Chapter 52
Gyeongjae stood face-to-face with Jaehwan in the quiet corridor.
When asked why he was in the building, Jaehwan claimed it was simple client business for his security firm.
Gyeongjae bought the excuse—it fit Jaehwan's line of work—but offered nothing in return, brushing off his own presence with a vague line about an important meeting.
As they spoke, a movement caught Gyeongjae's eye.
Behind Jaehwan's shoulder, Carl was sprinting down the hall at full speed.
"Carl? Hey, where is—!"
Carl flew right past them without stopping, completely failing to recognize Gyeongjae in his desperate rush to find a convenience store and buy something sweet for Yeonho.
Gyeongjae watched Carl disappear around the corner toward the exit.
"You know him?" Jaehwan asked, turning around.
Gyeongjae ignored the question. He locked eyes with Jaehwan for a split second, then walked straight past him.
The panic on Carl's face made his stomach drop; he knew something had happened to Yeonho again.
Jaehwan step beside him, shoving his hands into his suit pockets.
"Don't ignore me, Gyeongjae. I asked you a question."
"I don't have time for this," Gyeongjae muttered, his eyes scanning the corridor doors. "Stop following me."
"Who is this important person you're meeting?" Jaehwan pressed smoothly.
"A woman?"
"Shut up and get lost."
They took two more turns down the hallway before Gyeongjae halted in front of Min-hyuk's private dressing room. Jaehwan stopped beside him, reading the name plaque on the door with mild curiosity.
"Min-hyuk's room," Jaehwan noted, slowly smirking his lips. "So he's your important meeting. What is this, are you two teaming up now?"
Gyeongjae glared at him. "Can't you shut your mouth for five seconds? I told you to back off."
"No need to get sensitive over a simple question. I'm just curious."
Gyeongjae reached for the door handle.
Before he could turn it, muffled noises echoed from inside the room. He shoved the door open—and froze at the sight inside.
Yeonho was pinned against the leather couch. Seungjo was leaning over him with one hand clamped tightly around Yeonho's throat, his other hand gripping a phone.
Fresh blood was smeared beneath Yeonho's nose. Min-hyuk stood right next to them, his posture tense as he tried to intervene.
"What's going on here?" Jaehwan stepped past Gyeongjae, his gaze sweeping over the scene before settling on Yeonho with an amused smirk.
Yeonho's eyes widened in genuine disbelief.
The man standing in the doorway had striking features, a high bridge, and sharp, fox-like siren eyes.
Yeonho recognized him immediately.
'No way... That's.... Jaehwan. That golden-brown hair... Wait ...Why is he here?'
Jaehwan wore a tailored black suit, carrying a calm, mature authority that set him apart from the others.
For a brief second, Yeonho was thrown off by how impressive he looked in person, but reality quickly slammed back into him.
First Seungjo showed up unannounced, and now Jaehwan. On top of that, Gyeongjae had just arrived.
All four male leads were standing in the exact same room.
'What the hell...'
Gyeongjae stepped forward, looking down at him with cold eyes. The four men surrounded the couch like a pack of wolves cornering a trapped fox.
"So you're back in Korea," Jaehwan remark, staring down at Yeonho. "Care to explain what's happening here? And Seungjo... why are you choking him?"
Nobody answered right away.
After few more seconds, Seungjo finally released his grip on Yeonho's neck, standing up to adjust his collar. His expression wiped clean, completely calm, as if he hadn't just been violently pinning Yeonho to the couch.
Seungjo sat on the far side of the couch while Yeonho sat up, letting out a ragged breath.
He rubbed his throat, gasping for air.
He had almost choked to death.
Just minutes earlier, right after Gyeongjae hung up their phone call, Yeonho had secretly started a voice recording on his device.
When Carl left to get sweets, Seungjo insisted on calling Hana or Yeonho's father to expose everything.
Impatient and untrusting, Seungjo had reached for his phone—only for Yeonho to play back the recording of their conversation, using it as direct blackmail to force Seungjo to back down.
Min-hyuk had recoiled instantly. The audio was catastrophic for both of them. If that recording got out, Seungjo's public image as an honorable partner would shatter, while Min-hyuk would be exposed as a cheater who slept with Hana's twin brother behind her back.
Neither man was willing to risk hurting Hana or losing her trust.
Hearing his own voice playback from the speaker drove Seungjo over the edge.
Min-hyuk clenched his jaw in helpless rage.
Yeonho simply sat there with a bloody nose, smiling up at them.
When Seungjo realized he was trapped, he snapped. He lunged at Yeonho, slammed him into the cushions, choked him, and tried to snatch the phone right out of his hands—which was the exact second Gyeongjae and Jaehwan walked through the door.
Yeonho pulled himself upright, pulling a clean tissue from the box on the table to press against his nose.
The bleeding began to slow, and the throbbing pressure inside his skull began to fade.
As his head cleared, he forced himself to recall why Seungjo and Jaehwan were even here in the first place.
'Work... Right. They're here for work matters. How did I forget that?'
He frowned internally. It was strange. His cousin had written this webnovel specifically to mock him, so he should have known every detail by heart.
'It must be the stress', Yeonho thought, trying to rationalize the blank spots in his memory.
'My head has been completely wrecked lately.'
Before he could dwell on it any further, Gyeongjae stepped directly in front of him.
Gyeongjae's eyes were murderous, but his glare wasn't aimed at Yeonho—it was aimed directly at Seungjo.
"Why are you here?"
"Work," Seungjo replied smoothly.
Gyeongjae sneered, unimpressed by the short answer.
"You were supposed to be with Hana. She told me you two were having lunch. Did you ditch her for 'work,' or is there another reason? Because you don't look like you're doing any work right now."
"That's my personal business," Seungjo said, leaning back. "I don't recall needing to explain myself to someone as incompetent as you."
Gyeongjae's jaw clenched, his knuckles turning white as his temper flared.
Before the argument could escalate into a fistfight, Jaehwan chimed in, followed by Min-hyuk.
The room quickly devolved into a quiet, sharp exchange of insults.
But Jaehwan wasn't interested in petty bickering—he turned his attention straight to Yeonho.
"When did you return to Korea? Do you have someone backing you? Is it Baek Seungjo?"
Yeonho glanced at Seungjo, then shifted his gaze back to Jaehwan sitting in the armchair across from him.
"Is Seungjo helping you?" Jaehwan pressed.
"No, I—"
"Yes," Seungjo cut in, speaking over him.
"He's under my management. He's working as a model for my agency."
A sudden hush fell over the room.
Everyone in the room, except Seungjo, froze.
Yeonho stared at Seungjo with wide blue eyes, utterly bewildered.
'What the hell is he talking about?'
Then he realized Seungjo's angle.
Seungjo wanted to keep a tight leash on him so he wouldn't leak the recording, using the excuse of an agency contract to control his movements.
But Yeonho wasn't an official model under any agency—he was just a substitute model for a single shoot and a brat who begged Jiseok to organize everything for him.
"Really...? Working for you?" Jaehwan crossed his legs, his interest piqued, looking thoroughly amusedby Seungjo's sudden claim. "Since when?"
Gyeongjae closed the distance, his tone turning dangerous. "Liar. Since when does he work for your?"
"Why should I tell you?" Seungjo countered coldly. "It's none of your business."
Watching the argument unfold, Yeonho quickly mapped out where Seungjo was heading. Seungjo was going to force him to quit styling for Min-hyuk and drag him into his own company to maintain total control over him.
'Wait... this actually works in my favor.'
Yeonho calculated his upcoming moves, his birthday, and the tight schedule for the Dior campaign.
Seungjo was the type of person who evaluated everyone strictly through utility and measurable success.
If Yeonho stepped in as a model and turned that campaign into a massive hit, Seungjo wouldn't be able to look down on him ever again.
Yeonho knew how to work the press and build a brand—he could easily propel Seungjo's agency straight to the top of the industry.
Decision made, Yeonho cut off the rising argument and backed up Seungjo's lie.
"That's right," Yeonho said, offering a small smile. "I'm a model under his agency. Right, Seungjo?"
Seungjo looked down at him, caught off guard. He had expected Yeonho to cower in fear or stay silent, yet Yeonho was looking up at him with unshakeable confidence.
The other three men watched the exchange with heavy suspicion.
Min-hyuk and Gyeongjae eyed Yeonho with immediate suspicion. Gyeongjae was inclined to believe it, knowing Yeonho ran streams and did modeling work online.
But Min-hyuk knew better. Yeonho was Hana's stylist, not an agency model under Seungjo, and Min-hyuk could see right through the lie—
He could see Seungjo was merely trying to exert control after being blackmailed.
Jaehwan didn't buy a word of it either. Remaining composed and neutral, he observed both Yeonho and Seungjo, letting them play out their story while he quietly gathered facts.
"So you really work for him?" Jaehwan repeated.
Yeonho nodded without hesitation.
"Prove it," Jaehwan said.
Yeonho immediately launched into an explanation for Jaehwan and Gyeongjae.
He outlined his role as the lead face for an upcoming magazine cover and the new Dior campaign, spinning every detail to sound entirely legitimate and professional.
The only detail he deliberately omitted was the schedule change. He kept the fact that the release date was moved specifically to his birthday entirely to himself. None of these four men could know about that adjustment.
When Yeonho finished speaking, the hostility in the room settled into a tense, uneasy quiet. Though every man remained suspicious of his true motives—still convinced Yeonho was the villainous enemy out to ruin Hana—they couldn't immediately dismantle his story.
A few minutes later, Yeonho stood up from the couch. His clothes remained loose and disheveled from Seungjo pinning him down earlier, so he signaled to Gyeongjae.
"Gyeongjae, help me fix this."
Before Gyeongjae could step forward to adjust the loose corset, Seungjo stood up and clamped a hand around Yeonho's wrist, maintaining his grip.
Gyeongjae looked down at Seungjo's grip, his expression darkening instantly.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Over by the vanity table, Min-hyuk watched them quietly. He had already guessed Gyeongjae intended to take Yeonho home—especially considering how frail and sick Yeonho had looked all morning.
"I asked you a question," Gyeongjae repeated, taking a step closer. "What are you doing?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Seungjo retorted without releasing his grip.
"I'm taking him home. He's sick and he needs rest."
Gyeongjae reached over to grab Yeonho's bag from the coffee table, picked up a disposable mask from the makeup kit, and stepped past Seungjo, fitted it gently over Yeonho's face.
Trapped between both men, Yeonho stayed quiet and let Gyeongjae handle him.
"We're leaving."
Gyeongjae removed his own heavy suit jacket and draped it over Yeonho's shoulders, thoroughly concealing the flashy corset underneath. He picked up a black cap from the counter and pulled it low over Yeonho's eyes.
Gyeongjae inspected Yeonho's hidden face. He wanted to tell him how pretty he looked under all those layers, but he kept the thought to himself.
Min-hyuk stood up from his chair and walked over. "That's not going to do much. He stands out too much. People are still going to notice him."
"It's fine, Min-hyuk," Yeonho said, his voice muffled behind the mask. "As long as my face and hair are covered, nobody will recognize me."
"If you say so..." Min-hyuk shrugged, stepping back.
Gyeongjae grabbed Yeonho's belongings and pulled him toward the door by his other wrist.
"Let's go."
Before they could take few more steps, Seungjo yanked Yeonho back with sharp force. The sudden jerk pulled Yeonho's arm taut, the tight grip bruising his skin.
"Ow..." Yeonho winced, pulling against the hold. "Can't you loosen your grip? You're hurting me."
Instead of releasing him, Seungjo pulled Yeonho firmly to his side, his shoulder pressing against Yeonho's.
"He's my asset," Seungjo stated coldly, glaring at Gyeongjae. "He works for my company. We still have business to discuss, so I'll be the one taking him home later."
Gyeongjae's eyes narrowed into slits as he stared at Seungjo's hand on Yeonho.
"You bastard..." Gyeongjae growled.
"Let go of him."