The Aficionado

Enjoying the quietness inside his office, Yang Yun was in a rare moment of tranquillity. He was resting on his couch, reading a magazine when a certain someone barged in without further announcement. There were very few people in and outside this company who would dare to enter the president's office without knocking. One of them was Min Lee.

With his eyebrow raised in annoyance, president Yang looked up, only to find his friend holding up a grim expression.

"What is the matter?" Yang Yun was immediately alerted and sat up straight.

"Michael!" Min Lee hollered and sat down opposite of the table. "I've decided to take over the script for 'Red Thread'!"

This declaration surprised Yang Yun.

"Just yesterday you told me not to give you any more new projects, and even earlier than that, we decided that you would only oversee the progress in 'Red Thread'..."

"I want it now! All of the script! Leave it to me!" Min Lee seemed very invested suddenly, which delighted Yang Yun in return. Min Lee was young but already a genius in his line of work. His scripts always delivered and would surely sell like hot potatoes. It was just too bad that once something caught his interest, he would be so invested that any other project would have to queue up and vie for his attention like concubines waiting for the emperor to flip their card. If he wanted to do the scripting personally, then at least half of Yang Yun's worries would be gone, and the nation was sure to thrive.

"What about your other projects?" Yang Yun asked anyways. Can't have the guy throw anything else out the window just because he's having too much on his plate.

"Childs play!" Min Lee waved it down. He wasn't at full capacity yet. But no need to let other's know lest they give him more work.

"What made you change your mind?" As a boss, Yang Yun was elated without questions, but as a friend, he was just curious as to why Min Lee has suddenly taken an interest in that script.

"Can't let anyone else work with author Jieshen." The young script-writer answered with a serious face which pricked Yang Yun's ears.

"What? Why?" He sat up straight, becoming severe in an instant. "If there is a problem with the author, I don't mind discarding the project altogether."

"What? No! Everythings' fine with her!" Min Lee saw the resolute dark eyes of his friend and knew that the other person wasn't one who would sacrifice his team for temporary gains. If there existed an overbearing person who would make development hard for the team, no matter who they were, Yang Yun wouldn't mind cutting ties even if that means stopping production altogether. Likewise, none of his employees is allowed to browbeat others.

Being reassured, Yang Yun leaned back again and just stared at the other person with questioning eyes. His interest was slightly piqued.

"You would know once you see her, Michael! Author Jieshen is totally my type, okay? And, on top of that, she is hauntingly beautiful!"

"..."

Once Yang Yun heard those words and saw the beaming in his friends' eyes, he knew that it was not a joke.

"You... really... I can't believe it." Kneading his temples with his fingers, Yang Yun surrendered.

They say geniuses have bad habits. And one of Min Lee's bad habits was that he was dedicatedly type-oriented. Yang Yun hasn't found out yet what exactly the type was that was able to press all the buttons in Min Lee's head, but there were not many similarities between those people. Some were as beautiful as super-models while other's looked very ordinary. Man or women didn't matter to Min Lee, neither their height or weight. Also, their character traits varied wildly. So although Min Lee seemed very superficial, like an ordinary face-con, his exact preferences in a person stayed unclear to everyone else. Thus, just because this guy described someone to be his type, it doesn't mean anything specific.

From the day that guy had declared in front of the whole class that Yang Yun was his type until today, the young president never understood what exactly Min Lee had meant by that. After some avoidance on his part and some more following and clinging on Min Lee's part, they eventually became friends. Good friends at that. Because despite his pits and perks, Min Lee was a genuine ally. Even though one couldn't comprehend his strange thoughts, Min Lee proved himself to be reliable and worthy of being called a genius. Yang Yun disregarded those habits as an occupational disease. Those things, even Yang Yun might have a few.

That Min Lee was smitten with the author wasn't something to scoff at. Yang Yun just hoped that the person in question wasn't someone easily offended because not everyone took well to being a person of interest to Min Lee. The young man could become a little pushy at times.

Yang Yung wasn't concerned since he was someone who dared to offend others, but he wouldn't do so baselessly. The Paperweight was an excellent publishing company that he prefered to work with over many others. Their reputation was splendid. An author who managed to sign with Paperweight directly and get them to agree to unusual conditions such as keeping their identity hidden - if it wasn't a publicity stunt then that means the author couldn't be someone too shabby.

"They're at least someone with a backing, so make sure you don't hit any sore spots, okay?" Yang Yun warned the other.

"Oh, how did you know that?" Min Lee instantly became gossipy. "I suspected this much already. Author Jieshen was accompanied by Gu Bo Yang today. If we poke her with anything but a feather, we will probably get stabbed in return."

Yang Yun couldn't laugh as freely as his friend did. In their line of work, every step must be carefully planned. No one knows when the pitch ahead will turn out an anthill.

"Gu Bo Yang?" Yang Yun's eyes showed a slight partial surprise towards that name. "This one's 'Gu Bo Yang'?" He held up the magazine he was reading just a few minutes ago. It was the latest publication of the 'Connoisseur'.

Yang Yun, like many more, was an enthusiastic reader of that magazine. He particularly fancied the segment 'Aficionado' that was added a few years ago.

"Yes, him." Min Lee shrugged and turned his eyes upwards. How come this guy is such a bore who didn't bat an eye when Min Lee mentioned a beautiful woman but get bright eyes when he spoke about an older man?

"You need to work less and enjoy life more, Michael, instead of only reading such magazines! You will scare all the women away." He suggested haughtily.

"Only if you work more and enjoy life less than you do now, do I dare to take a break and leave the company." Yang Yun laughed. In his eyes, Min Lee is the biggest 'Aficionado' he knows. "And why's that even related to women?"

"You are such a bore!" Min Lee spotted and stood up fiercely.

"Life needs drama, and it needs romance! Passion and love!"

He accentuated his words with emotional gestures and clenching his fists, doing a stage performance in front of Yang Yun, who has seen plenty of such antics to be surprised anymore. Yang Yun was even too lazy to raise an eyebrow.

Angered by the others lack of reaction, Min Lee pointed his index finger very rudely into his friend's face and added:

"You've had it too easy until now! You don't know the hardships of dating!"

Now Yang Yun raised an eyebrow as if to remember the other that he did have prior dating experiences.

"No! You have had only shallow relationships until now! Those don't count! Have you ever fell in love? Plunging headfirst into desire over someone else, live through sleepness nights, remember any heartbreaks over separation? Getting angry and jealous just because they look good standing together with someone other than yourself? Missing a person just because you are separated for a few hours?"

The corner of Yang Yun's lip twitched in annoyance. "You make it sound like relationships are made, so both people involved can feel bad together. Why should I start a relationship to feel bad? When it doesn't feel right or annoys me, isn't it right to break up before things turn sour?"

"SCUM!" Min Lee discarded those words in a fit. "You are a fiend of romance! Brute! Heartless! Demon! Devil! Satan! I feel bad for all the women who have dated you! All those women who lined up for you, they don't have eyes and are trembling M's!"

Min Lee was just an outbreak away from stomping his feet and grabbing Yang Yun by the collar to shake him awake.

"That's the bad thing about people in your line of work, Min Lee. You guys always imagine that everything in life must be overly dramatic. You can't accept the fact that some things in life don't need to toss and turn before it works just fine. I can reassure you that there is no specific number of episodes to fill in our lifetime. We don't need any filler chapters or create any excess drama. We can live it just as we want and we will still live fine." The president chuckled.

Yang Yun doesn't take his friends words to heart. To him, life has been smooth sailing. He has enough exciting things to do in his life. It's not necessary to search for drama in interpersonal connections as well. Even though his company depends on those dramas and people who fed on them, he doesn't believe that things must always be this complex in life. And life wasn't a fairytale either. No rule dictates that one love must last until the end of days.

"I curse you, Michael Yang! I hope you fall in love head over heels one day and experience all the heartbreak and sufferings you've looked down on until now, just to get dumped in the end!"

"Are you done?" Yang Yun asked with an amused smile, sitting leisurely across the table, hands folded together like he was watching a musical play.

"Yes, I am." Min Lee deflated after using all his energy.

"Fine, then go back to work." Yang Yun smiled like the devil he was called a minute ago.