Ways to Avoid Monday Blues

To overcome the grief of losing his mother and to forget a first love that could never be, Sewon impulsively sets off on a trip to Istanbul.

There, Sewon meets a man who seems to live in a world entirely different from his own.

Brought together by chance, the two begin traveling as companions, and the more they talk, the more they find themselves drawn to each other…

Under the pretext of alcohol, Sewon confesses to him that the friend he once liked was a “man.”

“Want to come to my room? Tell me if I’m misunderstanding this.”  

“…It’s not a misunderstanding.”

The next morning, after an impulsive night with the man, Sewon wakes up and happens to glimpse a message that arrives on the man’s phone.

「Having fun on your trip, honey? Don’t forget to bring back the gift you promised~!」  

It was, without a doubt, a sweet message from a lover waiting for their partner to return from the journey.

“Memories from a trip should be left behind at the trip.”  

Sewon realizes there is a hidden meaning in the man’s words and, overwhelmed with shame, flees back to Korea.

One year later,  

Sewon encounters the man he’d left behind at the travel destination once again.  

“Gong Sewon-ssi.”  

“Yes.”  

“How many Gongs do you think live in Seoul?”  

And this time, as his workplace superior.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

Sewon clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling his mouth go dry. 

“I don’t need someone with grit, effort, and diligence. I need someone who can work in sync with me without needing me to explain everything from scratch. That’s why I requested someone with experience.”

Dojun looked at Sewon with an expressionless gaze. There was no warmth in the man’s eyes as he treated Sewon like a colleague or a stranger. Only now, a year later, did Sewon realize how warmly Dojun had looked at him back in Istanbul.  

“It’s not that I opposed you because of personal feelings.”  

“…”  

“It’s just… my team doesn’t need someone like Gong Sewon-ssi.”