Names appear in about two or three out of every hundred people. Among those, one in a million means when converted to the total population, it’s a probability of almost one in fifty million. In other words, it means there might be exactly one person in all of South Korea, or maybe not even that. At this point, even Yeonrok couldn’t claim it was an error anymore.
“I’d rather have won the lottery…”
Why is this happening to me when I’ve lived every day virtuously and diligently?
Could my bad luck be manifesting in this direction too? He was standing there dazed by this shocking reality he’d never once imagined or hoped for, when Secretary Kim Jeongseong strode over to him. The Center employee flinched and became restless. Kim Jeongseong glanced at the Center employee with cold eyes and spoke politely.
“Lee Yeonrok-nim, we’ve been looking for you. From now on, whenever you move somewhere, you must tell me your destination in advance. And what does your schedule look like today?”
Still not recovered from the shock, Yeonrok answered in a daze.
“Today’s schedule? …I don’t have any.”
When he’d taken a half-day off while getting thoroughly chewed out, he’d had plans to meet his Name Partner, have dinner together, go to a cafe and talk. The reality was that his three Name Partners had despised and abandoned him within minutes of meeting.
“Then would it be alright to proceed with the moving arrangements right away?”
“…Moving?”
“For security and health issues, we need to move in together as soon as possible. Ah, don’t worry. All necessary living space, appliances, and furniture for the three of you will be provided by Yeom Cheonho-nim. Now then, let’s go. I have a car waiting.”
Pushed along by the secretary’s forcefulness, when he came to his senses, Yeonrok found himself already in a car heading to his house. As soon as he boarded the expensive foreign car he’d never ridden in before, the seat fit comfortably around his body. Even his butt felt honored.
“I never said I’d move…”
Yeonrok, who was belatedly protesting, lost his words. Without even telling them his address, people in black suits were already waiting in front of his house in perfect formation wearing work gloves. Anyone could see they were people Yeom Cheonho had sent to help with the move.
Seeing the personnel waiting in perfectly aligned rows made him lose his nerve. Belatedly, Yeonrok took out the black business card and read it again. What kind of company is HM Capital? What are those people? Company employees? Or a service contractor…?
The proceedings were too one-sided, so he’d reflexively protested, but he definitely did need to move. Once a Name fully manifests and you encounter your Name Partner, if you can’t be together for a certain period or more, your condition deteriorates. If it gets serious, you can suffer irreversible injuries or even die.
“Then I’ll just pack the things I need right away.”
As he trudged home, the neighborhood residents muttered about what was going on. Yeonrok’s steps quickened, worried he might run into someone he knew.
Arriving at his house like that, Yeonrok sighed. It was a precious home he’d bought with determination, even taking out a loan, but today it looked especially small and shabby. What about my loan? My loan… In a daze, Yeonrok stuffed his clothes and treasured items into his bag.
“I’ll carry that for you.”
Kim Jeongseong, who had followed at some point, hurriedly took Yeonrok’s luggage. No matter how much he asked for it back, he was firm. Only Yeonrok, who’d never had the experience of someone attending to him so attentively, kept breaking out in cold sweat.
The car departed again. Leaving the neighborhood he’d lived in for years and become familiar with, heading to live in a new house with new people—this entire situation felt like a bolt from the blue. To Yeonrok wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kim Jeongseong asked politely.
“Do you plan to continue your current work?”
“…Is it not okay if I continue?”
Instead of answering, Kim Jeongseong lowered his eyebrows and smiled. It meant this was very difficult.
“If it’s alright with you, I’ll handle the resignation procedures myself.”
He was speaking in a roundabout way, but the meaning that he should quit was clear. This was highly likely Yeom Cheonho’s will. Yeonrok found the situation of being pushed around constantly since earlier unpleasant, but after hesitating, he eventually ended up nodding. He was already conscious of his Name Partners’ reactions. Being the latest today and his shabby appearance kept bothering him, making his stomach churn.
Just like that, suddenly becoming unemployed, he headed to the new house. Arriving at some wealthy neighborhood whose location he didn’t know, Yeonrok flinched. Even though he’d expected the residence to be impressive given the scale of people being employed earlier, the exterior of the new house exceeded his imagination. Not because it was magnificent or beautiful.
‘What is this, a fortress?’
The building constructed in light gray was like a sturdy castle wall. There weren’t even any windows on the first floor, making it look almost like a prison at a glance. As if reading his mind, Kim Jeongseong said.
“It’s a courtyard structure, so the outside is somewhat ugly, but it’s a building with the great advantage of protecting privacy. Now, please come this way.”
In front of Yeonrok, who was looking around wondering where the entrance was, Kim Jeongseong pressed a panel so small it was barely visible. Then a door that had been perfectly disguised as a wall opened. Seeing the extraordinary entrance, nervous Yeonrok hesitated before following the guidance inside.
What greeted him upon entering was an indoor garden brilliantly decorated with all kinds of plants and lush with greenery. Among white and black pebbles laid on the ground like go stones, various shrubs including crepe myrtle and birch trees harmoniously blended together. Near the entrance where sunlight poured through the glass ceiling, a waterfall was installed, and classical music could be heard faintly from somewhere.
It was a landscape quite distant from Yeonrok’s concept of what a house had been until now.
They passed through the fairly large garden and went inside. Unlike the closed-off exterior appearance, the atmosphere was bright and stylish. Expensive furniture, artworks, and vases placed throughout the interior revealed the wealth and power of those who possessed them.
Yeonrok, who was far removed from such things, was overwhelmed by that atmosphere he’d never once encountered. The space and building walls were large and massive, seeming to luxuriously boast the margins of space.
Becoming dispirited without realizing it, Yeonrok unconsciously wiped the sweat from the nape of his neck. He felt like an unwelcome guest who’d stepped foot in a place he shouldn’t have come. With only the desire to return to his own small, shabby house, he just trailed after Kim Jeongseong.
“This is Lee Yeonrok-nim’s room.”
After winding through walls, doors, and corridors, Kim Jeongseong announced. Inside the room after opening the door, everything was already perfectly furnished to the point where packing moving boxes seemed meaningless. Nothing Yeonrok had brought would fit in this space. Just like Yeonrok himself right now.
“Then please rest.”
Kim Jeongseong bowed his head and left, closing the door. Yeonrok hesitated before fumbling to unpack the luggage he’d brought. First, he organized his clothes into the empty furniture. After wandering around the luxurious room he couldn’t get used to at all, he suddenly clutched his head.
‘Three Name Partners, and they’re all men at that!’
He knew he was somewhat unlucky, but how could this happen? Fine, let’s say them being men is acceptable. But three of them, and two of them already hating him—isn’t that too much? What am I supposed to do from now on… While he was standing there dumbfounded, he heard a knock. When he said to come in, Kim Jeongseong asked politely.
“Lee Yeonrok-nim, which belongings shall we bring from your house?”
“…Please just bring my computer and leave everything else at the house as is.”
There was nothing to bring here—not the drawer he’d picked up from someone’s discarded moving items, the secondhand wardrobe he’d bought, or the old bed. He already felt a strange guilt just storing his worn clothes in the high-end furniture.
“Understood. Is there anything else you need?”
“I’d like to eat dinner…”
Maybe because he’d skipped lunch today and worked straight through, plus was so tense, he was terribly hungry. But unexpectedly, the answer that came back was a refusal.
“I’m sorry, Lee Yeonrok-nim. You have a health examination tomorrow, so eating is prohibited.”
“A health examination?”
Yeonrok’s eyes widened at this news he was hearing for the first time.
“If there’s even the slightest problem with Lee Yeonrok-nim’s health, we need to take immediate action.”
I’m hungry but I can’t eat dinner? Feeling somewhat wronged and sad, Yeonrok asked.
“Then are the other people also getting health examinations together tomorrow?”
“The other three have recent health examination records, so they were excluded.”
When was my recent health examination? Was it about a year ago? They all had recent health examinations, so the reason is valid, but still, Yeonrok already felt strangely left out.
“You must be very hungry, so I’ll schedule the health examination as early as possible. Is waking up at 6 o’clock alright?”
“No… Yes. No, yes… It’s fine.”
Having his dinner taken away, Yeonrok wilted and wandered outside his room door for a while before returning to his room. He even got lost once because the structure of this massive house was unfamiliar. He flopped onto the bed. While ruminating blankly on the events of the day while hungry, he muttered.
“…At least one out of the three will become my partner, right?”
He fumbled to take out the business cards he’d received today. Yeom Cheonho, Choi Hwan, and Moon Gyeonwoo. All three had the worst impressions, but still, with three Name Partners, at least one should match with me…
He tried hard to think positively, but unable to overcome the irritation that was gradually rising anyway, Yeonrok tossed and turned before taking out a notebook from his bag. The orphanage where he grew up had a rule that you had to write in a diary every day, and the habit formed then still continued. Maybe because he was both hungry and upset, the handwriting he scrawled in the notebook was quite savage.
20xx Year x Month x Day
Fucking awful
Three characters that perfectly summarized the day.
