# Chapter 18
Mo Eunje opened his eyes around noon on Sunday. As he turned his head, he saw Tae Igyeol sitting against the bed’s headboard, reading a book. It was the manuscript that Mo Eunje had been reading before bed the last few days, left on the side table next to the bed—a temporary bound copy of the full-length novel “On Friendship That Can Only Be Love.” The official publication date was tomorrow, but having been assigned to host the “Book of the Month” live broadcast, he had already read it several times since receiving the bound copy.
“Good morning.”
“…”
Mo Eunje turned over toward Tae Igyeol, squinting with his disheveled face. Tae Igyeol glanced down at him without a word, then impassively turned his attention back to the book. Come to think of it, this was probably the first time since high school that he’d opened his eyes to find Tae Igyeol in bed.
“Igyeol, how do you always wake up so early?”
“Eunje, how do you always wake up so late?”
“You’ve read a lot. Is it interesting?”
Having his question turned back on him, Mo Eunje was left speechless and changed the subject.
“Not particularly.”
“Really? I thought it was well-written…”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“That author has good writing skills and it’s very readable too.”
“I guess skill and entertainment are different things.”
“Ah…”
The writing skills were certainly excellent, but it couldn’t be said with certainty that the content was entertaining. Tae Igyeol was so stingy with praise that he’d never properly complimented Mo Eunje’s novels either.
“When’s the schedule for this?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Book of the Month” was a live broadcast run by a book platform, where they selected one new book each month and invited the author to promote it in a casual conversation concept at a café. The invited author changed every month, and the host was also arranged differently each time. This time, they had contacted Mo Eunje’s agency.
Mo Eunje had also been invited each time one of his books was published until last year. Back then, it wasn’t a big burden since he was a guest talking about his own work, but being the host for the first time felt a bit more pressuring.
“Isn’t this that author who publicly came out?”
“Yes. Their debut work was really groundbreaking.”
Novelist Seong Giha, who was about to publish the full-length novel “On Friendship That Can Only Be Love,” was a new writer who had debuted last year with a short story that realistically portrayed the love story of a sexual minority. In their award acceptance letter, they had proudly revealed that the story was an adaptation of their own experience, and in subsequent interviews, they had naturally come out by openly revealing their orientation.
“Do you know each other?”
“No. Our active periods are different, so we haven’t had the chance to meet.”
Tae Igyeol’s suspicion was reasonable. If there wasn’t a fixed MC, when inviting authors with sensitive temperaments, they often recruited hosts who were friends with the author or were critics familiar with them.
Mo Eunje had also been asked if he had a preferred host when he was a guest. Since the production team had to arrange a host anyway, they tried to accommodate the author’s condition as much as possible.
“But why did they contact you?”
“From what I heard at the agency, Seong Giha specifically requested me because they wanted to get to know me?”
“You? Why on earth?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking at me?”
Despite his confident appeal, Tae Igyeol’s expression was bewildered, as if he had no idea.
“How can you not recognize someone as charming as me standing right in front of you?”
“…”
“…”
“Ah, I see, novelist Mo Eunje is so fake and good at image management… If they knew you were the type people get sick of after just five minutes of conversation, they would never have requested you.”
“Do you want to die?”
Mo Eunje threw a punch at Tae Igyeol’s stomach while still lying down. Unlike Tae Igyeol, who snickered as if he hadn’t felt a thing, Mo Eunje’s fist hurt badly from hitting the hard abs. But honestly, the image of casual, layabout Mo Eunje was quite different from the public image of novelist Mo Eunje that people saw.
“If you don’t have plans tomorrow, come with me.”
“I’m busy.”
“The noona who handled me at the agency resigned, so this is the first time I’m meeting my new manager.”
“So what?”
“Eunje gets shy and nervous when he’s alone with someone he’s meeting for the first time. Igyeol hyung, please come with me, yeah? Yeah?”
He curled up on his side, hugging his knees, and rocked on the bed while speaking with a lisp. Even though he had only deployed Stage 1, Tae Igyeol was already giving him a look of disgust. That look usually only appeared when he reached Stage 3, reluctantly agreeing while annoyed.
“…Do you really want to do this to me?”
His tone clearly conveyed how pathetic he thought this was. Most people would feel embarrassed by such a reaction, but Mo Eunje, with his face thick as steel, skipped Stage 2 and went straight to Stage 3, cutely making a fist under his chin and hunching his shoulders.
“If Eunje doesn’t do dis to Igyeol hyung, den who else would he do it to? Ah, my face—mmph!”
As he was blinking his big eyes, pretending to be cute, a large palm covered his face and squeezed mercilessly. Mo Eunje struggled, trying to remove the thick wrist with both hands. It felt like his nose bridge was being flattened and his cheekbones crushed. While avoiding Mo Eunje’s indiscriminate kicks, Tae Igyeol was already off the bed and heading toward the door.
“Hey, you violent bastard! How dare you touch my precious face…! I told you to hit anywhere else but not the face! This face is all I have going for me…”
Without looking back, Tae Igyeol left the room without hesitation, showing his middle finger beside his head. Mo Eunje, who had been huffing, picked up the mirror he always kept on the side table and examined his face from various angles. Though it had hurt terribly, his high nose bridge and neat cheekbones were completely fine, as if nothing had happened.
1-4
In the car heading to the live broadcast studio of the book platform where the “Book of the Month” broadcast would be filmed, Mo Eunje opened the script he had received two days ago. However, after reading just a few words, he felt carsick and closed it right away. He had already read it several times and had practiced with Tae Igyeol, so as long as he didn’t make mistakes, he could finish the live broadcast safely.
“The manager has already arrived,” Mo Eunje said, checking a message. Since Tae Igyeol was driving him, he had arranged to meet his agency manager at the studio.
He pulled down the sun visor and checked his face in the mirror. Thanks to the professional touch of hair and makeup, he looked about 1.8 times more handsome than usual, but being accustomed to just applying the basics, he felt stuffy, as if something was covering his face. Today’s outfit, which Tae Igyeol had selected for him, was a white shirt layered with a light lemon spring knit and white slacks, which matched well with the intellectual and elegant image that novelist Mo Eunje had built up until now.
“Hello. Thank you for your hard work.”
After parking the car in the parking lot and entering the second-floor studio, Mo Eunje greeted everyone in a calm tone, putting on his novelist persona. He could see the staff setting up equipment, the producer in charge, and the content writer. The agency manager, who had been talking with them with a serious expression, quickly changed to a bright smile and rushed over to Mo Eunje.
“Pleased to meet you, Novelist Mo Eunje. I’m Manager Yoon Hyesu.”
The manager, who had her long hair tied in a ponytail, handed over her business card along with a paper bag stamped with a bakery logo. Glancing inside, he found castella cake, suggesting she had been briefed by her predecessor. As he had guessed from their two phone calls, hers was a face he had never seen, even at agency dinners. She was probably a newly transferred employee. She gave a strong impression of being active and lively while exuding good energy.
“I’m Mo Eunje. I look forward to working with you, Manager. But why did you bring something like this?”
“Well, it’s our first meeting. I heard you like castella, and as luck would have it, there’s a famous bakery in my neighborhood. This is on my own expense, so please enjoy it.”
“I really do love castella… I’ll enjoy it. Thank you.”
Mo Eunje naturally handed Yoon Hyesu’s business card and the bakery bag to Tae Igyeol, who accepted them as if it were the most natural thing.
After briefly greeting Manager Yoon, he warmly greeted the producer and content writer whom he hadn’t seen in a while. Perhaps because Tae Igyeol had accompanied him for all three of his previous guest appearances, the producer and content writer also treated Tae Igyeol warmly.
After exchanging brief greetings, he received an explanation about the broadcast proceedings and cue cards. Several copies of Seong Giha’s “On Friendship That Can Only Be Love,” which had been published this morning, were stacked on the filming table.
“Where is Novelist Seong Giha?”
Intending to greet them before the broadcast, he asked Manager Yoon Hyesu, but she only moved her lips without forming words and looked at the producer standing beside her. It didn’t feel like a good sign. The producer, who had been wearing a troubled expression, scratched his head and spoke.
“Well, Novelist Seong apparently fell ill suddenly this morning and went to the emergency room.”
“What? Then shouldn’t today’s broadcast be canceled? Are they very ill?”
“They said they’re feeling better and are on their way now. They apologized and asked for our understanding, saying they might be about five minutes late.”
Dissatisfaction settled on the producer’s face. While understanding his duty and sense of responsibility as a producer made him upset about disruptions to the broadcast, it seemed a bit excessive for a reaction to a mere five-minute delay. It wasn’t like they were deliberately late; there was an unavoidable circumstance of suddenly falling ill and going to the emergency room.
“Five minutes is fine, I can cover that… But I wonder if Novelist Seong is pushing themselves too hard.”
“I spoke with them, and from their voice, it didn’t seem that serious.”
“That’s a relief.”
“We can’t really say much to someone who’s in the emergency room, so it’s quite awkward. Our writer is currently preparing some filler content. If you could just help us out a bit, Novelist. I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s fine. It’s only five minutes, not thirty. It’s good for me too; I’ll get to interact with readers after a long time until Novelist Seong arrives.”
Mo Eunje smiled good-naturedly. The standby call time for today’s live broadcast was 10:30 AM, and Mo Eunje had arrived at 10:12 AM.
One of the principles that successful business leaders value is, “Where am I fifteen minutes before the appointment time?” Tae Igyeol, who lived with management and philosophy books, had never broken the principle of being fifteen minutes early, and thanks to that, when moving with Tae Igyeol, Mo Eunje could also use his time generously.
