Garden of Affection

Cha Haejoon, an art professor, appears in the life of Yoon Iso, a single father with many secrets, and lingers by his side like a friend and a lover with gentle kindness. Iso greedily accepts Haejoon’s affection and lives each day in peace, but when figures from his past—the very ones who upended his life seven years ago—reappear, he trembles with fear at the thought of losing his current happiness. However, as time passes, a sense of dread begins to sprout as he starts to notice strange things, one by one, about Haejoon, the man who was supposed to be protecting him…

Was it a mistake to step into his garden from the very beginning? The deeper they dig into the incident from seven years ago, the more their relationship is sucked into an irreversible vortex.

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Setting/Genre: #Modern

Keywords: #SliceOfLife #Sweet #SlightlyAngsty #Healing #PlotDriven #Growth #AgeGap #SugarDaddy #ThirdPersonPOV #OneAndOnly #OneGongOneSoo #SubGongPresent #Reversible #SweetGong #HandsomeGong #FlirtatiousGong #DevotedGong #ObsessiveGong #PoliteGong (uses formal language) #OlderGong #SchemingGong #SlightlyAmoral #UniversityProfessorGong #HandsomeSoo #SweetSoo #NaiveSoo #NeatSoo #RollingSoo (suffers) #TraumatizedSoo #BeautyLoverSoo #SingleDadSoo #ClumsySoo

Gong: Cha Haejoon (35, Professor of Oriental Painting at a National University of Arts & Executive Director of the Haeon Arts Foundation)

A mysterious man who lives in a 3,000-pyeong (approx. 2.45 acres) traditional Korean mansion in the heart of the city, where he feeds, houses, and employs people with nowhere else to go, making them his loyal subordinates. After a chance encounter with Iso on the street, he falls in love at first sight and begins to pour out all the love he has held back. He won’t hesitate to use questionable methods to keep Iso by his side, but he desperately wants to hide that side from Iso, wishing only to appear as a good person to him.

Soo: Yoon Iso (27, Lunch Box Shop Owner)

A single father who runs a small lunch box shop near the back gate of a university. Despite his remarkably handsome face and neat, quiet personality, he is plagued by all sorts of malicious rumors for raising a child at a young age. After meeting Haejoon through a small misunderstanding, he is flustered by the man’s straightforward advances but begins to rely on Haejoon, who shows him kindness for the first time in his life and gives him direction. He is a victim and scapegoat of an incident that occurred seven years ago. He starts to proactively dive into solving the case that has been shrouded in secrecy.

Sub-Gong: Yoon Jooyoung (31, CEO of the Beomyang Arts Foundation)

Yoon Iso’s older cousin and the man who holds the key to the incident from seven years ago.

Recommended For: Readers who want a story about a sweet single-dad Soo and a kind but enigmatic Gong who suddenly appears in his life, as they find true love together.

Quote: “Iso, come to my garden. I want you to be by my side, wherever that may be.”