A moment of silence flowed. Soon Choi Hwan burst into cheerful laughter. His eyes tilted toward Yeom Cheonho were sparkling.
“What’s that? It sounds like I’m your first love or something.”
Yeom Cheonho only laughed softly as if affirming it. Yeonrok lay still and thought. To think that a first love he met in the past had even become his Name Partner—it would make sense to consider it fate and ask to date first. Having now completely missed the timing to reveal his presence, Yeonrok just continued listening to the two people’s conversation.
“When did we really meet? Give me a hint.”
“We met on Christmas Eve.”
“Christmas Eve? You’re not talking about some novel, are you? No, I really don’t remember at all? Can’t you at least tell me how many years ago it was?”
“Actually……. I’d like to keep that meeting as my own memory. I ask for your understanding.”
Yeonrok felt a bit regretful. Why am I…… listening to a conversation between newly dating lovers here? And I’m slowly needing to use the bathroom. While Yeonrok was spacing out, the two bickered for a while about whether to reveal or not reveal their first meeting story. Soon Yeom Cheonho left because he was busy with work. It was when Yeonrok hoped Choi Hwan would leave quickly too.
“Ugh, first love bullshit! Uugh! I can’t stand it!”
“……?”
As soon as Yeom Cheonho left, Choi Hwan’s attitude changed completely. He shuddered and scratched his body roughly.
“That hyung is worse than filming a romance movie. ……Ack! What!”
The grumbling Choi Hwan casually turned his head toward the slowly spinning hanging rattan chair, then jumped when he locked eyes with Yeonrok who had been sitting there. He shrieked and pointed his finger at Yeonrok.
“What what what are you! Eavesdropping like a rat!”
“I was here first taking a nap in the first place. More than that, you were acting like you like the President?”
When Yeonrok spoke in an interested voice, Choi Hwan flinched reflexively. He looked around, then glared with a prickly attitude like a sea urchin.
“So what?”
“…….”
“Ah! It’s my first time dating! And it’s also true that I’m most attracted to that President hyung, so what’s wrong with acting a little?”
When Yeonrok just stared at him silently, Choi Hwan, perhaps feeling guilty, spilled everything smoothly. There was something unbelievable among them, so Yeonrok narrowed his eyes.
“It’s your first time dating? You’re lying.”
His behavior was so skilled that he couldn’t trust it at all, so when he looked him up and down suspiciously, Choi Hwan got angry.
“Why would I lie! Do you know how much my manager and CEO keep me in check? From when I was a child actor until now, I’ve never even pretended to date except when acting!”
Choi Hwan protested in a voice full of injustice and sorrow. Come to think of it, Choi Hwan was an actor who debuted at a relatively young age and built his career step by step. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had the highest value among the actors in his agency, and his personality wasn’t docile either, so the CEO and manager seemed to keep him firmly in check. Yeonrok propped his chin and said loudly.
“So the President is your first love and first relationship?”
“Don’t say first love!”
Perhaps because it was unbearable just to hear, Choi Hwan jumped again. Looking at him like this, he definitely seemed like someone who had never dated before.
“When he was the one who brought up first love or whatever first. Oh, wait, then.”
While listening to Choi Hwan’s words, something suddenly came to mind, so Yeonrok unconsciously blurted out.
“Then was that your first kiss with the President?”
“Wha, what are you saying! I’ve done it before! I did it as soon as I got my ID!”
“Don’t tell me you count kisses done during filming as real kisses?”
“……!”
Perhaps embarrassed at being caught in an unexpected area, Choi Hwan let out a silent scream and rushed over. As the two bickered, the rattan chair shook violently. Choi Hwan, who barely caught up to the spinning rattan chair as Yeonrok frantically kicked his feet, finally grabbed his collar and threatened.
“You bastard! Are you going to keep spying?!”
“Then don’t do your dating stuff at home. You let me see everything! Did I want to see this?! Let go!”
Since they kept shaking on the hanging chair, motion sickness was starting to come up, so Yeonrok got irritated and coldly pushed off Choi Hwan’s hand, then flinched. A warm energy had spread intensely from the skin-to-skin contact. Choi Hwan was also startled and let go of the collar he’d been gripping. It had been well over a month since they’d moved into this house, and this was finally the first contact between Yeonrok and Choi Hwan.
A moment of silence flowed between the two. Choi Hwan, who had been rubbing his hand, placed his foot on the swaying rattan chair and firmly fixed it so it couldn’t rotate anymore. He looked down at Yeonrok and asked arrogantly.
“So have you kissed anyone?”
“Of course. I already had a pretty lover in high school. I did it way before you did.”
Perhaps thinking he’d lost in dating experience, Choi Hwan’s face became sullen. But he soon snorted and leaned forward with a thuggish, cocky expression.
“Wow, even trash like this dates?”
Looking Yeonrok up and down like that, Choi Hwan made a subtle expression. He grabbed the edge and leaned forward even more.
“……Well, your face is somewhat passable, I guess.”
Shadows fell between his sharp nose bridge and straight eyebrows. As expected of a profession that lived off looks, he was even more handsome and burdensome up close. Yeonrok unconsciously tilted his head back. Wha, what? Is he crazy? Why is he getting so close?
It was when the tense Yeonrok clenched his fist. The corner of Choi Hwan’s mouth, who had brought his face close as if about to kiss him any moment, curved up with a smirk. He mischievously flicked the end of Yeonrok’s tied-up hair with his finger.
“Are you nervous right now?”
“……What?”
“Don’t tell me you thought I was going to kiss you? With trashy hair like this, I don’t even feel like it.”
When Yeonrok was dumbfounded, he giggled, then Choi Hwan pulled his body back as if in a much better mood. He cockily stuck his hands in his pockets and left indifferently. Yeonrok glared at that annoying back view and made a decision. Talking about kissing and all. As expected, I definitely need to keep this hairstyle for a while.
* * *
“Young Master, you really have excellent athletic ability.”
Today too, Park Chungseong and Jeong Boeun generously showered him with praise bordering on flattery. Wiping his sweat with the towel the other person handed him, Yeonrok smiled brightly. It felt refreshing and good to move his body around. Jeong Boeun looked at Yeonrok with regretful eyes.
“However, it’s unfortunate that you don’t build muscle easily. Originally, with self-defense and person-to-person sports like boxing or fighting, the bigger your physique, the more advantageous it becomes.”
“The thing is, just maintaining my weight is hard. I have a constitution that doesn’t gain weight easily.”
He was even eating everything Park Yeoin gave him, but he’d recently lost another 1kg. It might have been because he’d been sleeping in late and eating breakfast and lunch together. Because of that, Park Yeoin made him health food at least once a week.
“Whether it’s protein or carbohydrates, you should consume without being picky. Just put everything that suits your taste in your mouth. Let’s at least increase your body fat percentage.”
The exercise ended along with the advice of the bodyguards who were playing a role similar to health trainers beyond just self-defense instructors. After lightly running to warm up his body, Yeonrok was opening the door to the shower room attached to the exercise room when he paused.
“……What?”
Choi Hwan, who must have finished exercising first and was coming out after showering, glanced at the hairband Yeonrok was wearing with a very displeased look. He almost glared at the T-shirt whose collar had stretched from years of wear. On the other hand, Yeonrok’s attention was caught elsewhere.
‘……So his Name was in that kind of place.’
Unlike Yeonrok’s, which was located on the right side of his chest, Choi Hwan’s “Name” was located on the left side of his chest. If Yeom Cheonho’s Name appeared on his back in the same position as if Yeonrok’s pattern had been pushed through, Choi Hwan’s was in a position that seemed horizontally flipped. Yeonrok suddenly became curious. Where exactly was Moon Gyeonwoo’s pattern located? But given their current relationship, it was uncertain whether he’d be able to find out in the future.
“Jealous of my body? The muscles are no joke, right?”
Perhaps misunderstanding what Yeonrok’s gaze toward the pattern meant, Choi Hwan puffed up with pride. Though not as much of a physique as Yeom Cheonho, it was a splendid body that clearly showed the care put into it, good enough to be second. Yeonrok’s expression became serious.
“No, I’m not jealous at all?”
Then he pretended not to hear what Choi Hwan was about to say more and breezed past him into the shower room.
Yeonrok, who had stripped off his clothes to become naked, turned on the shower. He wiped the mirror, already full of moisture from Choi Hwan’s use, with his palm. His brow furrowed truthfully as he unconsciously compared Choi Hwan’s body, which had been close to a perfect sculpture with extremely controlled body fat, with his own body.
“……I’m really not jealous at all.”
He was grumbling and coming out after washing squeaky clean when, for some reason, Choi Hwan was waiting for him while leaning against the wall.
