At this point, he was starting to wonder how he’d even been selected. YUCAN was a foreign company and technically belonged to the ranks of large corporations, but it wasn’t a high-salary profession famous like N Electronics or M Portal—it was just a regular office job. Since his successful transformation, he’d never really felt like he was significantly falling behind, but this time was different. Just listing out the objective keywords alone made him feel intimidated.
But what could he do? He’d already said he’d do it, so he had to endure. Sungjin waited for time to pass, hoping that the participant who was obviously a gay influencer wouldn’t use their characteristic intuition to recognize him as one of their own.
And finally, the first day of filming arrived.
[Assistant Manager, fighting~! Are we getting a celebrity from our team? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[If it’s our Assistant Manager, totally possible]
[Wow, I’m excited. Can’t you spoil who the famous people are?]
[Probably not? Don’t they make you sign some kind of confidentiality agreement?]
Sungjin arrived at the airport receiving countless messages of support flooding the team group chat. Then he met with the filming staff, checked in, and entered the departure area. Since it was a domestic flight, it would be a short flight of about an hour, but they said everyone had been booked in business class.
‘Are all the participants on this plane…?’
Sungjin felt embarrassed for no reason, so he pulled his cap down low and quickly sat in his seat. A moment later, someone placed their bag in the seat next to him. Reflexively turning his head toward the sound, he saw a man exuding an extraordinary aura despite having his face covered with sunglasses and a mask.
‘His face is really small.’
He seemed even taller than Sungjin himself, yet his head size was no joke—small enough that you could literally cover it with your palm. He could see why celebrities get photographed even when they’re completely covered up. No, it’s just that their frame and proportions are different from ordinary people, right? Anyone could tell this was someone who worked in that industry.
‘If I stare too obviously, he’ll be uncomfortable.’
He didn’t even know if this man was really a COOL&BEAUTY participant or just a celebrity, so he shouldn’t presume to recognize him. Sungjin turned his gaze away from the man and rummaged through his bag to pull out a book he’d brought. It was a book about Eastern architectural history that he’d been wanting to read for a while.
Sungjin’s main interest was Western architecture, but he was interested in any book related to architecture or architectural aesthetics. Since he happened to be at the part of the book he’d been most looking forward to, he immersed himself in reading throughout the flight time without paying any more attention to the man in the seat next to him.
If there was one thing that bothered him during all this, it was that the man in the seat next to him kept rustling around busily.
‘What is it…? Is the seat uncomfortable?’
Even as he thought this, Sungjin didn’t take his eyes off his book. A sensitive person would probably hate having someone glancing at them from the side. Maybe he’ll calm down a bit if I show him I’m not interested in him. Thinking this, he deliberately paid even less attention.
However, the man in the seat next to him kept crossing and uncrossing his legs, putting his arm on the armrest and taking it off, taking his bag out and putting it back in repeatedly. To anyone watching, he seemed like someone anxious due to acrophobia or fear of flying.
Sungjin thought entirely from his own perspective. If he were acting restlessly because of anxiety and thought someone was watching him, it would be too agonizing. So he deliberately didn’t give the man his attention.
After that awkward time passed and it was finally time to disembark, he got another chance to steal a glance at his face. Their eyes met briefly through the slightly lowered sunglasses. They were cat-like eyes with thin double eyelids and smoothly upturned outer corners that left a strong impression.
Wow, he really looks like he has quite the personality, but he is pretty. Sungjin left that impression in that brief moment. Even though he didn’t seem to be wearing makeup or have had work done, his eyelashes were incredibly long. The moment those eyes blinked and closed their lids, Sungjin quickly escaped from his seat. Then, after moving to catch a taxi to get to the hotel, he suddenly realized.
‘Ah.’
It was a face he’d seen once on an outdoor advertisement for a luxury brand. His name was… what… Won? It was something like Lee-something-won. Since he was Korean but born and raised in America, all that remained in his memory was that he was a black-haired foreigner.
Just from seeing his eyes, he felt certain. Like many lifelong single losers, Sungjin was timid but his standards were uselessly high. Faces that matched his taste so terrifyingly well were rare, which is why it remained vividly in his memory. According to what he’d looked up back then, his parents had no intention of living in Korea in the first place so they gave birth in America, and there was controversy because he’d done an interview saying all his activities would be overseas….
‘Could the male model appearing on COOL&BEAUTY be him?’
That didn’t quite match his level. Usually, these dating shows featured unknown models or rookie models trying to raise their recognition. Having thought that far, Sungjin finally succeeded in remembering his name. Lee Yuwon. He was already a model who had risen to top star status overseas.
It’s just that he wasn’t well-known to the domestic public because he didn’t work in Korea, but he’d already done campaigns for all the major brands, and now he was working as one of only three muses worldwide for a specific brand. A collection was even released named after him. Why on earth would Lee Yuwon, such a top model, appear on a Korean matchmaking show? Sungjin let out a bitter laugh.
Come to think of it, he’d met someone who looked similar to Lee Yuwon in LA a few years ago. He couldn’t remember exactly what face it was, but it was a cat-like beauty who looked incredibly bratty. He thought anyone dating someone like this would be happy just looking at their face every single day. At that time, Sungjin was so shocked and flustered that anxiety and obsession rose up, and even knowing it was stupid, he ended up running away.
Perhaps it was because of the intense impression that person left that he became even more captivated by Lee Yuwon’s face. The real person’s face was gradually becoming blurry and hazy in his memory, while Lee Yuwon’s face could be recalled anytime with just one click.
‘If I’d done it back then, having sex with someone who looked like Lee Yuwon would have been the greatest achievement of my life.’
Why did I run away…? No, but I was really scared back then. It was the first time such a beautiful person showed interest in me first…. Anyway, if you weren’t a strange person, I’m sorry.
Sungjin belatedly apologized to the person whose face he could no longer remember and headed to the hotel.
Tomorrow was the day he would meet the participants for the first time on set. He was already afraid of how terrifying the people he’d only seen as keywords would be in reality.
However, now that he’d come this far, there was nowhere left to run. And honestly speaking, there was something he wanted to see with his own two eyes.
‘Ah, this is a bit embarrassing….’
He was curious how those amazing people would evaluate the set he’d worked hard to prepare. How would the ‘house’ he created appear in the eyes of the protagonists who had lived glamorous lives seeing only good things?
If he received harsh criticism, he could learn points to improve, and if he got a good response… he felt like he could gain at least a little confidence. That his judgment wasn’t wrong. That it had value worthy of being loved by other people. It was the modest wish of Sungjin, who had been denied his tastes for a long time.
He could be denied all he wanted. But he hoped that at least his work would be accepted by many people.
With that trembling heart, Sungjin spent the night at a hotel near the airport and headed to the set the next day. A boat to take him to the set was docked at the pier. To prevent situations where participants would discover each other’s identities by arriving at the same time, each person’s landing time was different. Sungjin was the second in order. When he arrived on the island, there would already be one person there.
“Hello.”
When Sungjin approached the boat and bowed his head in greeting to the captain, a middle-aged man with a warm impression smiled and replied.
“You’re Yoon Sungjin, right? Is that all your luggage?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I don’t need to carry it for you, right? Come aboard with your bag.”
“Yes.”
Sungjin headed to the island without knowing what fate awaited him. Ah please, as long as it’s not someone too awkward to talk to. Praying desperately like that, when he arrived on the island, he could see the front yard where filming had already begun.
In front was an open beach and an endless pool, and behind he could see a cabana and an outdoor meeting room with a 12-person sofa bed for filming. Sitting alone in the outdoor meeting room was a black-haired man who, even from a distance, appeared to have incredibly good proportions. His hair was on the longer side.
‘Ah, no way?’
Sungjin recalled the man who’d sat next to him on the plane yesterday. He has a similar… frame though…. As he tilted his head and approached the set, a waiting staff member came over to help him set up for filming. He put on a microphone to capture audio and changed into sponsored clothes. The outfit the production team had prepared for Sungjin’s character was casual office wear with an atmosphere that went well with the resort location.
When Sungjin, having finished preparing to stand in front of the camera, naturally entered the meeting room pulling his suitcase, several cameras began capturing Sungjin on screen simultaneously. Finally making eye contact with the participant who’d arrived first, Sungjin was flustered.
Lee Yuwon was really right before Sungjin’s eyes. As if he’d become a mouse in front of a cat, his breath caught without him realizing it. Lee Yuwon’s face, revealed without any obstacles, had the looks to justify that reaction. The high nose bridge and sharp nose tip that were the center of his features, plus cat-like distinct and sharp eyes with long eyelashes.
It was amazing that such perfect features existed in this world.
