SPOILERS FOR K. WILL’S NEW SONG

If you’ve been into kpop for as long as I have (since 2013) then you know of the two biggest plot twists. There is the ending of One Shot by B.A.P and then there is the ending of Please Don’t by K.Will.

I remember none of us saw that coming, like at all! For both plots but more so for Please Don’t. I remember watching the mv confused about the hype then getting to the ending and Inguk crying over the picture and then joining it together and being shook! SHOOK!

Comphet ey, it gets everyone.

It was amazing! It was groundbreaking! Especially for Korean music videos at the time.

The song was also good too, like Please Don’t is such a beautiful song. A ballad that even I, a ballad hater, would be put on.

I never thought of a sequel to the plot of the mv I’ll admit. I was satisfied with the ending. I mean his crush got married, to his friend and all, what could he do? So I was surprised when they announced they were going to do a sequel with the same actors, more than ten years later.

I saw people getting excited thinking it was going to be happy and I was so confused. Did we all watch the same mv? Please Don’t ended sadly, it would take a big plot twist or Dasom dying for there to be a happy ending.

In my head I saw Inguk and Jaehyun and Dasom growing further apart as the couple lived their married life and Inguk tried to move on. Call me cynical but I just did not think the sequel would be happy in any way.

Having said that, I did not foresee that K.Will would go full angst! That he slam his foot down on the gas pedal!

Then again, I don’t know if it is him who decides the plot of the mv. So whoever is in charge of that, I did not expect you to go so hard!

However, when I saw the butterfly I knew where the story was going, and it was just a matter of guessing who. Bleach has scarred me man.

Who did you think would die?

For most of the mv I thought it would be Inguk because of course he can’t catch a break. Then we got to the scene where Inguk is thinking about kissing him and I was like huh? How would Jaehyun know that happened if his eyes were closed? Hmm… maybe I got it wrong, it’s Inguk who lives and Jaehyun who dies.

Because I thought whoever lived we were watching their POV.

Then we got to the ending and I was like ah… so it was Inguk who died.

Is that a bad omen? I’ve always wondered this, are there actors who don’t want to play dead characters because it could be seen as a bad omen? Like how in V.B. Rose they believe it’s a bad omen for an unmarried woman to wear a wedding dress even if she’s a designer.

Anyway, he died and I was like oh that’s sad. He confessed, sort of, before dying and then died of unknown reasons. He was quite young too. And Jaehyun is left behind filled with regret.

Then watching the mv again I noticed more details. The watch Inguk wears at the beginning is broken. He doesn’t actually interact with any other characters and they don’t with him either. Whereas Jaehyun is fully immersed in that environment. We see him in the background conversing with people and all that.

Then the scenes in the middle. At first I was confused thinking it was after the funeral, watching it again, knowing the ending, I can see it is a flashback. Inguk probably missed Jaehyun and came to check in on him and found that homeboy was divorced or separated from Dasom. Then he got happy and they spent the day together, just the day. Then he confessed.

In the original confession I think Jaehyun froze and Inguk walked off and they never spoke again and Inguk died. Thus, Jaehyun is filled with regret. Then at the end he sees Inguk’s ghost leaving.

Then the watch, Jaehyun is wearing the watch but it is not broken. It’s the same watch but it doesn’t have the crack in the screen. So, I guess the watch as well as the butterfly were foreshadowing.

With the way the mv is framed it is still centred on Inguk being in love. Jaehyun’s feelings seem to be regret and guilt. I still don’t think he liked him romantically so even if Inguk lived he would not have gotten what he wanted. At least he’d be alive though.

Even though I expected it to be sad I am disappointed that they went with the ‘bury your gays’ plot. I honestly just thought Inguk would confess and be rejected and that would be the end of the mv. That is where I was too optimistic.

I also thought Dasom would be in the plot. I love my girl, where was she?!

Having said that, the mv made me think perhaps this mv is the most realistic for South Korea right now. I know that there are LGBT people in Korea and they’re doing a good job advocating for their rights and they have pride marches (even though last year’s one was cancelled). They’re out there.

However, it is illegal for men in the military to have sex with other men EVEN when they are on holiday. Like it is a crime. You will be jailed. Whereas heterosexual men have sex… as much as they want.

Ok, I don’t know if it’s as much as they want but there is no law against it. (correct me if I’m wrong).

There was also a Tik Tok creator who was talking about the fact that they’ve attended funerals of their friends who have committed su*c*d* because of they were a part of the LGBT community and faced the struggle that comes with an unaccepting society.

It is not illegal to be gay in South Korea but they don’t have good laws in place to protect them from discrimination. In some ways it is taboo and they have a lot of push back from the religious folks.

Side bar: There was a trot singer that came out, Kwon Do Woon, but I haven’t heard from him since then. I did hear he took a hiatus shortly after coming out but like I just looked him to fact check myself and I can find nothing recent. I hope he’s good.

There are people like Holland and Hong Seok Cheon but they have faced hardship. Holland was even going to become an idol but he was told he would have to be in the closet as an idol so he decided to be independent.

Mr Hong was a host, a reporter and an actor but then he came out in 2000 and he was fired and blacklisted. He talked about that period of his life on Jessi’s Showterview. It was after coming out and being shunned that he became a chef and managed to claw his way back up.

He worked hard. They both worked hard but there is still a lot of work to be done for LGBT rights in South Korea. Thus, I think the music video is a reflection of that.

K. Will does write angst songs, yes, but I swear he has done upbeat songs too! They didn’t even have the almost kiss in the proper mv! It was in the teaser. Did you know if there is a kiss between a same sex couple the rating of the mv in Korea goes up to 19? That is the equivalent of a rated R or 18. Just an innocent kiss gets that rating. At least, when Holland made his first mv it was that way, I’m not sure if it changed.

So, the mv was a depressing reminder of what society is like at the moment. It is hard out there for same sex couples. They go through hardships heterosexual couples never have to think about. Imagine thinking twice about holding hands or putting an arm around someone, fearing that they’ll jump you.

There are probably LGBT idols even but they can’t come out because it would tank their career. There is such a long way to go!

The mv really had me reflecting. I watched it, enjoyed the reactions on TT (omd one she was genuinely upset I felt bad, she did a whole reaction and then was silent after the ending!) and then I just sat in my bed like hmmm… well.