Of course, Chae Songhwa was on a completely different level in terms of looks compared to those trash guys — so even if he did the same thing, it wouldn’t be making a fool of himself, it would simply be living up to his face. But still.
“Pushover……”
Yong Cheonha didn’t think his charm was limited to his appearance alone. He considered his financial power one of his charms as well.
In this capitalist society, having a lot of money wasn’t that an enormous advantage?
So he also thought it a very significant selling point that he spent that money generously and without stinginess on beautiful things.
On top of that, he’d never particularly felt the weight of spending money on the people he dated. It had always been the most natural thing in the world.
But thinking back on it — yeah. That was exactly it.
The contacts that came after a relationship ended, long after the fact.
I miss you, no one loves me the way you did, I only realized your worth too late — the ones who clung pathetically with lines like that had, in reality, been missing Yong Cheonha’s wallet.
Since becoming an adult, there had been plenty of gigolos and even heteros who approached him purely for money.
If Chae Songhwa were to use his looks to treat him like a wallet……. Good lord. He could picture himself utterly broke with startling clarity.
If he made a request with that face, you’d want to do anything he asked. You’d want to pull the support beams out of your own house.
Damn. Of all the types, his ideal type had to be someone who could topple a nation with their beauty. What a tragedy.
“Right. You could end up being treated like a pushover. Give your all and end up being someone’s doormat? This is a firsthand account — it was the time I was seeing an older civil service exam student……”
A tale unfolded that you couldn’t hear without feeling your heart ache.
And it wasn’t just one or two stories.
In order to knock some sense of caution into their youngest, the part-time noonas grimly brought out their own histories of romantic disasters.
Even with no customers in sight, the oddly worn-down part-timers poured themselves coffee and kept driving the point home.
You’re wearing rose-colored glasses right now, so no matter what this person does, you’ll find it cute and interpret it charitably — but even so, if something feels off, never ignore that signal. Never take Korean shamanism lightly. They repeated it again and again.
“Got it. Just act as uninterested as possible, right? Play hard to get?”
“Exactly! Don’t let on that you like him. Push and pull. Keep dates normal and predictable. Do things in public, out in the open where everyone can see.”
So the first date should be…… the tried-and-true movie theater?
But going to a movie theater with an actor who was in the process of giving up acting felt a little off. Things are already going badly for me — would watching someone else’s big hit actually be enjoyable?
“Noonas. The person I’m trying to meet is an actor, actually — a nobody actor. He has some livelihood issues and is thinking of quitting the acting life. Is going to a movie theater okay?”
“Never date an artist. Seriously……”
Words that came from the very depths of the soul. Everyone fell into a solemn silence.
“Hmm, well. I think it’s still fine though? It’s such a universal date spot. It’s basically the standard date move.”
“Not so much these days, honestly. Who actually goes to the movie theater anymore? Streaming is better.”
“True. I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve gone to an actual theater. If I’m spending that kind of money I’d rather add a little more and go to an escape room café.”
“I’m still on team first-date-at-the-movies though. You can see what their tastes are like. Just by the genre of movie someone picks, you can tell a lot about them. In my experience, I never clicked well with people who liked sci-fi. A little boring for me.”
At that, the part-timer who liked sci-fi mumbled timidly to herself, “Sci-fi is fun though — a well-made sci-fi is really fun……”
“Actually, now that I think about it, that’s true. I briefly dated someone with an artsy streak too, and they really hated mainstream films.”
“People who are into niche stuff tend to have a rigid streak. Doesn’t work for me.”
“If commercial films feel like too much pressure, just go see an indie film.”
The person in question wasn’t just any actor — he was an unknown one. And he was in the process of giving even that up.
Someone who had aimed high but been crushed by the walls of reality — how rotten and gutted must he feel inside?
People in situations like that inevitably carry an inferiority complex.
The metrics are visible and the gap between success and failure is enormous. People who can’t produce results and people who are riding high coexist in the same space, active at the same time.
In an environment where you can’t help but compare — how psychologically healthy can someone be when they’re on the verge of giving up because they couldn’t measure up?
Funny how people like that tend to have an unusually strong drive.
Yong Cheonha didn’t think he’d go around getting beaten up somewhere, but still — you never knew. The world these days was rough enough.
The other person might not even be acting alone, could use a weapon or drugs. Or he might suppress him with pheromones!
“Oh! I have one of those. Here — take this.”
A part-timer whose worried face refused to relax pulled a pill from her pouch and handed it over.
“What is it?”
“It’s a pheromone suppressant. You said the other person is an alpha, right? If you like him, pheromones are going to leak out without you even realizing it. What’s the point of playing push and pull if your pheromones are giving you away the whole time!”
“……That’s true! Take it. Take it.”
Spurred on by the part-timers’ enthusiastic encouragement, he went ahead and swallowed it.
The words of his romantic seniors weren’t wrong either. He was planning to push and pull — he couldn’t have his emotions exposed through pheromones.
“When are you meeting him?”
“In 30 minutes.”
“Take 2!”
Gulp. He swallowed another one. Thirty minutes until he’d see him.
Yong Cheonha was the type of person who, once he made up his mind, acted on it immediately.
Having decided to focus on Chae Songhwa rather than stringing along various unspecified potential alphas, Yong Cheonha had told the café owner not long ago that he wanted to quit, and the café owner had readily agreed.
The café that the owner hadn’t cared whether it lived or died had started turning a profit, and now the owner, intent on making serious money from it, had been looking for ways to cut labor costs — so he welcomed with open arms an employee who was quitting of his own accord.
He needed to squeeze as much cash out of the café as possible to cover the money he’d sunk into stocks and crypto.
Because of that, Yong Cheonha had agreed to work only the midday shift until a replacement was found.
Which meant his shift was ending soon.
With his meeting with Chae Songhwa approaching, what should they do after the indie film and dinner?
He tried to organize his date plans while washing dishes, but he kept breaking into smiles.
Meeting a beautiful person who smells of something sweet and tangy. It felt like a dream.
He washed his hands and changed out of his uniform. He was about to say goodbye to the full-time part-timers before clocking out, but they stopped him.
The put-together outfit that looked effortlessly styled but was clearly deliberate, the face splitting into a grin.
Seeing that completely carefree face without a trace of worry — their concern welled up all over again.
“Always be careful around alphas.”
“Love yourself more than anyone else.”
“Never ignore a gut feeling that something’s off.”
So this is what the Little Mermaid’s sisters must have felt. Only after repeating their warnings over and over did they finally let Yong Cheonha go.
Yong Cheonha shot out like a bullet, having lost more time than expected, and spotted Chae Songhwa already waiting at the meeting spot.
He wasn’t dressed up, but his frame was so naturally striking that admiration escaped on its own.
A pure, beautiful man who wore a white t-shirt and jeans perfectly. Damn. The kind of feeling where you’re full without having eaten, drunk without having had a drop.
It was also nice to see him sitting quietly on the bench looking at the people passing by instead of at his phone.
In a world so soaked in dopamine that staring at a palm-sized screen was the default — here was someone actually watching the scenery.
Maybe I should try a dopamine detox like that sometime.
Chae Songhwa — perhaps one of the rare modern humans whose brain hadn’t been completely rewired — caught sight of Yong Cheonha and a faint smile touched the corners of his lips.
“You’re here.”
“……Yes!”
A dopamine detox was probably going to be impossible while spending time with Chae Songhwa. His very existence was Yong Cheonha’s dopamine, his blood sugar.
Approaching him with the feeling of having devoured an entire cake by himself, a soap scent more stimulating than any pheromone hit him.
Looks like he showered not long ago. What are you planning to do with me today!
Unlike the filthy ulterior motives swirling through Yong Cheonha’s head, Chae Songhwa had simply showered because it was hot — and he greeted him with an unblemished, bright smile.
The beauty that bloomed like a flower coming into full bloom made his heart nearly lurch to a stop.
In case it wasn’t just his imagination, his smartwatch even sent a warning that his heart rate was too high. So it’s not just his imagination — this is for real?
That devastating beauty is trying to seduce me. Trying to pull the support beams out of my house. Trying to turn me into a credit defaulter.
It was nothing more than a smile of genuine delight at seeing him — but Yong Cheonha, who had just been surrounded by the part-time noonas ten minutes ago and crash-course educated, began to suspect everything about him.
But if that education had succeeded so easily, Yong Cheonha would not have gone through more than three trash partners in his life.
No. Look carefully. That face is absolutely incapable of lying……
The resilience of Yong Cheonha — who had, with more than ten fingers’ worth of careful selection, managed to date nothing but terrible partners every single time — was truly nothing short of astonishing.
“Ha — this beautiful face trap. Hyung! There’s no time to be standing around like this.”
“Sorry?”
“The movie’s starting soon. We don’t have time! We’re out of time!”
“Oh, then let’s hurry——”
Give him the pheromone shower quickly and send him on his way, tell him to enjoy the movie — he was about to say, but his body lurched forward.
Yong Cheonha had grabbed his wrist without warning and started running, and Chae Songhwa couldn’t finish his sentence — he just ran along.
“Indie films start exactly on time with no ads! Did you know that?”
“Uh…… I mean, I did know that……”
“Wow. I had no idea. See, that’s what makes an actor different.”
Does that knowledge have anything to do with…… being an actor?
“We have to hurry! Five minutes left!”
That is indeed a reason to feel pressed for time — but the motive for dragging me along is……?
“There was only one movie I could see before dinner so I went ahead and booked it. It’s not horror and it’s not a romance — it seems like something deep and profound. If I fall asleep in the middle, wake me up, okay? Got it?”
“Huh?”
We’re watching it together? Why?
He didn’t mind, but he was bewildered. The last time he’d seen a movie had been back when he’d worked a part-time job at a movie theater — it had been quite a while.
He hadn’t known there was an indie cinema here — it was a pleasant surprise.
The two arrived just barely in time and sank into their seats to catch their breath. They settled into the seats — fewer than fifty in total — and with a burst of static noise, the screen brightened.
The film begins.
