Chapter 4: Unexpected Research

There aren’t any onerous clauses. But seriously, you never once mentioned appearing on TV, and now you’re asking me to review your contract? Some friend you are.

Hearing the grumbling voice from the other end, clearly expressing their pique, Dohwa realized his oversight.

‘This was an unforeseen complication.’

His gaze flickered, searching for a solution.

“…Are you free tomorrow?”

–Yeah, I’ll send you the time and place. Just come there.

“Yang Chaewon, you planned this.”

–Yep, see you tomorrow~

The aggrieved tone instantly transformed into an excited one as Yang Chaewon’s demeanor shifted. Dohwa stared blankly at his disconnected phone, but he had already been reeled in.

Well, it had been a long time since they last met.

Yang Chaewon was one of the few people Dohwa still kept in touch with.

Given Dohwa’s general reluctance to contact others, most of his relationships had naturally faded, yet Yang Chaewon remained someone he could call even after half a year without it feeling awkward.

They were friends who could meet after a long hiatus and pick up right where they left off.

As Yang Chaewon was a lawyer, they were equally busy, so they didn’t communicate frequently. However, Dohwa was even worse about it.

He rarely reached out unless he had a specific reason, and reasons rarely arose, so it was unavoidable.

In any case, since Yang Chaewon confirmed there were no onerous clauses, Dohwa opened the contract, filled in the necessary information, signed it, and sent the email.

“Should I send a message as well?”

He briefly considered PD Jang’s contact information, then decided to wait. He would only send a reminder if the email remained unread after a day.

With all his tasks completed, it was time to return to his current obsession.

Having already binge-watched two of the five dating shows currently available, Dohwa switched on the TV to begin his third.

It was a slight inconvenience that each show required a different platform for rewatching.

[Subscription Services: 5]

However, for someone who already subscribed to every available OTT service, it was simply a matter of switching websites.

“This is a first for me.”

No ideas for his next project came to mind.

He sat at his desk, staring at a few hastily scribbled notes, all marked with an ‘X’.

Dohwa, who usually had a new project idea immediately after finishing one, never experienced creative lulls. Yet now, his mind was utterly blank.

He had decided to incorporate romance into his new work, imagining how it might blend with his usual thriller and fantasy genres.

“It’s boring.”

The content felt dull.

He disliked overly predictable scenes and found himself unable to conjure up the next plot point. After drumming his fingers on the desk a few times, he ultimately set his pen down, his notebook still empty.

Writing was both his profession and a cherished hobby, so when he failed to make any progress, a slight irritation began to prickle at him.

‘Time to start getting ready to leave.’

[Yang Chaewon: ]

If he prepared now, he thought, he would arrive right on time.

He showered, then haphazardly pulled out an outfit from his closet and dressed. As he headed to the shoe rack, he hailed a taxi, receiving a message that it would arrive in five minutes, prompting him to carefully select his shoes.

Inside the taxi, he was engrossed in watching YouTube when suddenly,

*Zing—*

[Yang Chaewon: /]

Seeing the message preview pop up, he lifted his head and gazed out the window.

‘It’s rush hour, so there’s a lot of traffic.’

“How long will it take to get there?”

“About five minutes.”

The current time was 6:55 PM.

[5 minutes]

[Yang Chaewon: ]

Fortunately, he exited the taxi at 6:58 PM, managing to enter the izakaya precisely on time.

“Hey, over here! Long time no see!”

“Hi.”

Upon entering the restaurant, Dohwa’s eyes met Yang Chaewon’s directly. They were still in a suit, seemingly having come straight from work.

Dohwa settled into his seat, allowing Yang Chaewon to order all the dishes they had pre-selected. When asked if he wanted to drink, Dohwa nodded, and they placed the alcohol order together.

“Are you the esteemed Lee Dohwa, soon to be recognized nationwide?”

“Recognized for what?”

“It’s true! You threw away all those business cards you received in school. Shouldn’t you go retrieve them now?”

“These days, even ordinary people appear on shows like that, you know.”

Dohwa chuckled, watching Yang Chaewon speak playfully with exaggerated gestures.

“I always knew you’d end up like this! I thought, ‘Oh, this one’s definitely going to be famous on TV.'”

Just then, the first highball arrived, and Dohwa accepted it.

*Clink—*

“Now all that’s left is to wait for my ‘hodl’ coin to moon!”

“Didn’t you lose 20 million won on crypto?”

“Argh, damn it, why bring that up now?”

Yang Chaewon’s eyes instantly narrowed into a glare as they downed their highball.

Dohwa never drank alone, so this was his first alcoholic beverage in a long time. Perhaps it was the highball, but,

“The alcohol tastes sweet.”

“I don’t have work tomorrow.”

“I wasn’t implying I want to become a drunkard.”

He realized he had chosen his words poorly in front of a true connoisseur of alcohol.

Next, the appetizers and additional drinks they had ordered were served. As they caught up, Yang Chaewon casually posed a question.

“So, what’s the real reason you decided to go on the show?”

It was for a program called ‘Timing of Love’.

Dohwa had handed Yang Chaewon the TV appearance contract, a document usually reserved for reviewing publishing-related agreements.

To state the reason that immediately came to mind:

“I’m considering romance as the genre for my next work. Nothing’s set in stone yet, but even if the main genre is different, I want to try incorporating some romantic elements.”

“What? So you’re going for research?”

“…Precisely.”

It was research, all while earning the profit of an entire literary work.

He couldn’t say this to the production staff directly, but he could admit it here.

Lately, all the content he’d consumed had been romance-related. He wanted to weave it into his own work, but he kept hitting creative blocks.

He needed inspiration.

And if, in the process, he could also fill in his lack of experience, that would be an added bonus.

“Did they say filming would be for a month?”

“Yeah. Two nights and three days each week, and the last week is a seven-day live-in shoot.”

“And your clothes? You’re not planning to just grab whatever’s in your closet, are you?”

He had been.

Seeing Dohwa momentarily stunned into silence, his secret exposed, Yang Chaewon gasped and launched into a rapid-fire monologue.

“That’s going to be immortalized forever! Don’t you realize how important image is? Even if you don’t change outfits multiple times a day, you absolutely must wear something different every single day.”

Despite emphasizing its importance repeatedly, Yang Chaewon had a premonition that Dohwa wouldn’t take it seriously if they parted ways now. So, they pulled out their trump card.

“I should call Junhee.”

“…No.”

“If you go on air dressed shabbily without telling them, they’ll be furious. Can you handle the fallout?”

“That… would be impossible.”

“I’ll give them a heads-up, so you arrange a meeting later.”

Reluctantly, Dohwa slowly nodded.

Kim Junhee, one of his few friends, worked at a fashion company and was similarly busy, so they didn’t communicate frequently.

However, given their personality, if Dohwa appeared on TV without a word, it would undoubtedly become a topic of teasing at every future gathering for the rest of his life.

Unlike Dohwa, who was only interested in shoes, Kim Junhee worked in fashion and occasionally gifted him clothes they thought would suit him.

Perhaps it was drinking on an empty stomach for his first meal, but the alcohol quickly went to his head.

Engaged in conversation with a friend he hadn’t seen in ages, there was no fear of running out of things to talk about.

“What’s your ideal type?”

“Ideal type? I don’t really have one.”

“Come on, you must have something.”

Having recently realized the boundless variety of ideal types people possessed, Dohwa suddenly grew curious about Yang Chaewon’s.

They were currently in a relationship, after all.

“I think I had one when I was younger, but every person I met was the opposite, so it sort of disappeared.”

“Even with the person you’re seeing now?”

“I told you, not really. Hmm… I just fell for them.”

“Fell for them? In what way?”

Seeing Yang Chaewon lift an empty glass, Dohwa clicked his tongue, picking up the soju bottle to refill it. Yang Chaewon then took the bottle and poured some into Dohwa’s glass too.

“If you’re curious, drink up.”

“Ugh.”

Watching Yang Chaewon clink their glass against his and then drink, Dohwa picked up his own soju glass, nearly overflowing, and tossed its contents back.

It was bitter.

“What do you mean ‘fell for’? I just liked them. Now that I think about it, our first meeting felt quite peculiar.”

Yang Chaewon swept their hair back, watching Dohwa, who was frowning and munching on french fries.

‘They say people change when they fall in love. Will this guy change too?’

“So, there’s no precise reason, then.”

“It’s just not something you can precisely define.”

Evidently not satisfied with the answer, Dohwa’s glass was refilled once more, his voice tinged with mild complaint.

“Then, besides the material, didn’t you have any other thoughts about going on a dating show?”

He had.

While he’d been focused on his next work due to recent calls from the publishing house, there were several reasons he’d considered appearing.

“I’m curious, you know.”

“Curious about what?”

“Uh… how people similar to me date. Whether they like each other?”

Dohwa, lacking interest, hadn’t known.

He didn’t know how people of the same ‘type’ fell for each other and dated, or even if he himself belonged to that category.

Perhaps because he kept drinking without eating any of the appetizers, his vision had become slightly blurry.

“I’ve felt this before, Dohwa, but you seem to take love very seriously.”

“Do I?”

Yang Chaewon, whose face was also flushed from the alcohol, tossed back their final drink and said,

“I hope you realize it’s not such a difficult matter once you’re on the show.”

And they thought to themselves,

‘You’re definitely someone who will change if you fall for someone.’

As the drinking session deepened, Yang Chaewon called their boyfriend, and the gathering finally broke up, with both of them nearly completely intoxicated.