Life is Easier If You’re Handsome

"As much as I’d love to, you know the schedule is already set."

Edward’s manager calmly countered his outburst.

He understood his impatience, but it was too soon.

The earliest they could start was eight weeks before the fight, which meant he had to wait until February 2020.

For now, the only thing he could do was give interviews like before.

But if he did them too often, they’d lose their impact.

There had to be at least a three to four-month gap between them.

Given all that, right now, the only thing Edward could do was—

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!"

"...You just have to wait and train."

And vent his frustration alone.

"AAAHHHHHH!!"

Edward hated everything about this situation, but what he hated most was the sound of that damn piano in Evelyn’s MEET.

He could avoid the music video, but he couldn’t escape the song.

Every time he played it to hear her voice, that sickeningly sweet piano melody would torment his ears.

"Damn it! Damn it! Just wait till next year, Kim Donghu! NEXT YEAR!"

It became a wound Edward couldn’t heal.

***

"If it keeps going at this speed, they say we might hit 100 million views before the week is over!"

—Congratulations. I’ve been replaying the music video too. It’s incredible.

Evelyn bounced on her bed, talking excitedly with Kim Donghu.

"If I had one complaint, it’d be that it’s my music video, but you’re the one everyone’s talking about."

—Haha, that’s not true. It’s all about you.

"No! No! If you check the top comments, it’s all about the Piano Man!"

Click.

Click.

Evelyn scrolled through the live comments.

"They’re saying that since your face was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) fully shown, it feels like a private moment between Tarzan and Jane."

—A private moment?

"Yeah, like... after they met, they started working together in modern times?"

—Ah, I think I get what you mean.

"Or maybe that Tarzan and Jane were their past lives, and this is their present life..."

Why was her face heating up just saying that?

Fanning herself, Evelyn quickly changed the subject.

"So, what’s next on your schedule?"

—I’ve got a film crew coming from Korea soon.

"What are you filming?"

—I’ll be driving a food truck around the U.S.

"You?! Really?!"

Evelyn’s voice shot up in pitch.

‘Wait... he can cook too? Like, well enough to run a food truck?’

Of course, just because someone ran a food truck didn’t mean they could cook well.

Some were terrible. Some didn’t even know how to cook.

But—

‘If it’s Donghu... he wouldn’t do it unless he was perfect at it, right?’

She wanted to go.

That was her first thought.

But—

‘Since the crew is coming from Korea... he’s probably doing it with the Korean members.’

Reality sank in quickly.

—Of course, I cook pretty well. I’m not lying.

"If... if I say I don’t believe you... will you cook for me?"

—Hmm, who knows?

"Tarzan, didn’t I tell you not to talk like that? It’s annoying!"

—Oh, Jane... is that so? I haven’t learned that yet.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Her heart raced like crazy when they had conversations like this.

Did he feel the same?

She hoped he did.

Trying to act calm, she continued.

"Then let’s fix that right now. Repeat after me."

—What?

"Evelyn, I’m inviting you to the show. Come try my food."

—I can’t say it unless it’s for Jane.

"...Fine, try again. Tarzan, say, Jane, I’ll cook just for you."

—Jane, I’ll cook just for you.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

She couldn’t hold back anymore.

Even pretending to be composed was impossible.

His sweet voice whispering in her ear—she couldn’t handle it.

In that moment, Evelyn understood exactly what love was.

"O-Oh... um... I-I just remembered something urgent! I have to go!"

—Huh? Haha, okay.

Click.

After that, she couldn’t remember what state she was in.

She only knew she had mumbled something incoherent and hurriedly hung up the phone.

That night—

The air felt warmer than usual.

And the world after the call felt emptier than before.

‘...So this is what they call love.’

Evelyn had just learned it from Kim Donghu.

***

Time flew by.

The pre-meeting day for Will It Work on the Mainland? had arrived.

"The reaction is insane! Isn’t this crazy?"

"Really?"

"Of course! It’s so simple yet badass! ‘Good luck’—that’s it? Just like Taken, right?"

"Yeah, it kind of makes me feel like the villain."

I was chatting with Seokho hyung while waiting in the conference room for the Will It Work on the Mainland? production team to arrive.

"Honestly, I don’t get it. Why does everyone think you’re gonna lose?"

"Probably because I don’t have many fights under my belt. It makes sense, really."

My answer made Seokho hyung furrow his brows deeply.

"Are they seriously looking at just the number of fights? What the hell... They’re just underestimating you because you’re Asian."

Still fuming over the articles he had read yesterday, Seokho hyung jumped on the chance to vent.

"I get that Edward is good, sure, but come on... We’re better. You know they’ve already set the betting odds on those illegal sites, right? We’re at 5-to-1! We’re the underdogs!"

Even if the odds were even, it would’ve been a stretch.

But to be treated as the weaker side just because of race?

It was clear they were pushing a story, but this was outright disrespectful.

"Objectively, yeah, we’re the challengers. But that doesn’t mean the fight is one-sided! What kind of rookie debut fight is against the champion?!"

In most promotional images, Edward was positioned above me, and I was always shown looking up at him.

Of course, I had never posed that way—those photos were edited and arranged by journalists.

Even just looking at the visuals, it was obvious how they were shaping the narrative.

‘The complete underdog.’

Outsider.

Scarecrow.

Primitive man.

Asian.

All sorts of derogatory labels were being thrown around.

But honestly, I didn’t really care.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it until April next year anyway.’

If I reacted to every little thing, it would never end.

And for now, my schedule took priority.

"Don’t stress about it too much. It’ll all be settled next year anyway."

"But still—!"

"Then maybe in the next interview, should I go a little harder? More aggressive?"

"Now that’s what I’m talking about! Knock him down a peg!"

We kept talking for a while until—

Click.

"Hah! You’re already here! Hello! I’m Lee Hyungwoo!"

The door opened, and in walked PD Lee Hyungwoo from Will It Work on the Mainland?.

And behind him—

"Hasn’t it been too long? You’ve gotten way too cool, don’t you think?"

My twin-tailed, tsundere childhood friend stepped in.

Still rocking her signature brown twin tails, her sharp, playful expression made her look just as mischievous as ever.

‘Damn, I almost hugged her on instinct.’

Sujin glanced at me before casually extending her hand.

And the moment I saw it—

I instinctively interlocked our fingers.

"?! W-What are you doing?! I meant a handshake!"

"Oh, right. A handshake, huh?"

Sujin was flustered, while I calmly switched hands and shook hers instead.

"Y-You’re insane! Look at your face! Messing with me the moment we meet!"

"It’s fun."

"T-There are other people here, you idiot...!"

As always, Sujin’s shocked reactions were the cutest when I messed with her.

After teasing her a little, I glanced around the room.

"...Ahaha, we've been friends since childhood, so... yeah."

That’s when I realized—everyone was just silently watching us.

Like they didn’t want to interrupt.

Noticing the awkward tension, Sujin quickly jumped in.

"Yeah, yeah! Doctor Kyaruk, remember? We’ve known each other forever! Just excited to see him!"

"Exactly, exactly! That’s why we all just stayed quiet for this dramatic reunion!"

"Right! Haha, these kinds of scenes are instant NGs if someone cuts in!"

The comedians, Kim Hyunjun and Ahn Suhwan, instantly assessed the mood and smoothed things over.

Turning it into a joke, while seamlessly shifting the conversation back on track—they really were genius at this.

‘So this is why people say comedians are smart as hell.’

While I was still admiring their skills—

"Alright! Shall we start with introductions? Nice to meet everyone!"

PD Lee Hyungwoo took the lead and kicked off the meeting.

"As I mentioned before, filming will last about four weeks."

The show was planned as a 12-episode series, with an expected August air date.

Everything was just as outlined in the contract.

"And the most important part—what menu are we going to sell?"

"Korean food covers a huge variety."

"Exactly! And honestly, it’s not like Korean food is completely foreign to people anymore."

The biggest decision in Will It Work on the Mainland?  was choosing which food to sell.

There had been tons of discussions.

Countless brainstorming sessions.

But nothing really clicked.

"Hmm..."

As everyone sat there pondering—

"How about stir-fried pork bone stew rice, Korean soup, and cheese potato pancakes?"

The words just slipped out.

And then—

"...Should we go with that?"

Just like that, the decision was made.

***

The planning phase was set to last about a week.

We had plenty of time to finalize things.

"Great work, everyone!"

For now, we were just happy to have a menu to work with.

But the real reason the meeting ended early wasn’t because of our free time—

It was because we had no time at all.

Why?

"Because we have way too much to catch up on, right?"

After all, it had been way too long since I last saw Sujin.

And we had a lot of memories to relive.