Nobody Knows: Episode 3

by Sunny

They say history repeats itself and once again Young-jin is faced with the life of the person she cares for most hanging in the balance. However, unlike 19 years ago, it may not be too late and with help from some unlikely sources, Young-jin tackles her pain the only way she knows how – by finding whoever is responsible.

  
EPISODE 3: “Call From Eun-ho”

We rewind to 23 hours before jumps from the top of the building, when he’d visited Young-in. She’s preoccupied with the stigmata serial killer case and Eun-ho leaves without telling her what’s troubling him. Instead, he goes to her apartment to retrieve the shoebox of money he’d hidden there, zipping it into a duffel bag. By daylight he’s arrived at the school and Sun-woo spots him on his way into work.

After working for a while, Sun-woo starts to wonder if Eun-ho’s had breakfast and grabs a drink from the vending machine. He hears a loud noise on his way up to the classroom, but it’s conspicuously empty and Eun-ho’s bags aren’t there. Thinking of the noise, he heads to the roof and finds Dong-myeong taking the shoe box from Eun-ho and placing it in his own bag. Sun-woo sighs and approaches the boys.

Dong-myeong tries to ignore him, but Sun-woo insists he has an obligation to investigate what two students are doing on the roof before school. Before Dong-myeong can argue, Eun-ho blurts out that the box has sneakers he gave to Dong-myeong because he doesn’t like them. He tells Dong-myeong to show Sun-woo and he flips the box open. Sun-woo still looks suspicious but lets Dong-myeong go.

Sun-woo tells Eun-ho that he needs to be honest for Sun-woo to help. Eun-ho tells a half-truth that his mother’s boyfriend gave him the shoes. Not wanting to keep them, but unable to throw them away, he’d given the shoes to Dong-myeong. Sun-woo accepts the answer and releases Eun-ho as well. Meanwhile, Young-jin gives her report on Seo Sang-won to Detective Han and is told to retrieve her bloodied jacket for evidence.

Back at school, Min-sung tells Eun-ho to meet him after school with a suspicious smirk. Sun-woo returns to the room and although he notes Eun-ho’s sullen expression, he’s forced to dismiss the class without answers. After school, Min-sung’s driver, Choi Dae-hoon, makes good on his promise to Min-sung to teach Eun-ho a lesson. His face bleeding, Eun-ho says he’d given Min-sung a chance to confess to cheating because they’re friends but Dae-hoon spits that a friend would’ve stayed quiet and vows to teach him the meaning of friendship.

Picking up her jacket from home, Young-jin pauses at the door to her personal stigmata serial killer HQ and recalls Eun-ho’s promise to help her clean it now that Seo Sang-won is dead. Inside, she places a photo of ninth victim, Im Hee-jung, on the adjacent wall. Seo Sang-won had marked his victims for resurrection but said Soo-jung was unworthy. Young-jin wonders about the differences between the final two victims.

Her phone rings and Young-jin answers a call from Eun-ho… but there’s no response and it disconnects. She calls back and gets an unavailable signal but thinks nothing of it. Rookie Jae-hong calls to inform her the New Life Church had sent Seo Sang-won’s Revival Team’s national tour schedule. Young-jin rushes to meet him, locking her murder room behind her while an unconscious Eun-ho is driven away in Dae-hoon’s car.

Jae-hong hands Young-jin the list as soon as she arrives, explaining the tour lasted between 1998 and 2000. There were 64 revivals and the dates of the first 8 victims coincide. The higher ups want the case wrapped and Byung-hee snorts that they can do it in half that. Young-jin snaps that they still need to figure out what Seo Sang-won meant about punishing Im Hee-jung despite marking her for resurrection. Byung-hee waves it off as the actions of a madman but Jin-su pipes up that there’s a suspicious amount of calls between the victim and Chairman Yoon Hee-seob (of the Shinsung foundation and Eun-ho’s school).

In his office, Hee-seob tells Sun-woo that the church is in chaos after the break in the stigmata serial murder case. Sun-woo recalls that Seo Sang-won had been a kind man that adored the children and offered them gifts, chilled the same man brutally murdered all those women. Hee-seob informs him that Seo Sang-won also murdered Im Hee-jung and is cooperating with the police in exchange for keeping her identity out of the media.

Hee-seob adds that he’ll likely be called to testify as a formality. Sun-woo grumbles that Hee-seob never agreed with Im Hee-jung directing the foundation, but his father had insisted. Hee-seob waves it off, having only brought it up to keep Sun-woo in the loop. He warns that there will be a lot of talk and tells Sun-woo to stay out of trouble.

While looking into Hee-seob, Young-jin finds a picture with Eun-ho and finally remembers the weird phoen call from earlier. She calls him back, but Eun-ho is leaning over the ledge atop a building and doesn’t answer. Young-jin leaves a message, urging him to call her whenever he gets it. Alas, Eun-ho goes over and lands on a car below.

The building turns out to be the Millennium Hotel and a concierge inside rushes out after hearing the crash. He frantically calls an ambulance while someone else makes an announcement for Eun-ho’s guardian to report to the front desk. Sang-ho (the head of the New Life Foundation who visited Eun-ho’s school the day before) rushes downstairs just as they’re loading him into an ambulance

Sang-ho confirms that Eun-ho’s alive and jumps into the ambulance, barking at the men to hurry. Someone asks who he is and Sang-ho’s assistant explains he owns the hotel. Meanwhile, someone at the school rushes to call Eun-ho’s emergency contact. Eun-ho’s mother is drinking with her boyfriend and turns off her phone when it rings. The school calls Eun-woo instead, and he shakily asks if Eun-ho is alive.

Arriving at the hospital, Eun-ho is wheeled in, followed by Sang-ho explaining the fall broken by the car to the surgeon. The doctor sighs that he’ll do his best when asked if Eun-ho will survive and Sang-ho implores him to do better than his best. Sang-ho’s assistant runs in and informs him the police are handling the situation at the hotel. Eun-ho’s mother isn’t answering her phone, but the teacher is on his way.

Sang-ho is surprised to learn Sun-woo is Eun-ho’s teacher when he bursts into the waiting room. Sun-woo frantically asks about Eun-ho and Sang-ho grimly says the car beneath Eun-ho was completely crushed. Meanwhile, Superintendent Hwang finds Young-jin busily studying the video sent from Seo Sang-ho’s phone on the day he died. She can’t understand how Seo Sang-won got her business card or why there were no prints despite sending her the video.

Over dinner, Young-jin admits she’s bothered by the fact Seo Sang-won marked Im Hee-jung for resurrection despite claiming to “punish” her… and yet he’d called Soo-jung unqualified. Superintendent Hwang points out only Seo Sang-won knows the answers and they’re interrupted by Young-jin’s fangirl, Officer Ja-young. She admits she overheard everything and asks to join them. She clarifies that Young-jin was friends with Soo-jung, and the one who actually received the killer’s call – furthermore, lied about his message.

Ja-young says Youn-jin shouldn’t be allowed to lead the investigation but promises to keep her mouth shut in exchange for joining the investigation. Young-jin points out the killer is dead, but Ja-young picked up on her suspicions there could be a copycat or an accomplice. Ja-young’s hopes are dashed when Superintendent Hwang says he’ll report Young-jin. Both are shocked when Young-jin declares this will be her last case, asking to put an end to the case herself.

Ja-young suggests that if Soo-jung was unqualified, it could’ve been because of Seo Sang-won’s delusion that the victims could only resurrect through him… suggesting Soo-jung’s wounds were inflicted by someone else. If that was true, the other culprit couldn’t be a copycat because Seo Sang-won had known about the killer’s true message. Ja-young suggests Im Hee-jung could be the accomplice and was killed during an argument.

After dinner, Ja-young departs and Superintendent Hwang questions whether Young-jin truly intends to retire after this case. Young-jin confesses she’s witnessed a lot of misfortune during her time on the force and would like to quit once her life’s mission has been resolved. Superintendent Hwang tsks that she should also see hope: “We protect the last slither of hope the victims have.”

He grumbles that he’d wanted her to let go of the case, not her job and Young-jin sighs that he’s nagging. Superintendent Hwang says no one else will nag her, but Young-jin smiles that Eun-ho will and the pair walk off, unaware Eun-ho has just finished his surgery. Sang-ho and Sun-woo hover anxiously at Eun-ho’s bedside, grateful he’s stable for now. Sang-ho says Eun-ho is a good kid, better than 10 of them combined.

Sun-woo agrees he’s kind but Sang-ho says that’s not what he means. Before he can elaborate, Sang-ho’s assistant reports he’s secured a VIP room for Eun-ho. Sang-ho asks about his mother, grumbling about the police when there’s still no sign of her. Sun-woo offers to check Eun-ho’s home while Young-jin returns to the office and drunkenly lies down on a cot. She dreams of receiving the killer’s call, except when she looks down, the caller ID reads “Eun-ho.”

Snapping awake, Young-jin tries calling Eun-ho and when there’s no answer, she bolts out. Sun-woo arrives at Eun-ho’s but no one is home and his mother’s phone is still off. He’s startled when Young-jin bursts into the building and recalls having seen her with Eun-ho (and assumed she’s his mom). Sun-woo explains he’s Eun-ho’s teacher and Young-jin’s fears are confirmed when he says Eun-ho’s been hospitalized.

Sang-ho tells Eun-ho a novelist once said that children are resilient and become adults regardless of their parents: “As long as they’re alive… and only if they manage to survive.” His assistant announces Eun-ho’s mother and Sang-ho is unimpressed by her theatrical wailing as she sobs at Eun-ho for causing her trouble.

Meanwhile, Sun-woo explains that Sang-ho had recognized Eun-ho from the award ceremony and signed off on his surgery in her (Eun-ho’s mother’s) place. Young-jin listens numbly in the passenger seat and then says Eun-ho had visited her office. She cries for not asking about the prize when he’d told her, for not saying she was proud, for letting him leave. Sun-woo explains Eun-ho had saved a man with CPR.

Back at the hospital, Eun-ho has been relocated to a VIP room. Sang-ho’s assistant explains he’s agreed to pay all Eun-ho’s medical fees. Sang-ho – who’s been eyeing Eun-ho’s mother strangely (suspiciously?) – snaps out of his contemplative thoughts to ask she leave Eun-ho in his care, claiming responsibility for his hotel lacking security measures.

PART 2: “Following Traces”

Sun-woo tells Young-jin they’re almost at the hospital and is confused when she asks for his number (as his mother should already have it). Before he can question her, his phone rings and Sang-ho tells him they’ve moved to the VIP room. To Sun-woo’s alarm, Sang-ho continues that he’s going home since Eun-ho’s mother arrived and he realizes his mistake. They hang up and Sun-woo pulls over, causing Young-jin to worry Eun-ho’s condition has worsened.

After assuring her Eun-ho is fine, Sun-woo demands to know who Young-jin is and why she’s impersonating Eun-ho’s mother. Young-jin apologizes for not having introduced herself sooner but clarifies that she never claimed to be Eun-ho’s mother. Sun-woo stutters that she approached him and Young-jin explains she lives upstairs. Eun-ho wasn’t answering his phone and a strange man was at his door, so of course she asked who he was.

Apologizing for the misunderstanding, Sun-woo explains he’d seen the pair a few days prior and just assumed they were mother and son. Young-jin says she and Eun-ho are very close and suggests Sun-woo either continue driving, or she’ll find her own way to the hospital. They finally arrive and Eun-ho’s mother opens the door for Sun-woo but glares at Young-jin. She steps aside, however, for Young-jin to check on him while she speaks with Sun-woo.

Remembering how she’d assured Eun-ho she’d always know if something happened to him, Young-jin tearfully asks what happened. She frowns as she notices bruises all over Eun-ho’s body. Outside, Sun-woo explains he’d run into Young-jin at the house and apologizes if he shouldn’t have brought her. Mom sighs that it’s fine, she just doesn’t understand why Eun-ho has always liked Young-jin so much.

Mom says Young-jin is a cop, though, so she must not be too strange. She asks about Sang-ho and Sun-woo says they’ve grown up together and Sang-ho is a good person. He explains Eun-ho left a good impression on Sang-ho during the award ceremony, but Mom knows nothing about the award. She answers a call saying the police are at Eun-ho’s room. Two cops speak with Young-jin, Eun-ho’s duffle in their hands. They say there was no phone or suicide not found at the scene.

Mom and Sun-woo arrive and the cops ask to speak inside but Sun-woo suggests they let Eun-ho rest. When Young-jin wants to join, the cops say there’s no need for her. She points out the bag doesn’t belong to Eun-ho but Sun-woo recalls seeing it the previous morning so Young-jin is forced to leave. Mom can’t confirm whether the bag belongs to Eun-ho so Sun-woo looks through the contents and finds the book Eun-ho borrowed from Young-jin and a notice he’d sent home with the kids.

The cops ask if Eun-ho is bullied and Sun-woo says not that he knows of. When he leaves, he finds Young-jin waiting by his car. She says she has something to ask and Sun-wo questions whether she’s approaching him as a detective or Eun-ho’s friend. Young-jin says Eun-ho’s friend and asks if he’s been bullied. Sun-woo asks in what way and Young-jin takes that as confirmation.

Sun-woo says he’s unaware of any bullying and Young-jin tells him there are bruises and a cut on Eun-ho’s face that weren’t caused by the fall. Sun-woo says he’d never seen a cut but Young-jin says it could’ve happened on different days and leaving the classroom doesn’t mean it didn’t happen at school.

He asks if she’s saying Eun-ho attempted suicide over bullying and Young-jin replies, “What happened to Eun-ho… is a crime.” Sun-woo tells her to question him as a detective, then, but averts his eyes when Young-jin asks if that would change his answer. She thanks him and then leaves Sun-woo alone in the parking garage.

Young-jin holds back sobs as she checks the car Eun-ho fell on. A woman, Bae Sun-ah, comes out to tell Young-jin the area is restricted. Young-jin flashes her badge and asks to meet Sang-ho. Sun-ah says he’s eating so Young-jin hands over her card, telling her to call when he’s done. Up on the roof, Young-jin peers over the ledge and Sang-ho calls out that it would be a miracle for someone to survive after falling.

He smiles that a miracle happened last night and asks why a detective wants to see him. Young-jin says she’d heard from Sun-woo that Sang-ho helped make that miracle a reality. Sang-ho arrives at work, still thinking about Young-jin’s assertion Eun-ho was assaulted. Jumping up, he takes a picture of Dong-myeong’s contact info while Sang-ho giggles over Sun-woo’s mistaken identity goof.

Sobering at Young-jin’s icy expression, Sang-ho guesses Young-jin is investigating because of her personal connection to Eun-ho. He agrees to give her the CCTV footage, adding he’s also very fond of Eun-ho. Young-jin asks if he thinks what happened to Eun-ho was a crime and Sang-ho says that would be more comforting than Eun-ho jumping willingly.

Hee-seob is surprised to receive a call from Sun-woo, not realizing he never came home last night. Sun-woo tells him about Eun-ho and grows angry when Hee-seob is grateful it didn’t happen at school. Hee-seob warns him not to make the same mistake if he can’t take full responsibility. He says people could take advantage of Sun-woo’s kindness and Sun-woo hangs up.

He finds Dong-myeong in his classroom, staring at Eun-ho’s desk. Startled by Sun-woo, Dong-myeong starts to bolt, but freezes when Sun-woo says Eun-ho is in the hospital. Dong-myeong asks what happened and Sun-woo realizes he came because he was worried when he couldn’t reach Eun-ho. Dong-myeong doesn’t answer and just asks which hospital. Sun-woo presses about the sneakers and Dong-myeong finally shouts that he sold them, demanding to know where Eun-ho is.

Sun-woo says Eun-ho is in critical condition so he can’t go alone, offering to go together. Dong-myeong asks how Eun-ho got hurt and Sun-woo says Eun-ho fell off a hotel. “Millennium Hotel?” Dong-myeong guesses and Sun-woo grabs him, frantic to know how he knew. Scared, Dong-myeong shoves him off, accidentally smacking Sun-woo’s head against a desk. He pauses long enough to make sure Sun-woo is okay and bolts.

Min-sung calls Dae-hoon, anxiously growling at him to answer. His mother bursts in demanding whether he’s heard from Dae-hoon either. She’s forced to take him to school herself, glaring as Min-sung goes inside. The teachers are informed of Eun-ho’s accident but told not to share it with the students. Sun-woo asks another teacher to check his class and Min-sung looks nervously at Eun-ho’s empty desk, looking even paler when the teacher says Eun-ho is out sick.

Sun-woo heads over to Dong-myeong’s house and finds the gate’s lock broken. No one is home and Sun-woo tries calling but gets no answer. His eyes fall on the shoebox Eun-ho had given Dong-myeong, realizing Dong-myeong lied about selling them. Meanwhile, Young-jin thinks about the duffel bag and heads over to the hospital to look through it herself. As she rifles through, Mom says the cops insisted Eun-ho attempted suicide and Young-jin promises to show her they’re wrong.

Back at the detective’s office, Jae-hong hears from the others that the previous pastor of New Life Church had an assistant that was close to Im Hee-jung, but he disappeared. Ah, it’s Gi-ho, the ajusshi Eun-ho saved. Sun-woo finds the bookstore matching the receipt in Eun-ho’s bag but is rebuffed when he asks for the CCTV footage. Luckily, Young-jin walks in and flashes her bag, making the same request.

When the tape shows Eun-ho leave and walk up the street, Young-jin leaves in that direction. Sun-woo follows, saying he also needs to know what happened. Young-jin just nods and heads to the next place with a CCTV camera. They follow Eun-ho’s movements through the neighborhood until the reach a street with no CCTV cameras. Young-jin zeros in on a car (Dae-hoon’s parked outside the building he’d beaten Eun-ho) and recalls the weird call from Eun-ho the day before.

She imagines Eun-ho calling her from the backseat and walks over. Sun-woo sees the blackbox is turned off while Young-jin calls the driver. A phone rings inside the building and the pair follow the sound upstairs. A door is ajar and when they step inside, Young-jin freezes while Sun-woo falls back in shock. Dae-hoon is hanging from the rafters, his phone ringing at his feet.

  
COMMENTS

A grown man brutally beating a middle school student for trying to do the right thing was honestly harder for me to watch than the murders. I’m not sure how much sway Min-sung has with Dae-hoon, but I find it absolutely disgusting that Dae-hoon was not only willing, but eager to smack around a child for not helping Min-sung cover up his wrongdoing. It made my blood boil, so call me heartless, but I can’t say I was too upset to find him dangling from the ceiling.

On the contrary, I’m excited by all the questions this now raises. There was nothing near Dae-hoon’s feet to suggest this was self-inflicted and he doesn’t seem the remorseful type, anyway. Which means someone else pulled a little vigilante justice. It makes sense because last we’d seen of Eun-ho before the roof, his unconscious body was being loaded into Dae-hoon’s car. The car drove off, so did Dae-hoon return after taking Eun-ho somewhere, or was Dae-hoon already taken care of by the time the car left with Eun-ho, only to be returned afterwards?

With current information, it’s impossible to say who but I keep thinking back to Sang-ho. I can’t think of any other reason Eun-ho would’ve been at the Millennium Hotel, but really it could be any number of reasons. Even if he’d gone to meet Sang-ho that doesn’t explain why he jumped… if he jumped at all. We’ve still never actually seen the moment he went over, so there’s a good chance someone else was up there. Whether it was voluntary or not, the show is intentionally keeping us in the dark with Young-jin. And don’t even get me started on his mother.

I feel my hunch is right and Dong-myeong isn’t the bully Sun-woo thinks he is. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but it’s possible he was helping Eun-ho. He was certainly shaken up by Eun-ho’s accident and it didn’t seem from guilt. It read more like fear and concern for someone you care about… but now that I think about it, depending on what trouble Eun-ho is in, perhaps Dong-myeong feared whoever’s responsible. Either way, Sun-woo demanding answers was the worst way to handle that so hopefully he tells Young-jin and she can make some headway.

Speaking of, I really adore them as a pair. I’ll admit I giggled when Sun-woo found out Young-jin was not actually Eun-ho’s mother. It was a nice funny moment amidst all the horrible. Sun-woo is so endearing and he balances Young-jin perfectly. I love their dynamic and how it flips genders from the typical badass cop/ kind schoolteacher trope. I hate that it took Eun-ho nearly losing his life to bring them together, but this dynamic duo is a pretty decent consolation prize. I’m pumped to see them really delve into the mystery surrounding Eun-ho’s accident, maybe bringing people to justice and healing each other’s scars along the way.

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