Thinking something felt strange, when he looked again, Yeom Cheonho had roughly put Choi Hwan in a chokehold and was shoving his fingers into his mouth. Looking at Choi Hwan’s expression, it was clear this was not consensual action. As Yeonrok ran to pull the two apart, Yeom Cheonho, who had been straining until veins bulged blue on his neck, achieved his goal.
“Urk! Kack kack!”
With coughing sounds, Choi Hwan spat out a pill from his mouth. Yeom Cheonho quickly snatched it and threw it into the sink, flushing it down with water. Choi Hwan, his face bright red, retched a few more times then exploded in anger.
“What the hell are you doing!”
Perhaps enraged, he completely threw out his usual polite speech. Yeom Cheonho, who lightly breathed and steadied his breath, pulled off and threw away his saliva-covered glove. He swept up his disheveled hair and spoke in a cold voice Yeonrok had never heard before.
“I can’t stand to see my Name Partner going around doing drugs.”
Yeonrok’s mouth fell open in shock as he looked at Choi Hwan, who jumped up. Then he pointed and shouted.
“Who are you accusing of being a drug addict! It’s not drugs!”
“There’s some misunderstand—”
Isn’t there, let’s talk about it—Yeonrok was trying to mediate when Choi Hwan shouted with a face that said he was going crazy from injustice.
“I clearly said! It’s medicine that helps me concentrate on acting! I said it’s not drugs? I told you even exam students all take it!”
At the suspiciously questionable efficacy of the medicine that anyone could hear, Yeonrok unconsciously completely changed his expression and interrogated Choi Hwan.
“……Hey. Who gave you that?”
“You asked right. You’ve heard of Hwang Siyeon, right? He gave it to me and he’s really a trustworthy friend! He’s a really good guy!”
Thinking he’d seen every kind of idiot, Yeonrok berated Choi Hwan.
“Hwang Siyeon or whatever, how do you know if it’s medicine or drugs and still shove it in your mouth, you moron!”
Yeonrok, who had often teased him for being foolish and easily tricked, now began to genuinely worry about Choi Hwan’s intelligence. When even Yeonrok pressed him, Choi Hwan flinched and shouted with deflated energy.
“Moron! I graduated from Korea University!”
“Then I guess you’re a moron who graduated from Korea University.”
“……!”
While Choi Hwan was gaping and yelling at Yeonrok, Yeom Cheonho called somewhere. In less than an hour, Choi Hwan’s agency CEO and manager appeared. Only then understanding the situation, Yeom Cheonho blocked Choi Hwan who tried to escape. The agency CEO, who had appeared with a flustered face after being suddenly summoned by the bigwig Yeom Cheonho in the middle of the night, listened to the story then roared.
“Hey, you bastard! Are you out of your mind? Picking up and eating anything anywhere!”
At this point, the naive excuse of “I got it from a trustworthy friend so it’s fine” didn’t even come out, as Choi Hwan shriveled up. Even the good-natured Jo Junho was making an enraged goblin-like expression. Choi Hwan, thoroughly shaken down by the two, was dragged off to the hospital just like that. While he was getting a drug test at the hospital, Park Yeoin and Kim Jeongseong thoroughly searched Choi Hwan’s room.
Fortunately, nothing much came out of the room, and Choi Hwan’s drug test results were also fine. It seemed he hadn’t touched drugs until now, and the item he said he received from a friend was medicine taken by ADHD patients.
However, this matter didn’t end there.
In Yeonrok’s eyes, he could see that the relationship between Yeom Cheonho and Choi Hwan had grown ice cold. Yeom Cheonho seemed to have no hard feelings and his attitude returned to how it was before, but only Choi Hwan seemed to have deep resentment without knowing any shame.
Yeonrok suddenly recalled a video he’d seen before. A dog that unknowingly ate something it shouldn’t have and was forcibly dragged to the animal hospital to get its stomach pumped……. Choi Hwan, who kept his distance and glared fiercely whenever he saw Yeom Cheonho, looked exactly like that.
‘Oh dear, he’s too immature to know how to reflect.’
That was the extent of Yeonrok’s thoughts. And several days later. He was enjoying a delicious breakfast and hanging out with the bodyguards, declaring he would quit smoking after smoking just until today. Yeonrok, who was enjoying his last smoke, saw something and coughed.
“Did it go down the wrong pipe?”
“Kack, cough, no……. Just now…….”
Didn’t Moon Gyeonwoo just give Choi Hwan chocolate and kiss him on the cheek? Did I see wrong? Yeonrok doubted his eyes in a daze.
“Was today Valentine’s Day?”
At Yeonrok’s question, Park Chungseong, who quickly checked the calendar on his phone, nodded.
“Ah, come to think of it, today was Valentine’s Day.”
“Since you don’t have a lover, you didn’t even know it was Valentine’s Day.”
“Do you have a lover then?”
“…….”
“Ah. That. I wasn’t referring to Lee Yeonrok-nim……!”
Park Chungseong was batting back Jeong Boeun’s teasing when he unintentionally poked Yeonrok’s sore spot. Thanks to that, Yeonrok, who received friendship chocolate from the two as compensation for poking his side, returned home. I must have seen wrong, right? I must have mistaken them whispering as kissing on the cheek, right? Well, Choi Hwan is dating Yeom Cheonho anyway…….
And that evening, Moon Gyeonwoo and Choi Hwan confirmed that Yeonrok’s eyesight was perfectly fine. After hanging out on the rooftop eating alphabet chocolates and coming down, it was somehow noisy. Such commotion was rare in this quiet and peaceful house, so when he went to find the source in bewilderment, it was the living room. Surprisingly, Yeom Cheonho was angry.
“This is truly unpleasant.”
Even Yeom Cheonho’s way of being angry was incomparably refined. Erasing his usual gentle appearance, he was surprisingly domineering—so much so that even Yeonrok, who wasn’t the person involved, naturally shrank. Where his cold gaze fell were Choi Hwan and Moon Gyeonwoo. Since it didn’t seem like a situation for him to get involved in, Yeonrok hid behind the inner door and listened.
“I know you’re angry at me. Actually, I don’t even know if it’s something to be angry about.”
“No…….”
Choi Hwan tried to protest something, but Yeom Cheonho cut him off.
“But while we’re dating, isn’t this impolite? Not saying anything for several days, then appearing and showing me you’re with Moon Gyeonwoo-ssi?”
That voice was so cold it seemed the living room temperature had dropped below zero. No, more than that, Choi Hwan you crazy bastard! Yeonrok shrieked internally. Just because he stopped you from taking some sketchy medicine a friend gave you, you’re dating Yeom Cheonho but switched straight to Moon Gyeonwoo without any closure?
What do they call this kind of thing? Yeonrok searched his memory. Love-at-first-sight type? Poly…… what? Polyamory? Is that it? Was that dating multiple people? Anyway, he understood well that this was a complete mess right now.
Moreover, Choi Hwan aside, what about Moon Gyeonwoo? Just a month ago he was gloomy and drinking heavily because he broke up with his lover, but when on earth did he and Choi Hwan hit it off? Even Moon Gyeonwoo’s face looking at Choi Hwan was endlessly gentle.
“Really! Do you only know we broke up if I say it in words, hyung? Can’t you read the room and roughly get that we broke up?”
In Yeonrok’s view, Choi Hwan seemed to be going beyond brave to reckless. He was excessively shameless and senseless. Even Moon Gyeonwoo added words in this situation.
“It’s unfortunate it turned out this way, but trust between lovers was broken, so it’s an unavoidable result.”
“Right! I even understand not letting me take the medicine! I know I did wrong! But did you have to tattle to the CEO and Junho hyung about all of it?! Do you know how broken I am? I can’t go anywhere now without Junho hyung!”
Won’t you please reflect a little?
At Moon Gyeonwoo and Choi Hwan’s shameless attitude, Yeom Cheonho pressed his lips tightly and swept over them with a cold gaze.
“I understand. Since it’s all over now, you two do as you please.”
Then he turned around with an even indifferent attitude, but Choi Hwan…….
“No! Really, why are you so lacking in humanity? I’m saying I’m dating Moon Gyeonwoo and that’s all the reaction you have? Did you even like me, Cheonho hyung? You said I was your first love!”
It was an inwardly hurt voice. Listening to it, Yeonrok felt so frustrated he silently pounded his chest. But then Yeom Cheonho…….
“Who was it that went around saying we were meeting because our grades matched? I just acted accordingly. And when did I say you were my first love?”
He said that. At that cold and heartless voice that made even Yeonrok flinch, Choi Hwan jumped and shouted like this.
“You said I was your first love!”
Since he complained so unfairly, when Yeonrok searched his memory, it seemed like Yeom Cheonho had never actually said “first love” with his own mouth.
“You think I didn’t want to talk about grades matching or whatever! I didn’t say it out loud but I was building walls in my heart. You know it all. What good is it to just go along with actions? When there’s no heart in it? And honestly, seeing each other only two or three times a week, is that a lover……?!”
On top of that, Moon Gyeonwoo began taking Choi Hwan’s side like an annoying sister-in-law.
“Hwan is right. Neglecting your lover with the excuse of not having enough time? If it were me, I couldn’t even imagine it. Of course I know Yeom Cheonho-ssi is ‘a little’ busy, but even so, it’s basic courtesy, isn’t it?”
Having heard up to there, Yeonrok shook his head. I don’t want to get involved in that mess. Not now, not ever in the future……. Yeonrok backed away and quietly retreated. Then he returned to his well-soundproofed room, firmly closed the door, and hugged his comfort doll Yeondoo.
