Prologue
“Wait, is this guy a scammer or something?”
Lee Yeonrok, who had been staring blankly at Choi Hwan’s rambling, snapped back to his senses. When he stared at him in disbelief, the man with looks so handsome they were practically dazzling shot back with a “What are you looking at?” attitude. Too flabbergasted to say anything, Yeonrok just stood there, and the man made some inexplicable expression as if he’d misunderstood something. Then another person muttered.
“I already hate this enough as it is…”
He turned his head. On this side too, a man sat with his legs crossed, openly radiating displeasure as he glared at him.
Unlike the famous actor Choi Hwan’s dazzling appearance, this was a different type of handsome man. His slightly drooping eyes created a seemingly kind impression at first glance, but his venomous gaze immediately covered that impression. Even though this was their first meeting, the look in his eyes as he stared at Yeonrok seemed to hold some inexplicable grudge.
“Choi Hwan-ssi. Lee Yeonrok-ssi is the person who registered his ‘Hwamyeong’ first among all of us.”
Finally, another man spoke. Yeonrok’s head turned again.
“So there’s no way he could be a scammer.”
This one had just as imposing an atmosphere as the actor Choi Hwan. Not only was he the largest in build among the three, but even to Yeonrok’s eyes—someone who knew nothing about luxury brands—everything he wore from his suit to his watch was clearly expensive. His gaze and voice were both deep, naturally drawing attention. He was the only one among them who didn’t harbor hostility toward Yeonrok, though that didn’t mean he showed any particular favor either.
After checking each of the three people one by one, Yeonrok creakily turned around. He quietly asked the Name Matching Center employee.
“…Don’t tell me those people are really my Name Partners?”
The employee smiled awkwardly, then shattered Yeonrok’s hope that they would say no.
“Yes, that’s correct. Your Hwamyeong—that is, your Name Partners—total three people.”
**1.**
Since puberty, Lee Yeonrok’s life could be summarized as “difficult and unlucky.”
The difficulty was natural. He had to survive this harsh world without any guardians. But his unluckiness made that already difficult life even more treacherous.
Sure, you could chalk up simply tripping over a stone while walking to carelessness. Never winning even a single 5th place lottery prize in his entire life, never once winning at rock-paper-scissors, or only ever getting duds in games like ladder climbing—these were all perfectly possible.
However, when every item he wanted to buy would sell out right before his eyes, or even if he managed to buy something it would break immediately, or he’d suddenly get drenched by water while walking down the street, or get into traffic accidents multiple times, or when all his orphanage peers who were like siblings got adopted while he alone remained, or whenever he got close to someone they would invariably have circumstances arise that made them leave his side—experiencing all these things one after another naturally led to this thought.
‘I really have terrible luck.’
Still, even when he got into accidents, he never became disabled or suffered serious aftereffects, and he was never scammed or harmed by evil people, so he was able to get by somehow. That’s how he graduated from high school with mediocre grades. Not long after receiving his resident registration card and becoming independent, something truly special happened to Yeonrok. He developed a ‘Name.’
When his ‘Name’—also called ‘Hwamyeong’ in the old language—manifested, Yeonrok was overjoyed. Even though the newly forming Name spot ached unbearably, making him unable to go to work and forcing him to stay home suffering, he kept grinning.
‘I’m finally getting a family!’
He’d thought he might live his entire life alone without parents or siblings, but now he had the guarantee that his true destined partner would appear. He wouldn’t have envied even a lottery winner. It seemed like this was why he’d been so unlucky until now.
After suffering for a whole month, the Name that manifested on his chest resembled a four-leaf clover. As soon as his Name fully manifested, he immediately rushed to the Name Matching Center and completed the registration process. And every single day, he desperately waited for his Name Partner to appear.
They said Name Partners could appear as quickly as within a month, but his destined partner showed no sign of appearing. Even after the average matching period of three years passed without any contact, he spent two more anxious years waiting. Those were lonely times spent alone without even dating, since he would have a Name Partner.
‘When my Name Partner appears someday, I’ll treat them well. I’ll live happily with my partner in my house and raise our children well. I’ll treasure them more than anyone in the world.’
Holding only such hopes, working overtime and extended hours day and night to pay off his house loan—at twenty-five years old, the Name Matching Center finally contacted him. At the time, he was drenched in sweat working and didn’t even realize his phone had rung.
“I think your phone’s ringing?”
A coworker tapped him to let him know, but it was the busiest time, so it was two more hours before Yeonrok checked his phone and his eyes widened.
Name Matching Center, Missed Call
Hot blood instantly rushed through his exhausted body. Contact had come five years after registering with the Center. Finally! There were even ten missed calls. They must have finally found my Name Partner… The excited Yeonrok moved his trembling fingers to call back, and as if they’d been waiting, the employee said.
— Lee Yeonrok-ssi! Why didn’t you answer your phone? Come quickly right now. Your Name Partner… is waiting. They’re saying they have to leave soon because too much time has passed already, so you need to come as fast as possible.
“What? Right this instant?”
But I’m completely drenched in sweat and look so shabby? Flustered by the urging, Yeonrok didn’t even notice that the employee had suspiciously stumbled over their words when mentioning the Name Partner. His head was just filled with thoughts of his Name Partner.
He got thoroughly chewed out for suddenly taking a half-day off, but when he said it was about his Name Partner, they let him go without much fuss. Even while being scolded, Yeonrok was so happy he felt like he was flying.
Still, it seemed wrong to go smelling of sweat, so he briefly stopped by home and quickly showered. Standing in front of the mirror, he sighed. His hair was shaggy and messy from forgetting to maintain it while focusing on work. But there was no time to go to a salon. In the meantime, the employee called again to urge him. Worried he might anger his Name Partner, he hurriedly looked for clothes.
“Ah! How do I not have a single piece of clothing suitable for this occasion?”
He turned his closet inside out, but everything was just everyday clothes suitable for work wear. He changed into the most decent outfit and looked in the mirror again, then bit his lip. It was clearly a laborer look heading straight to work, and no matter how he looked at it, this really wasn’t it. But the employee urged him again, so he had no choice but to rush out of the house.
Perhaps because he was in too much of a hurry, on his way to catch a taxi, Yeonrok tripped over a stone and fell. Unluckily, the knee of his pants ripped wide open, but he figured it was typical. Since there was no time to change clothes, he limped into a taxi and headed to the Name Matching Center.
Getting out at the main entrance, forgetting his pain and hopping excitedly as he ran, an anxiously waiting employee came rushing over.
“Yeonrok-ssi, hurry up! These are all busy people, why are you so late? One of them has already been waiting for over three hours.”
“I was at work… I really came as fast as I could!”
The employee barely listened to Yeonrok’s excuse and sighed before scolding him.
“Really, couldn’t you have worn nicer clothes? And what happened to your leg?”
He didn’t want to come dressed like this either. But there really was no time to buy and wear new clothes. The employee kept looking back and sighing, which was embarrassing, but more than that, his anticipation about finally meeting his Name Partner was greater. On his way to meet the first stroke of good luck in his entire life, his heart pounded so hard it felt like it might jump out of his throat.
As he followed the Center employee’s guidance and got off the elevator, everyone stared at him, making him freeze. For some reason, dozens of people in business suits were lined up in the corridor. One of them approached, looked at Yeonrok once, then asked the employee.
“Is this Lee Yeonrok-nim?”
“Yes, this is Lee Yeonrok-nim.”
“Understood. Lee Yeonrok-nim, please come this way.”
The moment he followed them, all the people in the corridor simultaneously pressed themselves against the walls, clasped their hands together with precise posture, and lowered their gazes. The situation was quite different from other people’s Name matching reviews, leaving Yeonrok flustered. An ominous feeling that something strange was going on began to creep in, but he thought it must just be his imagination.
‘Could my Name Partner be someone… pretty important?’
Various dramas and tragic true stories he’d seen flashed through his mind. Cases where Name Partners loved each other to death but the in-laws or wife’s family despised the partner and mistreated them, cases where someone was rejected by their Name Partner and committed suicide in despair, leaving the remaining Name Partner to live in regret forever or follow them in death, etc… The worst situations Yeonrok could imagine were only about that level.
‘If I work hard, it’ll be fine…!’
Nervous, Yeonrok kept repeating this to himself while repeatedly adjusting his shabby outfit.
Hwamyeong (화명) – [Traditional/old term for “Name”]
