[Director K accused of sexual harassment of a female colleague… Victimized female director in hiding…]
“What the heck… is this?”
Jun-seong’s eyes went wide as he stared at the article.
“What kind of lunatics— Now they’re pulling this? Does this even make sense? Back in school, you spent all your time lugging a camera around. You never did anything like that.”
“They’re attacking the messenger because they have nothing to criticize in the message. It’s a classic cheap shot.”
I never imagined they’d stoop to something this vile.
And it didn’t stop there.
[Behind the Scenes of A Country Girl Comes to the City!: Interview with The Film H President Baek Jin-cheol.]
They were not only coming after me, but also going after their own director, Kim Eun-ha, presumably to bury her as well.
The interview followed the same pattern they’d used on me.
They claimed she hardly showed up on set, causing massive delays and inflating the budget, and then did nothing when she actually did appear. Completely ridiculous.
It’s impossible for a rookie director—especially one who’s only twenty-six—to just sit around on set and do nothing. But facts clearly weren’t the focus. They just needed a target to slander.
“They’re even going after Kim Eun-ha in another interview? Baek Jin-cheol… That guy’s a lost cause.”
Sighing heavily, Jun-seong clutched his chest in frustration.
Currently, Night had drawn 1.25 million viewers, still a long way from 2.5 million.
Suddenly, a worrying thought crossed my mind: rumors like these tend to morph into something twisted… Wait.
“Hey, the fan café! Check it right now!”
Startled, Jun-seong rushed to boot up the computer.
[Director K—is that really Gyeong Chan-hyeon? And the female director is Kim Eun-ha?]
┗“He acted all high and mighty, but I knew it. The ones who spout lofty ideals are always the worst.”
┗“That so-called heartwarming story someone shared about him is probably fake, too.”
┗“Ugh, poor Kim Eun-ha. Her movie flopped, and her life is over.”
┗“Did you read The Film H president’s interview? She’s messed up, too.”
So it was true.
Baek Jin-cheol was using false allegations about me to drag both me and Kim Eun-ha down at the same time. He’d first run a story implicating me, then followed it with a “poor victim” angle for Kim Eun-ha.
“This is insane… It’s total BS. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They’re just trashy rumors. It’s only too bad our fan café’s membership dropped.”
After topping ten thousand, the membership count had fallen to five thousand, and the posts were now brimming with insults directed at me.
Beep-beep—beep-beep.
A phone call at a time like this… I let out a sigh.
Just like before.
But this time, I wouldn’t avoid it. Things were different now.
“Hello?”
—“Is this Gyeong Chan-hyeon?”
“Yes. Who’s calling?”
—“You piece of trash. You can’t live like this. Sexual—”
“Shut it, you ####### ****. You want me to #### your #### with a ####?”
—“Y-you psycho…”
Click.
He hung up the moment I unleashed a famous expletive-laden line I’d learned from a certain actor known for foul language.
I never expected to use it, but it came in handy.
“Wha—what was that? Where’d you learn to swear like that?”
“In a movie.”
“What kind of movie has lines like that?”
“You don’t need to know. It’s restricted to adults.”
“Thank goodness. My friend’s a total psycho.”
Despite being just as concerned, I wasn’t about to let myself be pushed out of the film industry like in my previous life. After all, I hadn’t even used my trump card yet.
“For now, let’s focus on Kim Eun-ha.”
Meanwhile, Baek Jin-cheol watched TV with a satisfied grin.
All anyone on the entertainment news could talk about was the scandalous rumor mill, day in and day out.
“No one’s talking about how well Night is doing anymore—that’s great, huh? Don’t you agree?”
“Absolutely, sir. Phew, I might finally sleep well tonight. They’re in big trouble now.”
“We thought we could wrap this up quickly since they’re just a rookie production, but it’s been dragging on a bit, sir.”
Night’s total admissions currently sat at 1.25 million—a colossal success already, the highest in Korean film history at this point.
In contrast, A Country Girl Comes to the City! had barely scraped past 100,000.
It was always meant to fail, anyway.
From the start, the goal wasn’t really success. It was about money laundering for investors and embezzling funds for The Film H. Baek Jin-cheol planned to use that cash to finance other films.
If not for that “stinking” Night, they’d have done better; other companies would’ve come knocking…
“Sir, we keep getting calls from Director Kim Eun-ha…”
“Ignore them. Tell her if she wants a penny of profit, she’d better keep her mouth shut. If she so much as opens it, she and her family can start saying goodbye to their organs.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Alright, so what’s our goal now? Land the next contract. With the fees we collect, we’ll really make a hit. Got it? Bring me a good director and a solid script.”
Jun-seong managed to track down Kim Eun-ha’s contact info, but no matter how many times he called, she never picked up.
She was probably in the same headspace I once was—swamped by helplessness, betrayal, and despair, with no room for anything else.
“Should we go to her place? Someone said she still lives near our college…”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“What if she doesn’t even open the door?”
“I’ll find a way to talk to her. Don’t worry.”
“Fine. We’ll tackle this head-on.”
We boarded a bus bound for the area near our school.
“You do know what Kim Eun-ha’s personality is like, right?”
“Not really.”
Jun-seong slapped his forehead.
“You don’t know?”
“What’s it like?”
“Ugh… why am I even bothering with you…”
Huh?
In my past life, I’d rarely spoken to Kim Eun-ha. We were just “classmates” in name only, barely saying hello now and then.
“You’ve never heard of the ‘Mad Dog of Korea Arts University’?”
“Uh… That was her?”
The “Mad Dog of K-Arts.”
A legendary figure who’d butt heads with anyone—senior students or professors—whenever she disagreed. But I’d always assumed that person was from a different graduating class. I’d only heard rumors and didn’t pay much attention. I’d been too busy struggling to survive to care about what others were doing.
“For heaven’s sake! Even if you don’t care about campus gossip, how could you not know who the ‘Mad Dog’ is?”
“Actually, this might be good.”
“What? Good?”
“She must be really angry right now, right?”
“Probably, but… the Mad Dog can’t tell if you’re friend or foe. She might see us as enemies.”
He clutched his head and groaned.
“She’s not some wild animal. Why would she see us as enemies? Anyway, having a ‘crazy’ person on your side is as reliable as it gets.”
“Can’t say you’re wrong…”
We kept bickering until we arrived at Kim Eun-ha’s rooftop studio apartment.
The view was stunning—rows of rooftops and even a glimpse of the school. Just sitting there, taking in the scenery, could occupy your whole day.
But the piles of cigarette butts scattered around said a lot about how she was feeling.
“You knock.”
“What about you?”
“I’m the one who suggested coming here in the first place.”
“Scared?”
“No way.”
Standing back from the door, he motioned me forward.
“Tch. Such a tough guy.”
Knock, knock.
“Hello? Kim Eun-ha?”
“Tell her you’re a classmate. She probably knows your name.”
“I doubt it. I’ve barely spoken to—”
Before I could finish, a voice came from inside.
“Go away.”
All I could see was a pair of eyes peering through a small gap in the window.
“We just want to talk. Could you let us in?”
“I said go away. I know who you guys are.”
“Don’t you want to fix this situation? You haven’t done anything wrong; you just didn’t have money, right?”
Her eyes grew even angrier at that remark.
“I said leave. Are you deaf, or what?”
No trace of the rumored “Mad Dog.”
All I could see was the old me, full of hurt, hiding behind a prickly exterior.
“Just talk to me for a minute. I’ll wait out here. Pretend I’m not even here. If you want to call the cops, go ahead. If we both can’t make another film anyway, then we’re screwed just the same.”
SLAM!
She slammed the window shut. Jun-seong let out a long sigh.
“You seriously gonna wait?”
“Yep.”
I could only hope she was someone like me. Back in my previous life, after that ordeal, I lashed out at everyone like a hedgehog bristling with spikes, but inside I was praying for someone—anyone—to come and save me.
Sometimes simply waiting outside, saying nothing, can be a lifeline.
“Well, at least the view’s nice. I could kill a whole day like this.”
“Aren’t we here to fix things, not go on a spiritual retreat?”
“Sometimes time is the best medicine. Let’s just wait.”
I glanced around.
Smoke was continuously rising from her bathroom vent, as if she were chain-smoking in there. The pungent smell never let up.
“All these butts…”
“Isn’t that the strongest brand?”
“Let’s buy some for her.”
“What?”
“A bribe, dude. If she’s smoking nonstop, she’ll run out. Then she’ll have to come out eventually.”
Looking at the mountain of cigarette butts, he sighed dramatically. Then he called out loud enough for her to hear:
“I don’t get why people smoke all day when it’s so bad for you.”
“Sometimes adults have their reasons.”
“Please, I gave it up after military service. You quit, too, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did.”
I had, until my previous life went south thanks to The Film H. After that, I spent years chain-smoking. That’s why I understood how she might feel right now.
“So does that mean we’ve turned over a new leaf, no ‘adult reasons’ anymore?”
“Shut up and come on. Let’s go buy some smokes.”
“Can’t you humor a joke once in a while? You’re no fun.”
We went to a nearby store and quickly returned with a carton of cigarettes.
Knock, knock.
I rapped on the door again. This time, she cracked the window open just slightly.
“I told you to go away.”
“If you run out, let us know. And cut down on how many you smoke, or you’ll ruin your lungs.”
“Mind your own damn business.”
“Pity. Don’t you have a full-length film to make? With talent like yours, seems a waste to just give up.”
“Mind your own damn business!”
SLAM!
“She’s relentless.”
Jun-seong shuddered at the venom in her eyes, as though she wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
“Those weren’t human eyes. Ugh.”
Click.
Creeeeak…
“Hand over the cigarettes.”
She stepped out, a cig already in her mouth. Her hair was greasy, like she hadn’t washed it for days, and she wore the same dirty clothes—baggy pants and an old shirt.
“Here.”
I handed them over. She looked at me as if I were from another planet, then perched on a table outside her rooftop door and lit up.
“So, what is it you think you know? I overheard something when you were talking, so spill.”
“Curious?”
“People keep calling me a bitch. Strangers I’ve never even met. And that asshole president…”
She trailed off, seeming to choke the rest of her words back.
“Screw it. I’m no use to you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t do anything.”
“Did Baek Jin-cheol threaten your family? Said he’d harvest their organs?”
At those words, the cigarette fell limply from her hand.
“…Who are you?”
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