Chapter 2: A Peculiar Proposal

[Mail received]

He stretched, seeing the words appear on his monitor. His eyes, dry from hours of staring without blinking, gratefully accepted a few drops of artificial tears.

As the tension finally drained from him, his body began to protest, one complaint after another.

His back, screaming from hours of being hunched over, let out a series of ominous cracks as he stood up and performed some light stretches.

“I really should exercise,” he mused.

‘Not now, though. Later.’

He glanced at the clock; it was just past ten in the morning.

He imagined bright sunlight would greet him if he drew back the blackout curtains. Though the copious amounts of coffee kept sleep at bay, a faint headache throbbed behind his eyes, a testament to his sleepless night.

Overnight work was customary on submission deadlines, so he was well accustomed to it.

With the final manuscript submitted today, the project he had dedicated over half a year to was finally out of his hands.

“Ugh, I just want to rest now.”

It wasn’t laziness; he genuinely hadn’t had enough time to shower.

If he went straight to bed like this, he’d surely fall asleep instantly.

He stumbled into the bathroom, quickly washed up, and emerged. Roughly towel-drying his hair, he sat on the bed, noticing a new notification on his phone.

[From your coordinator:]

“Ah…”

He had anticipated it, but after reading the long message from his coordinator, he slumped back onto the bed.

‘Going out is such a hassle.’

He wanted to suggest discussing it over the phone, but if it concerned design, meeting in person was more convenient. Thus, they always met at least once for every project he submitted.

Given that these were their only interactions, and their last meeting was for his previous work, it had been almost a year.

He checked his May calendar, which was completely blank save for ‘Deadline’ marked on the 21st.

‘Still, not this month.’

He flipped to the next month, where a similarly empty calendar had only one day highlighted.

[June 13th: Hospital – Suppressants]

‘Since I have to go to the hospital that day anyway, I might as well get everything done at once.’

Ignoring his damp hair, he lay on the bed and texted his coordinator, suggesting an afternoon slot on June 13th.

No sooner had he sent the message than the ‘1’ disappeared, and a positive reply instantly came back.

After roughly deciding on the time and place, he went into his messenger profile and changed his status message.

[Lee Dohwa]

[Do not disturb]

He had lived diligently for the deadline, so now it was time for a well-deserved rest.

He vowed to spend at least the next week binging all the webtoons, movies, and anime he had put off, all from the comfort of his bed.

‘From now on, any incoming contact shall be considered a threat.’

And with that, Dohwa’s bed subtly shifted as he settled in.

It had been five years since she started working at her new publishing house.

As a coordinator, Song Yumin had spent roughly three years hearing endless talk about one particular person.

“His next project absolutely *must* be with us,” her colleagues would insist. “Yumin, go charm him and bring up his next work. He definitely has something planned, I’m sure of it.”

‘This work is a huge success too.’

While the official sales figures weren’t in yet, internal rumors among the publishing house staff, who had read the final manuscript, declared this work another masterpiece. If this one also hit big, it would be his third consecutive success.

‘Author Lee Dohwa.’

His debut was sci-fi, followed by back-to-back hits in thriller and fantasy, and his latest release was another thriller.

Although his debut was with a different publisher, her company had secured contracts for all three subsequent works, including the one about to be released.

Based on her three years of observation, Author Lee Dohwa was not the type to switch publishers if the conditions remained favorable.

Having worked as his coordinator for three years, meeting him a few times and exchanging conversations, she had gathered some insights.

‘He’s overflowing with potential.’

He was an author who had never once experienced a hiatus due to a slump. Moreover, he usually met his deadlines.

Officially, the meeting was to convey details regarding the upcoming publication, but unlike other meetings, she approached it with a relatively light heart.

“I’ll order once my companion arrives,” she told the waiter.

She arrived five minutes early at the restaurant where they were set to meet at 2 PM, settling into her seat and watching the entrance.

‘Since there was no mention of him being late, he’ll probably arrive exactly on time.’

Sure enough, a man entered through the door precisely on schedule.

“Over here!” she called out.

“Hello,” he replied.

“It’s been a while, Author-nim! Oh, let’s order first, shall we? Please choose anything you like.”

Watching Dohwa flip through the menu across from her, she momentarily zoned out.

‘He looks even more handsome up close.’

His face was one she could never quite get used to, no matter how many times she saw it. Thankfully, her brief lapse in attention seemed to have gone unnoticed.

‘I doubt I’ll ever see someone this beautiful again in my entire life.’

Author Lee Dohwa’s potential wasn’t just evident in his writing; it also stemmed from his devastatingly attractive looks.

His photo, taken when he won an award for his debut work, had gained considerable fame and spread through word-of-mouth.

“Is aglio e olio pasta alright for you?” she asked.

“Yes, anything is fine with me,” he replied.

Today, armed with a company card that had no spending limit, she felt invincible. After placing their order, light conversation filled the air until their food arrived.

“How have you been?” she inquired.

“Me? Well… I’ve just been diligently writing,” he answered.

“Author-nim, everyone at the publishing house is raving about your latest work. As I mentioned in the email, the review process is complete.”

As the purpose of their meeting was the book, the conversation briefly touched upon it, but soon shifted to recent books and movies, easing the atmosphere.

‘This is my chance.’

“Author-nim, have you perhaps considered doing even a small signing event for this release?”

“Ah… no. I apologize.”

“Not at all! You should do whatever you’re comfortable with. In that case, could we proceed with a limited number of signed first editions again?”

“Yes,” he agreed.

Due to his striking good looks, requests for him came from all directions, both from above and from his peers. A deluge of proposals, from lectures to signing events, constantly poured in.

‘But this person is definitely over 80% introverted.’

Thus, these were merely unfulfilled proposals. Yumin, on the other hand, was over 80% extroverted, the complete opposite of Dohwa, and deftly steered the conversation to prevent any prolonged silence.

Unable to discuss work during their meal, they naturally moved to a cafe to discuss decisions related to the upcoming publication.

“I’ll get you another coffee. What would you like?” she offered.

“Oh, I’ll… I’ll have an Americano, please. Thank you!” he said.

“Are you sure you’re alright, drinking a second cup of coffee?” she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“I’m perfectly fine!” he insisted.

As one of their drinks was nearly finished, Dohwa rose and headed toward the counter.

‘The stares are intense.’

Even when they walked together, or simply by watching his back now, she could tell how many eyes were fixed on Dohwa.

She averted her gaze, only to notice the contents of his bag, clearly visible in the seat Dohwa had just vacated.

‘Is he sick?’

A white medicine bag was visible, but then it was obscured as Dohwa returned to his seat after ordering.

“Author-nim, you’re not unwell, are you?” she asked, her concern evident.

“Huh? Oh, no.”

“Well… I didn’t mean to look, but I saw a medicine bag.”

“Ah. That’s because I went to the hospital today. Hormone suppressants,” he explained nonchalantly.

Dohwa’s calm demeanor initially caused a flurry of anxious thoughts to flood Yumin’s mind—’Could something be wrong with our precious author?’—before quickly subsiding.

She already knew he was a dominant omega, a fact that had come up previously due to discussions about his cycles around deadlines.

‘He must be taking strong medication.’

As a Beta, she had picked up somewhere that hormone suppressants were stronger for Dominants. It also seemed he wasn’t currently seeing an Alpha.

Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, prompted by the fact that he was a dominant omega.

A dating show that a close acquaintance of hers had recently mentioned.

‘Can’t one dominant omega just fall from the sky? Our show has been endlessly trying to cast for a month now…’

He might already know, given that casting advertisements were running on social media and even in subway stations.

‘Just asking for the sake of friendship.’

“Author-nim, this is completely unrelated to our publishing house, but… I have an acquaintance who works in broadcasting, you see?” she began.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke.

She had intended to bring it up as a casual topic, prepared to drop it if it didn’t land, but her sales instincts kicked in, and the words flowed effortlessly.

“They’re planning a dating show with an unprecedented budget, and they’re looking for dominant Alphas and dominant Omegas. I heard they were having trouble finding people, and seeing you just now made me think of it…”

She observed Dohwa, who sat silently, sipping his strawberry smoothie through a straw without any discernible reaction.

His expression was utterly unreadable, so she decided to at least finish what she was saying.

“If you’re interested, should I send you their contact information? They’re probably desperate for participants, so the appearance fees and such would likely be very generous.”

Unintentionally, she had pushed the appeal to the very end, already anticipating his reply.

After all, what kind of answer would an extremely introverted author, who was certainly not an extrovert, give?

“…Yes, please send it.”

It was supposed to be a definite answer.

‘Did I just hear that wrong?’

Yumin, who had fully expected a refusal, stared at Dohwa’s calm face and, in a daze, sent him the business card photo.

The conversation then naturally shifted to other topics, and that particular discussion ended.

However, Yumin failed to notice the sparkle in Dohwa’s eyes during their recent exchange.