A Pitiful End
Seoul, Gangnam-gu, DSP Entertainment president's office.
Thwack!
A thick stack of scripts flew through the air and smashed into Kim Min-jun's face.
"Agh!"
Min-jun let out a sharp cry as he staggered back. The sharp edge of the paper had scraped his pretty face, leaving a red welt.
"You crazy bastard!"
President Choi Il-seong bellowed, veins bulging in his neck. The office floor was already littered with shattered flowerpots and broken furniture. The phone wouldn't stop ringing—protests from advertisers and drama producers.
"The company's about to go under because of you! You get that?!"
"P-President... calm down..."
"Calm down? You think I can calm down right now?!"
Choi grabbed the pile of documents on his desk and hurled them at Min-jun's face.
"Dropped from the drama! All ads canceled! Even the ones already shot—they're demanding compensation for scrapping them!"
"......!"
"You know how much the penalties are? 30 billion won! What are you, a top star? A rookie just starting out, and you owe 30 billion—how the hell are you gonna pay that?!"
Min-jun's legs shook. Just days ago, he'd been the rising star, the nation's beloved younger man, walking on clouds. Now, straight to rock bottom.
Overwhelmed by injustice, Min-jun cried out, voice breaking.
"You knew, President!"
"What?"
"You knew I was seeing Ji-su! That she was married! You signed the contract knowing all that!"
Min-jun screamed in rage.
"The Ministry of Gender Equality was pushing me, and you loved it! 'Strike while the iron's hot!' you said! And now you're dumping it all on me?!"
It was true. Choi Il-seong had known about the affair. But with the Ministry of Gender Equality as powerful backing, he'd turned a blind eye.
Choi scoffed.
"Ha! Listen up, Kim Min-jun."
He smirked viciously as he approached Min-jun.
"Yeah, I knew about the affair when I signed you. But there was one thing I didn't know."
"......?"
"That her ex-husband was some American hero. No way in hell I saw that coming."
It was the truth. Choi had only known she had an ex; he hadn't dug into who Kim Ji-hoon really was.
Choi poked Min-jun's forehead with his index finger.
"You think I'd have signed you if I knew he was the guy getting medals at the White House, making the Blue House kiss his ass? Huh?"
"......"
"If I'd known, I'd have kicked trash like you to the curb and buried you on the spot, you idiot."
The business world was ruthless. You could spin an affair with some average joe as romance. But with a heavyweight? Suicide.
Choi was a calculator of a businessman. No reason to carry a product that wasn't even breaking even—hell, one that could sink the whole company.
"Contract Article 7: Breach of duty to maintain dignity."
Choi pulled a single sheet from his desk and shoved it into Min-jun's chest.
"You've caused a social uproar and damaged the company's image. Contract terminated immediately."
"P-President...!"
"And triple penalties. We'll sue for all damages too, so get a lawyer. Oh, you got the money?"
Choi scanned Min-jun with contemptuous eyes.
"Go beg that Ji-su chick or whatever. Heard she's broke now too."
"......"
"Get out. Disappear from my sight."
Choi turned away without a backward glance.
Min-jun collapsed to the floor. The termination notice trembled in his hand.
It was over.
The bright lights, cheering fans, guaranteed future—all vanished like a mirage.
All that remained: an unbearable mountain of debt and the hideous label of "nation's adulterer."
"This... has to be a dream..."
Min-jun clutched his head and wailed.
But what awaited him was a reality harsher than any nightmare.
Outside the office, reporters were already setting up cameras, waiting like hyenas ready to tear him apart.
The government and National Assembly sprang into action at breakneck speed. They'd prepared everything before the press conference even ended.
The moment Kim Ji-hoon's conference wrapped, it wasn't the Blue House spokesperson—it was the president himself stepping before the cameras.
An unprecedented address to the nation.
The president bowed deeply.
Then came the bombshell that rocked Korean society.
Feminist backlash? No time to care.
The National Police Agency was on fire too. The whole nation had heard the humiliating chants: useless riot cops, female officers, cronyism.
The police chief drew his sword in an emergency briefing.
Kim Min-ji, the patrol officer enjoying Jeju's blue nights at a restaurant line, got hit with a thunderbolt: immediate recall.
At the airport, waiting for her: the inspection team with an arrest warrant.
She and Park Detective were instantly hauled to disciplinary committee.
The result was obvious.
[Dismissal]
The harshest disciplinary action a public servant could face. Loss of pension, ban from public office for 5 years—a social death sentence.
They weren't cops anymore. Just ordinary suspects under investigation, sitting in interrogation rooms. Their crony chief got off light.
The judiciary's response was more complex.
Choi Hyun-jin, the judge. Her position was ironclad under the constitution and law. No impeachment or prison sentence meant no dismissal.
But the Supreme Court disciplinary committee hit her with the heaviest penalty they could.
[Suspension for 1 Year]
No dismissal, but she wasn't unscathed. Suspended, she now faced the defendant's bench.
Victims of her past unjust rulings were gearing up for class actions after Ji-hoon's exposé, and prosecutors were sharpening their knives for abuse of power.
And above all, the legal world was grinding its teeth at the police—especially Park Detective and ex-officer Kim Min-ji.
"Cops daring to...?"
That was the judges' honest sentiment.
Two street cops ignoring the constitutional right to counsel had dragged the judiciary's authority down with them.
The courts were lying in wait.
'Just get indicted and come to us.'
Criminal Act Article 123: Obstruction of Rights in Exercise of Official Duties.
This was criminal trial territory.
Judges planned to slam them with the maximum sentence allowed—showing cops what happens when they invade the judiciary's domain.
It wouldn't end with losing their jobs. They'd learn the terror of the law they ignored, rotting in a cold cell.
Inside the cafe.
Ji-su stared blankly at her boyfriend across the table. His face drowned in despair. Eyes half-lost, like his soul had fled.
Just days ago, he'd shone brilliantly on TV dramas and ads.
Now, that light had turned pitch black.
"......So."
Ji-su summarized coldly.
"Your agency fired you, and now you're getting sued for 30 billion in penalties?"
"...Yeah, Ji-su. What do we do?"
Min-jun's voice quivered thinly. At just mid-20s, a total newbie to real life, 30 billion in overnight debt was crushing.
His mind was pulverized to dust—sublimated even.
He shot her a desperate, saving-grace look.
But.
Ji-su leaned back against the chair, straightening her posture.
A body language signal: pulling away.
"...So? What're you gonna do?"
To her dry question, Min-jun grasped at straws.
"...What if we get married and pay it off together?"
"......"
"Honestly... you're not blameless. I did everything you wanted, and now this..."
"Hey."
Ji-su cut him off like a knife.
"We're done."
"...What?"
Min-jun doubted his ears. Absurdity sealed his mouth.
"What're you saying? You wanted marriage! Said you loved me!"
Ji-su scoffed at him, incredulous.
"Are you nuts?"
"......"
"30 billion? Teaming up to pay that is straight thief mentality."
Her eyes turned ice cold.
"I got sued by my ex because of you, life ruined—and now you want me slaving in debt for you too? Am I crazy?"
"Ji-su... what're you..."
"Don't contact me again. I'm blocking you."
With that, Ji-su stood without a shred of lingering attachment and left the cafe.
Min-jun sat alone. He stared blankly at the closing door, then burst into hollow laughter.
"Heh... heheheh..."
Unbelievable.
"Begging me not to leave when I wanted out... and the second I'm down, she bolts."
Irony at its finest.
Back then, when he'd struggled to escape her, she'd threatened rape charges, blacklisting—chaining him by force.
That tenacious bond snapped the instant money vanished and debt appeared, tossed like a rag.
In a country where a man's business failure justified divorce. Men reveal true colors in success; women in ruin.
Harsh reality.
"Hahaha... ahahahaha!"
Min-jun laughed like a madman.
Months of dreamlike life. Swelling hopes of stardom.
All gone like a mirage.
Oddly, though his psyche was shredded, his heart felt relieved.
'At least... no rape threats hanging over me.'
Freedom from that suffocating grip alone brought liberation.
Then, a fleeting thought.
Min-jun muttered to himself.
"Man... that Kim Ji-hoon guy..."
Ji-hoon had kept his promise to Min-jun.
"Do what I say, and I won't sue you for adultery."
Back then, relief. No millions in alimony—lucky.
"Glad I dodged the lawsuit... but was this his way of screwing me over?"
The mental torment from Ji-su was bonus.
Coincidence, maybe.
But if this was all Ji-hoon's calculated buildup?
Chills ran down Min-jun's spine.
In truth, Ji-hoon had no such plan.
Thus, Min-jun escaped the clutches he'd once dreamed of fleeing.
Though his life lay in ruins, doomed to debtor's hell forever.
For wrecking a family, it was an excessively brutal, pitiful end.