Episode 2 of "Boyfriend on Demand" commences with Mi-rae submerged in the realm of virtual reality, encircled by orbs that resemble the emotional manifestations from "Inside Out." Unlike the emotional characters that emerge, however, Mi-rae encounters her new, personalized dating manager. This guide is tasked with steering Mi-rae through the experience, managing all her virtual dates with precision.
Mi-rae is gifted a ring to wear during her time within the virtual world. Once she removes it, she returns to reality. As she places the ring on her thumb, she ventures forth to meet Si-woo at the beach, where we left her in Episode 1.
Upon touching her, Mi-rae decides to remove the ring, feeling as though it's all too real. Our protagonist delves into online research, where she learns that the game immerses users in a multi-sensory experience, honing in on every aspect to revolutionize romantic interactions forever. With over 900 themes and numerous boyfriends to choose from, Mi-rae is intrigued by the endeavor, even if she hasn't fully processed it or gone on any dates yet.
At the office, she's still reeling from what's happened. As she sits at her desk contemplating the game, Kyeong-nam is concerned when he learns that his client, Hwany, is being moved to a different day. Their webtoon is now being switched to Fridays, which will directly compete with Yun-song's webtoon.
The Director believes it'll bring out the best in both writers, fostering healthy competition. However, Kyeong-nam isn't so sure. For now, he decides not to tell Mi-rae about the change. That's probably for the best since Mi-rae keeps running into Si-woo everywhere.
That night, she donns the headset and decides to indulge in a date with Si-woo. She winds up at a hotel with him, where she poses as a worker and gets embroiled in these clichéd tropes. It's actually quite amusing, especially as she ends up cringing and struggling to engage in the dialogue. She hurriedly removes her ring.
At work, Mi-rae learns about the Hwany switch and confronts the Director about the change. Yun-song is clearly not going to take this news well, but she's currently in a karaoke booth ignoring Mi-rae's calls.
Now, Yun-song is fully aware of the date switch and has decided to simply acquiesce, letting Hwany have the spotlight. However, if Song's ratings dip and Hwany gains traction, it wouldn't reflect well on her, and it would give Kyeong-nam an upper hand too.
Mi-rae sweet-talks Song into competing properly, working together to come up with some compelling story ideas. The thing is, Song is ready to throw in the towel, tired of this mediocre writing she's been churning out and realizing she's been coasting solely because of Si-woo's good looks.
Needing a break from everything, Mi-rae decides to don the headset and get back into the Boyfriend on Demand game. It doesn't take long for her to meet Choi Min-ju, the Chief Secretary assisting Mr. Choi. There's also Mr. Ko, the driver, who isn't afraid to turn things into an action flick by getting into fights with fellow drivers. These characters serve as a reminder of Song's cheesy writing and also show that Min has taken her words to heart, bringing in Song's supporting characters to this experience.
The real main event, however, is Si-woo's date with Mi-rae, which leans into a number of different indulgences—including expensive outfits, drinking champagne on the rooftop, and savoring good food. This then leads nicely to the opening scenes from episode 1, as Mi-rae has an idea for how to revamp the webtoon.
Mi-rae heads over to Song's place and decides they need to "go backward to go forward." In essence, Mi-rae believes Si-woo embodies the very essence of classic romantic fantasy. Song needs to produce more of this sort of content and lean into the tropes, skipping out on cheesy dialogue; going back to basics and leaning into the chaebol fantasy elements to appease readers.
The tension between Kyeong-nam and Mi-rae, now competing professionally, still lingered in real life. They found themselves staying late in the office together. It took some time, but eventually, Song managed to upload her story, and 'The Man to Know' hit the top spot!
The next day, Mi-rae arrived at the office, the talk of the town. She cast a thin smile, shading Kyeong-nam and basking in the applause from her teammates. Ironically, all the online comments and reviews were glowing, pleased with the direction the story was taking.
In her free time, Mi-rae continued her chaebol dating with Si-woo, who even tried to propose to her. However, Mi-rae wanted to keep things casual. In the end, he agreed not to push for engagement... but he did want her to be his girlfriend.
Si-woo leaned in to kiss her, causing Mi-rae to experience a "dopamine explosion," as she called it. In the middle of this, though, the entire experience suddenly froze. It turned out she had already gone over her 50-hour allotment and couldn't continue dating Si-woo anymore.
Mi-rae was shocked when she found out and it spilled over into her real-world persona. She was distracted and certainly not herself at work. When Mr. Min questioned her about her experience with the app, Mi-rae pointed out Si-woo's demeanor.
Min encouraged her to branch out, given that there were 899 other men on the app for her to date and she had only seen a fraction of what was available. Sure, Si-woo had left an impression on her, but hey, it couldn't hurt to get another dopamine hit, right?
Mi-rae jumped into another experience and met her next potential virtual boyfriend...
