Overview
Harold Kim is the retrospective narrator of A Cancellation. He identifies himself late in the story as an acting-class participant who meets Nam Hae-jin while Amanda Bannington is being pushed through acting lessons for a Netflix role.
Harold presents himself as secondary to the events he narrates, but his position gives the novel its later frame. He dates Hae-jin, appears publicly with her at a Bannington family gathering, helps her with rent, and assists with the production of her post-Amanda channel HeyHiHaejin.
Role
Harold first notices Hae-jin through the acting-class glass and later asks her to read with him when his scene partner is absent. He is embarrassed by his limited Korean and speaks English to her. Hae-jin later enrolls in the class period partly to spend time with him, and he becomes her boyfriend during the period when Amanda increasingly depends on Hae-jin.
After Amanda’s collapse, Harold works with Hae-jin in an emptied North Hollywood warehouse while she makes a ten-part true-crime series. He operates the camera, helps shoot the series, and argues with Hae-jin when she stretches facts beyond what the legal notes support.
Harold breaks up with Hae-jin at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, choosing a public place with witnesses. He then decides to write a new account of Amanda’s story, framing the novel as a corrective to the profitable and distorted versions of the same events.