Her End

‘Cut!’

The crew burst into hoots and cheers. She sighed heavily. She had heard Kang PD say this line a thousand times in the past four months but this time it sounded different. It sounded final. She lowered her head and bit lower her lip instinctively, trying to stop the tears that she knew were coming. These days she was feeling very tired, and she couldn’t even remember the last time she had a full night’s rest. She would jokingly complain about it once in a while, but deep down, she didn’t really mind. There was a sense of fulfilment after every shoot that she hadn’t felt in a long time. But it’s over, she told herself.

‘Shin Hye-ah,’ he said softly. His voice roused her from deep thought and she was suddenly aware of what’s going on around her. While everyone else was hugging and shaking hands, she had been standing fixedly, staring on the ground. ‘Are you okay?’ He asked. She felt someone squeeze her hand. She shot a quick glance down and she saw that she was still holding on tightly.

‘Oh,’ she exclaimed gently, quickly letting go of his hand. ‘I’m sorry, Oppa. I didn’t… I, uh, I’m okay.’

How embarrassing, she thought. She looked up at him and saw that he was smiling warmly. Min Ho had given her a lot of those smiles in the last four months. She smiled back. I amuse him, that’s all, she told herself.

‘Good to know. It’s finally over, huh?’ He said half-consciously, as more and more people were approaching them, trying to shake hands. She was thinking of something to say when his manager approached and put a jacket around him. ‘Congratulations, kid!’ He said, patting his back. Min Ho laughed and gave him a high five. His manager turned to her. ‘You too, Shin Hye, good job!’

‘Thank you,’ she replied. Min Ho was still looking at her, and she remembered that she still hasn’t said anything to him yet. Really, Shin Hye, you can’t think of something decent to say? She was about to speak when she saw her stylist running in her direction. She was stunned as she felt the full force of her hug. Min Ho and his manager laughed as her stylist began twirling her around. This is even more embarrassing, Shin Hye thought as she saw them walk away, towards Kang PD’s station.

'You were amazing, Shin Hye-ah!’ The stylist exclaimed, squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe.

‘Ergh thanks, eonni, but you’re killing me,’ she replied.

‘Ya! I thought I was going to hug her first?’ Shin Hye’s manager pulled her away from the stylist. ‘I suffered more in this production, you know. I was the one who had to wake her up every day.’

‘As if. You can’t hug her in public or else she will be in a scandal, stupid.’

‘Everybody knows I’m her manager, stupid.’

Shin Hye finally laughed as they both bickered. They were going at it for a