A heterosexual man who appeared kind, warm, and perfect on the outside. The so-called family-oriented sunshine guy—this was precisely the outward appearance Sungjin was desperately fabricating.
When Sungjin nodded reluctantly, Yurim drove the momentum forward and continued the story.
“Since the other people will be taking on slightly more glamorous images, I think it would be good if there was something to show your character so you don’t get too buried, Sungjin. So, this might be a bit burdensome, but since we need to naturally promote YUCAN products anyway, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
Why is he laying down so many cushioning words just to make a request?
Sungjin flinched unconsciously on guard and waited for Yurim to open his mouth. When Sungjin stared silently, Yurim brought up the main point as if he’d been waiting.
“Could you participate in planning the interior of our set, Sungjin?”
“Pardon?”
At the completely unexpected request, Sungjin doubted his ears. When he reflexively tilted his head, Yurim looked at Sungjin with earnest eyes and explained.
“The set will be composed of a total of five themes. I thought it would be a more meaningful collaboration if you, Sungjin, could plan things like furniture placement for each space and the exposure of products provided by YUCAN. It would also be good for emphasizing your professional character within the broadcast. Would that be possible?”
“Um…”
But that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Sungjin almost inadvertently answered that way. No, not as a joke, but really. It just hadn’t been given much opportunity—space planning was the work Sungjin wanted most.
Moreover, he could plan not just one but five spaces? There would be various constraints, but Sungjin was someone who had joined YUCAN wanting to do such work. But why does this person keep talking as if I’m confirmed since earlier?
Sungjin barely came to his senses and answered while wearing the mask of a working professional.
“I’d be very happy if you gave me such an opportunity.”
At the answer delivered with a gentle smile, Yurim shot up from his seat.
“Really? You’ll take it on? Then I think you can confirm with us and write the appearance contract right away. Will you seal it and leave today?”
At those words, Sungjin returned to reality again. To participate in space planning by theme, he also had to appear on a broadcast that absolutely wasn’t his constitution. Those two were a set, an inseparable single body.
“……”
Since it’s a broadcast, it needs to be visually plausible, so I could try using flashy concepts to show cool pictures, and since YUCAN is supporting production, I could use furniture and props as ambitiously as I want.
Honestly, he couldn’t guarantee whether such an opportunity would come again in his life. He wanted to do it so much that the constraint of appearing on the program seemed invisible. It was to the point where he should be begging to be allowed to take charge.
“……”
But… can I do it? Can I act naturally on camera mixed among those strong-willed people? Sungjin broke into a cold sweat for a moment.
Even if I can’t, I have to. I absolutely must succeed.
“Yes, I’ll write the contract and leave.”
In the end, after contemplation, Sungjin signed a contract with the devil. He’d thought today would really just be an interview, but he never dreamed in his dreams that his appearance would be decided so helplessly like this. Even the terrifying phrase stating he couldn’t raise objections to processed and edited versions of all filmed footage and entrusted all authority to the production team couldn’t stop Sungjin.
As much as possible… blandly, without standing out, without fighting with other people, just spending time as a pacifist and coming back should work, right? If he didn’t give them food to edit provocatively in the first place, wouldn’t that be fine?
Not asserting his own opinions, volunteering for difficult work, and quietly blending in as if present yet absent was what Sungjin did best. However, unfortunately, Sungjin was weak, and the world wasn’t that easy.
“Ah, if someone currently employed at YUCAN joins as a participant, we proceed with a different contract than general participants. You confirmed that the YUCAN promotional model contract is also included together, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
What else…? What kind of footnote is attached? Sungjin carefully read the contract Yurim handed him without letting go of the string of tension. And he discovered a sentence shocking enough to make him want to faint.
To work as a promotional model, one must not be in an ‘eliminated’ status until the mid-way participant joins.
No, what the hell is this? There’s elimination in a dating variety show? He didn’t know because he’d never seen one. Looking closely, it seemed to be a format where when mid-way participants joined, one male and one female from the existing participants who didn’t receive attention from others would each be eliminated mid-way and replaced.
So it meant that even after participating, if he got eliminated in the middle, his face would be sold out as is, and the 200 million would also fly away like a wild bird.
“What the hell…”
Sungjin felt like the sky was turning yellow, but soon accepted it. Of course. Realizing the fact that they wouldn’t just give 200 million as a model fee to an ordinary person who only appeared on a dating show, he admitted he’d been naive.
So it means I can’t just half-ass it and come home. What little confidence remained completely disappeared. Can I do it? I don’t know. If there was a mouse hole, he wanted to run away.
However, his hands faithfully completed the signature, and the water was already spilled. It wasn’t at the level of being spilled—it had been poured on the floor. Now it couldn’t be gathered back up.
“Then I’m counting on you, Sungjin. Content that would be good for you to know in advance regarding the program planning is written in the information guide there, so please check it slowly.”
“Yes, thank you. I’m counting on you as well.”
He finished with a smile, but he wasn’t in a mood to smile at all. There was good news, but at the same time, bad news as well. As soon as Sungjin left the office while maintaining a bright expression with effort, Yurim muttered to himself, unable to calm his excitement.
“Wow… what is this? He’s just ordinary?”
Of course, his appearance wasn’t ordinary.
There are grades even in handsomeness. If his cousin Yuwon was a flashy and delicate type like a single rose suited for CFs and pictorials, Sungjin was a neat yet simple handsome man close to the so-called actor type.
It seemed like it would be a good picture if he was next to Yuwon. One side was an intense type with force, and one side was a clean style, so the contrasting picture would be very good eye candy. What surprised Yurim was that the easygoing and socially bright-looking Sungjin was precisely that person who stood Yuwon up.
“Maybe… he was mistaken?”
Anyway, standing up Yuwon means he’s a guy whose preference is men, one of those people, right? However, just from the first impression, Sungjin looked like a firm heterosexual to anyone. He was just a perfect groom drawn like a picture. A good job, caring and warm personality, and even a favorable warm impression. Handsomely masculine, the so-called large dog type.
And not the type to wag his tail around everywhere, but the feeling of a guide dog that knows how to protect its owner with dignity. In short, he didn’t have the impression of someone who would seduce men and go around.
What Yurim learned while working in the broadcasting industry was that such a simple type didn’t work well even among gay people. Unless he was a bit older than this, had a beard, or had a thicker body. Sungjin had an impression that heterosexual women would like, no matter who looked at him.
“Well, you can’t know a person just by looking at the outside…”
He had checked the application contents, but honestly, he didn’t trust it. It wasn’t difficult to tell a simple lie to appear on a broadcast.
Yurim was parched with curiosity about what on earth had happened with Yuwon. He’d asked him directly, but only received contempt with a look like “Why the hell should I tell you that?” He still didn’t feel the reality of what kind of amazing story there was that that Lee Yuwon, who seemed like he’d never even glance at it his whole life, would appear on a matchmaking broadcast not as a panelist but as a participant.
“As expected, you can’t judge a person just by appearance.”
Yurim shrugged his shoulders and left the meeting room with quick steps.
***
Returning home, Sungjin skimmed through the advance information guide Yurim had handed him. He said he’d contact him again during work hours about the interior planning. What was in the information guide was comprehensive content.
Roughly, well… starting with six women and six men, one mid-way eliminated person each for both men and women would appear, and one mid-way joining person each would enter. And on the final choice day, each person would choose one person. Of course, it was also possible not to make a final choice at the end. If a two-way match came out here, a final couple would be born—this was a common format so far.
If there was a slightly unique part compared to other dating shows, it was that it was a provocative structure where they chose between money and love from the initial planning.
