Despair flashed in the other person’s eyes upon seeing the familiar pattern on Yeonrok’s chest. As they reached out their hand, Yeonrok hesitated and stepped back. The other person spoke with eyes that hadn’t let go of that last strand of hope.
“I-I need to touch it to confirm whether it’s a tattoo or a real Name Manifestation.”
“Mm…”
That statement was correct. At the same time, they were so persistent that Yeonrok was only convinced that ‘as expected, they’re a stalker.’ Allowing it with the intention of knocking them down if necessary, fingertips carefully touched. After groping and touching here and there, staring intently, the other person finally muttered in resignation.
“It really is a Name…”
Yeonrok looked down at his ‘name.’ The four-leaf clover shape was nowhere to be seen, scattered like a black stain or bruise.
This was the big difference between a tattoo and a Name. A ‘name’ becomes distorted when it touches the body of someone other than a Name Partner. As the other person removed their hand, the distorted name slowly began to return to its original shape. Since it was the first time someone else had touched his name, Yeonrok also observed the phenomenon he was seeing for the first time in his life with fascination.
“Huuuung, huuuuung…”
In the meantime, the other person, who had lost all hope, collapsed and began crying miserably. As Yeonrok tried to leave while awkwardly and embarrassedly adjusting his clothes, the other person spoke to him.
“You must think I’m a shameless person who cheated and is acting without dignity, right? But it’s unfair…”
What? Does this mean they actually didn’t cheat?
“It was really brief. We didn’t even meet many times… I really tried not to fall for it, but they persistently seduced me like a fox.”
Hmm. They were indeed a shameless person. As he tried to leave without hesitation, the other person grabbed his pants and wouldn’t let go. Yeonrok, who had been tense, reflexively tried to kick but held back.
“Why are you doing this?! Let go of this!”
“After doing that, they left as soon as I broke up with Gyeonwoo hyung! They were definitely a bastard who approached me with a purpose! They were definitely trying to separate me and Gyeonwoo hyung! I’m really wronged, wronged…”
“No, let go!”
They finally let go of his pant leg, but kept wailing, so helplessly Yeonrok tore off some tissues and gave them. Rummaging through his pockets, he found candy and held that out too. Only then did the other person regain their reason. Looking blankly at the candy Yeonrok gave them with a flushed red face, they said this.
“If you’re Gyeonwoo hyung’s Name Partner, we would have broken up someday anyway, even if I hadn’t cheated.”
The way they muttered was quite pitiful and shabby. That’s why you shouldn’t cheat. Yeonrok inwardly clicked his tongue, recalling how Moon Gyeonwoo ordered bouquets every day to give to his lover.
“O-our Gyeonwoo hyung, please… take care of him. Treat him well. That person gets very lonely, sniff.”
Yeonrok had to listen with a bitter feeling to the ex-lover making requests of him while pretending to be the real lover. Shouldn’t Choi Hwan have experienced this instead… Why the hell am I doing this? Reality hit him.
Yeonrok, who had barely shaken off the leech-like ex-lover, returned to the laboratory again. However, there was something he hadn’t considered—the company had strict security, so a temporary visitor pass couldn’t open the laboratory door. In the end, he had to knock on the laboratory door several times to attract attention.
Moon Gyeonwoo, who had been holding onto the fume hood and concentrating hard, raised his head at something and opened his mouth wide. Only then did he seem to realize that Yeonrok had left the laboratory. Striding over to open the door, he twitched his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, but glanced at Chief Kim and used a gentle voice.
“Honey, I told you not to show your face to other people. Why do you keep upsetting me like this? Won’t you take care of your face?”
The appearance of acting like an obsessive lover was so creepy that Yeonrok reflexively shrank his shoulders. Then belatedly pulled up his mask. As he debated whether to tell him about what just happened, he leaned his upper body forward. When Yeonrok brought his lips to his ear, Moon Gyeonwoo, who had been flinching and guarding himself, stiffened his face at the following words.
“I went to the bathroom earlier and met your ex-lover…”
“…The mask?”
“I forgot…”
Moon Gyeonwoo, whose eyes had become fierce, placed his arm on Yeonrok’s body. Pretending to be close like that, he dragged Yeonrok somewhere. Reluctantly dragged to a deserted place, as soon as Yeonrok closed his eyes tightly, a scolding poured out.
“Is that head on top just decoration? Or are your ears blocked? How many times did I tell you to wear a mask?”
Of course, Yeonrok had something to say too. Since he didn’t want to come here, feeling wronged, he talked back to Moon Gyeonwoo.
“You try wearing a mask all day! How stuffy it is! And I had some achievement too. They said they’d really give up now.”
Thinking this much should have solved the stalker problem, Moon Gyeonwoo folded his arms and glared while saying.
“Tell me everything about what conversation you had and what you did, without leaving anything out.”
He didn’t really want to say, but recalling Yeondoo held hostage, he honestly confessed. And every time he opened his mouth, he heard Moon Gyeonwoo’s reproach.
“Are you out of your mind? You should have run out of the bathroom right away—what were you thinking, standing there listening to them?”
“What? Pitiful? Pitiful? What’s pitiful about someone who cheated?”
“What did you say? You let them touch your name? Don’t you have the kind of vigilance that a person should naturally have?”
Sadly, Moon Gyeonwoo’s reproaches sounded quite reasonable to Yeonrok’s ears too. And when he heard about giving candy to console them, Moon Gyeonwoo lost his words for a moment, then looked at him silently with eyes he’d never seen before. What should I do with this? Won’t he go around getting his liver and kidneys taken out? That was the look. Of course, Yeonrok also had his reasons for going this far.
“Anyway, the stalker problem is solved. So now give me back Yeondoo.”
“Ha… When the hell did I say my ex-lover was the stalker?”
“…!”
He naturally thought it was the ex-lover! They clung to his leg like an octopus sucker, and with this level of obsession, he thought they must be the stalker! With a shocked face, wondering if he’d done something useless, Yeonrok asked.
“Th-then who’s the stalker?”
“There are a few people I can guess.”
“People? And several of them?”
“It’s not just one or two ex-lovers. Being too good to them is also a problem. They’re all overflowing with lingering feelings.”
Since Moon Gyeonwoo spoke coldly and indifferently as if he had no feelings whatsoever for his ex-lovers, Yeonrok was dumbfounded. So he had been hung out like bait in a situation where even Moon Gyeonwoo himself didn’t know who the stalker was. Moreover, after hearing the part about giving candy to console his crying ex-lover, Moon Gyeonwoo kept being disturbed and asked this.
“How old were you again…”
Keenly noticing the feeling of being treated as dim-witted or immature, Yeonrok bristled.
“I’m twenty-five! Twenty-five! I’m the same age as Choi Hwan!”
He’d never been scammed once in his life. Same with smishing or voice phishing. He’d lived quite sharply.
However, after bringing up Choi Hwan’s name and seeing Moon Gyeonwoo’s face, it seemed that response had the opposite effect. He knew very well that his lover was truly spacey and the type to be easily scammed. Feeling like Moon Gyeonwoo was grouping Choi Hwan and himself in the same category, Yeonrok first got angry with the purpose of changing the subject.
“Give me back Yeondoo—no, my doll!”
“Ah.”
Recalling the shabby doll, Moon Gyeonwoo’s face became a bit more disturbed.
“So that’s what it was. A comfort doll or something…”
His words trailed off, but Yeonrok could guess what he was thinking. But Yeonrok had nothing else to say. It was true that it was a comfort doll. And that clinging to a comfort doll wasn’t behavior befitting a full-grown adult.
However, Yeonrok also had his own circumstances for that. Having no family or friends, being lonely, he had no choice but to cling to the doll. But it was too pitiful an excuse to voice out loud. So he was just moving his lips when Moon Gyeonwoo sighed.
“Fine, I’ll give it back. Now go home. What would I do with this thing anyway?”
Yeonrok clenched his fist. Ah! The result of getting it back one way or another was good, but something was infuriating! It is a comfort doll, but…!
Returning to the office, Moon Gyeonwoo returned the doll and then took something out from a drawer and handed it over. It was a vitamin supplement. When he looked at him with a gaze asking why he was suddenly giving him vitamins, he said this.
“That’s a vitamin supplement good for the brain. Take it every day.”
“…!”
It was the first kindness Moon Gyeonwoo had ever shown, but he didn’t feel very good. On the way back in the car, treated as deficient and angry, Yeonrok fiddled with the handkerchief scarf the comfort doll wore and suddenly remembered.
‘Huh? But I’m sure…’
He seemed to have heard that Yeom Cheonho was investing in Moon Gyeonwoo’s research.
Then did Yeom Cheonho not simply invest for his Name Partner, but truly want research results? Yeonrok recalled Yeom Cheonho, who had a tired complexion every time he saw him due to lack of contact with his partner as much as himself. Since his Name manifested, has he even spent a single day in perfect condition?
