After this commotion, Choi Hwan and Moon Gyeonwoo didn’t just get on Ms. Park’s bad side—they had a nail of hatred firmly hammered in. It’s not that Ms. Park particularly mistreated or criticized them. She served meals the same as usual.
However, she didn’t say a single word unless spoken to first, and never once asked if they’d like snacks or dessert before being requested. Only to Yeonrok did she call him ‘our young master’ and treat him warmly.
“Ms. Park! Why is the fresh kimchi so delicious today? I won’t be able to eat anywhere else now. Everything else is tasteless.”
Yeonrok also just acted cute as if nothing had happened and received Ms. Park’s affection. Around that time, Yeonrok, who had obtained a Korean cuisine cooking certification with Ms. Park’s full support, prepared a whole table of food just for Ms. Park and scored major points. Moved, Ms. Park even teared up.
Having lived in this house for several months now, Yeonrok had adapted quite well to life here, to the point where he didn’t even think about his old home. Honestly, this warm, full-bellied, leisurely life where someone did all the housework and prepared every meal without him having to pay a single penny was quite nice. Except for his condition fluctuating from not having enough contact with his Name Partners, it was an incomparably good time.
However, if there was one drawback…
“Hwan-ah.”
Yeonrok’s chopsticks flinched during breakfast. No matter how many times he heard it, he just couldn’t get used to this affectionate voice.
“You have filming today, right? Take this with you.”
He was concentrating on pretending not to hear while deboning his grilled yellow croaker, but sadly, Yeonrok’s ears were far too clear.
“What’s this?”
Moon Gyeonwoo rounded his eyes as he placed a thermos in the bewildered Choi Hwan’s arms. His actions and tone were so affectionate they seemed to drip honey.
“Citron tea. It’s still a bit chilly, so make sure to drink it well.”
“Hyung, why do you even prepare all these things.”
At departure time, hearing the sound of the two people being all lovey-dovey, Yeonrok turned his head.
Moon Gyeonwoo, who had instantly forgotten the old lover he’d yearned for so desperately, looked at Choi Hwan with an affectionate gaze. It was simply amazing that a person who used to be so cold could be this warm. Just when and how did he fall for Choi Hwan?
Anyway, hearing this cursed nonsense every time he came out for breakfast, Yeonrok actually thought the time when Choi Hwan was dating Yeom Cheonho was better.
“Have a good day.”
“Yeah. See you tonight.”
Only after Moon Gyeonwoo left for work could Yeonrok escape from his suffering a bit. He was skillfully wrapping rice in seasoned seaweed and eating it deliciously with dried radish strips when Choi Hwan, who was still sitting there since it wasn’t time for his schedule yet, suddenly got irritated.
“Ah, damn…”
After texting furiously about something not going his way, he finally couldn’t stand it and even made a call.
“Hey, Junho hyung. …Do you really have to do that? I can do well on my own… No, do you think I’m an idiot who can’t even get myself water? Why do you have to attach the CEO? He must be busy with work. And we’re not compatible! He’s someone who retired from being a manager 10 years ago!”
He didn’t know what it was about, but given Choi Hwan’s personality, it didn’t seem like he was genuinely worried about the very busy CEO.
“It’s just a few hours, I can just take along a road manager… Ah! Really! Hyung! I said I absolutely won’t eat anything others give me! And when did I ever attack a manager!”
Drinking kiwi juice without much thought while listening to Choi Hwan throw a tantrum, suddenly the sparks flew to Yeonrok.
“Now that I think about it, I have someone to take! Yeah! You know, that guy, Kim Yeon something-or-other. The kid who’s always playing around at home.”
“…?”
He was calling a completely different surname, yet somehow the tip of his finger was pointing at him. Yeonrok looked at him with an absurd expression.
“You still can’t memorize my name?”
“Got it! That’s enough! Don’t attach the CEO!”
Whether Yeonrok was annoyed or not, Choi Hwan abruptly hung up the call. Then, ignoring the phone ringing again with a buzz, he looked triumphantly at him.
“You heard, right?”
“So what…”
“Just be my manager for today.”
Today, Yeonrok was busy. He had to walk around the neighborhood chatting with the bodyguards, eat a delicious lunch, take a nap, and do the new woodworking he’d started… Anyway, he was busy, so he ignored Choi Hwan’s words.
Then Choi Hwan rummaged through his wallet and pulled out a million-won check. When Yeonrok snorted, Choi Hwan pointed his finger.
“You just stay right there.”
A moment later, Choi Hwan returned with a paper bag tucked under his arm, full of cash and checks. The cash filling the paper bag with the luxury brand logo engraved on it was truly surreal.
“…What’s this?”
“You keep making me withdraw cash.”
Really, still shameless as ever. Choi Hwan began stacking bills on top of the check. 1.2 million, 1.5 million, 2 million… Finally, it went up to 3 million won. He couldn’t even guess how much Choi Hwan hated having the agency CEO attached instead of a manager.
Still, one thing was certain. Choi Hwan really spent money carelessly. At first, he at least paid with bills, but lately, hasn’t he been casually pulling out crisp million-won checks? He spent money like water. For Yeonrok, there was nothing bad about it.
“Hey! Where else can you work one day and get this money if not as a manager for a star like me!”
Choi Hwan spoke loudly, and it was true. From experience, it was money that would be hard to earn in a month even working two jobs day and night. When Yeonrok glanced at the money, Choi Hwan added two more checks to make it 5 million won. Finally, tempted, Yeonrok picked up the stack of money and said.
“But I don’t know what a manager does.”
“Just drive and run some errands. And anyway, Junho hyung said he’d join us in the afternoon.”
Hmm. Working hard for half a day for 5 million won? It’s not like being stuck between a couple, so not bad?
Lately, Yeonrok had been into geum.kku. Geum.kku was the task of filling and decorating the safe that Kim Jeongseong had prepared with stacks of bills, checks, gold bars, or expensive men’s accessories that Yeom Cheonho had bought him. Adding money and checks amounting to 5 million won to the current state seemed like it would look pretty good.
“Ah, please do it! Do you know how much the CEO catches me like catching a rat because I took something that wasn’t even drugs before? I said I’d never do it again but he doesn’t even pretend to listen! Isn’t that too much?”
No matter how you think about it a hundred times, it’s not the boss but you who went too far…
“And if you go, you can see tons of celebrities. Though none more famous than me, of course.”
Tempted by the mention of celebrity watching and 5 million won, Yeonrok ended up accepting to be Choi Hwan’s one-day manager. Even after accepting, Yeonrok worried whether he’d regret this decision today. He tended to be unlucky, so if things went badly, today could really become difficult.
“Well, it can’t be harder than manual labor anyway.”
Being a manager for half a day, no matter how hard, wouldn’t be harder than loading and unloading parcels… right? Yeonrok went to tell Ms. Park that she didn’t need to prepare meals for him today and to get some hearty snacks. Then Ms. Park packed a lot of snacks and said this.
“Oh my. Really? I was actually going to the hospital for a health checkup and won’t be here until tomorrow morning anyway. Instead, I’ll make lots of side dishes in the fridge, so eat dinner and breakfast well even without me. Got it? If it’s too hard, just leave that young master and come back!”
Thus, receiving Ms. Park’s encouragement, Yeonrok left the house following Choi Hwan. However, there was some confusion regarding security before departure. Yeonrok’s bodyguards and Choi Hwan’s bodyguards, who suddenly ended up working together without any notice, bickered in low voices.
“You guys have been leisurely strolling around the neighborhood in the mornings living comfortably, so you probably don’t know how hard it is to guard that kid… Anyway, do you know how hard it is to guard a famous actor?”
Was it really bickering? Wasn’t it just venting grievances? It was a conversation that gave a glimpse of how much Choi Hwan had made the bodyguards’ lives difficult. After a brief conversation, it was decided that security control would be taken over by Choi Hwan’s security team.
Not knowing what conversation the bodyguards were having, Choi Hwan boarded the car with eyes gleaming, looking for an opportunity to torment Yeonrok. Yeonrok gripped the steering wheel with a face that said, ‘Go ahead and try if you dare.’
“Let’s get some coffee before going to the filming location.”
“Fine, whatever.”
Yeonrok entered the cafe address Choi Hwan gave him into the navigation and drove. Glancing in the rearview mirror, the bodyguards’ car was following them well. This time he looked at Choi Hwan. He was glancing around as if wanting to find fault with the driving, then received some kind of contact and scrunched his brow sharply while looking at his phone. Tap tap, tap-tap-tap… After exchanging texts with someone for a while, Choi Hwan muttered with a serious face.
“No matter how I think about it, I think Yeom Cheonho ratted out Hwang Siyeon.”
