Movie Date
Kim Hyunsoo rolled out of bed wearing nothing but his underwear. It was a sight that would have any woman gushing nosebleeds with delight, but unfortunately, there was no woman in his one-room studio — only Hyunsoo himself. Apparently, other men in this world slept fully dressed, but for Kim Hyunsoo, who had spent his whole life back on Earth sleeping in his boxers, that was just too much hassle.
He lived alone anyway, so without anyone's eyes to worry about, he simply lounged around in his underwear. He felt no shame about it, even if women might see him — never mind that this world's sensibilities didn't exactly tolerate a man baring his upper body in public.
First things first, he headed into the bathroom to wash up. The ancient showerhead took forever to produce hot water. You might ask why he couldn't just take a cold shower in the middle of summer, but Kim Hyunsoo was a man who showered in steaming hot water even in the dead of August. He had never once taken a cold shower in his life.
Since he had a client to meet today, cleanliness and grooming were non-negotiable. Kim Hyunsoo studied himself in the mirror. It was a genuinely handsome face, though he had no idea who he took after. For some reason, there was a kind of appearance buff that kicked in whenever he showered — strangely, a good wash seemed to make anyone look noticeably better, and Hyunsoo was no exception. Sweeping his hair back, he gave himself a once-over.
His stubble had grown out a little, so he pulled out his razor. He'd considered growing a beard at one point, but that look simply didn't suit Kim Hyunsoo, so he shaved himself clean. In the mirror now stood a man perfect for today's date.
Wiping himself down with a towel, Hyunsoo stepped out, dried off, and began hunting for clothes. The garments strewn across the floor told the whole story of his lifestyle. Without a washing machine, trudging to the laundry room every single day was far too much of a chore, so he'd taken to piling his clothes in a corner. It was a scene that would make anyone else recoil in horror.
After kicking the clothes roughly out of his way, Hyunsoo opened his closet to pick out what he'd wear today. It was a studio apartment closet, so the selection inside was predictably meager. Looked like he'd be heading out in whatever he laid eyes on first.
"It's already nine..."
His appointment was at ten, so he needed to get moving. Today was, of all things, a holiday shift. Even though it was Saturday, Hyunsoo had decided he'd absorbed enough social knowledge by now to justify saving money, so he only took Sundays off and worked every other day of the week.
His plan was to get out of this cramped studio as soon as possible and move into an officetel or a proper two-bedroom. Being cooped up in a box like this was driving him half-mad. He'd chosen the smaller place to save on rent, but that had been a miscalculation — a tiny home simply made life feel joyless.
Thankfully, judging by the pace he was saving money, another six months or so should be enough to find a decent officetel. That was how lucrative the rental boyfriend business was. If he put his mind to it, pulling in ten million won a month wasn't even a challenge.
And so Kim Hyunsoo gave himself one last look in the mirror. A date was still a date — he had to look the part. He even applied lotion. For a man, one bottle of lotion was all the skincare you needed. He checked his watch and headed out quickly. Only by leaving now could he make his appointment on time.
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A movie theater date today, was it? Kim Hyunsoo sat in the café attached to the cinema, sipping an iced Americano. The cold drink spread a refreshing coolness through his body. The walk over here had nearly killed him — the heat was merciless.
Perhaps because of his light summer outfit, a woman stole a glance at him. He'd never paid much attention to women's stares before, but ever since arriving in this world, he could feel their eyes on him instantly. It helped that he was bold about it, even with her boyfriend sitting right beside her.
"Where do you think you're looking?!"
"Sorry, sorry!"
Watching the woman get firmly put in her place, I chuckled to myself. Seeing that scene play out in real life really drove home the fact that I'd landed in a reversed world.
Some time passed like that. When the clock struck 9:50, I spotted Shin Yuna riding up the escalator. Shin Yuna made no effort to hide her looks — if anything, she flaunted them, showing up today with her makeup done to perfection. Even her skin tone looked different from when we'd last met. As she scanned the room this way and that, Kim Hyunsoo raised a hand and waved.
The moment Yuna spotted him, her face lit up and she came bounding over. The café was open-fronted with a clear view inside, so it seemed she'd found him without any trouble. She took the seat across from Kim Hyunsoo.
"Hyunsoo-yah, were you waiting long?"
The shy, timid Shin Yuna from our first meeting was nowhere to be found now. This was already their third date, and she'd grown comfortable enough to chat with him easily. This was probably her true personality all along.
"Not at all. I barely waited — our appointment was at ten anyway, remember?"
Yuna sneaked a quick glance at her watch, worried she might have been late. Fortunately for her, it wasn't quite ten yet. She looked visibly relieved not to have become a liar who broke her promise.
"Noona, it must've been hot walking over. Have a drink."
Kim Hyunsoo handed Shin Yuna the chocolate smoothie he'd ordered in advance. He already knew her tastes from their previous dates. Considering he'd mooched tens of thousands of won off her by now, a single chocolate smoothie was pocket change.
The peculiar thing about rental boyfriends was that on top of the hourly date fee, the women covered every expense incurred during the date. That had been the custom in his old world too, so maybe it carried over here. Either way, he wasn't complaining. All he had to do was show up and reap the benefits.
And every once in a while, when Hyunsoo paid out of his own pocket to buy something like this, clients were genuinely moved by it. It seemed that most men in this world just took and took from their clients without ever reciprocating.
"Th... thanks, Hyunsoo-yah! I'll enjoy it!"
Just as Hyunsoo had predicted, beads of sweat dotted Shin Yuna's forehead. The weather outside was simply brutal. Global warming or not, each summer kept outdoing the last with record-breaking heat.
Yuna brought her lips to the straw and took a long sip. As the heat drained away, a blissful smile bloomed across her face. If one chocolate smoothie could move her like this, I couldn't help wondering what her reaction would be to a bigger gift down the line. The threshold for being touched was remarkably low among the women here.
Hyunsoo generally kept physical contact to a minimum with clients, but if he ever kissed Yuna on the cheek, her heart very well might explode on the spot.
"Did you book the movie tickets already, Noona?"
"Of course! I reserved the best seats in the house, Hyunsoo-yah. And I picked a movie that suits your taste."
Hyunsoo's taste in movies was simple: a hero shows up and smashes everything around him to pieces. Though in this world, with Hunters being the order of the day, the screen would be filled with Hunters rather than heroes, presumably.
"Romance?"
"Yep. You're so sensitive and manly, Hyunsoo — I figured you'd love a romance..."
It was ninety-nine percent her own taste, but Hyunsoo decided to let it slide. Yuna was paying for everything anyway; all he had to do was sit back and enjoy the date she'd arranged. Nothing could be better than that.
"Let's get going. We need to pick out popcorn before the movie starts, right?"
Chatting away at the café, the time had flown by without either of them noticing. Kim Hyunsoo was genuinely fond of Shin Yuna. For one, she was the most stunning of all the clients he'd met. And somewhere along all their dates and conversations, he'd come to discover her particular charm.
She reminded him of a boy fresh into puberty, just discovering what sex was. No matter how mildly risqué a comment Hyunsoo made, she'd flush scarlet and shake her head furiously — that was Shin Yuna's appeal.
Standing before the kiosk, Yuna and Hyunsoo began choosing their popcorn. Hyunsoo reached, with practiced ease, for the caramel popcorn that looked the most delicious. That was when Yuna stopped his hand. Then, with a bashful face, she spoke up.
"H-Hyunsoo-yah... let's get the Couple Combo..."
Shin Yuna was intensely attached to the Couple Combo. Perhaps because this was a date spot, there were quite a few couples here just like Hyunsoo and Yuna. In a Korea where men were scarce, the sheer number of couples was staggering — the place had the atmosphere of a cherry-blossom dating course brought indoors.
"Whatever you like, Noona."
Since one popcorn was as good as another to him, Hyunsoo went along with her. Yuna beamed and tapped the kiosk screen.
Seeing Yuna so delighted just from ordering a Couple Combo, I couldn't help but wonder what her expression would be like if I ever went further with her. Of course, at nineteen, Hyunsoo was still too young for any of that.
Besides, Hyunsoo made a point of not getting too close to his clients. He had no desire to take a kitchen knife to the gut on some street corner out of jealousy one day. With clients who seemed genuinely kind, though, he was happy to be friendly.