# Chapter 94
Proving his pure love to Lee Jaei, and protecting Jaei from Seo Eunho.
Having successfully achieved all his goals, Ryu Doha safely recovered his health and returned to his daily life after being discharged from the hospital. Now back to living at home, he knelt neatly in front of an A3-sized sheet of hanji paper. With a brush pen in hand, he wrote a pledge under the instruction of his guardian, Jaei.
During his first life, when Doha was in 4th grade elementary school, he was in the calligraphy club. Naturally, Lee Jaei, who followed Ryu Doha around like a puppy wagging its tail, was also in the calligraphy club. Since they were in different classes, it was a time when they worked hard to create opportunities to meet within the school.
Guardian Jaei walked around criminal Doha with his hands behind his back, loudly shouting out what he should write down.
“I, Ryu Doha, am an arrogant human who doesn’t know how precious life is.”
“I am… an arrogant… human.”
“I, Ryu Doha, will never risk my life again, even if I’m confident I can come back alive.”
“No gambling… with life.”
The worn-out back scratcher in Jaei’s hand swiftly struck Doha’s shoulder. Doha, who had been impudently summarizing the sentences as he pleased, straightened his posture again and diligently wrote down each syllable Jaei threw at him.
“I, Ryu Doha, will not make any decisions by myself. As the servant and child of my master and parent Lee Jaei-nim, I will only follow master’s words!”
He wrote the pledge while lying flat with his large body folded neatly into three sections. After flamboyantly signing the bottom of the pledge with his celebrity signature, he added a postscript saying “Be Happy!” Jaei slipped the analog pledge into a heavy frame with glittering gold trim. If possible, he planned to also get an online pledge that could be signed with a digital certificate after agreeing to the terms and conditions, by asking a developer he knew.
Lee Jaei’s servant, Ryu Doha, followed his master, standing with his hands folded neatly in a proper posture. Jaei, who had hung the frame on the living room wall, nodded with satisfaction. Doha immediately bent one knee and extended his firm arms. He positioned one arm to support the back, and the other to lift the legs, setting the two arms at different heights. Jaei sat lightly on Doha’s arms, like a butterfly landing on a flower. Doha, who had lifted Jaei up, asked about their destination.
“Where shall we go, Master?”
Jaei, comfortably nestled in Doha’s arms, gave no answer but simply pointed a finger. Doha, holding Jaei carefully like a baby, meticulously explored the direction indicated by his finger and carefully moved his steps. Every ten steps, he kissed Jaei’s crimson cheeks and moist lips with a soft peck. Jaei, who maintained a haughty expression befitting someone’s owner, smiled happily each time he received a kiss. Then he quickly changed his expression to look stern.
The destination was the king-sized bed where Ryu Doha and Lee Jaei’s splendid nights unfolded. As expected, the well-behaved Jaei climbed onto the bed first and immediately lay down in a provocative pose. Doha also threw off his top and lay down in the sexiest manner a twenty-year-old man could display.
During his break, he received many casting offers. In that time, he had also regretfully missed out on many projects. Top star maker and one-shot instructor Lee Jaei strongly interfered with Ryu Doha’s future as he finally chose his next project. It was truly a good decision to desperately prevent Doha’s negative articles from being exposed this time. One Hong Duyoung incident was enough to shock the public.
“Doha, it’s autumn now. So do a drama scheduled on the same broadcasting station as your previous work at the end of the year. Then you can finish the year by receiving a rookie award at the year-end ceremony.”
“Jaei, you’re really methodical and intelligent.”
Doha, sitting with his back against the headboard, applauded Jaei who was lying down using Doha’s body as a recliner bed. At that, Jaei blushed with an embarrassed expression. Doha gently rubbed his peach-colored cheek against Jaei’s soft cheek and asked:
“Jaei, you’ll win the Grand Prize this time, right?”
“No, the Excellence Award.”
“But the ratings were so good? Then who gets the Grand Prize?”
To Doha’s question about the successfully concluded drama “Focal Plain Shutter,” Jaei just stared at him without answering. It’s very common for fans to want a bigger award than the actor themselves. Jaei turned his head to look around. The only things around were 51 cotton dolls randomly mixed inside a large storage box, but just in case someone might hear, he whispered in a very small voice:
“Doha, you should never talk like that anywhere. The Grand Prize belongs to Noona Chaeeun.”
“I’m sorry. As a devoted Lee Jaei fan, I misspoke…”
Lee Doha, a fanatical member of Lee Jaei’s fan club blinded by love, rolled his eyes while covering his mouth with both hands as if he had made a slip of the tongue on broadcast. Ryu Doha, who had returned from being a fan to being an actor, reflected on his mistake. Jaei pressed his nose twice, making a ding-dong sound.
After considering various conditions besides the rookie award, Doha decided on his next project in agreement with Jaei. Although the exact schedule would be determined after the meeting, it seemed they would have more than two weeks of free time. Wanting to make good use of that time, he asked Jaei:
“Should I quickly get my driver’s license before the next filming starts? It feels like once I postpone it, I keep postponing it.”
Currently, Ryu Doha was serving as Jaei’s mode of transportation indoors, so he had determined that it was appropriate for him to be Jaei’s mode of transportation outdoors as well. Having died in a traffic accident, he had been told repeatedly to stay away from things with wheels. However, in a situation where he was already walking and riding, nothing would change by simply not driving.
Jaei, furrowing his brow hard, asked with a perplexed expression:
“Why do you need a driver’s license?”
“To escort my master around. If master has to drive every time we go on a date, you’ll get tired.”
It was quite a logical argument, but Jaei snorted as if it was absurd.
“No? You no longer have freedom of movement.”
“Oh, really?”
“You took away your own freedom with your own hands. You can’t go anywhere as you please except for schedules where your manager takes you. You must get my permission and then take a taxi, or only sit in my passenger seat to move around for the rest of your life. Understand?”
Even after firmly commanding Doha, Jaei continued to mutter to himself with shrugging shoulders:
“What’s with Ryu Doha? How could he come up with such an impertinent idea? License? Getting a license to wander around alone? No matter how I think about it, this is a struggle for freedom?”
“Master, your need to confine has intensified again. Just like when I entered middle school. You practically carried me around wrapped in a baby blanket back then.”
“I gave you too much freedom. I should have taken you with me to America, but now your ego has grown so much that you’ve backstabbed me. I need to wrap you in a baby blanket and carry you around again.”
Jaei, who had left Doha in Korea and suffered greatly, chattered incessantly with a voice full of complaints. Doha tried hard to hold back his smile by tightening the corners of his lips. Since his early childhood in his second life, he had consistently appealed to establish a master-servant relationship with Jaei. Only today had the class system been realized in their relationship. Having unintentionally achieved another goal he had been aiming for, Doha pretended to be sad, filled his eyes with worry, and smiled broadly while covering his mouth with his large hand.
The next day, Ryu Doha, who had been employed as Lee Jaei’s servant, impertinently solved driver’s license written test practice problems in front of his master to provoke him. Jaei, who discovered this and screamed, wrapped the 189cm tall Doha well in a queen-sized comforter and lifted him up. However, he couldn’t even take two steps before falling down like a slime.
* * *
Ryu Doha’s debut 1-year anniversary subway advertisement was successfully posted. This was absolutely not promotional material put up by the company, but rather created by a somewhat wealthy fan who paid for it out of their own pocket with love. The advertisement included several unpublished photos that Jaei had been saving. To prevent misunderstandings about it being promotional, the agency released all of Doha’s unpublished photos on their official SNS before the advertisement was posted.
Boatman Lee Jaei, who had been rowing continuously without rest, finally decided to take a short break. While supporting Doha, who would be taking his first leading role, he planned to recruit new actors to the company and focus on the legal battle with Hong Duyoung. Doha assisted him attentively to ensure that his master’s hair would no longer turn white from stress.
Since Doha’s casting confirmation news had not yet been released, a vacant period had come for both of them. Jaei, who had unintentionally maintained a mysterious image and made fans anxious during the time he was raising Lee Doha, actively sought one-time content that wouldn’t consume too much of his image as an actor but could appease fans during this vacant period.
Thus, what he decided to appear on was original content from a major OTT service. It was a fresh format that combined variety shows and drama, following a script while performing reality-based games in between. Jaei appeared as a guest with Doha tucked under his arm.
The incident occurred during a segment where they checked lifestyle habits to reveal the participants’ expected lifespans.
“Your expected lifespan is 95 years. With proper management, you can live over 100 years. You have excellent living habits.”
The MC read Doha’s test results. Jaei was even happier than Doha at the longevity result for someone who had experienced early death, and he clapped cheerfully. Next was Jaei’s turn.
“Your expected lifespan is 45 years. At this rate, you don’t have much time left. Sensitivity, stress, and excessive work are the root of all diseases.”
Since the test had nothing to do with his actual physical condition, Jaei nodded with a smile as if he had expected it. The problem was that Doha received a huge shock and turned as blue as Tayo the Little Bus.
