The Room Next Door
The space Dayeon used as her streaming studio had the same layout as an ordinary house—three rooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen adjoining the living room was fairly spacious as well, a place where they would sometimes cook together whenever they got tired of delivery food.
"This is where you'll be working, Dohyun! The room right next to mine!"
The largest room had been converted into a soundproof booth for streaming, and beside it sat another room—the one Dohyun would be coming in to use from now on. There was one more room of similar size next to the kitchen, and three computers occupied the living room.
"Am I the only one getting a separate room?"
Until now, everyone had worked out of the living room, and the smaller rooms had served as little more than storage. Things were different now. Once they had learned the truth about Park Woojin—something they hadn't known before—keeping everyone together no longer seemed like a wise choice.
"Yeah, like I mentioned before, one of the editors you'll be working with has a pretty awful personality. Once you've settled in, we're going to let him go and hire someone else. So just until then, you'll have the room to yourself."
Of course, even after that, if Dohyun found he concentrated better alone or simply wanted to keep the private room, there was no reason they couldn't accommodate him.
"Wouldn't it be better to just stick Park Woojin in the private room and have Dohyun work out here with me?" Eunchae muttered.
"It's not like I didn't consider that. But if two people are going to work together, they'd have to be in the living room."
The living room had a bathroom attached, which meant Park Woojin could wander in and out, tossing off pointless remarks whenever the mood struck him. But if Dohyun was in a separate room and Park Woojin kept coming and going anyway, that would give them something they could actually use against him. Since the previous editors had left without saying anything useful, they needed to catch Park Woojin making a critical mistake—or gather evidence of him harassing someone. Otherwise he was the type who'd immediately cry wrongful termination or some other nonsense. That much was obvious.
"Anyway, feel free to decorate the room however you like."
Once they dealt with Park Woojin, Dohyun would probably end up moving out to the living room anyway. And since he wasn't the type who particularly enjoyed decorating, the room was unlikely to get much of a makeover in the first place.
"You started a bit earlier than expected, so I rushed to buy a computer and get everything set up. But if anything's uncomfortable, just tell me anytime. Don't be shy about it."
The room itself was modest, bare of any decoration, but that only made it cleaner. The desk and chair were expensive pieces that had clearly been chosen with care. The two monitors sitting on top were generously sized, and the tower nestled beneath the desk looked every bit as costly.
"Wow, this is really nice."
Dohyun waved his hands, thinking of the furniture in his own room back home. He'd always wanted a good computer. Even if this one wasn't technically his, he'd never imagined he'd get to use something this high-end so soon—and the excitement showed plainly on his face.
Hmm. This guy isn't bad.
And watching that expression on Dohyun's face, someone was having thoughts of an entirely different nature.
Choi Dohyun, was it? So this is the guy. Sense.
That someone was Eunchae.
Honestly, looks-wise... I wouldn't say he's my type.
Her tastes ran toward two-dimensional anime characters, so of course no real-life guy's appearance was ever going to land perfectly.
Attitude and the way he talks, though. Those pass.
What had made her think he was decent was largely the manner and speech he'd shown since walking into the studio. The only guys she'd ever really interacted with were classmates and seniors from school. Her classmates were the same age as her, so they all looked endlessly young, and most of the seniors somehow still acted like children. Or they were complete psychos like Park Woojin.
He doesn't look that old, but he's probably older than me, right? Once we get closer, could I call him Dohyun oppa?
It wasn't that Dohyun looked older than his years. Eunchae had simply assumed, quite naturally, that he was older than her. The way he carried himself and the way he spoke were so mature that it only reinforced the impression.
After Dayeon finished her explanation, while Dohyun was looking around the room, Eunchae fidgeted behind him before casually tossing out the question.
"How old are you, Dohyun?"
"Ah, I'm twenty-three this year."
The answer that came back left Eunchae stunned.
She'd vaguely assumed this person was her oppa, so hearing that they were the same age was a genuine shock.
"Ah, do I look that old?"
"No, no! That's not it at all...!"
At her intense reaction, Dohyun asked if he looked old, and Eunchae frantically waved her hands in denial.
"It's just—you're so mature... I naturally assumed you were older than me."
Every guy her age she'd ever known had been overwhelmingly childish. Which made sense, in a way. Eunchae had been on a leave of absence from school for quite a while, and she'd only been twenty when she took it. The guys in her year hadn't even gone to the military yet, so of course they still had that green, untested look about them.
"All the guys my age I've met so far just seemed like kids."
"Ahh, I used to hear that a lot too, before I finished my military service."
Dohyun's words made it easy enough to think that the others simply hadn't served yet, so of course they'd be like that.
Plus, he's already done his service, so he'll be around for a long time. Hmm. A guy like this might be more than enough for my male friend.
As her self-proclaimed "male friend," Dohyun was starting to look more and more like he fit the bill. They'd only met today, of course, so she'd have to watch him a bit longer—especially when it came to personality. Park Woojin had seemed like a perfectly decent senior when she'd first met him at school, after all.
...I do have a tendency to judge people too quickly.
If she'd been more careful and checked around first, she never would have dragged Park Woojin into Dayeon's orbit like that. But she'd been younger then, and even worse at reading people than she was now.
Still, I'm older now. Yeah. Yeah. I'll watch Dohyun for about a month first.
Whether the lower half of her body would last that long, of course, was anyone's guess. She couldn't just give her first time to any random guy.
My virginity is going to the first male friend who actually deserves me.
Eunchae loved dirty stuff and had an enormous sex drive, but she'd still managed to keep her virginity all this time—simply because she'd never met a male friend who measured up. It wasn't that she'd never had a boyfriend. There'd been one briefly in high school, a popular guy who was nothing like her, and he'd pressured her into all sorts of things. It wasn't a good memory.
Dating... not interested. A male friend is enough.
To Eunchae, dating was a hassle. That was exactly why she was so fixated on this self-proclaimed "male friend" concept.
I think they call it FWB overseas.
Unpacked, that just meant she wanted a sex partner.
But even a partner has to be a good match, or what's the point?
Eunchae had no interest in that kind of relationship with just any guy. Someone who clicked with her more. Ideally, someone she could geek out with about Dayeon—and if she could have sex with a person like that, she figured it would be genuinely thrilling.
"Eunchae? Eunchae?"
She must have been lost in her own world for quite a while. Dayeon waved a hand in front of her face, trying to snap her out of it.
"Ah! Sorry, I was spacing out."
"You're going to burn a hole through Dohyun's face at this rate."
"Hah?! Was I staring at his face this whole time?!"
It was only natural, really. She'd been talking to Dohyun right up until she slipped into her own little world.
"I'm sorry, Dohyun...! I do this sometimes—just zone out staring at someone's face... ugh..."
Even so, staring at someone's face in complete silence for that long was more than enough to make a person uncomfortable. It could even come off as rude.
"It's fine, that happens. You seem like the type who really dives deep once you start thinking about something."
Most people, after being stared at like that, would have asked what she'd been thinking about. Dohyun didn't.
...If this is really just how he is, I might fall for him hard.
The more she saw, the more Eunchae found herself thinking that Dohyun might actually be okay. Which made it all the more agonizing to keep her gaze from drifting downward, forcing it to stay put.
...Is it big...? No, what the hell... God, what am I thinking about with a person standing right in front of me...! I've lost it. I really have.
Eunchae's face flushed crimson, and she dropped her head. Dohyun saw the look on her face, of course.
Did she just have dirty thoughts about me...?
He'd already seen Eunchae's status window just a moment ago, so as startling as the idea was, he could believe it.