TRIPLE 28

He was impeccably groomed, as always. The cuffs and collar of his shirt were neatly folded, and his tie was perfectly knotted. Beside him were his half-emptied plate, a coffee cup, and the tablet placed before him.

It was an ordinary morning scene, save for the banana and egg-shaped chocolate, of which Siyeon had already eaten a few pieces, occupying the space next to them.

The one who had changed noticeably was actually Siyeon. As soon as he drew close to him, that scent he had been conscious of wafted over him once more.

“….”

Siyeon, who had intended to sit beside Beom Yisu as usual, pulled out a chair at a distance and sat down without a word. He knew it was an uncharacteristically pathetic thing to do. He knew he was acting prickly, like a person the day after they’d caused an accident by mistake.

But facing him right now was just too uncomfortable. Beom Yisu hadn’t inflicted any harm upon him, but psychologically, he felt so uneasy that he didn’t think he could swallow a single bite of food.

The servant seemed slightly flustered by the unusual seating arrangement, but fortunately, they brought the meal without asking any questions.

Siyeon finished nodding his thanks, picked up his spoon, and deliberately took a scoop of the hottest porridge first. As the hot steam rose, he used that as an excuse to keep his head bowed. To his surprise, Beom Yisu was the one to open the conversation first.

“It seems you had a restless night.”

To the emotionless voice that was the same as always, Siyeon replied just as briefly.

“…Kuh-hem, um… yes.”

He had answered while taking a spoonful of porridge, so it came out looking quite unsightly. As he coughed, Beom Yisu fortunately didn’t force the conversation further, but he couldn’t help but feel bothered.

A presence felt just outside his field of vision. It was closer to a sense of existence than a gaze. He didn’t need to look to know. He knew whether or not he was watching him right now.

Siyeon swallowed what was in his mouth and opened his mouth, pretending to be nonchalant.

“…CEO.”

“Speak.”

“Are we doing that thing we did yesterday today, too?”

Beom Yisu’s eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. He didn’t answer right away. After setting down his coffee cup, he tapped the edge of the table with his fingertips in a steady rhythm.

“We will have to if it is necessary. Every day.”

It really is necessary, isn’t it? The answer was clear just by looking at the band wrapped around his wrist, but he didn’t like it one bit. He hated that he was getting used to him and becoming conscious of him.

“Then, will you be coming home early today?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s a bit tiring if you come home too late like you did yesterday.”

“Aren’t you already getting enough sleep?”

Even if it wasn’t an equal relationship, he refused to be treated like a dog guarding the house. Watching him act as he pleased, Siyeon wrinkled his nose.

“How am I supposed to know when you’ll be home? Are you going to wake me up to do it if I’m asleep?”

“Is that not allowed?”

“Ha, if you’re going to do that, just do it while I’m sleeping. Why not?”

After snapping back at him, he worried he might have been too aggressive, but what could he do about it? Siyeon blew needlessly on the porridge, which had already cooled and wasn’t even that hot.

“Understood.”

However, at the delayed answer, Siyeon looked up. Understood what, exactly? Just as a hint of worry began to rise—

“I will notify you in advance if I am going to be late.”

Unexpectedly, a compliant answer followed. Siyeon looked up to gauge his intentions, but Beom Yisu had already lowered his gaze back to his tablet.

‘Seriously, what is with him?’

As expected, he was unreadable. Shaking his head, Siyeon turned his attention back to his meal.

∞ ∞ ∞

After a morning breakfast that was quite full of tension, the ever-busy Beom Yisu left for work immediately. Only after all signs of life completely ceased following the sound of the front door closing did Siyeon slump into the sofa.

“…Ha.”

The tension that had been hanging on his shoulders finally let go. Suddenly, he felt thirsty. It seemed he had burned his tongue eating the porridge while nervous. Just as he was cooling his burning mouth with cold green tea—

Buzz—

The phone he had tossed onto the table vibrated briefly.

[Chae Yoonoh]

Did he install a surveillance camera in the house or something? The timing was strangely perfect. As Siyeon unlocked the ‘0000’ lock, which was all but useless, messages popped up in succession.

Siyeon stared at the screen for a moment.

Here we go again. Did he hear something from Beom Yisu and call him again? After worrying so much on the phone, was this all he was curious about? The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. He couldn’t tell if he was dumbfounded or if it was funny.

“Ugh…. You should have just gone crazy gracefully. You’re wasting that face.”

Siyeon clicked his tongue openly, yet he was replying to him. He had nothing to do right now, anyway.

Even after sending it, he felt unnecessarily uneasy. Ever since last night, his thoughts kept drifting toward Beom Yisu. To be precise, he remained bothered by the pheromones that had been deeply entwined with his.

Feeling guilty, he debated whether to turn off the phone screen the moment he sent the message. He didn’t particularly want to see Chae Yoonoh’s immediate reaction. However, a reply came in right away.

Siyeon furrowed his brows.

“How many replies are you going to send in a row?”

Speech bubbles filled with idle chatter kept popping up. It was dizzying just looking at them. Siyeon swallowed a sigh and tapped the reply button.

As soon as he sent the message, another notification popped up.

Ding—

Fortunately, this time it was a photo, not a message.

Countless cameras and staff in a space flooded with lighting. In the middle of that glittering scene stood Chae Yoonoh. Perhaps it was because the bright Mediterranean light was draped thinly along his facial features, but his aura seemed far more radiant and mysterious than usual.

“…Wow.”

He was so impressed that Siyeon, who had been sprawled on the sofa sucking on his cold green tea, set the cup down and let out an exclamation of his own accord.

‘That face is just….’

It didn’t look like a photoshopped image, but actors were definitely different. Siyeon subconsciously zoomed in on the screen. Although, after the short exclamation, what he was actually looking at was the elaborately decorated set rather than Chae Yoonoh’s face.

Chae Yoonoh was standing in front of a shipwreck near the crashing sea, wearing a crisp white shirt, as if he were shooting a romance. He didn’t know if this huge ship was built from scratch or if it was actually there. Regardless, that one photo alone made him look forward to the movie he was filming.

‘Wouldn’t it be a huge problem if a leak like this got out?’

When Siyeon sent a message, excited in a way unlike him, the reply came back quickly.

Siyeon scoffed.

After that, a few more trivial snippets of chatter were exchanged. Just as Chae Yoonoh seemed to be called back to the filming set, Siyeon didn’t reply further and flipped his phone over. As the dark screen faced the floor, he felt the tension he’d been holding in his hands extinguish along with it.

‘He was crying about being busy, but he’s doing just fine.’

Overseas, huh…. He had lived so fiercely that he’d never even been on an airplane, let alone traveled abroad. He hadn’t even thought about taking a trip, but somehow, looking at the photo Chae Yoonoh sent, he felt a bit envious.

Whether he successfully escaped this place or whether he had no choice but to bear their child, this life of confinement would eventually come to an end. When he was a free man later, what would it be like to live carefree, traveling around with deeper pockets?

It would be nice to go to that beautiful seaside in the photo and sip a brightly colored cocktail. It wouldn’t be bad to build a villa and go live there for a few months during the cold season.

Siyeon buried himself deep into the sofa backrest. Time passed well just by imagining becoming rich. Then, suddenly, a major fact he had momentarily overlooked came to mind.

‘I wonder if Beom Yisu is reading all these texts right now.’

Knowing the original work, he couldn’t forget the fact that the phone given to him by Beom Yisu was being cloned. They said that not only the phone calls but also the message screens were being captured every minute.

It goes without saying, but unlike Siyeon, the protagonist didn’t know that. Because of that, he had been caught by Beom Yisu for everything—where he tried to run away, or what he had searched for.

“I can’t fall for the same trick twice.”

He paused for a moment even after saying it so naturally.

Twice? Why did I say it like that? It was just something the protagonist in the novel experienced.

‘Am I too immersed in this?’

Forget it. That wasn’t the important thing right now. Avoiding what he shouldn’t search for and gathering the necessary information was the very first priority.

Things like Nakwon-dong, which might be related to the protagonist’s childhood, or illegal financial websites run by Chief Kang were too high-risk.

Siyeon deleted the words that had reached his fingertips.

‘What’s something that isn’t too blatant?’

After pondering for a moment, Siyeon eventually entered only the most neutral term.

[Chae Yoonoh]

As soon as he pressed the search button with his finger, the screen changed rapidly. Articles followed one after another.