objective evaluation of my acting. But seeing the most precious person to me now being cursed like this, I felt that I should no longer hide it.”
“It must have been a difficult decision, so thank you for having the courage to tell us.”
“It was courage I was able to find thanks to my partner.”
Until now, his voice had been acting out emotional agitation, but this time, sincerity was felt. Suddenly, Yeon-rok’s heart fluttered strangely.
“We are not in a fake relationship, as my family made it seem. We are in a relationship based on mutual affection and trust, and we are precious to each other as life itself. He is my one and only true… family.”
With those words, the radio broadcast finally came to an end. Until that moment, Choi Hwan and Yeon-rok continued to hold hands. It was a hot and damp contact, likely from sweat from one of them. However, neither of them let go.
“What truly is family? Especially the relationship between parent and child is said to be a heavenly bond. But isn’t the most important thing the heart that loves and cares for the other person?”
Ending the story like that, Yoo Eun-ha delivered the closing remarks.
“This has been Yoo Eun-ha’s Happy Radio, together with actor Choi Hwan and his partner. Thank you.”
After Yoo Eun-ha’s radio broadcast aired, Choi Hwan’s family was cursed nationwide. It was even more so because Choi Hwan’s case wasn’t the first of its kind.
Incidents where famous celebrities paid off their family’s debts or had their money embezzled by family members happened often enough to be remembered. Each time, it became a huge issue, and in Choi Hwan’s case, the impact was severe as he was a top star at the peak of his popularity, intertwined with the issue of child abuse.
The family’s fake interviews, the agency’s exposure of evidence, and the assault videos of Choi Hwan released after the photos. Articles poured out incessantly every day, and public opinion boiled over. Everyone was appalled when it was revealed that the family’s abuse had started in childhood and continued until now.
Due to the shocking issue of Choi Hwan’s family history, the interest in Yeon-rok quietly subsided.
With the help of the army of lawyers Yeom Cheon-ho had provided, Choi Hwan sued his family. In the case of child abuse, fortunately, the statute of limitations applies from the moment one becomes an adult. In this case, the statute of limitations is seven years. In other words, the statute of limitations for the crimes committed against the twenty-five-year-old Choi Hwan had not yet expired.