Age Gap

Joo Incheol thought he was going places. As a loyal aide to Lee Myeongseon, a rising political figure and contenders for ministers, he was on a secure path – until the rivalries within the campaign began to swallow him whole.

To prove he was worth keeping around and to reestablish himself, Incheol was given an important task: to figure how to diffuse a redevelopment dispute in the problematic Jungang district of Songmun City. The redevelopment plans were politically sensitive, publicly condemned and practically impossible. Incheol was aware that his entire future hinged on this case.

His only real lead? Ahn Pyeonghwa, the owner of a decrepit fitness center, found in the geography of the redevelopment conflict. Also problematic? Ahn Pyeonghwa is his neighbor – but not one he knows very well.

When Incheol reaches out for his support, Pyeonghwa agrees. However:

“Hit me.”

Drawn from every direction by ambition, uncertainty, and baffling request from a neighbor, Incheol is caught in a complex situation in which the very rules of political negotiation no longer apply, and where the distinctions between politics, personal interests, and pain, become fundamentally blurred.

In middle school, Seong Hwimin got caught with a secret photo of his crush, Han Jeongwon.It blew up for a second and everyone started talking. Luckily — or unluckily — Hwimin was already the quiet rock-obsessed loner, so the drama died down fast and nobody really cared.Years went by and the popular, always-in-the-middle-of-everything Han Jeongwon and the outcast Seong Hwimin never crossed paths again.Eventually even the dark days when Hwimin used to think “Maybe I should just die” turned into embarrassing memories he can laugh about now.These days Hwimin lives a quiet, ordinary life — playing in a nobody band and juggling three part-time jobs just to get by.Then one random night he finds Han Jeongwon drunk and alone in an alley.Hwimin helps him up and Jeongwon looks at him with hazy eyes.“…Can I stay at your place?”Before Hwimin can answer, Jeongwon adds with a crooked little smile,“I’ll repay you with my body.”