By Zephyria 
“What are you reporting to the police?”
Choi Hwan let out a sharp yelp, startled by the voice suddenly coming from behind him. He turned around to find Moon Gyeon-woo scowling. Gyeon-woo looked at him with a coldness that could strip away all affection and criticized him.
“What kind of troublesome accident are you trying to cause now? Wasn’t it enough that you made things hard for Yeon-rok by causing a scene last time?”
“That’s already in the past! I cleaned it up! It’s all over now.”
Even as Choi Hwan spoke, he stole a glance at Yeon-rok. Naturally, Yeon-rok was still displeased that Choi Hwan had arbitrarily exposed him as his lover, despite them being name partners. However, as Choi Hwan said, it had been handled smoothly enough that he didn’t hold a grudge to this extent. Feeling anxious and snapping because he had been provoked exactly as the other intended, Choi Hwan spoke.
“I’m not the one being reported; I’m talking about reporting Yeom Cheon-ho.”
“……CEO Yeom Cheon-ho?”
With an intrigued expression, Moon Gyeon-woo took a seat. Yeon-rok, starting to feel uneasy that their recent peace might be shattered, tried to escape the situation.
“I don’t know what this is about, but let’s just ask the CEO.”
Choi Hwan didn’t even pretend to listen. After hearing about what happened last night, Moon Gyeon-woo surprisingly accepted the speculation quite seriously. He thought deeply for a moment and then said something unexpected.
“Come to think of it, it is a bit suspicious how CEO Yeom Cheon-ho goes somewhere every Wednesday evening. Whenever he returns home, his clothes are always changed.”
“How do you know that?”
“There’s a visible life pattern; how could you not know? Are you an idiot?”
Setting Choi Hwan aside, I hadn’t known at all either… As Yeon-rok felt awkward, Moon Gyeon-woo quickly changed his tone.
“Of course, you might not notice if you’re focusing on your own work.”
Choi Hwan, who had been called an idiot for no reason, raised his eyebrows in dissatisfaction. Completely ignoring him, Moon Gyeon-woo spoke firmly.
“Regardless, I’m against reporting him to the police. What do you plan to do? Do you have evidence? What if something goes wrong and reporters get attached? Are you going to scramble to clean up the mess again if an article breaks this time?”
Seeing that neither of their reactions were favorable, Choi Hwan’s mouth pouted. After a brief moment of thought, Moon Gyeon-woo spoke.
“We can just install a camera in that room and see what he’s doing. If worst comes to worst, it’ll serve as video evidence.”
“Oh! That’s a great idea. Reporting to the police will be easy then.”
It seemed no one intended to simply ask Yeom Cheon-ho. Since the two were rarely in such sync, Yeon-rok simply went out to exercise with the bodyguards. And he tuned out of the matter.
However, a few days later, someone knocked on Yeon-rok’s door. When he opened it without much thought, it was Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan. Neither of them looked very happy.
“It failed.”
“Nothing was recorded?”
Yeon-rok, barely recalling the talk about installing a camera, asked in confusion. Moon Gyeon-woo shook his head.
“As soon as the Secretary entered, he ran a detector and found both the camera and the bug.”
To go through such thorough security procedures every day—that did sound quite strange. That aside, why did they insist on coming to his room to discuss their plot? Yeon-rok had no choice but to let them in. Moon Gyeon-woo muttered with a venomous glint in his eyes.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll have to tail him one Wednesday evening.”
Yeon-rok hoped they would just handle it between themselves, regardless of what they did, as long as he was left out. But then Choi Hwan spoke.
“Could he be secretly meeting a lover? Why else would he change his clothes every time?”
Yeon-rok flinched, unable to simply ignore those words. Moon Gyeon-woo noticed Yeon-rok’s reaction. The muscles in his jaw tightened for a moment.
“Rich third-generation chaebols always play dirty. He might be going to some kind of orgy party. He might be doing all sorts of strange and filthy things in that room too.”
Hearing that, Yeon-rok recalled the sounds he had heard in the Bluebeard’s room one day. It was definitely the sound of a stranger sobbing. Feeling increasingly uneasy, he unconsciously frowned, and Moon Gyeon-woo sighed.
“You could be a writer instead of an actor.”
The oblivious Choi Hwan realized belatedly that it was a sarcastic remark. Being equally temperamental, he glared at Moon Gyeon-woo, so Yeon-rok subtly stepped in between them. Only then did Choi Hwan look away and scoff.
“And how exactly do you plan to tail him? Bodyguards follow us everywhere we go. Whether we follow him from home or the office, he’ll definitely notice immediately.”
“What’s so hard about it? We just make an appointment for Wednesday at 7 PM and have him meet us outside. Tell him there’s a party at a club you frequent.”
At Moon Gyeon-woo’s suggestion, Choi Hwan quickly shouted while glancing at Yeon-rok.
“Hey! I don’t go to clubs these days!”
“Whether you go to clubs these days or not is none of my business. Just give a plausible-sounding excuse. What’s a crowded and bustling place where we can sufficiently shake off the guards?”
The two put their heads together and agonized over it, but there was truly nothing as appropriate as a combination of a club and a party. The location was decided as a club where Choi Hwan used to frequently escape his manager to play. Next was a suitable excuse to throw a party. After struggling with the conflict, Yeon-rok finally decided to cooperate with the plan.
“Come to think of it, my birthday is coming up soon. Actually, it’s next Wednesday.”
Perhaps because it was unexpected cooperation, the two looked at him with surprised eyes. However, Yeon-rok had his own reasons.
He considered the intention behind why Yeom Cheon-ho had warned him not to enter that room. If he wanted to hide it completely, he wouldn’t have said anything in the first place. Nor would he have placed that room on the second floor where the three of their bedrooms were. Yeon-rok felt that Yeom Cheon-ho was sending them some kind of message.
To approach and uncover that secret of their own volition.
He might be overthinking it. But regardless, that was how it seemed to Yeon-rok. He had an uneasy intuition that knowing what kind of secret Yeom Cheon-ho held would be a headache. That was why he had tried to ignore it all along, but now the time had come to face it. However, Moon Gyeon-woo opposed it for an unexpected reason.
“It’s a bit of a waste to use Yeon-rok’s birthday for something like this.”
Yeon-rok blinked, then rubbed the back of his neck and muttered shyly.
“It’s not like my birthday is a big deal…”
He felt quite good. The absolute support and favoritism of Moon Gyeon-woo, which Yeon-rok had once envied, were now his. Regardless of the burden of Moon Gyeon-woo’s actions, he felt a deep emotional satisfaction. Choi Hwan, who had been looking at Moon Gyeon-woo with disapproval, quickly chimed in.
“It really is a bit of a waste. Instead, I’ll throw you a truly amazing party. I’m really good at that stuff!”
Just as he had boasted, Choi Hwan threw a truly amazing party.
As soon as he received a heartfelt bowl of seaweed soup from Mrs. Park, he excitedly dragged Yeon-rok to the shop from early morning. After spending several hours carefully considering and trying on a few pre-selected outfits, the final choice was simply perfect. Even Yeon-rok himself was surprised by how handsome he looked in the mirror.
“Who did you say was coming?”
Yeon-rok asked as they got into the car. Choi Hwan, dressed flashily, was already excited and rattled off a list.
“Those hyungs I saw at the club last time, kids who know how to party properly, celebrities, a DJ, and also…”
At the end of the seamless list, the most important people were mentioned.
“And finally, Moon Gyeon-woo and Yeom Cheon-ho, and us. That’s it!”
That seemed like enough people. The party was set to officially begin at 5 PM. Moon Gyeon-woo said he would leave work early and come straight there, and Yeom Cheon-ho also promised to arrive by 6 PM at the latest. Thus, Choi Hwan and Yeon-rok, the host and protagonist with the most flexible schedules, decided to arrive first to check everything.
Choi Hwan said he had rented out the entire club for tonight using this month’s settlement money. He claimed to have spent money like water on the party, but the entrance looked unexpectedly desolate.
‘Well, since he said he spent a huge amount just renting the club, it makes sense he couldn’t be as extravagant elsewhere.’
Yeon-rok thought so, but he was mistaken. The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, his eyes widened.
Waves of gold and green flowed from all directions. The gold helium balloons floating in abundance on the ceiling were filled with vivid green confetti.
“It’ll be quite a sight when these pop.”
The next thing he showed him was the clover covering the giant flowerbeds placed on both sides of the hall. Choi Hwan said with an excited face.
“It’s an event where the person who finds a four-leaf clover gets a clover made of real gold as a gift.”
Following that, he guided him through finger foods containing edible gold powder and green coloring, a banner that took up an entire wall with ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY YEONROK’ printed in large letters, a random giant teddy bear, a capsule machine full of gold and green capsules, a warm water pool, and high-volume speakers. It was enough to make one’s head spin. Overwhelmed, Yeon-rok asked.
“How much money did you spend here?”
“A little bit much…?”
It was terrifying when someone who spent money like water said it was “a little bit much.” Then, Choi Hwan said this.
“Why? What’s wrong with spending some money on my lover’s birthday party?”