The man who referred to himself as Kayak, Kim Sang-yeob, had never been in a relationship in his 28 years of life.
Yes, he was your typical “always single since birth” kind of guy. In short, a ‘mosol.’ Kim Sang-yeob was a mosol man.
Like most things that happen in life, it wasn’t that he did anything particularly wrong or failed to do what others typically do.
In fact, he was closer to faithfully following the paths that others took. While he couldn’t claim to have lived with more diligence than anyone else, he could say he lived like everyone else.
During his school years, he diligently studied as a student and, as a result, got into a well-regarded university. He continued to earn good grades in college, managing to receive scholarships. He even served in the military without skipping out.
Even when his college peers struggled through the dark times of job hunting, Kim Sang-yeob didn’t experience much difficulty. It was almost as if he succeeded in landing a job right after graduation with just a mere three months of job-seeking time.
Looking at it this way, his life seemed enviable. He came from a harmonious family, both parents were healthy, and he himself was in perfect health with a decent job.
The only thing missing was…
“Hey, Sang-yeob, aren’t you dating anyone?”
“Kim Sang-yeob, are you really not in a relationship?”
“This guy might be gay.”
It was that he’d never had a girlfriend in his entire 28 years of life.
‘How on earth do you date…?’
Sang-yeob wondered. From his perspective, he didn’t seem to have done anything wrong, yet he found himself in this situation. Time had passed, and he had become a 28-year-old mosol.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to date. He was human, after all, and with a heart that beat for romance, he had made moves on people he liked.
However, none of those attempts ended well, and after a series of failures, he came to this conclusion.
Ah, I really am a person who has nothing to do with dating!
After that, he didn’t pay much attention to it. He already had a busy life and wasn’t keen on spending more time on dating, nor was he particularly thirsty for it.
But now, it was starting to become a bit of a regret.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
Sang-yeob looked into the mirror and stroked his face.
‘Am I not decent enough?’
Objectively speaking, he wasn’t exactly handsome, but he thought he could at least pass as someone likable. His friends often told him he wasn’t bad-looking, either.
It had been over a year since he joined the workforce. His life had stabilized to a certain extent, and finding time had become easier.
The situation has changed a lot from before. My parents hope that their son will move beyond dating to marriage, and friends are starting to date one by one.
Despite the changes around him, Sang-yeob feels a subtle loneliness and emptiness. He’s starting to realize the need for romance himself.
“I don’t know about marriage, but dating at least…”
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to at least try it once. No, I think I need to experience it at least once to figure out what works when push comes to shove.
You never know how things will turn out. That’s why it’s important to have various experiences in life. This was part of Sang-yeob’s values, which made him feel the need for romance even more.
That’s why he submitted an application to participate in the Kayak avatar matchmaking content.
To be honest, Sang-yeob was lacking confidence in both dating and matchmaking. But even so,
“Kayak is the top alpha female in the area after all.”
She’ll guide me well.
Sang-yeob thought so. He had never seen a prettier girl than Kayak in his life. In his mind, the formula of pretty girl = popularity = romance expert had long been established.
Most viewers pointed out that getting dating advice from Kayak was pointless, but Sang-yeob still trusted her.
*
Oh no.
I impulsively set things in motion because I wanted to, but there’s much more to do than I thought.
I need to find female participants for the matchmaking, decide how to run the event, prepare the program, figure out the location and rent it, and I also need some kind of earpiece for the security guards to give discreet instructions…
“Ugggh…”
Realizing there was too much to do, I crumbled to the floor like slime. The hot and humid weather made me feel even more drained.
Woof!
Mila approached me, now a puddle on the floor, and started licking my face.
“Mila, are you worried because Mom seems to be hurting?”
I felt proud thinking that if I collapsed like this, Mila would scramble around to let others know. But then,
“?”
That didn’t seem to be the case. Her typical cheerful expression of “I don’t know anything” was oddly annoying. Other dogs panic when their owners act, but she doesn’t seem to care.
She probably knows everything. The reason she’s licking my face so enthusiastically is not just out of boredom; she’s likely trying to encourage me as well. Mila was pretty sensitive to my emotional changes.
“Sigh…”
Was coming up with and executing content this bothersome and laborious? Once again, I couldn’t help but admire Taker, the number one streamer I respect.
Was it just luck? Once again, I can’t help but worship Taker, the number one streamer I admire.
How do they manage to bring in content every single time? Tabeoji… Now I finally get it, how have you lived like that?
“Ugh.”
Anyway, since I’ve already set the stage, I guess I need to clean up the mess. I pulled myself together and got up, my limp body protesting. The physical side was perfect, so as long as I held my mind together, everything would be fine!
“I think we need to figure out some task division….”
There’s just too much to do. Trying to do all this alone is pure foolishness.
So, I called for reinforcements to help me.
*
“Boss, did you call?”
“Mhm, yes! Come here and help me out.”
I brought in Yusia, one of my editors. Unlike Kim Jae-jun, who was drowning in editing work, I heard she had nothing to do at the moment.
Now that I think about it, why doesn’t she have anything to do? With all the broadcasts lately, there should be tons to edit.
“I finished everything by dawn.”
“…Did you get any sleep?”
“I usually don’t sleep much….”
Honestly, this makes me feel like a terrible boss. Calling someone over to give them work when they just finished a shift until dawn.
But I had no choice. At least for now, I needed someone’s help. I could always take better care of her after I turned into a bad boss.
So, having secured the reliable ally Yusia, I started tackling the tasks related to matchmaking one by one with her.
“So, we’re talking about meeting in person, right?”
“I think that might be better. It seems like it would be more immersive than just online.”
“Having a meal and then going to a café for tea and a chat is a solid plan. Most matchmaking courses tend to follow this route…”
Yusia helped straighten out my tangled thoughts and contributed her own good ideas, guiding the conversation forward.
Now that I think about it, this person is really smart. I guess you could say their intelligence just feels high. They graduated from one of those universities that you’d go, “Oh, that one,” just by hearing the name.
It’s kind of fascinating and weird that someone like this is my editor.
“Or maybe a place where meals and desserts and coffee all come out at once would be nice too. It might be better than wasting time moving around for the sake of it…”
While thinking about that, one question popped into my mind.
“Yusia, have you dated a lot?”
“-So, um… yes… heh?”
“I don’t know, you seem so well-versed in matchmaking that it feels like you’ve had loads of experience in love.”
Yusia seemed flustered by the sudden question, responding with a goofy voice that didn’t match her usual demeanor. Her eyes were rolling around, as if she was struggling to figure out how to answer.
Yusia made a voice that sounded silly. She simply rolled her eyes at my question. Was she struggling to figure out how to answer?
“By the way, back in the day when we were spending time on the forum, we talked a lot about love. I’m pretty sure Yusia’s ideal type is a cold but secretly warm Northern Duke style—”
“Ahhhhh! You, you remember that? When was that, like ages ago?”
Indeed. I’m not known for my good memory, but some things stick out clearly in my mind.
It was a conversation from over three years ago, back when the Abyss was a terrible game.
“Well, that was a long time ago. My ideal type has changed to something more realistic now.”
“Oh, really? I’m curious. What kind of person do you like?”
“I-I… I won’t tell you. It’s a secret. A secret.”
Her face flushed red as she sipped her coffee, just looking down. I looked at her and said,
“So, have you been in a lot of relationships? If you’re a dating expert, it’d be fun to observe the Kayaks with me from above.”
“I…”
But Yusia’s answer was not what I expected.
“Well, I’ve never been in a relationship.”
“…? Really?”
Nod nod—
She buried her face in her knees, looking embarrassed. The tips of her ears were red, hidden in her hair. Is she embarrassed? It shouldn’t be something to be embarrassed about.
However, it was quite a surprising answer. I never expected Yusia to be single all her life.
‘What’s up with that?’
Why would that be? Objectively speaking, Yusia is quite attractive. There’s nothing wrong with her personality either. She’s capable enough to finish editing this morning’s content at dawn, so why on earth?
It was something I couldn’t understand in a common-sense way, but whatever… Isn’t that how people are? I’m someone who easily surpasses common sense myself.
But wait, that’s kinda cute. Isn’t Yusia twenty-four this year? She’s never been in a relationship at that age?
I was looking at her with gleeful eyes while she was embarrassed. Like a lightning bolt, an idea flickered into my mind.
A lack of female cast members, single Yusia, single Kayaks, blind dates, Yusia who’s an expert in dating theory, top-tier looks…
“Yusia.”
With the idea forming, I opened my mouth without hesitation.
“Would you be interested in going on a blind date?”
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