As resentment suddenly rose and Yeonrok’s gaze became fierce, Choi Hwan suddenly jumped up from his seat and ran away. No, he thought he’d run away, but surprisingly he soon came back carrying something. It was a doll from the same Marveldino series, but this one was different in that it had a heart cushion attached. He asked shyly:
“Want to have friendship items?”
“What friendship items? Were we friends? Didn’t you call me your errand boy before?”
Choi Hwan broke into a sweat again and rarely struggled as he earnestly made excuses.
“That was a joke! We’re the same age. It’s, it’s like friendly teasing between friends.”
“Nice try, Choi Errand Boy.”
“…!”
“Why? You said it was friendly teasing or something like a joke.”
The deflated Choi Hwan sat sullenly on the edge of the bed, reading the room. Yeonrok snorted. Still, he didn’t feel too bad.
‘Playing along once might be worth it?’
He didn’t know that driving away his troublesome parents once would improve their relationship this much. Suddenly, a curiosity he hadn’t dared to ask about before quietly surfaced. After pondering, Yeonrok asked Choi Hwan:
“Have you also heard about the ‘white door room’ from President Yeom Cheonho?”
The so-called Bluebeard’s chamber that kept making Yeonrok feel uneasy and uncomfortable. He’d been curious for a long time whether Moon Gyeonwoo or Choi Hwan also knew about this room. However, they weren’t on terms to ask such things, and even if he did ask, it didn’t seem like he’d get a proper answer, so he’d just been holding back. Choi Hwan, who’d been fiddling with the doll, answered dumbly:
“What’s that?”
“There’s exactly one room with a white door on the second floor. You know, the room the President said not to enter.”
When Choi Hwan just stared blankly as if asking what that was, Yeonrok’s enthusiasm completely deflated. Was it a kind of trust test after all, so he’d only told him? Thinking that made him feel a bit hurt. Choi Hwan tilted his head, then belatedly shouted:
“Ah! You mean that? I think he did say something about not entering because there’s a white door.”
“Y-yeah. That!”
“I tried opening it though.”
What! You tried opening it even though he told you not to?! No, but still… that’s typical of Choi Hwan. Yeonrok, a bit excited, moved closer.
“H-how was it? What was inside?”
When he leaned in with eyes sparkling with curiosity, Choi Hwan’s face suddenly turned red. He coughed a few times, then answered:
“It wouldn’t open.”
“…Really?”
Yeonrok, who’d been expecting an answer, once again completely deflated. Choi Hwan shrugged his shoulders.
“Yeah. It was locked, so I just forgot about it after that.”
What. He made it sound like he could open it if he wanted to, but it was actually locked? Yeonrok was deeply disappointed. Choi Hwan got up from his seat and strode forward. Suspecting something, Yeonrok followed, and sure enough, they were in front of the white door that Yeonrok hadn’t even gone near. He grabbed the door handle and turned it demonstratively.
“See. It won’t op— Huh. It’s opening?”
*Click-clack.*
When the door handle that should have been locked turned without resistance, Choi Hwan hesitated. Yeonrok let out a silent scream and jumped. Choi Hwan looked at the doorknob with curious eyes, then immediately opened the door wide before there was time to stop him. After scanning the inside, he boldly stepped inside. Yeonrok shouted in surprise:
“Hey! I told you not to go in.”
“What, don’t act like a goody-two-shoes. …There’s nothing much here? You come in and look too.”
After hesitating while looking around the empty surroundings for no reason, Yeonrok ultimately lost to his curiosity. He walked over hesitantly and carefully peered beyond the door Choi Hwan had opened. And he immediately relaxed.
“There really isn’t much.”
The inside of the room was completely empty. If there were any peculiarities, they would be the red carpet spread in the middle of the room, a platform whose purpose was hard to guess, and a table on the opposite side. Choi Hwan snorted.
“I think Yeom Cheonho’s personality is a bit weird too. Going to all this trouble to play such a prank.”
But Yeonrok couldn’t agree with Choi Hwan’s words. Why had he heard the noise of multiple people from this room? What had Yeom Cheonho been doing in this room with nothing much in it late at night? Yeonrok’s gaze, which had been examining the room in detail, fixed on the red carpet. There seemed to be a part that looked particularly dark, so he subtly pushed the carpet aside with his foot to lift it up.
Among the strangely fishy smell that wafted over, dark red dried bloodstains were revealed.
* * *
Even though Yeonrok discovered bloodstains, Choi Hwan didn’t think much of it.
‘What bloodstains? He probably spilled some spicy sauce. Or maybe he had a nosebleed there.’
Since Yeom Cheonho was already overworked and lacking contact, the mention of a nosebleed sounded plausible. Choi Hwan gave the room a quick once-over, then completely lost interest after that. This amazingly bold… no, insensitive personality was almost enviable.
Yeonrok also tried to follow his example and deliberately ignore it, but it didn’t work well. Not long after checking the Bluebeard’s chamber, Yeom Cheonho summoned Yeonrok through Secretary Kim Jeongseong.
“Yeonrok-nim? Is there somewhere you’re uncomfortable?”
Kim Jeongseong found it strange when Yeonrok was restless the entire way to Yeom Cheonho’s study. Yeonrok quickly glossed over it.
“It’s nothing. My legs are a bit numb, maybe from sitting for too long.”
“You should stretch your body regularly for good health.”
Kim Jeongseong gave sincere advice and knocked on the study door. When permission to enter came from inside, he kindly opened the door too. Yeonrok swallowed his dry saliva and entered the study.
Unlike the exterior, the interior of this house was decorated brightly and cheerfully. However, Yeom Cheonho’s study here was different. First of all, the furniture was dark, and perhaps because sunlight was thoroughly blocked to protect the books, the atmosphere was heavy. Or it might be because of the owner’s atmosphere. Yeom Cheonho, who had been flipping through documents non-stop, gently smiled with his eyes.
“Yeonrok-ssi, thank you for coming like this. Since we live in the same house, it would be better if I went to you directly, but as you can see, I’m a bit busy…”
“I’m always free anyway. The person with spare time should come.”
Yeonrok clicked his tongue in sympathy at the sight of the mountain of documents piled up. Yeom Cheonho was literally working himself to the bone. Do all company presidents live working overtime like this? It was pitiful enough to feel spontaneous compassion. If he had to work like that every day in exchange for earning tremendous amounts of money, Yeonrok would rather choose to earn less money.
“I’m sorry. It will really only take a moment.”
Even after seating Yeonrok, he devoted himself to work for a few more minutes before Yeom Cheonho finally took a break. Kim Jeongseong quickly brought out fresh tea. Even after Yeom Cheonho took a sip of tea to wet his throat, his voice was lower than usual.
“I hear you’ve been working out diligently lately under the bodyguards’ guidance. That’s really commendable.”
Being praised by Yeom Cheonho felt like having a consultation with a teacher. Yeonrok couldn’t accept that Moon Gyeonwoo treated him like a young and lacking person. But he could somewhat understand Yeom Cheonho doing so. Not only was he the oldest, but strangely, this man exuded an atmosphere of being seasoned through all kinds of hardships.
“Oh, and starting next week, you can go back to the knitting group.”
“Wow. That’s a relief. Then has that person been, uh, um, ‘resolved’?”
No matter what, since the other party was who he was, Yeonrok expressed it indirectly, but Yeom Cheonho, who was actually his son, used merciless language.
“I couldn’t handle it perfectly. It’s really troublesome. Since a few years ago, he’s been a guy who slips away like a loach and secretly schemes.”
Though he didn’t know what circumstances there were, Yeonrok could well understand that Yeom Cheonho had quite negative feelings toward his father. No matter how much he hid it with a polite voice and actions, there were emotions that inevitably showed through. Yeonrok could only say this:
“I hope it gets resolved well…”
“Thank you for worrying, Yeonrok-ssi.”
Yeonrok felt awkward receiving such polite thanks even though he hadn’t done much. As expected, unlike Moon Gyeonwoo or Choi Hwan, the more he got to know this person, the more difficult he became. It was because his inner thoughts were rarely guessable. Finally, Yeom Cheonho brought up the purpose for summoning Yeonrok.
“Actually, I have a difficult matter and would like to make a somewhat challenging request of Yeonrok-ssi.”
“Say anything! I’ll help you to the best of my ability!”
Just like when he went to Yeom Cheonho’s company last time to help with paperwork, Yeonrok answered vigorously, willing to do anything. Apart from the uneasiness in his heart, his favorable feelings and gratitude toward Yeom Cheonho were great. He’d received too much until now to distance himself based on suspicion alone. Above all, since they were Name Partners, he had faith that he wouldn’t do anything harmful to him.
“It’s really reassuring that Yeonrok-ssi says so.”
“You’ve always helped me too, President.”
As Yeonrok answered that way, the other person’s gaze was subtle. It looked somewhat apologetic, which was puzzling. Yeom Cheonho closed the laptop that had been subtly blocking his view. Yeonrok’s gaze naturally moved to the arm with rolled-up sleeves. Whether it was natural or he managed to make time for it even in this busy period, the muscles on his forearm were thick.
