Lee Ruri checked the paper and saw his number writtely on it. Her fingers brushed over the ink as if firming it was real. She looked back just in time to see him slipping into his car, the engine r to life. With a swift motion, he pulled away from the curb, his car disappearing into the evening traffic.

  A warm flush crept onto her cheeks as she stood there, the paper feeling strangely signifit between her fingers.

  ‘I should probably hang on to this,’ she thought, carefully folding the slip before tug it into her pocket. She pressed her hand against it for a moment, as if to make sure it wouldn’t disappear, before turning on her heel and heading inside.

  Travis pulled into the parking lot of his apartment plex, the tires rolling over the pavement in a smooth glide before ing to a stop. He turned off the engine and exhaled, running a hand through his hair before stepping out. The night air was crisp, a slight breeze brushing against his skin as he locked the car with a beep and made his way inside.

  Just as he was reag the elevator, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw a message from Yeo Juyeon.

  Juyeon: Hey, I talk to you about webtoons?

  Travis stared at the s for a sed. Webtoons? That wasly his area of expertise. But after a quick search earlier, he’d gathered just enough knowledge to hold a det versation.

  Travis: Sure, e over at 11.

  He g the time. 10:40. That gave him twenty minutes.

  Stepping into his apartment, he immediately went to open the windows, letting in the cool night air. The sliding door to the baly followed, the curtains swayily as the fresh breeze filled the space. He liked his apartment to feel open—less suffog.

  After that, he quickly tidied up, straightening the couch cushions and tossing a few stray clothes into the undry basket. Satisfied, he ged into a more fortable outfit—a loose-fitting shirt and sants—before settling on the couch, cheg the time again.

  door, Yeo Juyeon stood in front of her mirror, adjusting the hem of her blouse. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere fancy, but she still wao look presentable. Respectful. Even though she was just headi door.

  ‘Okay, just be casual. He’s probably my age… or a few years older. So be natural. Be natural,’ she reminded herself, staring at her own refle with determination.

  She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and hat was enough hyping herself up. Grabbing her phone, she stepped out of her apartment and made her way to Travis’s door.

  Standing outside, she hesitated for only a sed before knog. Then, she took a step back, smoothing her shirt unsciously as she waited.

  Moments ter, the door swung open.

  Travis stood there, his expression shifting into a casual smile. “Wow, you’re really on time.”

  Yeo Juyeon tilted her head up to meet his gaze, suddenly notig how much taller he was.

  ‘I don’t remember him being this tall…’ she thought, blinking.

  “Yeah, first impressions st, right?” she said, a slightly awkward smile.

  Travis chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true. Well, e on in.”

  As she stepped past him, a subtle st drifted between them, something and warm.

  For a brief moment, they both had the same thought.

  ‘He/She smells good.’

  He closed the door behind him with a soft clid gestured toward the couch. "Go ahead and sit. I'll grab us some drinks."

  She nodded, quietly making her way over to the couch, l herself onto it with a posed grace. Her posture remained proper, legs together, hands restily on her p. She barely moved a muscle, iaking iails of his apartment.

  The pce was impressively tidy. Everything was arranged with iion—minimalist but not barren, sleek yet fortable. The furniture choices showed a level of taste that she appreciated. Even the small decorations, like the bookshelf filled with ly arranged novels and a few framed pictures, hi personality rather than just funality.

  ‘Pretty a. I like how he furhe pce. He has taste,’ she thought, her eyes trailing across the room before settling on Travis’s back as he rummaged through his fridge.

  His broad shoulders moved slightly as he reached for the drinks, his arm muscles flexing ever so subtly under his shirt. Her gaze drifted lower, following the natural shape of his back down to his arms.

  ‘Does he work out?’ she wondered, unsciously tilting her head slightly. He didn’t seem like a bodybuilder or anything, but he was definitely in shape.

  Before she could dwell on that thought any loravis turned around, holding two drinks in his hands. "So, you create webtoons?" he asked casually as he walked back toward her.

  She straightened up slightly, snapping out of her thoughts. "Yes, I do," she replied, accepting the drink he handed her. She gnced down—it was just apple juice. Simple, but thoughtful.

  Travis took a seat across from her, resting an arm on the back of the couch. "Do you also create them as well?" she asked, taking a small sip.

  "You could say that," he said, leaning back slightly. "But I mostly write plots for them instead of drawing and stuff. Not that I ’t draw, though."

  Her eyebrows lifted slightly. "Oh, so you're a writer. Do you have any popur works?"

  Travis smirked slightly, taking a sip of his own drink. "Yeah, I did. It's called ori is Life."

  She blinked. "Wait, you're Notaking? The guy who wrote that?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, I hought I'd meet an NSFW author. I’m also into tha—"

  Her words caught ihroat as realization struck her.

  She just admitted that out loud.

  Heat immediately flooded her cheeks, her hands gripping her gss just a bit tighter. Slowly, she turoward Travis, only to see him smiling at her with clear amusement.

  "Ha, don’t be embarrassed," he chuckled. "You know, 90% of the people who write Pornhwas are women from what I've noticed." He leaned forward slightly, his expression pyful but sincere. "So, are you ied in showing me your work? Don’t worry, I won’t judge."

  Her heart pounded a little.

  ‘I wonder what he’ll think…’ she thought, biting her lower lip lightly. When she submitted her manuscript, it had beeed for its ck of experience, something that had apparently been visible in her writing. She wasn’t sure if Travis would see that fw too.

  Still, she swallowed her nerves and nodded. "Umm, sure. Let me go get my drawing pad."

  She carefully pced her drink on the coffee table before standing up, smoothing her clothes as she walked toward the door.

  Travis watched her leave, his fiapping lightly against his gss.

  ‘Well, it seems to be going well,’ he thought, his gaze lingering on her retreating figure. ‘Just o put more effort into making her ied in me.’

  She returned with her drawing pad in hand, carefully settling bato the couch beside Travis. Holding it out, she flipped through the pages, revealing her work. The illustrations weren’t the most polished, but they had a distinct style—expressive and full of potential.

  Travis leaned in, sing the pages with i. His eyes traced the lihe shading, and the panel arras. The anatomy had minor insistencies, and some poses looked a little stiff, but overall, it was impressive for someoill growing in the field.

  “Wow, this is great,” he said, nodding approvingly. “I really love your art. You know, you could literally make money off this, right?”

  Yeo Juyeon smiled, pleased by his rea. “Yeah, I do know… I just never really knew how to go about that,” she admitted, gng at him. “Do you have any advice?”

  Travis smirked, resting an arm on the back of the couch. “Oh, I have tons of advice. Let’s talk about that first, then we’ll get back to the webtoon.”

  He unched into an expnation, breaking doweps she could take to establish herself. He told her about using social media as a tool to boost her popurity, encio post sistently and i with her audience. He suggested having people repost her work to increase visibility and emphasized using every major ptform except YouTube, which wasn’t ideal faining tra as an artist.

  Yeo Juyeon hung onto every word, nodding along as she absorbed the information. She hadn’t expected him to be this knowledgeable, but hearing him speak with such fidence made her believe he had real experien the industry.

  ‘He really knows his stuff…’ she thought, growing more and more ied in what he had to say. This was exactly the kind of guidance she had been searg for.

  Ohey ed up that discussion, they returo her webtoon. Travis skimmed through her plot, reading over the way she structured her ses, particurly the intimate moments. His brow furrowed slightly as he analyzed her descriptions of the sex ses. Even though he had just lost his virginity yesterday, it was clear—painfully clear—that her writing cked real-world experience.

  He hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I know this might sound rash, but… you’re a virgin, right?” he asked, turning to her.

  Yeo Juyeon froze. Her fingers ched slightly around her drawing pad as her face heated up. She avoided his gaze, looking down at her p before nodding silently.

  Travis chuckled at her rea, finding her shyness uedly cute. He reached over and gave her a light pat on the back. “Hey, it’s n or anything. I was just asking,” he reassured her.

  She swallowed and nodded again, still a little flustered.

  “So, you never had a boyfriend before?” he asked curiously.

  “Yeah… from what I remember,” she muttered, her voice tinged with a slight mencholy.

  Travis tilted his head. “Have you at least liked a guy before? Or had a crush?”

  Yeo Juyeoated, thinking back. “…Umm, I don’t know. I guess I did, but I’m not sure if I’d call it serious.”

  Travis hummed, tapping his fingers against his knee. “Well, why don’t we fix that?”

  She blinked, looking up at him. “Huh?”

  “Not officially,” he crified. “But we’ll py a role. Then, once you’ve improved, I introduce you to someone big in the webtoon industry.”

  Her brows furrowed slightly. “What kind of experience are we talking about here?” she asked, her voice soft. “Like… sex or something?”

  Her face flushed deeper as she said it out loud.

  Travis ughed, shaking his head. “Oh, no, nothing like that.” He leaned forward, pointing at one of her pages. “I noticed in your story that your character goes on a date, but… it felt bnd. Like, really ft. No chemistry, no tension. I’m guessing you haven’t been on many dates yourself, right?”

  Yeo Juyeon stared at the page, then back at him.

  ‘A date, huh…?’ She thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t anything serious. Just a role-py sario for the sake of improviorytelling.

  ‘I mean… if it’s just a date, then I don’t mind. What could g?’ she reasoned.

  She exhaled and nodded. “Alright… let’s do it.”

  —

  Love: 6

  I: 20

  TO BE TINUED