Episode 1 of "Boyfriend on Demand" commences with a glimpse into a fantastical palace, as our protagonist, Seo Mi-rae, prepares for a rendezvous with her digital boyfriend. We then flash back two weeks earlier, where Mi-rae returns home from a long day at work. She has meticulously planned out her entire day down to the hour. She has 3 and a half hours of leisure time left at the end of it all, and she spends it wisely—watching Netflix. Mi-rae cherishes these small moments of pleasure, given that she's quickly thrust back into the bustling corporate world again.
She works at a webtoon company that oversees various authors. Her "work rival" is a Producer called Park Kyeong-nam. He's a national treasure in the workplace and has just signed an adaptation deal too. Eun-ju has a crush on him and fangirls over the guy, while Mi-rae simply rolls her eyes over this declaration.
Now, Kyeong-nam is blunt with his words, and when Mi-rae sends over a pitch, he's incredibly critical of her work and doesn't mince his words. Mi-rae has no time for dating or relationships herself, and she's reluctant to get involved in many social activities either. She skips out on team dinners, although her friend Ji-yeon does her best to convince Mi-rae to head out for a wedding that weekend.
As they sit and eat together, Ji-yeon encourages her to find a mature guy, and Mi-rae's mind immediately wanders over to think of Kyeong-nam! However, it's a big night, and Mi-rae stumbles home drunk, eventually collapsing on the floor.
Her workplace is actually in the process of a major shake-up. After Mr. Cho quits unexpectedly from the stress of handling popular webtoon writer Yun-song (more on her shortly!), rumors have it that Kyeong-nam or Mi-rae may be a shoe-in for getting the role of looking after Naemo's number one author. The romance producers are refusing to go near her though, knowing how toxic the woman is to work with. Given Mi-rae's schedule is lighter than Kyeong-nam's, she could get the nod by the Director ahead of him.
Armed with her secret weapon (macaroons), Mi-rae shows up to try and convince the Director to give Kyeong-nam the role.
Only, Kyeong-nam is already here and he shares the same idea. They both try to shift the responsibility onto each other, unwilling to disrupt their work-life balance too much. Naturally, Mi-rae is given the job.
Mi-rae’s team rallies behind her, but she's well prepared for what she knows Yun-song to be like. In fact, Mi-rae used to manage her and knows firsthand that the woman is incredibly high maintenance. She's sensitive to online trolls and critics, and even flirts with the idea of bringing lawsuits into everything.
Because of how excessive Yun-song is over this craft, 3 years ago, her relationship with Se-june took a nosedive. Although she doesn't have a relationship now, it's still a responsibility that Mi-rae is loathe to uphold.
Making matters worse, Se-june is actually a mutual friend of hers and Ji-yeon's. Although he doesn't show up at the ceremony, he's engaged to another woman, You-mi. When Mi-rae overhears this, she's pretty crushed, given that she loved him and they also discussed marriage together. Their relationship (at least according to Mi-rae), always seemed one-sided. In the past, he used to refer to these life steps (including marriage) with an "I" rather than "we".
In the present, Yun-song sends her first message over to Mi-rae. It reminds her of how cheesy the woman's work actually is. As she reads through the latest chapters, we learn a bit more about this popular webtoon's origins.
Naemo's most popular webtoon for 3 years is called "The Man to Know". It's a chaebol romance featuring Si-woo, the third-generation heir of SY Group, and a regular gal called Eun Na-ra. The main criticisms from fans stem from the cliched story, cheesy plot points, and tired narrative and characters. Of course, Mi-rae knows that Yun-song isn't going to be happy with those comments.
Along with getting a bunch of files to handle her new client, Kyeong-nam also pings over a sauna coupon for Mi-rae (courtesy of the Director) given it'll be like a second home for her on account of the stress!
Well, Mi-rae's day takes a turn for the worse when Yun-song shows up at the office in her colorful get-up and decides they should do lunch together. Mi-rae is taken away from her team, and here we see that Yun-song is not just fragile with a weak ego; she's also self-centered and doesn't take well to criticism.
The thing is, this is still a business, and Mi-rae tries to offer some constructive criticism to make sure they still hit their deadlines for chapters. Otherwise, Mi-rae's job could be on the line. In the middle of this meeting, Mi-rae is approached by the Director and a businessman by the name of Min Jun-young. He and his team over at company DU have launched a new dating simulation platform using one of Song's characters, Si-woo. It's a simulated dating app and more of a game than a shoe-in for virtual reality. It's called "Boyfriend on Demand," and Mi-rae makes a case of using some of Song's old supporting characters as fodder for the app too.
When Yun-song leaves, Min approaches Mi-rae with a proposition. He wants her to test out the technology with a one-month trial. All of this will revolve around her experiences with virtual dates, including what works, what doesn’t, and everything in between. Given Mi-rae’s thorough work, Min is also willing to pay her for testing it too.
Back home, Mi-rae sets up the device and is thrown into a virtual world. Funnily enough, it’s the exact same scenario from the book she criticized—with Si-woo washing up on shore after surfing. This time, a huge wave washes over her and throws her underwater. Through some pretty wonky CGI, Mi-rae saves Si-woo, and the two lock eyes for the first time.
