“Yeah. I need to subtly show it to the reporters.”
After just roughly tidying up his clothes, the journey to the broadcasting station resembled an intelligence operation. Since it hadn’t been long since Choi Hwan’s scandal broke, the reporters were properly riled up. While Choi Hwan openly entered through the main gate to draw the aggro of reporters and fans, Yeonrok, whose face was less well-known, secretly infiltrated the broadcasting station. Fortunately, no one recognized him.
A few minutes later, they reunited near the radio broadcast studio. Choi Hwan walked over proudly and said.
“I think a few reporters saw my bruises. I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Jo Junho confirmed while reading an article that had just been posted. In the photo in the article, Choi Hwan looked like a rough and wild handsome man. It meant he was handsome even when beaten up. Everyone must be very curious about why Choi Hwan’s face was bruised. So the plan was to gather that attention and expose his family’s tyranny.
Worried internally, Yeonrok observed Choi Hwan’s complexion. He looked tired from being quite harassed by reporters, but his mood didn’t seem too bad. He casually patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.
“Let’s hurry in. I want to get an autograph from Yoo Eunha-nim too.”
When they entered the studio, the PD, writer, and host Yoo Eunha happily greeted them. When Yeonrok said he was a longtime fan, Yoo Eunha readily gave him an autograph. The broadcast that followed was also smooth without any particular problems.
As mentioned in advance, Yeonrok didn’t have much to say. Also, Yoo Eunha, being considerate of Yeonrok who was a civilian, didn’t throw any mischievous questions at all. Having done this kind of thing several times, Choi Hwan was skilled. Yeonrok watched such a counterpart with curious eyes. He seemed like a different person whenever he saw him being sincere about his work.
‘Honestly, it’s kind of cool.’
Because his usual words and actions were so frivolous, his charm stood out particularly at times like this.
Yeonrok came to his senses and focused on the broadcast. Even though his part was small and his face wouldn’t show, he was nervous because it was a live broadcast and stared intently at the script. Glancing at such a Yeonrok, Choi Hwan slyly held his hand. Then he smiled with his lips and mouthed.
‘It’s okay. Don’t be nervous.’
This bastard, why is he suddenly being so mature… Feeling awkward, Yeonrok fiddled with the hand intertwined with Choi Hwan’s. Yoo Eunha saw the two like that and grinned.
“You two look so affectionate that it makes this single person’s heart lonely. Now that I think about it, I’m curious about your first meeting. Where and how did you two meet?”
Yeonrok, who had been concentrating on the warm warmth flowing from the hand held with Choi Hwan’s, calmly spoke into the microphone.
“Our first meeting was ordinary. Like other Name Manifestors, we met at the Name Matching Center.”
“So it was a meeting at the Name Matching Center. How did you feel when you first saw Choi Hwan? If it were me, I wouldn’t have believed it. That Choi Hwan is my Name Partner?”
“Haha, yes. Actually, at first I didn’t believe it, so I asked the staff. I confirmed several times whether I had come to the right place.”
Of course, they couldn’t honestly reveal their first meeting. Choi Hwan’s first words were ‘Is this perhaps a scammer?’ So, after going through the writer’s hands, their first meeting was described like the beginning of a romance novel.
Following that, they naturally also verified the Manifestation Official Certification documents from the Name Matching Center. This was to dispel any suspicions that they might be fake Name Partners. After revealing even the lovey-dovey daily life stories they had fabricated, it was already the middle of the broadcast. The PD’s face brightened at how high the listener ratings were. He gave a thumbs up.
“Yes, we’ve enjoyed hearing about Actor Choi Hwan and his partner’s sweet love story. Now let’s change the subject a bit. Actor Choi Hwan, you said you have something to say about this so-called ‘scandal.'”
“That’s right. There’s a story I really want to tell. Um… it’s difficult to bring up.”
Choi Hwan furrowed his straight eyebrows and smiled quite bitterly. Seeing his forlorn face that seemed to have circumstances, the eyebrows of Yoo Eunha and other staff naturally turned downward. However, strangely only Yeonrok felt that Choi Hwan was acting right now.
“I grew up in an orphanage until I entered elementary school.”
Yeonrok’s surprised gaze turned to Choi Hwan. This was a story he had never known. It was because he had only looked at his own script until now and had never seen Choi Hwan’s script.
“That doesn’t mean my current parents aren’t my biological parents. I have an older brother and older sister above me, but after I was born, the family fortunes declined, and perhaps finding the newborn burdensome, only I was sent to the orphanage.”
Choi Hwan also lived in an orphanage? And at that moment, what Yeonrok recalled was Moon Gyeonwoo’s statement.
‘I’m an orphan. I don’t have parents, so I have no stories to tell.’
Moon Gyeonwoo, Choi Hwan, and Lee Yeonrok all had experience living in an orphanage. Yeom Cheonho has a father but their relationship is like enemies, and his mother wasn’t even mentioned. It means the four of them have similar deficiencies.
If this is a commonality they possess because they’re Name Partners, isn’t this really a strange and sad coincidence?
“I met my family again when I was six years old. I was lucky enough to become a kids model. When I started making money like that, my parents came to pick me up right away. At first, I was really happy. I thought I finally had a family, that I could be with them.”
The past history that followed was child abuse itself, no matter how you looked at it.
When Choi Hwan was active as a kids model, there wasn’t much awareness about children’s working hours. It was an environment unimaginable now. These people called parents worked Choi Hwan to the point where 24 hours a day weren’t enough. And occasionally they continued gaslighting while bestowing affection as if doing a favor. Sometimes he was also beaten secretly in places that weren’t easily visible to others.
From his childhood until now, most of the money he earned had been exploited like this. Yoo Eunha, who had been listening to Choi Hwan’s story, sighed.
“I can’t believe such a thing happened, it must have been hard. It really shouldn’t have happened.”
“Actually, I tried to hide this story for my whole life. What was most precious to me was my acting career, and I didn’t want to be bound by such past history. In my own way, I wanted to receive objective acting evaluations. But seeing the person most precious to me now getting cursed at like this, I thought I couldn’t hide it anymore.”
“It must have been a difficult decision, but thank you for courageously speaking out like this.”
“It’s all courage I could muster thanks to my partner.”
Until now it had been a voice acting out emotional turmoil, but this time sincerity could be felt. Suddenly, Yeonrok’s heart churned strangely.
“We’re not a false relationship like my family fabricated. We’re in a relationship based on mutual affection and trust, and are precious to each other like our lives. My one and only true… family.”
With those words, it was finally time for the radio broadcast to end. Until then, Choi Hwan and Yeonrok continued holding hands. It was a hot and damp contact with sweat from who knows who. However, neither of them let go of their hands.
“What exactly is family? Especially between parents and children, it’s said to be a natural bond. However, isn’t the most important thing the heart that loves and cares for the other person?”
Concluding the story like that, Yoo Eunha delivered the ending comment.
“This has been Yoo Eunha’s Happy Radio with Actor Choi Hwan and his partner. Thank you.”
* * *
After Yoo Eunha’s radio broadcast aired, Choi Hwan’s family was cursed at nationwide. It was even more so because cases like Choi Hwan’s weren’t the first.
Famous celebrities paying off their families’ debts or having money embezzled by their families happened occasionally whenever you’d forget about it. Each time it became a big issue, and especially Choi Hwan was a top star at the peak of popularity with the issue of child abuse entangled, so the impact was fierce.
The family’s false interview, the agency’s evidence disclosure, and following the photos, even the assault video of Choi Hwan that was released. Articles poured out ceaselessly day after day, and public opinion boiled hotly. Everyone was shocked when it was revealed that the family’s assault had started when he was young and continued until now.
With Choi Hwan’s shocking family history issue, interest in Yeonrok quietly subsided.
Choi Hwan sued his family with the help of the team of lawyers Yeom Cheonho had assigned. In the case of child abuse, very fortunately, the statute of limitations applies from the moment one becomes an adult. The statute of limitations in this case is 7 years. In other words, it means the statute of limitations for crimes committed against Choi Hwan, who is twenty-five years old, hasn’t ended yet.
