“Wow…”
Sungjin inadvertently let out an exclamation. The white sandy beach extending south of the set was beautiful enough to make his jaw drop. The harmony of the refreshing mint-colored seawater, white sandy beach, and cloudless blue sky was like a painting.
“…The scenery is so beautiful.”
The set was a detached house about 50 pyeong in size. Because the island was small enough to go around in about 30 minutes, it was practically no different from an uninhabited island. There doesn’t seem to be any regular ferry service either.
As Sungjin blankly looked around at the surrounding scenery, the staff added an explanation.
“I heard this place was originally developed by some rich person to use as a private villa.”
When Sungjin turned around at that explanation, the staff said with a smile.
“I don’t know what circumstances there were, but it seems to be corporate-owned now. They say it’s used for variety show locations like us or as drama filming sites. Since it’s an island, materials can’t be transported by truck or anything, so it’ll probably take quite a long time to work.”
He didn’t know well, but it seemed there was a separate shipping service that transported furniture and supplies to such small islands. It would be good to reduce bulky furniture as much as possible and use things that can be installed with assembly. Sungjin toured the island and set, checking the blueprint and actual measurements. There were no major differences, but there was exactly one point where the blueprint and design differed.
“According to the blueprint, there should be one more room here.”
A room about 3 pyeong in size didn’t exist in the actual building, as if it had been cut out.
“Well, the building itself was built a long time ago, so they might have arbitrarily removed it depending on the material situation.”
It was very common for blueprints and designs to differ in old constructed buildings. Going back even further, there were houses built directly by homeowners.
Sungjin thought nothing of it and recorded the measured values.
“When should I send you the draft?”
When Sungjin asked while engraving in his mind the angle at which sunlight entered through the window, the staff readily answered.
“Would this week be possible? You have your regular work too, so I hope you don’t overdo it, but since things need to come into the island, it’s better to confirm as quickly as possible.”
If Sungjin first organized the necessary furniture and materials according to each room’s concept and passed on the plan, the studio’s internal art department would review it and then proceed with construction.
Sungjin carefully captured in his camera the angles of the windows in each space, the scenery, and the sense of depth the space provided. There’s a difference between seeing it in photos and feeling it in the actual space, but memories quickly scatter and disappear. It was good to leave records to help even a little.
The sea visible through the open panoramic window of the living room was beautiful enough to look at for hours. I don’t know who built this building, but it seems they wanted the whole family to gather together and see this beautiful scenery. Otherwise, there would be no reason to make such a large living room in an ordinary house.
Sungjin thought the house that lost its owner was a bit pitiful and left the set with the staff.
A few days later, when Sungjin sent the temporarily completed proposal, the results of the studio’s review came back. Most were accepted. However, there was exactly one rejection: a large glass table that would face the front window of the living room.
As soon as the response came back, Sungjin twisted his lips, thinking he knew it would be like that. It’s not something YUCAN sells, and it’s an item that would require custom ordering from a special furniture workshop, so I thought it would be rejected due to budget reasons or transportation difficulties.
“But…”
The front window is so pretty, it would be a waste not to use a glass table. Just imagining how beautiful the water shadows created by the rippling waves and sunlight on the water outside the window reflecting on the glass surface would be made him happy. However, imagination was only imagination—reality was cold.
“Right… It’s not like they’re digging up the ground to broadcast.”
With a slightly gloomy feeling, Sungjin revised the living room table to a YUCAN product and sent a reply. This time it was accepted without objection. If I could live in such a house, or more precisely, if I had the financial power to do so, I would have gotten a glass table in the house no matter how much it cost. Because it was a space worth it.
However, unfortunately, Sungjin was a commoner who didn’t own even a single room of his own, let alone a beautiful villa attached to an island, and he would probably never have a connection to such a house his whole life.
Living on an island like this isn’t just a problem of house prices, but residential costs are insanely high. You have to bring supplies for personal use from the main island every time, delivery doesn’t work as basic, and heating and cooling costs would be at an insane level. So you need capital enough to offset all those inconveniences.
“Still, it’s a good opportunity to be able to live there for about 2 weeks.”
While the set was being constructed, Sungjin visited the island about five times. Each time he visited, seeing the house gradually being completed as he drew it made him want to visit several more times, but he couldn’t due to work conditions.
Sungjin still had an insanely large number of suppliers to manage, and to be away for several weeks for filming, he had to diligently do handovers so there wouldn’t be any problems.
Meanwhile, the weather gradually got hotter. Thanks to it already being May, even if you went into the sea during the day, it became weather that wasn’t too cold. The midday temperature was already 29 degrees.
According to the simple schedule received in advance, there was filming where all male and female cast members would perform missions wearing only swimsuits on the beach. They’re probably planning to have them enter the water too, and there would be expectations for the male cast members, so Sungjin devoted himself to ab exercises. Although he already had a body that didn’t look bad normally, thanks to managing it carefully for a few weeks, his well-defined abs became even clearer. At least in appearance, I shouldn’t fall behind other applicants. Because that was the only charm point he could put forward.
Thanks to that, his appearance shone even more, but the problem was his inner self. Packaged with a plausible-looking shell on the outside, outputting responses according to the textbook like answers prompted by a system, but the core hasn’t changed at all. He was still a child who endlessly shrank in front of others’ ridicule and contempt.
If Sungjin had been a person with ambition, he would have reformed even his personality. Unfortunately, he wanted stability. I just need to not be humiliated in front of others. I don’t want to change any more than this, and I don’t want to gain anything more.
Just a bright and handsome colleague A. That was enough. There was nothing more to wish for beyond that.
***
Time passed quickly. Early June. Filming was right around the corner. Sungjin checked the simple profiles of the participants delivered by the production team. To capture vivid reactions on the recording day, it was information with real names and photos kept confidential. After looking at other people’s backgrounds excluding himself, Sungjin squeezed his eyes shut.
Profile
Male A
Age: Early 20s
Occupation: YouTuber, Influencer
Keywords: Honesty, Proactive, Open, Party People, Beauty
Anyone can see this is a gay YouTuber. It’s just that orientation is undisclosed information in words—just from looking at the face, it’s clear they’re definitely a famous gay person in this area.
Sungjin wasn’t interested in that community so didn’t know well, but nevertheless, he roughly knew famous people with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. It seemed one of them was appearing. Other participants are definitely types that don’t match my style either.
Profile
Female A
Age: Mid-20s
Occupation: Attending law school abroad
Keywords: Second-generation overseas Korean, Brain-sexy woman, Mensa member, Confident, Alpha girl
Why on earth would someone who’s a Mensa member and will become a lawyer appear on such a dating show? However, Sungjin also knew the reason. In this era of transnational self-promotion, they wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity for publicity to succeed as a lawyer and businessperson.
Profile
Male B
Age: Early 20s
Occupation: Model
Keywords: Chic, Fashion, Self-management, Delicate, Overseas background
And a model too. Well, celebrities would be the easiest to cast, but… I could already see myself with energy completely drained among them. Sungjin groaned looking at his own profile squeezed among those glamorous backgrounds.
Profile
Male E
Age: Late 20s
Occupation: Office worker
Keywords: Sincerity, Family-oriented, Caring, Warmth, Seriousness
Wow, looks really boring. And the oldest too. Unlike the influencer, law school, model, and doctors, his profile was utterly bland.
