It's the start of a new day for your afterlife partner, Jumadeung.
I can't believe it.
He beat a living person intending to kill them?
Goodness.
I did hear some rumors about Mr. Lim.
-Like what? -I heard that Mr. Lim killed someone
while he was still among the Land of the Living.
Really?
Yes, and not just one or two either.
That's horrible.
The whole team's not to be associated with.
A team manager from Hell and a team member who's a murderer?
That's what I'm saying.
Excuse me!
Are you all having fun?
Ms. Jeon, you said Mr. Lim killed someone in his previous life.
-Did you see that happen yourself? -Well, no…
Let's only talk about what we've seen for ourselves, okay?
Let's go.
Let's not get involved with the RM Team.
Don't you all have work to do?
Go on!
I could just…
Jeez, I feel bad.
REAPER DISCIPLINARY ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT
They're running their mouths when they don't know anything.
Mr. Lim should explain things himself.
Do you know what kinds of rumors are going around at the company right now?
They're saying Mr. Lim killed multiple people in his previous life.
Four, to be exact.
Okay, I see.
Come on.
I'm not in a mood to joke around.
I'm not joking.
Come on, I have enough on my mind without you piling things on too.
I know it's because of what had happened to his mother,
but to see someone so rational lose control like that…
And he won't say anything when I ask why, either.
Yu-hwa.
-Yu-hwa! -Yu-hwa!
-Look at you! -Thank you, everyone.
"Hui-hwi-rang-yo."
"The morning sun shines brightly."
Very good.
Goodness.
My son is so handsome.
EPISODE 11: WEST SKY 1
DEPARTMENT TRANSFER FORM
I know people are criticizing you and Mr. Choi because of my assault case.
I'm sorry.
I let my personal feelings get in the way of work.
As long as you know, it's okay.
I'm used to people talking behind my back.
I don't care about that.
Are you sure you don't need to be by her side?
Yes.
I think it'll be all right.
That's a relief.
Mr. Lim!
Mr. Lim, are you really leaving?
Yes.
Why? Don't go.
I thought you didn't like me. I thought you'd be glad.
That's true, but…
who's going to write all those disciplinary reports if you leave?
I'm leaving because I don't want to write those reports.
So your mind's really made up?
I'm a man of my word.
Goodbye.
Jeez.
Ma'am.
Are you really going to let Mr. Lim go like that?
That's what he wants.
I don't stop people who try to leave.
Still. You know he's only doing this
because he doesn't want to cause trouble for the team.
-No. -No?
I give up. I'm going to tell the Director.
I told you.
Ryung-gu's mother took her own life after getting gang-raped.
Ryung-gu's mother…
and Ryung-gu too.
The Reaper who escorted both of them to the afterworld…
was me.
What?
You know I used to work
in the Crimes Unit, right?
Yes, but why would Mr. Lim…
So I'm telling you, what you heard is true.
I escorted Ryung-gu
because he committed murder.
But…
He's not someone to do that, so why…
Ms. Koo, please tell me.
What exactly happened to Mr. Lim? Why is he hurting so much like that?
There could be something I could be of help with.
What is it?
Mother.
Yeong-sik and Chang-bok keep making fun of me.
What did they say that has you crying so sorrowfully?
They keep making fun of my name, saying it's weird.
They said it's like a dog's…
They sure don't know anything at all.
Your name is a wonderful one.
Really?
Of course.
A noble monk of great virtue chose it.
Come here.
Ryung as in "high."
And gu as in "to rescue."
It means someone who will save many from a high place.
You know how to write too, Mother?
Not all the letters, but I know enough to teach my son.
Mother, there's so much you know, and there's nothing you can't do.
Really? Do you really think so?
Yes.
Stop lying.
Your name doesn't have a meaning.
Yes, it does! My mother told me.
She said a monk of great virtue chose it for me.
She even wrote it down and showed me.
Liar.
How would your mother know something even my father doesn't?
Don't you know you can't take the National Exam
even if you learn how to read and write?
It's completely useless.
Why? We're all people.
You think a commoner's son and a nobleman's son are the same?
They are completely different people!
Wait.
Ryung-gu, where are you going?
Are you running away?
Hey, Ryung-gu!
What is this?
Young master.
Ryung-gu?
Why, your face…
What happened?
Who did this?
Not again…
Vice Minister Kim's son was passing by,
so I asked him if he could teach me to read and write.
And I was beaten for it.
I'm sorry.
I promised you that I'd never do that again.
Goodness, if only Ryung-gu weren't smart then he wouldn't want to learn so much.
He started speaking faster than other kids around his age, right?
Yes, he started talking around his first birthday.
That's why having a smart kid is a problem for commoners like us.
They can't become officials like the noblemen.
Maybe if you were rich.
I heard people buy and sell government positions these days.
Ma'am.
Please, lower your voice.
Come on, it's just the two of us, who cares?
You're so timid.
Ma'am.
Anyway, it's only going to get harder for you.
I know for a mother there's nothing as terrible
as clipping her own child's wings.
But it's still something you must do.
To make life easier for him.
Goodness me.
Ryung-gu.
Yes, Mother.
Why do you like writing?
Words immediately disappear after they are spoken,
but if they are written down, they stay there for a long time.
I think that's fascinating and wonderful.
I will teach you how to read and write from now on,
so you must never go bothering the sons of noblemen again.
Really?
Mother, you're the best!
Thank you so much, Mother.
"Ji-gwa-pil-gae, deuk-neung-mak-mang."
When you've learned of a shortcoming, you must fix it.
When you've learned how, you must not forget.
"Mang-dam-pi-dan, mi-si-gi-jang."
Do not speak of others' shortcomings
and forget not your own strengths.
Mother.
I'm not sure what comes next.
All right.
I will recite the rest, so repeat after me.
Yes.
It's so delicious, Mother.
-Be careful not to get a stomachache. -Yes.
"Hui-hwi-rang-yo."
The arrow of time constantly urges on.
"The arrow of time constantly urges on."
The morning sun shines brightly.
"The morning sun shines brightly."
Very good.
Goodness.
My son is so handsome.
How are you so handsome?
Because I take after you, Mother.
-Is that so? -Yes.
Here's your order. Enjoy.
Ma'am, three gukbaps over here.
Yes.
Those men don't seem to be locals, but they've been here often lately.
You know how the new governor came a few months ago.
I heard he's backing those thugs.
What?
It's what those noblemen officials do all the time.
Instead of arresting them, they back them.
It's only citizens like us in the middle who suffer because of it.
Who are you?
To think that we'd find the woman the Governor has been looking for
in a shabby tavern like this.
Whenever he'd drink, he'd always reminisce about your looks.
Where on earth have you been, sir?
Why didn't you come to us?
So…
are you ready today?
It's been three days already.
Ready for what?
You impudent girl.
Who are you to dare make me wait?
I'm merely following the Madam's orders to pour your drinks, sir.
Really?
Is that so?
How uptight you are for a kisaeng.
Although, I suppose that's what makes it fun.
Why are you doing this?
You are drunk.
I'm not drunk on alcohol,
I'm drunk on you, Geum-hong!
It is well over midnight.
To call a lady over at such a late hour
is not right, even for the Governor.
You're nothing but a lowly prostitute.
I heard you were called Geum-hong
in that gibang.
My child is sleeping inside.
I will follow you quietly. So please, lower your voice.
It's been a while, Geum-hong.
How well you've hidden yourself.
The Madam told me she kicked you out because you fell ill,
but I knew that wasn't why.
They wouldn't just kick out a moneymaker like you.
Although, I didn't expect you to have had a child since then.
Why did you summon me this late at night, sir?
Ever since you left, I could never sleep because of my longing for you.
So from today, come to my bed every night and be my mistress.
Sir.
I am no longer a kisaeng.
Has your status as a nobleman's daughter been restored since then?
I did a background check on you.
You were the daughter of a ruined scholar-official.
The Madam told me she bought you from your father herself.
I heard he had gambled away his entire family fortune.
Father!
Does your arrogance come from the silly pride of a scholar-official?
I shall take my leave, sir.
I heard your son is unusually smart and talented.
But under you, he will never escape the burden of his low birth.
What are you saying right now?
I'll adopt him as my son.
How is that?
Doesn't that make you want to be my mistress?
"Yeon-si-mae-choe, hui-hwi-rang-yo."
The arrow of time constantly urges on. The morning sun shines brightly.
That's why having a smart kid is a problem for commoners like us.
They can't become officials like the noblemen.
I'll adopt him as my son.
"Seon-gi-hyeon-al, hoe-baek-hwan-jo."
Mother.
Right, yes.
What does that mean?
Seon-gi-ok-hyeong hangs as it turns around.
At the end of the month, only the outline of the lightless moon is seen.
And what is seon-gi?
It is the first four stars in the middle of the Big Dipper.
In other words, the four stars which make up the handle of the dipper.
How clever you are.
It's all thanks to you, Mother.
"Ji-gwa-pil-gae, deuk-neung-mak-mang."
When you've learned of a shortcoming, you must fix it.
When you've learned how, you must not forget.
"Mang-dam-pi-dan, mi-si-gi-jang."
Mother.
You're the best.
I admire you, Mother.
I shall protect you, my son.
Is that so?
Is that what you truly think?
I may have been a lowly prostitute once,
but I am no longer one now.
As a woman, and as a mother of a child,
I no longer wish to add to my own shortcomings.
Well, that's hilarious.
When it comes to a cloth that has been sullied,
the stain will never go away no matter how hard you try to wash it out.
You think you're some normal housewife?
I implore upon your generosity to help me live on
as a mother of a child.
Your son will end up living a life like yours.
No.
Perhaps it will be worse than your own.
If you so much as touch a hair on my son's head,
I will not let it pass lightly.
Ungrateful wench.
Du-sik, are you there?
Yes, sir.
It seems as though that Geum-hong has forgotten her true self.
Go and be sure to remind her of her old memories.
Yes, sir.
What are you doing?
Your mother is a liar.
My father said so.
-No, she isn't! -Yes, she is. What did you say to us?
You said your father passed away before you were born, right?
Yes. What about it?
You idiot, you never had a father.
Because your mother was a dirty prostitute!
What kind of nonsense are you saying?
Why would men visit your mother in the middle of the night?
It's all because she's a prostitute.
And that's how she knows how to write.
No! My mother said she learned how to write from my grandfather.
How would a woman learn to read and write in the first place?
My mother knows a lot of things but she doesn't know how to read.
Yes.
The whole neighborhood probably knows by now.
That your mother is a prostitute.
-Hey. -What are you doing?
-Stop it. -Let go!
My mother isn't a prostitute!
To call a lady over at such a late hour
is not right, even for the Governor.
You're nothing but a lowly prostitute.
I heard you were called Geum-hong
in that gibang.
My mother isn't a prostitute!
You bastard!
She isn't!
I can't believe he was this small.
Ryung-gu?
Are you back already?
I was just about to fetch you since it's raining.
That Geum-hong must have fooled around with quite a few men.
I knew it. I thought I saw her winking at me at the tavern.
And here she is, acting all coy in front of the Governor.
At least you got her on her back.
You've got that over the Governor.
Have you been calling men in
every time I was out?
Is this why you've been going out at night
these past few days?
If I had been born to a noblewoman instead of you, then I…
I, too, could have been able
to go to the schoolhouse to study how to read and write
without being beaten up by noblemen's sons!
It's not like I asked to be born.
Of all people, having someone like you
as my mother
is humiliating,
shameful,
and disgusting!
I'm sorry.
Why aren't you saying anything?
Why aren't you saying anything,
when I'm being so rude and talking back to you?
Please, just tell me…
that it isn't true.
Just scold me instead!
For being so disrespectful…
and for believing in such ridiculous lies!
Mother!
Hey.
You.
Can I just have one more puff?
I'm dying here.
Do you know how much I've spent here?
Please.
Piss off.
Well.
Ever since you came here, all those nuisances have disappeared.
I knew you'd be good at this the moment I saw you.
How is it that those people live on drugs like that?
Why do you think?
It's probably because they want to forget reality.
Should there ever come a day when your life seems ruined, even then,
do anything but that stuff.
Once you partake in it, there's no going back.
You might be alive, but you'll be dead inside.
So it'd be better to just die.
Something like that won't ever happen.
Stop.
Ryung-gu.
Come to my room tomorrow.
I'll treat you to a drink.
What do you think?
No.
I don't run tabs.
Come on, I don't have the money!
But I'll get it tomorrow.
Day in and day out, you sell your body at the gibang
and spend it all on drugs.
Is that what all you prostitutes are like?
Who is it?
Ryung-gu?
It is you, Ryung-gu.
Goodness, how many years has it been?
You acted like you would never return.
What brought you back here?
It's not because of that woman.
That woman?
You of all people shouldn't say such things.
I stopped considering that woman my mother when she killed herself
after she was caught doing such things by her son.
You take that back!
After all she did to raise you!
Goodbye.
Goodness. If only those bastards didn't do that terrible thing,
then both you and Yu-hwa…
What terrible thing?
Don't tell me
you didn't know?
You really didn't know your mother at all.
The Governor, he got the thugs to…
Hey.
Good!
Who dares?
Who are you?
I asked, who are you?
Tell me who you are!
I am the son
of a prostitute.
What?
You're nothing but a lowly prostitute.
Yes.
I think I'm starting to remember
who you are.
Go and join your mother.
I am…
going to join you,
Mother.
What are you doing just sitting there?
Get on your feet right now.
Who are you?
I am the Reaper of Souls who has come to get you.
Follow me.
Enough with the sniffles!
What?
All that sniffling is getting on my nerves.
It's itchy from all the drugs.
Then put something in your nose or pick at it.
As long as I don't have to see it.
I see.
Ma'am.
What do you wish to know?
If I go to the afterworld,
is it possible to see my mother?
I don't know.
I don't know who my father was,
but all the memories of my childhood
were full of my mother's love.
She truly loved a bastard like me.
Your mother's name…
It was Yu-hwa, and her last name was Lim.
Lim Yu-hwa.
I escorted her to the afterworld as well.
I escort those like you, who have committed crimes.
She, too, had sinned.
She had committed a special sin.
What…
The sin of taking one's own life.
She said
she hadn't always loved you
from the beginning.
Madam.
All she thought of was how to abandon you.
She said that after giving birth
she didn't even nurse you,
and ignored you for days on end.
But she said when she saw you reach out your hand
even to a mother like that,
amazingly…
she began to feel love.
She said she couldn't be like her own father
who had sold his own daughter to a gibang,
driven mad by the hardships of the world.
She said she vowed to never abandon you no matter what
because she knew
you did not ask to be born into this world.
Goodness.
Look at my big boy.
When did you get to be this grown-up?
Hearing you say all the memories of your childhood
were filled with your mother's love.
It's a pity that she left…
without ever knowing that.
Why would you give up being reincarnated and choose to become a Reaper of Souls?
You'll have to exist for a very long time as someone neither alive
nor dead.
-If you chose this lightly… -No.
I heard the threads of fate that linked me to her broke
when my mother took her own life.
We will never be together again, no matter how many times we are reborn.
That's why I wanted to become a Reaper.
My mother will be reincarnated too once she has paid for her sins.
Yes.
When that happens, because I'll have all the memories of my past,
at least, I can watch her from afar.
To which team were you thinking of applying?
I…
I would like to work under you, ma'am.
The Escort Team is the closest to life and death.
One needs a great strength of mind
to last there.
Apply to the Book of the Deceased Management Team.
If you're lucky,
you could get information on your mother's reincarnation there.
Yes, ma'am.
The Land of the Living is already such a mess,
and now, the afterworld is too?
What has the world come to?
Even if she is the Jade Emperor,
how could she let someone from Hell be a Reaper?
The class system is thousands of years old,
and now, a lowly commoner like that is joining the ranks!
Why? Are you scared just thinking about getting outdone
by a commoner?
What?
How arrogant you are!
I've heard the rumors about you.
Shall we see just how good you are?
I'm here after sending four to the afterworld,
and I still remember it clearly.
They were thugs, right?
-Yes. -They made such a scene then.
So we gave them a taste of Hell as we escorted them.
Who would follow a lowly commoner like you to the afterworld?
How could they trust you?
Isn't that right, sir?
In the world, there were such things as classes that kept people from mixing.
However, that is of the past.
The world is changing and so is Jumadeung.
But…
If you have a problem with that, go take it up with the Jade Emperor,
who abolished the class system herself.
I, for one, am satisfied with my subordinate's abilities.
The Jade Emperor's quarters are this way.
YEAR 2021
Did you hear?
There's going to be a new team, The Risk Management Team or whatever.
Yes, I heard they'll rescue people who try to kill themselves.
They say they're looking for people to join the team.
How do you save someone who's already decided to die?
That's what I'm saying.
At this rate, there will just be the Team Manager on that Team.
Who's managing the team?
The manager of the Criminal Souls Escort Team, Koo Ryeon.
Mr. Lim.
Aren't you getting off? This is the Book Management Team.
Right.
So it's finally been created.
I guess you heard the news.
The team that prevents the deaths
of people at risk of taking their own lives.
Yes. The Risk Management Team.
I heard that my mother is in the Land of the Living
after being reincarnated.
I hate to admit it
but I heard that souls retain faint memories of their past lives.
So those who took their lives once have a higher likelihood
of doing the same thing
in their next life and the one after that.
I'd like to join this team.
So that if my mother should ever make that same decision,
I will save her with my own hands this time.
So that's why he only works eight hours.
He was looking for his mother.
But isn't it too cruel
that someone who took their own life once
could do so again in their next life?
It happens very rarely.
Most of them
fare well in their new lives.
What about people who had no other choice? What did they do wrong?
Isn't it enough to be punished by having their ties cut from everyone?
No, this isn't Jumadeung's punishment for suicide.
Then what?
Even if it isn't suicide,
if someone has lived
with immense pain over their life
even after reincarnation they're unable to escape its clutches.
Mom.
Don't look.
It will remain in your heart.
Who are you?
I want to see my mom.
Pain that remains in your heart
will be etched in your soul and affect your next life too.
So…
-Let's go. -But I want to see her.
Can't I see her just one more time?
No.
Don't look back.
This life has been collected.
The scars cut too deep,
and so, it affects
the next life as well.
So if that wound doesn't fully heal…
I mean, if…
What if something bad happens
to Mr. Lim's mother again this time?
What happens then?
She will have to continue living
with those scars.
Yu-hwa, your stomach's so big now.
Why don't you tell the manager you want to take some time off and get some rest?
I'm working because I want to work.
I need to earn a lot for all my Honeybee's baby formula.
And I want to fill my sales quota before I go on maternity leave.
I see.
Excuse me.
Excuse me for one second.
Yes, sir, what can I get you?
Give me everything
from here to there.
Pardon?
LIM RYUNG-GU
Your name's so unique and pretty.
Mother.
They keep making fun of my name, saying it's weird.
They sure don't know anything at all.
Your name is a wonderful one.
Sir.
Don't we need a farewell party or something?
What for? He's not going far.
Jeez, that's cold.
You'll be the same when I leave too, right?
What are you talking about? We'll have a party to celebrate that day.
Never mind.
Mr. Lim, let's go have fried chicken and beer.
I don't eat with people from work unless it's beef.
That's a lot to ask from someone who's still unemployed.
Fine, beef it is!
Where to? Let's go.
You're buying, yes?
-You'll come too, right? -You two go ahead first.
-I've got some work to finish. -Okay.
It's a good thing I'm transferring to another team.
Never thought you'd be buying me beef.
Wait.
I heard there's no such thing as free beef,
that goodwill extends only so far as pork.
-Fine, then, I'm not buying. -No.
I know your intentions are pure, despite the way you look.
Despite the way I look?
No, I meant "without having to take a look."
The power that comes with buying beef.
Okay, let's go have beef!
I'm hungry, what should we eat later?
Never mind the beef.
Let's go for a drink instead.
That woman we just saw.
She's your mother, right?
You just had this look.
I guess you're not completely clueless.
I heard about your mother from Ms. Koo.
I badgered her into telling me, so don't blame her.
I wish you wouldn't blame yourself.
It looks like
she has a good life now.
From the moment I became a Reaper,
I wondered every day.
If my mother were reincarnated,
would she have a good life?
Yes.
My mother would be living a good life.
If I should ever meet her again later, what should I do?
But I couldn't do anything.
Still…
You could at least go see her.
She died because of me.
My mother.
I killed her.
If I had been born to a noblewoman
instead of you, then I…
I, too, could have been able
to go to the schoolhouse to study how to read and write
without being beaten up by noblemen's sons!
I'm sorry.
Of all people, having someone like you
as my mother,
is humiliating,
shameful,
and disgusting!
Mother.
I'm so sorry.
ONE MONTH LATER
LIM YU-HWA, AGE 30 SALES ASSOCIATE
Shouldn't we tell him?
That is not Mr. Lim's mother.
She just has the same face and name, but they're different people.
I think it's been less than a month since she's lost the baby.
Don't worry, Honeybee. Mommy will protect you.
Get it together, Lim Yu-hwa.
How long are you going to stay here, cuddling your fake baby?
Is this really all a dream?
I'm sorry.
Mommy is so sorry.
Mr. Lim.
Your mother, she…
Subtitle translation by: Jung-in Park