Original subtitles

(All characters, organizations, places, entities, and events...)

(in this drama are fictitious.)

(Please be aware of any unpleasant or unsettling content.)

It looks like fairies.

Young Jin, could they be a freak of nature?

Since chlorophyll is absent, photosynthesis can't happen.

It's why they're white.

Then what do they live on?

Dead plants, decaying carcasses of animals,

and their feces.

Gosh, they're disgusting.

That's hardly the case. Actually, I find them inspiring.

They feed on what's unsanitary and clean up this world.

You're an old lady in a young girl's suit.

You sound like your grandfather sometimes.

- And why is that bad? - Forget it.

What's its name?

Why? What is it?

Ghost plant.

Ghost plant. Really?

Its name sounds as pretty as mine, Su Jung.

Look at how innocent and beautiful you are.

Just like me.

We should get going.

Young Jin,

could there be a body buried under it?

That's absurd.

- Let's go. - Let's go.

You're being ridiculous.

You never know.

In Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province,

the eighth victim of the stigmata Killer was found.

A vicious murder took place...

in which the victim's waist and both palms were mutilated.

Stigmata refers to the bodily wounds...

that correspond to those found on Jesus Christ.

It also refers to the religious symbol...

one may have on his or her body.

After the third victim was found with the same wounds,

the police categorized the killings as serial...

and started to form a nationwide task force.

The police apologize for bringing pain and suffering...

to the public.

The killer is still on the loose.

The victim was only in high school...

which makes her the youngest yet.

Just like the others,

her palms and waist were mangled too.

These serial killings will go down in history as the nation's worst.

We have the most vicious serial killer on the loose.

(Civil servant, Park Ji Eun, 27)

(High school student, Choi Su Jung, 16)

(Episode 1)

This is the last question.

On the afternoon of the incident,

Su Jung called you three times. Why didn't you answer?

I wasn't in the mood.

But she called three times.

Our house has lousy reception,

so I have to head outside to talk.

If I had answered my phone,

she might not have died.

(Young Jin)

(Missed calls)

Su Jung's phone...

The killer probably has it, right?

It was probably tossed in the sea...

or smashed.

Then why did the killer take it in the first place?

What?

The killer has never taken any items...

off his victims before.

I'm sure he still has it.

(Su Jung)

Cha Young Jin?

Isn't this you?

It is.

Finally, you answered.

If I had answered on that day...

She might've lived.

My original target was you,

but I went after your friend since you didn't fit the criteria.

I'll kill you.

Aren't you afraid of me?

I could still come after you, you know.

No, I'll be one who catches you.

Then I should tell you this.

The serial killings will stop now.

Choi Su Jung was my last victim,

so you will never be able to find me.

I will.

I don't care if it takes forever.

I will find you no matter what.

So stay alive until then.

I like you...

and I can't wait to meet you.

We'll meet someday.

(Su Jung)

(Su Jung)

It was a young man.

Did he identify himself as the killer?

(Su Jung)

The phone has been turned off.

And what else did he say?

He told me...

that he's going to murder someone else soon.

He told me this isn't the end.

(Cha Young Jin)

(Eun Ho)

- Hey. - Are you getting a promotion?

How did you know?

- I'm in front of the dry cleaner's. - I see.

(Hongje Dry Cleaning)

Why didn't you tell me?

You don't tell me everything you did in school.

- When is your promotion? - Tomorrow.

Really? Should I pick this up for you?

Okay.

(Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)

(Special Crime Squad, Homicide Team)

Listen to me, you jerks!

Why don't you go inside a bit later?

- Who is she? - The mother...

of the first victim. Let's stay out of it.

If we're there, she'll just keep complaining.

Come on.

How could you do this?

Why now? You gave up a long time ago!

Why do you suddenly want to check my daughter's belongings?

Ma'am, calm down.

We never gave up.

Now that we have better technology,

we might get some new evidence...

Then you never should've returned my daughter's stuff!

Back then, we didn't know technology would develop so much.

Stop the investigation.

- What? - We have...

nothing left that used to belong to my daughter.

We're the only ones who have nothing!

I also don't want to do the investigation. It's useless.

But on the other hand, you just don't want us to do it...

because you got rid of your daughter's belongings.

Stop bothering the other families.

Don't give them false hope!

You're the one who burned your daughter's stuff.

You can't tell us not to investigate just because you're upset.

Sergeant Kim.

Watch what you say.

You're unbelievable.

Didn't you come see me...

with Detective Hwang 17 years ago?

Don't tell me you've been on this case ever since then.

There's no way.

The police...

never gave up on trying to find the serial killer.

Then you should've kept all the evidence!

Even if we begged you to give it back,

you should've kept it with you!

We have...

your daughter's belongings.

We burned everything.

The day the statute of limitations ended,

we burned everything that was in her room.

Your youngest daughter put a letter card in her bag.

And she kept it with her when the police returned it to her.

She kept it?

Is she going to send it from the States?

No.

She'll be bringing it in herself.

Goodbye.

Why did you have to tell her that the police never gave up?

The family of the deceased are going to bother us even more now.

Ms. Cha.

I want you to drop the case if you fail again.

I told you to investigate because you had some time...

after you finished off a huge case.

But this is too risky.

The statute of limitations has ended for everyone else...

other than Choi Su Jung, the last victim.

If it weren't for her,

this would've been a closed case a long time ago.

The evidence analysis that needs to be sent to the family...

will detect tons of new DNA cells...

since it was in the hands of so many different people.

It's not like we failed to catch the culprit...

because we didn't have his DNA.

We just could never find who he is.

- Did you hear that? - If there's a way,

I plan to keep going.

Again? You're always like this!

And you're doing it again.

The two of you can work on...

the Yeonju-dong missing professor case.

You can work with Jae Hong.

Okay.

She's making me age. I used to look so young.

Bye, sir.

By the way,

I didn't know Chief Hwang used to be Ms. Cha's boss.

Do you know him?

Don't you know him?

Chief Hwang In Bum who's in charge of the Child and Youth Unit?

He's really famous for having gotten a call from the culprit...

of the stigmata serial murders...

saying he's going to murder someone else.

Oh, really?

Because of that call,

we were on emergency duty for over three months.

We got so many prank calls from all over the country.

Chief Hwang dropped the case a long time ago.

But she's been on it for 17 years.

(Team Leader, Cha Young Jin)

(Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)

(Special Promotion Ceremony)

She really didn't invite anyone.

I guess she has no friends.

That's exactly why she's so good.

She keeps no one around.

All she ever does is work on criminal cases.

(Cha Young Jin)

(Check your pocket.)

Sergeant Kim Byung Hee.

Sergeant Park Jin Woo.

Check your pocket.

Constable Lee Jae Hong.

Congratulations. Well done.

What are you going to do after school?

Do you think it'll end in a minute?

It'll probably take less than 50 seconds.

Let's wrap up.

Did you check this?

- Yes. - Yes.

See you all tomorrow.

It only took 30 seconds.

He sets a new record every single day. Awesome.

Hey, Eun Ho. I need to go home early today.

Me too.

Thanks in advance.

Just a second.

I'll be off now.

- Okay, bye. - See you tomorrow.

- Bye. - Bye.

I envy him.

He gets to go home as soon as school ends...

without having to feel guilty.

He's our former chairman's son...

and our current chairman's brother-in-law.

And he's set to be the next chairman.

So he has nothing to worry about.

(Chairman Yun Hee Seob)

Come in.

Hey, it's me.

- Do you want some? - No, I'm good.

Did you say goodbye to the students?

Yes, of course.

I heard you're the only homeroom teacher...

who lets the kids clean after you say goodbye to them.

It's inefficient to have the entire class wait...

until the cleaning is done.

Who checks if they clean properly?

I just trust them.

Mr. Lee.

Yes, sir.

I'm fine with efficiency and freedom.

But you still need to check if the kids are doing a good job.

Okay, sir.

Where are you going? What about dinner?

I'm going to eat something expensive for dinner.

- Hello. - Hi.

Let's hurry up.

- Sweep this. - You do it.

Eun Ho.

Why are you cleaning by yourself?

The others weren't feeling so well, so I told them to go home.

Both at the same time?

Yes.

Stop cleaning.

I'll have the other two finish up tomorrow.

Mr. Lee. I'll finish on my own.

I let them go because I don't mind.

Okay then. See you tomorrow.

Goodbye.

Let's not bother.

- Congratulations. - Congratulations.

She's so cool.

(Special Promotion Ceremony)

Sorry I'm late.

Congratulations.

This call.

Let's say I received it.

Or you'll suffer for quite a while.

It might be a long time.

Let's do that.

So,

why are you in full uniform today?

I just got back from an anti-bullying campaign.

Kids seem to like police uniforms.

Darn it.

- Who was it? - A journalist.

Do they still ask for interviews?

I refused many times,

but they act like creditors.

Don't you regret it?

Lying to the world that you got the killer's call...

instead of me.

Not at all.

When I look at you now,

handing over the case files when you showed up as an officer...

That's one thing I think I shouldn't have done.

Even if you hadn't helped me then, things wouldn't be much different.

I guess not.

How did the request to retest the evidence go?

We got six new DNA profiles.

None of them have a match in the database.

When you returned the belongings to the family,

everything got contaminated.

People would have been in the house.

Or they could be traces left by...

investigators or technicians by mistake.

What will you do now?

There's still one piece of evidence we haven't checked yet.

Do you remember how the first victim's...

younger sister left a card in the victim's bag?

It was opened but we only found the sister's prints.

We assumed the victim died before reading it,

and the killer read it instead.

Didn't you say the victim's mother burned...

her daughter's belongings the day the statutes expired?

She did.

She changed her mind at the last minute and...

burned her hand clawing through the fire.

- Then how come? - When we returned the evidence,

the younger sister took the card back.

Was her name Ha Ru?

Yes.

I'm meeting her tomorrow.

Was she eight when her sister was killed?

Then she'll be 29 now.

Time really flies.

When we first met, you were in high school.

You cried so much.

- Goodbye. - Bye.

- Hello. - Hi.

("The Life Before Us")

"You're still young."

"When you're young, there are..."

"a lot of things you're better off not knowing."

(Congratulations. Well done.)

(Su Jung's mother)

(Lyrical Salon)

What brings you to Seoul?

The kids kept asking me to visit.

I'm thinking of selling the old house in Gangwon Province.

I see.

Do you still live in the same place?

Yes.

Is your room still the same?

(Stigmata)

(Women murdered)

(Suspect of stigmata killing warned investigator in person)

(Suspect called using 8th victim's phone)

(16-year-old schoolgirl Cha)

(Choi Su Jung)

I saw Su Jung in my dream.

She spoke with this sad face.

"Mom."

"Young Jin."

"She's struggling."

"I feel sorry for her."

Will you keep living like this?

Thinking only of how to catch him?

I'm a police officer. That's my job.

I'm glad you said that.

It should be your job.

It shouldn't become your life.

Your living like this...

is partially my fault as well.

Just a moment.

- Listen. - Let go.

Why didn't you answer your phone?

It wasn't just one.

Why did you ignore three of her calls?

- I'm sorry. - Because of you,

my Su Jung...

Because of you...

Are you crazy? Why take it out on a child?

My daughter could've come home alive.

I'm truly sorry.

That's not the case.

When the killer called, it was me,

not Detective Hwang, who answered the phone.

He only lied to shield me from the press.

My gosh.

You're the one who heard him say...

that he'll kill again?

Yes.

- So you just listened? - No.

I told him that I'd find him.

Goodness.

They're saying that he's dead...

since people like him can't stop killing people.

He hasn't been active for 20 years,

so I also agree with that conclusion.

I hope...

he's still alive.

It doesn't necessarily mean you'll find him.

For 20 years, you have tried everything.

Unless he kills again...

Young Jin.

Yes?

Let this go while you can.

Holding on to this case...

will only consume your life.

(Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Special Crime Squad)

(Homicide Team 1, Team Leader, Lieutenant Cha Young Jin)