By Zephyria 
“Just. It’s not like I don’t have money in my account. And I’ve already received so much. So it’s a little… yeah.”
“Hmm, I suppose so. I understand. It might be burdensome.”
Yeon-rok nodded because he seemed to understand his feelings, but then Yeom Cheon-ho said this.
“But it’s my way of showing my sincerity, so I’d like Yeon-rok-ssi to use the card. Please do so in the future. Understood?”
“Huh? Yes? Yes…”
He answered in a daze and was about to stiffen, thinking that this wasn’t right. Choi Hwan appeared, huffing and puffing, causing Yeon-rok to flinch as if he had been burned. He was embarrassed and ashamed to have been holding hands intimately with Yeom Cheon-ho, so he quickly pulled his hand away, but Choi Hwan had already seen the scene. Yeom Cheon-ho glanced down at his now empty hand.
“…Huh?”
Choi Hwan gave Yeon-rok, whose face was red, a strange look, then forgot his anger and strode over and plopped down on the sofa. Unlike Yeon-rok, he didn’t seem to be intimidated by Yeom Cheon-ho at all. Rather, he sent him a blatantly probing look and spoke to him without hesitation.
“What brings you home?”
“How can the owner of the house leave the house empty for so long?”
“Well, you have been gone for a while, haven’t you?”
The conversation didn’t continue after that. Yeom Cheon-ho was so busy that he couldn’t even respond. Nevertheless, Choi Hwan and Yeon-rok continued to stay. At the same time, they quietly glared at each other, engaging in a battle of wills because of what had happened in the kitchen earlier. Yeon-rok felt like he would be losing if he left first.
‘Is that really my Name partner? That?’
As they exchanged stinging gazes filled with such thoughts, Yeon-rok noticed Yeom Cheon-ho making a futile gesture. He picked up his cup, probably thirsty, but put it back down after confirming it was empty. Even so, he didn’t take his eyes off the monitor, just flipping through documents.
Inwardly concerned, Yeon-rok got up from his seat. He brought a cup of water from the kitchen and handed it to him. Yeom Cheon-ho looked up and smiled kindly.
“Thank you, Yeon-rok. I was just thirsty.”
“It was nothing.”
As he turned around after that shy exchange, sure enough, Choi Hwan started a fight.
“Hey.”
Yeon-rok ignored him, but Choi Hwan persistently kept talking.
“Hey. Why don’t you get me water, but you get him water?”
Why would I get you water when I don’t even like you? But instead of engaging in a childish and low-class argument, Lee Yeon-rok held out his hand.
“50,000 won.”
“What?”
“I’ll get you water if you give me 50,000 won.”
Choi Hwan’s handsome eyes shot up at the confident demand for money.
“Why do you only take money from me when we’re both Name partners?”
“150 million.”
“What’s that?”
“The amount CEO Yeom Cheon-ho gave me in a lump sum.”
The money Yeon-rok had borrowed to buy a place where he could live happily with his Name partner was a little less than 150 million won. According to Kim Jeong-seong, Yeom Cheon-ho had paid it off at once and even given him the house he was living in. He even told him to use it as a villa when he wanted to be alone sometimes. So, Yeon-rok’s feelings for Yeom Cheon-ho couldn’t help but be exceptionally good.
“So, if you want to use me, give me money.”
Choi Hwan seemed speechless, his mouth gaping open. He jumped up from his seat and ran to his room. He came back and threw a check in front of Yeon-rok with force.
“Take this… and get me water from now on!”
From some point on, Yeom Cheon-ho had stopped working and was observing, but the two were too busy glaring at each other to notice.
“What are you talking about? This is nowhere near 150 million. You’re trying to hire a water servant for only 100,000 won? And it’s 50,000 won per serving.”
“That’s more than 50,000 won!”
“This is a down payment. 50,000 won is separate.”
“……!”
As if he really wanted to use Yeon-rok, Choi Hwan stubbornly took out more bills and threw them. Yeon-rok slowly picked up the bills and stuffed them into his pocket to annoy him, then dawdled as he got water and served it to Choi Hwan. Choi Hwan drank the water in big gulps, as if to show off.
Yeon-rok snorted. Where does 50,000 won grow on trees? If he could earn 50,000 won for just getting water, Yeon-rok would do it as much as he wanted. It seemed like improving his relationship with Choi Hwan was completely ruined, but he didn’t care. It was a ruined relationship from the start anyway.
After that, Choi Hwan must have made a lot of money, because he didn’t seem to care about wasting it. He ordered Yeon-rok to get him water all the time. He arrogantly scattered 10,000 won bills and then commanded, “Water,” and Yeon-rok would pick up the bills and get him water. After repeating that a few times, the command became natural.
“Hey. Make me some ramen.”
Choi Hwan, who had found Yeon-rok loitering near the most frequented spot in the house, waiting for someone to come, commanded arrogantly. In front of eyes that were contemplating how to make the other person feel humiliated, Yeon-rok lay comfortably on the sofa and held out his hand.
“Making ramen is 100,000 won. Adding an egg is 10,000 won.”
“……Do you have any conscience?”
“Looks like your diet is over? You’re even eating ramen.”
“……Don’t tell Jun-ho Hyung. 100,000 won will fly away.”
Choi Hwan spoke fiercely, like a villain who had only committed crimes his whole life. The sharp eyes and fiercely distorted brow exuded an aura of threat. Yeon-rok quietly looked at that malicious face and said,
“It’s obvious you’re acting.”
“Huh? Is it obvious? No way?”
Choi Hwan’s expression of panic immediately crumbled. Honestly, even Yeon-rok thought he was acting well enough to be convincing. He was just testing him. Yeon-rok held out his hand again to Choi Hwan, who was trying to look fierce again.
“Secret keeping fee, in advance.”
“……!”
Yeon-rok, who had received a generous amount of money from the manager in exchange for keeping his mouth shut, headed to the kitchen. He casually broke the ramen, roughly added water, and boiled it. Choi Hwan picked up his chopsticks with a look full of determination to find fault.
After taking a bite, he looked up at Lee Yeon-rok with a start. What? Did I cook it too well? That was the look on his face. Of course, I cooked it well. Isn’t ramen the most optimized food for eating alone? I’ve eaten it so much that I can now cook it with my eyes closed, making the egg a moist half-boiled and the noodles chewy.
“Ah, no. I even ate rice…….”
Choi Hwan, who had given up after only eating a few bites of noodles, feeling frustrated that he had opened his appetite, trudged off to the exercise room. Yeon-rok watched with satisfaction as Choi Hwan went to waste his precious holiday burning calories.
After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, he returned to the sofa and fiddled with his phone, looking around. It was unusually quiet today. He hadn’t noticed because he was usually with the working people until late, but lately, the air in the house before quitting time felt quite lonely and desolate.
As he lay listlessly on the sofa, he sat up with a start at the sound of someone coming in. Then he was disappointed. It was just Moon Kyeon-woo coming home early.
Even when he stared, Moon Kyeon-woo didn’t give him a single glance and went into his room, acting cold as usual. Yeon-rok lay down like a withered banana, then stretched his neck out again at the sound of someone coming out. Moon Kyeon-woo, dressed smartly, went out again without giving him a single glance. Is he going to meet a friend? Yeon-rok, suddenly feeling inexplicably deflated, rummaged through his phone’s address book.
Acquaintance, acquaintance, coworker, former coworker, acquaintance, person I’ve lost contact with, here too, lost contact years ago. End. He wondered if there was anyone he could meet, but they were all people he had met while working. It meant that they were just casual acquaintances who didn’t contact each other after work.
“Should I work out too…….”
He debated whether to go to the exercise room where Choi Hwan was diligently burning ramen calories, then aimlessly rummaged through the phone numbers of his orphanage friends, which were several years out of date. Then he heard the sound of the front door opening. Yeon-rok’s face brightened as he sat up with a start again.
“Secretary Hyung!”
“Lee Yeon-rok-nim.”
Kim Jeong-seong greeted Yeon-rok with a polite attitude as always. Then he pointed out that he was being called Secretary Hyung.
“Please, just call me comfortably.”
“I’m comfortable with this. How much more comfortably can I call you here? Jeong-seongie Hyung?”
Kim Jeong-seong immediately became serious when Yeon-rok subtly tried to build rapport. It was a bit hurtful.
“Secretary Hyung would be better. It would be difficult if Lee Yeon-rok-nim called me too familiarly.”
“Yes, well……. Secretary Hyung, have you had dinner?”
“Yes, I ate before coming in. How about you, Lee Yeon-rok-nim?”
“Not yet.”
It seemed like he would have to eat dinner alone tonight, so Yeon-rok got up reluctantly. He could feel his condition slowly deteriorating again. He hadn’t had any contact with anyone since he held hands with Yeom Cheon-ho last time.