What was the size difference between the two again? If he had to pick, Moon Gyeonwoo was a bit smaller, but it would only be a 1-2cm height difference at most. Their builds weren’t that different either. Now only someone like Yeom Cheonho’s level made him think, wow, what an amazing physique.
“You’re both the same!”
“What are you talking about! Open your eyes wide and look! I’m bigger!”
Yeonrok tried to shut him up by placing a bite of duck meat on top of Choi Hwan’s salad. However, without showing even a hint of resistance, he ate the duck meat deliciously and Choi Hwan kept on chattering.
“That hyung acted like he’d do anything, but it was kind of funny when he said only that wasn’t allowed.”
“Ah, please…”
“We were rolling around and the whole mood got ruined…”
Yeonrok eventually gave up on the smoked duck salad and fled to his room. Choi Hwan shouted from behind in an excited voice, “You’re not eating this anymore? I’m eating it all!”
The next day, Yeonrok came down for breakfast with a somewhat empty stomach from skipping a late-night snack. He was eating deliciously, having forgotten about yesterday, when Moon Gyeonwoo appeared in the kitchen. Without even eating breakfast, he brewed coffee first, then sipped it while staring intently at Yeonrok.
His gaze seemed to be gauging his condition. To Yeonrok, who was tense thinking he might ask a question lacking common sense and courtesy like Choi Hwan had yesterday, he said this:
“Let’s go today.”
“Today, what…?”
When he showed a blank reaction, instead of answering, Moon Gyeonwoo shoved a photo of the comfort doll at him with his phone. Only then did Yeonrok recall that Moon Gyeonwoo had asked him to act as his lover, holding the comfort doll hostage. Is that today? With a sour expression, Yeonrok nodded. When he reluctantly finished preparing to go out, Moon Gyeonwoo matter-of-factly informed him of today’s schedule.
“We’ll go to the company together and return in the afternoon.”
Moon Gyeonwoo’s company? Yeonrok recalled the business card full of English. Unlike Choi Hwan or Yeom Cheonho, who had exchanges with Moon Gyeonwoo and knew to some extent what he did, Yeonrok knew nothing about Moon Gyeonwoo. So although some curiosity and interest arose, he didn’t show it and just reluctantly nodded. Whether Yeonrok expressed dissatisfaction or not, Moon Gyeonwoo briefly looked Yeonrok up and down and seemed to be pondering.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Yeonrok looked at the mirror without much thought. His hair is fine and his outfit is decent too? Why is he like that? Moon Gyeonwoo, who returned after a moment, had a cap and mask in his hands.
“There’s no need to show your face to a stalker.”
It was quite a thoughtful consideration for someone using an innocent person for his lover. Of course, from the position of being blackmailed, he wasn’t particularly grateful… Yeonrok pressed down the cap and also wore the mask.
When the two came out together like that, there was brief confusion among the bodyguards again. However, it wasn’t as much as when he’d followed Choi Hwan. Since neither Moon Gyeonwoo nor Yeonrok were the type to mess with the bodyguards, an agreement was reached smoothly and quickly.
“Get in first.”
As soon as they left the house, Moon Gyeonwoo smiled affectionately, so Yeonrok flinched. And soon he realized he’d started acting like a lover. As he looked around for the stalker, Moon Gyeonwoo opened the car door himself and said quietly.
“Don’t make it obvious you’re looking for the stalker and get in quickly.”
Yeonrok, who boarded the car, made a sour expression. And he glanced at Moon Gyeonwoo who took out a tablet and pulled up a document in English, scrolling through it swiftly. Does Moon Gyeonwoo know something about Yeom Cheonho’s family affairs? He was curious, but Choi Hwan might answer if asked, but Moon Gyeonwoo didn’t seem like he would, so he held back.
It took about 30 minutes to arrive at the research institute. As soon as he got out of the car, Moon Gyeonwoo intimately wrapped his arm around Yeonrok’s waist. Yeonrok, who was admiringly looking around at the quite large-scale research institute, jumped at the arm wrapping around his waist like a snake.
“What are you doing?”
“What are *you* doing? We have to act like lovers, don’t we?”
“Ugh…”
“I’m not particularly pleased to be doing this with someone who’s not my lover either.”
“More unpleasant than me doing this because I’m being blackmailed?”
As they walked while bickering, they’d already reached the main entrance. Near the main gate on a well-maintained flower bed, ‘Genexa Biotechnology’ was carved large on a granite slab. People going to work passed in front of it, each holding coffee cups and bustling about. Perhaps because it was a foreign-affiliated company, foreigners were seen quite often.
Since becoming a Name Partner, he’d experienced many unfamiliar environments, but the research institute was by far the most unfamiliar place among them. Yeonrok was dragged in while feeling somewhat intimidated. Moon Gyeonwoo, who crossed the spacious lobby smelling strongly of new construction, headed straight to the security desk.
“Hello. This is an external companion visit. I made a reservation in advance under Moon Gyeonwoo.”
The uniformed security guard greeted him back and quickly checked the monitor before asking.
“Hello, Senior Researcher Moon Gyeonwoo. Is the companion Lee Yeonrok-ssi, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Lee Yeonrok-ssi? May I see your ID? I’d also appreciate it if you could lower your mask for a moment.”
The security guard who finished the security procedure handed over a visitor pass. Moon Gyeonwoo took Yeonrok toward the entry gate. And explained in a kind voice.
“Here, you tap it like a transit card like this.”
Then while raising the mask he’d forgotten to put back up, he treated him quite intimately. Yeonrok, feeling very unfamiliar with Moon Gyeonwoo’s attitude, tapped the temporary visitor pass. The gate opened with a beep.
“Aren’t you thirsty? Don’t you need anything?”
Since this was the first time being this close, Yeonrok learned for the first time that Moon Gyeonwoo’s voice wound quite sweetly around his ears, that his eyelashes were longer than expected, and that he had quite a nice scent.
“No, just go.”
Yeonrok, who kept acting stiffly because he couldn’t adapt at all, shuddered and escaped as soon as they reached the personal office. His ears felt hot for no reason. Moon Gyeonwoo, who changed his attitude completely as soon as the office door closed, also moved far away and sighed.
“I feel unnecessarily sorry toward Hwan.”
“Why don’t you feel a little sorry toward me too?”
Glaring at Moon Gyeonwoo, Yeonrok quickly scanned the surroundings. The inside of the office was very neat. A large whiteboard hung on one wall, and next to it, all kinds of file folders and books could be seen neatly inserted in a bookcase. Several foliage plants were placed here and there, ventilating what could otherwise be a stiff atmosphere. While Moon Gyeonwoo took off his coat and put on a white lab coat, Yeonrok discovered a familiar object.
‘Yeondoo!’
His comfort doll was sitting obediently inside a display case. He quickly ran over and tried to fling open the display case door, but it was firmly locked and only rattled. Should I just break the glass? But where on earth did that scarf Yeondoo is wearing come from… After looking at it for a while, the moment he realized it looked like a men’s handkerchief, a knock-knock sound was heard.
“Senior Moon~. May I come in?”
“Yes, please wait just a moment.”
Moon Gyeonwoo, who answered, reached for the mask Yeonrok had lowered because it was stuffy. While raising it up, he almost got his finger bitten by the other person who was annoyed because his comfort doll was held hostage. After looking at Yeonrok with disgust for a moment, he said toward outside the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened and a researcher with a file folder tucked under his arm entered, then widened his eyes.
“Ah, you have a guest. Should I come later?”
“No, it’s fine. I mentioned before, right? This is my lover and Name Partner.”
Then Moon Gyeonwoo shamelessly smiled as if embarrassed and said this:
“My lover sent me a doll so I wouldn’t be lonely.”
“I see! I was curious because a doll I’d never seen before suddenly appeared. So that was that doll.”
Yeonrok’s comfort doll had suddenly been transformed into a love-filled doll sent from his non-existent lover. Moon Gyeonwoo went further, warmly embracing the stiffly acting Yeonrok’s shoulder while also saying this:
“Despite being handsome, he’s very shy and has a personality that’s wary of strangers. Please understand even if he doesn’t talk much.”
On the surface, there was no doting fool like this doting fool. Since he’d unintentionally been given the setting of being silent, Yeonrok couldn’t even greet them and just made a sour expression under the mask the whole time. The two soon began a conversation mixing complex science terms like a foreign language. After the researcher finished reporting and left, Yeonrok sneered.
“I guess you treat all your lovers this well. Your last lover too.”
“…How do you know about my ex-lover?”
Moon Gyeonwoo looked at him with suspicious eyes, so Yeonrok was dumbfounded.
