By Zephyria 
“I couldn’t tell A-reum, but I was actually sexually harassed by that person many times. Under the pretext of reviewing my screenplay, he would call me in separately and ask about the content of the film. We drank alcohol a few times and then…”
“Senior.”
Though Park Hae-jun signaled that she could stop speaking, Yu Min-ju shook her head vigorously. She poured out stories she had been hiding, like someone who had been waiting for this moment.
Yu Min-ju had met with Professor Seok outside, on the promise that he would review her screenplay. Several of these meetings led to drinking sessions. Professor Seok sexually harassed Yu Min-ju when she was drunk and stole detailed elements from her unfinished screenplay.
“I couldn’t fight back. All that remained between Professor Seok and me were the messages I sent. Professor Seok cleverly made me ask to meet him, beg to meet, and ask when we could see each other again. All those messages remained as evidence. I, I felt so foolish and I hated myself so much…”
Tears fell from Yu Min-ju’s eyes. Park Hae-jun placed his hand on his forehead and bowed his head. His heart ached. How many more people like this could there be? Could it be that victims’ tears of blood were pooled in every footprint Professor Seok left behind?
“Senior. What can I do for you?”
“Win.” Yu Min-ju spoke in a clear voice for the first time, “Please win and crush Professor Seok.”
“That’s…”
Park Hae-jun bit his lip. What he had been promised by Woomyung was only to get his screenplay back.
“Professor Seok told me. Don’t dare to fight him. He said there was someone like me before, but they eventually attempted suicide. He said if I didn’t want to end up like that, I should keep quiet.”
“…”
“That person will continue to live like that. He’ll keep creating victims like us while being called the father of Korean cinema. Please Stop him.”
Yu Min-ju grabbed Park Hae-jun’s hand with trembling fingers. Her hand was covered in tears. Park Hae-jun could neither hold her hand nor push it away.
His heart felt heavy.
∞ ∞ ∞
Lee A-gon got the part in the audition. The filming was two days later.
On the day of shooting, Lee A-gon’s face turned pale like a corpse. Park Hae-jun pretended not to notice. Since that power outage incident, Park Hae-jun had been ignoring Lee A-gon.
“Hyung, I have filming today.”
Lee A-gon approached nervously, whimpering like a puppy as if he had something to say.
“I know.”
Park Hae-jun replied indifferently while sweeping the floor. Despite cleaning every day since that incident, glass shards and broken wood pieces still kept appearing from somewhere.
“Hyung.” Lee A-gon’s face crumpled.
Park Hae-jun sighed and straightened his back.
“Do well. Fighting.”
He started to place his hand on Lee A-gon’s shoulder but withdrew it. Park Hae-jun now felt reluctant even to touch Lee A-gon.
Seeing this, Lee A-gon’s face filled with fear. “I did wrong.”
“What?”
“I, I did wrong. I’m sorry, hyung.”
Lee A-gon blocked Park Hae-jun’s path. His eyes were already brimming with tears.
“Haah,” Park Hae-jun let out another deep sigh. “So what exactly did you do wrong?”
“Not finding the lighter. Leaving you in the dark.”
“I already said that was okay.”
“No. You’re trying to abandon me now, aren’t you? You’ve come to dislike me, haven’t you?”
He suddenly knelt before Park Hae-jun. When Park Hae-jun stepped back, Lee A-gon also moved forward on his knees and clung to him.
“Lee A-gon.”
“Don’t abandon me. Please don’t break up with me.”
Lee A-gon begged Park Hae-jun, clinging to him and shedding tears like pearls. Pleading not to break up, not to abandon him, he rubbed his tear-soaked cheek against Park Hae-jun’s pants. Park Hae-jun was so perplexed he didn’t know what to say.
“I did wrong. Next time I’ll find everything you ask for. I’m reflecting on my actions. Please forgive me.”
“Lee A-gon. I told you it’s not like that. Let go of this.”
“No. If I let go, you’ll abandon me.”
He looked up at Park Hae-jun with large eyes swimming with tears. Then, with his hands pressed together as if in prayer, he repeated the same words endlessly.
“Don’t abandon me. Don’t say we should break up. I did wrong. I don’t want to break up…”
It was as if he knew something.
When this filming ended, the contract between Woomyung and Park Hae-jun would also end. Park Hae-jun would part ways with Lee A-gon, Woomyung would return the screenplay to him, and he planned to return to school. Lee A-gon had no place in his plans after that.
Looking at Lee A-gon clinging to him and crying not to abandon him, Park Hae-jun felt complicated emotions. For the first time, he felt pangs of conscience. Kisses and sex were just extensions of work for Park Hae-jun. In the process, he had unwittingly received Lee A-gon’s heart, which he had never wanted.
Unconsciously, Park Hae-jun started to place his hand on Lee A-gon’s head but withdrew it. He thought he should now keep his distance. Seeing this, Lee A-gon cried even more sorrowfully, with a shocked expression. His broad shoulders shook roughly.
“Hyung. Hyung.”
He clung to Park Hae-jun, calling his name as if he knew no other words. He had cried so much that Park Hae-jun’s pants were soaked. At that pitiful sight, Park Hae-jun also felt tears welling up. He stared into space and swallowed his tears.
“Stop and let go. You need to go to the filming location.”
“I won’t go. I won’t.”
“Lee A-gon.”
“I want to stay with you. I won’t leave you.”
“Lee A-gon.”
“Somehow… somehow I feel like I shouldn’t leave you right now.”
Tears gathered at the edge of his chin fell without stopping. His hands gripping Park Hae-jun’s legs tightened. As when he was young, Lee A-gon was quick to sense things. He noticed something had changed within Park Hae-jun and was anxious about it. Without even knowing the nature of this anxiety, he was trying somehow to hold onto Park Hae-jun.
“I don’t want to be apart from you, hyung. I won’t separate from you.”
Ding-dong.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. It was his driver coming to pick him up. Park Hae-jun tried to shake off Lee A-gon by putting strength in his legs, but the more he tried, the more tenaciously Lee A-gon clung to him, shaking his head. There was a sense of absolute determination not to let go.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Park Hae-jun looked toward the entrance. As he shook his leg once more, Lee A-gon moaned and clung to him desperately.
“Haah, damn.” Park Hae-jun sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands. He didn’t have the strength to shake off Lee A-gonany further. Making Lee A-gon cry was as heartbreaking as making a puppy cry.
“Alright. Let’s go together.”
Finally, he extended his hand to Lee A-gon. Lee A-gon lifted his wet face to look up at Park Hae-jun.
“So stop crying and get up, okay?”
“Will you stay with me?”
“Yes.”
Another deep sigh escaped. Park Hae-jun grabbed Lee A-gon’s hand and pulled. Only then did Lee A-gon rise to his feet.
“You won’t cry anymore, right?”
Lee A-gon nodded, but tears were still flowing from his eyes.
“Tsk,” Park Hae-jun clicked his tongue and wiped around Lee A-gon’s eyes.
“Let’s go to the filming location together.”
Perhaps today could be the last day with Lee A-gon. Since Park Hae-jun also didn’t want to spend their last time together like this, he decided to go to the filming location with him.
The director of “Every End of the World” was a tired-looking woman in her thirties, and as soon as she saw Lee A-gon, she said in an accusatory tone, “I really don’t like you.”
Park Hae-jun, who was about to bow and say hello, froze.
Regardless, the director continued in an irritated voice, “As I said during the audition, this role was originally supposed to be played by another actor. I have no reason to like someone who got in by forcing out someone else’s actor. Don’t you agree?”
“……”
“I don’t like the audition, but I can’t drop you as I please. And it’s not like your appearance perfectly matches the role either. Lee A-gon. Would you consider leaving on your own, even now? If you did that, I would be really grateful to you. Won’t you help me out?”
“……”
Park Hae-jun quickly looked at Lee A-gon. He was quietly listening to the director with his head bowed.
“Well. I knew you wouldn’t leave easily. If you had that much decency, you wouldn’t have thought of parachuting in in the first place. Don’t ruin my set. If I don’t like what I see, I’ll cut you immediately, regardless of what the production company says.”
After thoroughly mocking him, the director disappeared.
Park Hae-jun cautiously asked Lee A-gon, “Are you okay?”
“About what?”
“What do you mean ‘about what’? About what the director just said.”
Lee A-gon belatedly went “Ah” and then shook his head.
“I’m fine. The director has disliked me since the audition. As she said, I’m a parachute hire.”
“Hey, even so…”
There were no words of comfort. Park Hae-jun also understood well what this meant from the director’s perspective. But casting changes due to producer influence were common.