The Watercolor’s True Colors

It was the moment when Jin Yeon-oh, his brow slightly furrowed, and “Baek Seohan” locked eyes. Seohan’s own eyes trembled.

‘……Ha.’

He barely suppressed a hollow laugh.

The circumstances under which “Baek Seohan” took control of his body were always varied, but they weren’t without a common thread.

The timing of when the control returned was always terrible. It was enough to make him seriously suspect that “Baek Seohan” was doing this just to screw with him.

Returning to his senses while stepping on Lee Dohun, while kissing someone, while shoving a fork into a mouth… truly, every single instance was the most awkward situation imaginable.

By now, he’d developed an intuition for when control would return once “Baek Seohan” started moving on his own. And that moment was right now.

Right while he was gripping the Main Gong’s collar.

‘How do I fix this?’

But knowing when it would happen was a separate issue from knowing how to deal with it. Nothing came to mind. It felt as if someone had poured white paint over his brain.

They say your mind goes blank in truly desperate situations, and Seohan had experienced that feeling plenty of times since possessing Baek Seohan. He was practically used to it now.

First, he released the collar. Nothing good would come of holding onto it longer. The problem was how to escape this scene.

‘Why did he have to be here!’

Unlike Lee Dohun, who was kept inside the house, he would rarely cross paths with Jin Yeon-oh unless he specifically went to see him.

The problem was simply that the orphanage he chose for his volunteer work happened to be affiliated with Jin Yeon-oh’s company, and he happened to visit at the exact same time Jin Yeon-oh did.

Their eyes met. Seohan couldn’t even be sure if his gaze looked calm. He was anxious that his pupils were likely shaking like an earthquake. Jin Yeon-oh’s eyes narrowed as if measuring something, and a silence where no one spoke followed.

One second felt like a minute. That was how badly he wanted to leave this situation.

“Excuse me…….”

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining; a saving voice came from the side. A woman who looked like she’d just come out of the orphanage was looking back and forth between the two of them with an awkward expression.

Soon, her gaze moved from the familiar Jin Yeon-oh to the stranger wearing the cap.

“Are you…… the one who came for the volunteer work today?”

Her small voice was quite cautious. She seemed full of minor worries—wondering what she should do if he wasn’t, or if the two were simply in the middle of a fight.

A bright smile spread across Seohan’s face, which had been blinking for several seconds. Turning around immediately, he grabbed the bags “Baek Seohan” had dropped and headed inside. Naturally, he ignored Jin Yeon-oh entirely.

“That’s right. Shall we go in?”

“Huh? Weren’t you in the middle of a conversation with that gentleman……?”

“I don’t know him. Ah, there’s ice cream in the bag. I think it’ll melt if we don’t go in quickly…….”

“Oh, then please follow me!”

The hesitating woman, who seemed to have been on her way out, hurriedly guided Seohan inside at the mention of ice cream. As Seohan walked toward the entrance, his neck felt oddly itchy.

Still, he did not look back until the end.

Jin Yeon-oh continued to stare in one direction even after Seohan entered the orphanage and disappeared completely. Only after there was no one left in his sight did a change begin to appear on his face.

The furrowed brow smoothed out instantly. That wasn’t all. The “emotion” that had been held in his eyes began to drain away as well. The faint discomfort and bewilderment were bleached out in a heartbeat.

“Hmm.”

With everything gone, the only thing left was boredom.

His deep ashen eyes were now empty enough to be described as hollow. His gentle impression vanished in an instant.

How strange.

He muttered softly. His head tilted slightly as if reflecting his doubt. The way he stared at the entrance without blinking was almost eerie.

Jin Yeon-oh stood there for a long time without even thinking to straighten his disheveled clothes.

His first time volunteering was exhausting, but equally rewarding.

[Synchronization Rate has increased by 0.5%!] [Synchronization Rate 15% achieved ٩(•̀ㅂ•́ )!]

He had also obtained satisfying results. The eyes Seohan used to look at the sparkling system window seemed quite pleased.

While volunteering, he was put in charge of tutoring the children. The days he spent studying hard to get into a good university in his past life finally seemed to be paying off.

“They said same time next week…….”

Volunteering at orphanages is usually done long-term because repeated meetings and goodbyes can hurt the children.

Since he’d decided to live as a wealthy unemployed man anyway, he figured doing at least one fulfilling thing consistently wouldn’t be bad. Even if the goal of “Synchronization Rate” vanished one day…….

‘It’ll be fine to keep doing it.’

Watching the beaming children, Seohan made his decision easily. He had plenty of time, after all.

He worried he might run into Jin Yeon-oh again, but there was no sign of him on the way home. The same went for the strange people who had been tailing him earlier.

Returning to his room, his hands were relaxed as he took off his cap and organized his coat. After all, the only thing left on his daily schedule was feeding Lee Dohun.

“……’Feeding’ sounds a bit weird.”

The nuance was quite strange, but he tried to ignore it. For now, it was important to lie on the bed and rest while playing on his phone.

“…….”

Though it seemed someone had no intention of letting him rest.

The moment he lay down and turned on his phone screen, a person’s name popped up on the black display.

[Secretary Choi]

This is getting annoying, seriously.

His face, not hiding his emotions, crumpled. He’d left the man alone because he seemed competent at his job, but he was getting on Seohan’s nerves more every day. To the point where it was incomprehensible why “Baek Seohan” had kept him around.

“What is it?”

• Ah, Young Master! I have something to tell you, would it be okay if I visited the house……

“No, you can’t.”

It was a faster response than ever before, but it was full of sincerity. Perhaps flustered, a brief silence followed on the other end of the line. Just as he was debating whether to hang up, a quite dejected voice spoke.

• It’s just that the Eldest Young Master wishes to see you.

“And?”

• Pardon?

“Are you telling me to go see him personally?”

• No, well…… Young Master.

Even though it was only a voice, he could clearly feel the man’s panic. Seohan frowned slightly. He suspected such meetings had been requested quite often in the past, and judging by the reaction, “Baek Seohan” had seemingly never refused them.

‘Does that make sense?’

That Baek Seohan?

Although it hadn’t been long, his observations of “Baek Seohan” showed him to be a man who best fit the description of “the world revolves around me.” Looking down on everyone else was a given, and there wasn’t a trace of respect for others as individuals.

The interest “Baek Seohan” had in Lee Dohun was no exception. He didn’t see Lee Dohun as a person; he thought of him as a “toy.”

Would a guy like that obediently go to see a brother who tells him to come and go?

It was then that a cheerful system notification sounded.

[A gift from System R to the User who successfully navigated the ordeal!] [Check your gift box right now ε=ε=(ง 〉ᗨ〈)۶!]

A phrase he’d seen somewhere before appeared again. Reflexively pressing the gift box, fanfare exploded and the screen became incredibly flashy. It was even more sparkling than when he hit 10%, as if it were evolving day by day.

[If you select the person you want, you can see detailed information about them.]

Suddenly, a person? Seohan, scowling, muted the call and began to press the system.

“Give me information on the guy who cut in line.”

[Available when Synchronization Rate reaches 20% (ㅅ´˘`)!]

“Hey.”

[Available when Synchronization Rate reaches 20% ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡!]

He tried talking to it several times after that, but the system only repeated the same words, changing only the attached emoticon. Just as he was barely tolerating his boiling anger, the blue window flickered briefly and displayed several names. As if telling him to pick from here.

[1. Yoon Hee-jin] [2. Kim Jae-hwan] [3. Choi Min-wook] [4. Seo Seung-ye] [……]

About ten names were listed, but the problem was that he didn’t know a single one of them. Not one. Seohan, scanning the names several times, muttered.

“……So who are these people?”

His glaring eyes demanded an explanation late, but the system remained consistent, spamming phrases like ‘Please select your desired reward!’ Left with no choice, a fuming Seohan looked for a weapon to hit the window with, but ultimately had to select a person as the system intended.