The First Responders (2022) s01e04 Episode Script
Episode 4
1
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
(theme music)
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
ALL CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS,
ORGANIZATIONS, INCIDENTS, GROUPS,
AND BACKGROUNDS DEPICTED IN THIS DRAMA
ARE ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS
(water trickling)
(clanking)
Thanks.
Is it good?
Yes.
If there's more, you should have it.
(chuckles)
CHOI YESEUL
CODE V30: DISEASE CODE ISSUED WHEN
A PEDESTRIAN IS INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDEN
DISPATCHER: All vehicles,
turn on a lightbar.
The view isn't clear due to the fog.
All vehicles, turn on a lightbar.
The view isn't clear due to the fog.
Make sure you keep the siren on
and drive safely but quickly.
TO GET TO THE ACCIDENT SITE
SAFELY BUT QUICKLY (FIRE CREW JARGON)
(sirens wailing)
Hey, what's going on?
Why isn't there anything?
-You're here.
-Where is the victim?
-Where is it?
-Over there.
YOUNGSOON: Please help my Yeseul!
Oh, no.
What?
Please save my girl!
Oh, goodness!
(Youngsoon crying)
How did this happen?
It seems she got hit by a car
and bounced off up there.
-SEOL: Is her name Yeseul?
-Yes.
Yeseul, are you okay?
SEOL: Can you hear me?
What are you doing? Get the ladder!
-DONGWOO: Yes, sir.
-MR. BAEK: Who's this bastard
that hit a kid and ran off?
That damn despicable bastard.
Don't mess with Mr. Baek today.
He loses it with hit-and-run cases.
PIL: There's a reason behind it.
(suspenseful music)
-DONGWOO: The ladder's ready.
-DOJIN: Is it ready?
SEOL: Let me go up first.
We must check her condition first.
Sure.
Hold tight.
(suspenseful music)
SEOL: Yeseul.
-How is she?
-Her breathing is faint.
Dongwoo! Get me the intubation kit.
INTUBATION: PLACING A TUBE
INTO ONE'S TRACHEA
It's clogged with blood and edema.
We must take her to the hospital now.
Give me the small-sized stretcher.
One, two, three.
DOJIN: Carefully.
Be careful.
Slowly. In one, two, three.
We're sending her down.
Slowly.
Support it from the back.
(sobbing)
Excuse me, ma'am.
I'm with the police.
You need to tell me
how the accident happened.
We were on our way home
after my work at a diner.
-Let's go.
-Mom!
YOUNGSOON: She dropped her stuffed doll.
She ran toward the street to pick it up
and got hit by a car.
-(thuds)
-(screams)
How dare they hit and run in my district?
Did you see what car it was?
No, I don't know.
I think it was a white sedan.
That's enough.
Make sure to collect every single thing
left behind nearby from the vehicle.
-PIL: Yes, sir.
-Check all the CCTV footage in the area.
-MR. BAEK: Hurry and get moving.
-Okay. Let's move!
-Go.
-Okay.
Dojin, I need you to drive.
We must go as soon as possible.
-Okay. Dongwoo.
-DONGWOO: Yes.
-Clean up and follow us.
-Let me go with you.
-Ma'am.
-Yes?
-Let's go with the police car.
-HOGAE: And this motorcycle?
Let me borrow it.
(action music)
(sirens wailing)
She isn't breathing properly.
How's the saturation?
It's 53, and there's no pulse.
What should we do?
The airway is obstructed.
It takes at least 15 minutes
to the hospital.
-Prepare for needle cricothyroidotomy.
-What?
Wait. Let me call the ER first.
(suspenseful music)
-(yelps)
-(tires screeching)
That surprised me.
Are you okay, back there?
Dojin! Keep the speed steady at all costs!
(sirens wailing)
(in English)
Nice timing.
DONGWOO (in Korean):
Damn. Why aren't they picking up?
Let's just go to the hospital.
If her organs stop functioning,
she'll be brain-dead.
But we're in a moving car!
What if things go south?
Then will you move a dead body?
This is an ambulance, not a funeral car!
(sighs)
(suspenseful music)
No.
Darn it.
(car horns honking)
It worked.
(suspenseful music)
(breathes deeply)
Done.
Give me the tube.
Squeeze the Ambu bag.
AMBU: ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION DEVICE
(air hissing)
SEOL: How's the saturation now?
DONGWOO: It's increasing to 68.
(sighs)
Good. We bought some time.
Apnea with bleeding and swollen airway.
-So we had to perform cricothyroidotomy.
-Good job. She's going to survive.
What? Needle cricothyroidotomy?
SOOJIN: Are you insane?
It was an emergency,
and you didn't pick up.
DONGWOO: We couldn't help it.
A cervical spine injury might have caused
the respiratory failure.
But you still did it?
She was having cyanosis,
the saturation was going lower than 53,
and the airway was blocked.
Shouldn't we have done it?
JAEHEE: What's the saturation?
It's currently 89, sir.
It's good, then.
SOOJIN: Still
Would you be able
to conduct cricothyroidotomy
in a car driving at 100 km?
Pardon? That's
JAEHEE: Let the paramedics deal
with what happens in an ambulance.
Do a trauma series,
and prepare for a whole-body CT scan.
Yes, sir.
KCSI
POLICE
Did you check the footage?
And the license number?
There are only abandoned factories nearby,
so we couldn't find any useful footage.
So we're identifying the car model
with the skid mark.
You know that's not enough
to specify a model!
Mr. Baek, there really is nothing
on this street.
The kid bounced off the car!
It must have left something!
What are you waiting for? Go and search!
PIL: Yes, sir.
I found the materials.
(in English)
Okay.
ANNA (in Korean): Jeez. My eyes hurt.
(thrilling music)
Anna, did you find anything?
MATCH
The tire model is SB780.
It's for vehicles from H Motors.
But this is all we can get
with the skid mark.
Did you find anything else?
I found it.
I found it!
MR. BAEK: We found a fragment
from the headlight.
Now we can specify a car model, right?
Search as fast as possible.
We don't have time.
It's a white one
with comb and fanned-out patterns.
Please check thoroughly.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Yes, ma'am.
Hello, this is Taewon Fire House.
How did things go with Choi Yeseul,
the patient from this morning?
We found a subdural hemorrhage
from her brain CT scan
and decided to do
urgent brain surgery on her.
A brain surgery?
(tense music)
(cell phone buzzes)
Yes.
ANNA: We've found a model.
Is it an LF Sonata 2014 model?
How did you know?
I guessed. Bye.
It's an LF Sonata 2014 model!
-Let's track it down.
-Yes.
All right. Let the control room know.
Of all the white LF Sonatas
that passed the accident site
at around 4 a.m. today,
look for one with a damaged bumper
and a broken left headlight.
-Got it.
-Let's get them.
Let's do that.
ANNA: A request for real-time search.
It's a white LF Sonata.
It has a broken left headlight
and a possible damaged bumper
due to a collision with a pedestrian.
(sirens wailing)
Let's get right down to it.
Yes, I'm ready.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE DOCTOR CHA JAEHEE
This is patient Choi Yeseul's
whole-body X-ray scan.
(in English)
Thank you.
(slow music)
(door opens)
(in Korean) Sir, what are you doing?
We're ready for the surgery.
Well, I'm checking something.
Please check this car.
PIL: We've found it.
It's at Woosung-ro 398-gil.
Really? Then we'll hunt them down
right away.
Woosung-ro
The signal!
(suspenseful music)
PIL: It just entered
Woosung Mart's parking lot.
Jindo Dog and Polar Bear
are going to kill you now.
HOGAE: It might take some time.
There are seven basement floors.
People used to call me Polar Bear.
There was nothing I couldn't find.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
An LF Sonata.
HOGAE: LF, hold on.
No, it's the wrong one. Keep going.
There are too many white sedans.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
(tense music)
TAEWON FIRE HOUSE
TAEWON POLICE STATION
DISPATCHER: Dispatch for firefighters.
A report from the automatic fire alarm
at the Woosung Mart parking lot.
Dispatch for firefighting,
medical, and rescue teams.
(alarm blaring)
(suspenseful music)
It's not here, either.
MR. BAEK: This is the last turn.
What's that?
(in English)
Stop. Stop.
(suspenseful music)
(coughs, groans)
(in Korean)
This is the car.
MR. BAEK: Is someone inside?
DOJIN: Don't touch it!
Do you want to die of suffocation?
Hey.
DOJIN: Seol, wait.
Stand by.
-DOJIN: Check inside first!
-KISOO: Yes, sir!
DOJIN: I found the driver!
-Kisoo, come over.
-KISOO: Yes, sir.
DOJIN: Hold his upper body.
Let's lift him.
One, two, three.
-Slowly.
-Yes.
This is the emergency medical service.
Are you okay?
KISOO: He lit a charcoal briquette.
The fire is off, so we just need
to ventilate the place.
DOJIN:
Check if any others need help in here.
KISOO: Yes, sir.
-How's his pulse?
-It's stable, but he needs oxygenation.
(air hisses)
This jerk is the hit-and-runner
from this morning.
What a waste of oxygen.
He must be alive to pay the price.
(inhales sharply)
(retches)
How did you come so fast?
DOJIN: We got the fire alarm.
(Dongchul coughs)
What
happened to me?
Why do you even ask? You're doomed.
A piece of trash like you
must never drive again. Do you get it?
DOJIN: You even tried to start a fire.
Wasn't a hit-and-run enough?
I was too sorry for the child
(sobs)
I felt so guilty
that I wanted to kill myself.
I'm sorry.
What about the child?
What happened to her?
I stopped her bleeding,
but I'm not yet sure
if her brain is damaged.
What do you mean?
Don't tell me
she isn't going to be all right.
We'll have to see
how she recovers in the ICU.
(door opens)
Doctor, we have a CO-poisoned patient
being transferred to the ER.
Excuse me.
He attempted suicide by lighting
a charcoal briquette in his car.
Prepare for a hyperbaric chamber
and get me a sampling kit
-for arterial blood.
-NURSE 1: Got it.
-What is this?
-He's the hit-and-runner.
Remember patient Choi Yeseul
from this morning?
-Mr. Baek, the mom's here.
-What?
-HOGAE: Hey. Myeongpil!
-PIL: Ma'am!
-Wait.
-Because of you!
-Wait, ma'am!
-Because of you, my Yeseul
-HOGAE: Get her off!
-YOUNGSOON: Let go of me!
It was so hard
to raise her without her dad
-Calm down.
-JAEHEE: Enough!
You damn scum!
I'll sue whoever makes a scene in my ER
for obstruction of business.
-JAEHEE: Let's move the patient.
-NURSE 2: Yes, sir.
What were you doing?
Why couldn't you see us come in?
Do you have a moment?
I have something to tell you.
I can't leave without my cuffs, anyway.
Officer Song, come with us.
You were there at the scene.
Sure.
-Myeongpil.
-Yes.
Go back to the station
now that we got him.
Why are you trying to send me back?
Just go back.
Being a bear doesn't suit you anymore.
Hurry on. Go quietly.
JAEHEE: Multiple fractures
on her heel bones
and her fingers and toes.
I see signs of bony callus
and subperiosteal osteogenesis.
Given that the fractures
are parallel to the growth plate,
it was caused by shearing force
or blunt force.
-Some injuries are healed
-Tell me
-you don't get it either.
-but some aren't.
Just act like you do.
Throughout her body,
there are 16 fractures
unrelated to the car accident.
They all have different healing.
It means, this has happened
for a long time.
Do you know
what children's bones are called?
A witness of abuse.
Are you saying these fractures
were made by child abuse,
not the car accident?
And I also see an unusual wound.
Do you see a unique mark here?
JAEHEE: It might be a trace
of what was used to abuse her,
but I'm not sure what it is.
(tense music)
So in short,
it has become a child abuse case
the moment we got the hit-and-runner.
Oh.
EUNJANDI KINDERGARTEN
TEACHERS' OFFICE
Yeseul started going to our kindergarten
about a year and a half ago.
TEACHER: As you can see,
she was a bright and ordinary child.
You're right.
She doesn't seem to be hurting anywhere.
Didn't she look intimidated
or appear anxious?
We would have noticed it right away, then.
I heard she did homeschooling
before going to kindergarten.
Maybe because her mom educated her well,
she was a polite and nice girl.
How was her relationship with her mom?
Would you like to see for yourselves?
(Pil scoffs)
She just loves her mom very much.
HOGAE: I don't smell anything.
As far as I know,
Yeseul doesn't have a dad.
TEACHER: That's her uncle, I heard.
CHOI YESEUL
YOUNGSOON:
I told Yeseul to call him Uncle.
He used to be a regular
at the diner I worked at,
and we dated a little.
-But
-Feel free to tell us.
(sighs)
He said we'd need a room
for Yeseul when we got together.
He wanted me to cancel my savings
to get a cheap lease,
and he disappeared with that money.
(sniffles)
Later on, I found out
that he used a fake name,
and his phone was out of service.
He was just a con artist.
(sighs)
Was there any time
when he was alone with Yeseul?
He would babysit her
when I was busy with my work.
Why do you ask?
-PIL: The thing is
-(sighs)
Actually, Yeseul
Hey.
HOGAE: Well
We'll catch that con artist, too.
File a complaint before you leave.
Sure.
CHOI YESEUL, (AGE 7 / FEMALE)
JOO YOUNGSOON (AGE 42 / FEMALE)
His fake name is Kim Chulho.
He's in his mid-40s.
He started seeing Yeseul's mom
three years ago.
He went off the grid seven months ago.
What about his phone?
It's a prepaid phone under a foreigner,
and he used a resale telecom service.
I smell something very lousy.
ANNA: But there aren't any pictures
or footage of them together.
The prepaid phone's the only trace.
A resale telecom service doesn't keep
any info more than three months old.
So we can't track that.
I do smell it,
but we aren't sure
this bastard is a child abuser.
If he's not a child abuser,
we'll arrest him for fraud.
He must have done this many times.
I doubt it'll be easy to find him.
A prepaid phone under a foreigner's name.
UNIDENTIFIED (MALE)
FAKE NAME: KIM CHULHO
Not many resale telecom services
would provide it.
Tell me about it.
Where are you calling?
Let me take this chance
to get a new phone.
(tense music)
CHIYOUNG: Did you ask for me?
Mr. Ma, you need to be careful,
for the time being.
Don't overact.
Get in.
Get me a phone that's perfectly laundered.
(ominous music)
TAEWON FIRE HOUSE
DOJIN: What?
Why are you handwashing it?
Just put it in a washing machine.
SEOL: You have to hand-wash the blood off.
What's up?
Yeseul hasn't been able to wake up
after the operation.
I see.
Move aside.
You've got to do this
when you hand-wash something.
No, let me do it.
Seol.
She will wake up. Don't worry.
SEOL: There.
DOJIN: Well, Seol
This may sound old-fashioned,
but first responders must move on
the moment they leave patients in the ER.
Only then, they can keep working, no?
I know.
Maybe I still have this habit I got
from working at a hospital.
I keep dwelling on them.
Especially when it's a child.
Right. It's not easy.
Do you regret changing your job
from a nurse to a paramedic?
Sometimes, I miss
an aseptic operating room
that doesn't shake.
But now, I've gotten used
to the field style.
Right, working in the field suits you.
DOJIN: Thanks for the food.
How can you be having late-night snacks
when I'm working my butt off
to catch a child abuser?
Don't even think of mooching us off,
and go on your way.
-I'll go my way.
-Sit down.
After I have just one.
DOJIN: How dense.
It doesn't taste the same.
They have a new part-timer.
That's not important right now.
Look, detective.
SEOL: Did you find out who abused Yeseul?
You ask me as if I must tell you.
She was abused to have fractures
mostly at the ends of her body.
It's really strange.
-What about it?
-How are you this dense?
See?
When one gets attacked,
they crouch down like you just did.
So small children tend to have fractures
on large bones,
such as ribs or backbones when abused.
But it's the opposite for Yeseul.
You could have just explained it
in a calm, intellectual manner,
instead of what you did just now.
Investigate it properly,
or you'll see me do it for real.
(sucks teeth)
I can't believe a paramedic
is giving me an investigative order.
You were begging us to cooperate before.
Okay, so you're smelling something.
See?
Now that you smell something,
you need to come at it.
Ms. Minnow, you have a mutt spirit, too.
-DOJIN: Hey.
-What the
Don't call her a mutt.
(clicks tongue)
So annoying.
-Bulldozer!
-What?
Don't cut the noodles.
It'll cut the case flow.
(slurping)
DOJIN: Are you kidding me?
Don't cross your legs.
It will twist the case.
Darn it.
Good. I like how obedient you two are.
All right. As of this moment,
you will have trouble sleeping at night
until this case is solved.
You will even have nightmares.
I guarantee.
I'll go my way.
SEOL: Did he have to say such a thing?
DOJIN: That damn mutt.
Darn Jindo Dog I mean, mutt.
(exhales sharply)
(sighs)
(eerie music)
(door opens)
What's with the face? Couldn't you sleep?
I even caught the ghost.
The teddy bear.
-What?
-At that time,
we couldn't find the teddy bear
at the accident scene.
-So?
-"So?"
That's for the detective to solve.
(cell phone buzzes)
MAN 1: Come pay
for the laundry in cash, deal?
COME PAY FOR THE LAUNDRY IN CASH, DEAL?
Nice. Let me get a new phone.
I'm taking the stairs.
What was that?
MR. BAEK: Darn it.
I'm here to get the phone.
It's going to take forever
to pick all these baseballs.
MAN 1: Pay me in cash. I'll check
the amount and give you the item on spot.
(playful music)
(grunts)
Payment first.
Goodbye.
(upbeat music)
Let's go.
PIL: Should I get the car?
HOGAE: We don't need a car
to follow an old man.
-He's riding a bicycle.
-Hey, get the car.
-No, let's just run.
-Oh, my.
-Darn.
-Be careful.
HOGAE: Keep the distance.
We're not catching him.
We're only following.
-He's going so slowly.
-Take this.
Why are you giving me this?
(upbeat music)
CAR REPAIR SHOP
Good work, sir.
Bye.
Move back.
-MAN 1: Who are you?
-The police, you bastard.
MAN 1: What the
PIL: We know everything, punk.
Stay still.
Look who this is.
Are you up to something shady again?
I'm quite popular among women.
Why? Are you even trying
to meddle with my privacy now?
Look at yourself in the mirror.
Your looks tell me otherwise.
Let's please avoid crossing paths.
I have my eye on you. Okay?
Don't do anything bad, you punk.
SPECIAL HEAT PAINTING
HOGAE: Myeongpil,
what are the last four digits?
PIL: Of my number?
Seriously?
-The con artist's number.
-It's 3452.
HOGAE: Here it is.
It's under a foreign name, too.
Hey, who bought this?
I don't know.
You know we don't do
real-name transactions.
As if that's something to brag.
Just be quiet, you bastard.
What? This punk has two phones.
What?
HOGAE: The recent deal
was made three weeks ago.
-Is it the same location?
-Yes, right.
WAJID, PAKISTAN, 3452,
12, YANGDEUK-GU 35-GIL
HOGAE (singing):
I hope pining for you ♪
Will help us cross paths one day ♪
You need to stop pining for criminals.
You meet them only when you're desperate.
PIL: There he is.
Shoot, it's his back.
Turn around. Come on.
Turn it back to before I met ♪
Stop singing. It's noisy.
Hold on. This guy is
(ominous music)
The victim received the deposit.
Thanks to it,
the release has been decided.
Darn, of course. I deposited so much
for the settlement money.
Where are you?
PIL: Why was the hit-and-runner there?
The child's mother and the assailant
already knew each other.
They tried to make a fool
out of the police.
(cell phone buzzing)
Hello?
Yes. We'll go to the NFS right away.
HONG: I stretched
this three-dimensional mark
out to be two-dimensional.
Do you see it now?
Isn't that a tire mark?
It's the same mark as the one
on the victim's stockings
that the Traffic Science Department
filmed with an infrared camera.
HONG: As the vehicle ran over the victim,
the tire mark was stamped on her skin.
She was crushed by a wheel.
Did she get hit from the side?
No, she got hit head-on.
And she wasn't crushed.
Right, it can't be wrong,
because it's her mom's statement.
Traces don't lie.
But people do.
HOGAE: Look.
The victim bounced off this way.
The assailant's car made a U-turn here.
And he ran off that way.
She couldn't have been crushed.
Exactly. I don't understand.
(siren wailing)
24 HOURS
DELIVERY'S HERE
-Get that guy. Hey!
-What? Why?
HOGAE AND PIL: Hey!
-HOGAE: Hold on.
-PIL: Hey, you!
(action music)
(Pil panting)
(Pil coughs)
I crossed the centerline only a little
while making a turn.
Please don't give me a ticket.
How's your business these days?
We have it going very well
in this neighborhood.
What about Sundays?
Do you make deliveries on Sundays?
Gosh. Delivery men must work on weekends.
HOGAE: Let us borrow this.
FASTEST AND MOST PRECISE
DELIVERY'S HERE
We've had it installed
instead of dash cams.
At 4:30 a.m. yesterday
Which street number was it?
-Street 38.
-Did you pass Street 38 or not?
We must pass that street
to go to Onjo Apartments.
Just a second.
Let me check yesterday's deliveries.
Right. There was one.
But it wasn't 4:30 a.m., but 4 a.m.
for the last delivery with pork trotters.
Only if they made an order
30 minutes later.
What a bummer.
Let's watch it.
Why should we bother?
The time's different.
-Why you little
-Will you please hurry up and play it?
DELIVERY MAN: Sure.
HOGAE: Deliberate assailants
always check the place in advance.
Stop. Rewind it.
-But there was nothing.
-(clicks)
Stop. Play it from there.
PIL: Wait. That car
(tense music)
What on earth?
Darn you.
Stay over there.
Do I press this?
PIL: Oh, no. Don't do it.
Goodness. Oh, please.
All right.
We need our imagination from now on.
I once said
an investigation was like a jigsaw.
It's Tetris this time.
The puzzles are so random.
They lost contact seven months ago.
They met again as the assailant
and victim of the hit-and-run.
She was all mad after the accident.
But she agreed to settle soon afterward.
These people are unbelievable.
What is it? Did you get it?
Minnow was right
about the missing teddy bear.
Who's Minnow? You mean Officer Song Seol?
Let's go. We have one last puzzle left.
Hey, tell Polar Bear to come.
And you, thanks.
-No problem.
-Bye.
(doorbell dings)
Why you little
(both chuckle)
Everything's set.
We just need
to call them over and get them.
No, we shouldn't underestimate them.
Let's take this artistically.
We'll exaggerate things a bit.
Let's see how Polar Bear
shows off his skills.
(monitor beeping rapidly)
Cardiac arrest!
-Dr. Han, get ready for intubation.
-SOOJIN: Yes, sir.
(somber music)
JAEHEE: Where's the patient's mother?
(tense music)
Let's get started.
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 1
OBSERVING ROOM
The fire station called regarding Yeseul.
Yeah?
Okay.
MR. BAEK: What is it?
Mr. Um Dongchul.
Are you prepared to pay 150 million won?
I'm assuming it'll be around that much.
What do you mean?
I'm insured.
Haven't they informed you yet?
The victim was declared
brain-dead just now.
Brain-dead?
Legally, brain death is applied
the same as death.
The story has changed.
It's now a hit-and-run death case,
not a simple hit-and-run.
In this case,
you'll have to pay 150 million won,
and the actual sentence
will be around 15 years.
(exhales heavily)
I've reflected on myself
and regretted it so much, too.
I even tried to kill myself.
You know that.
You saw it for yourself.
I did, but the judge didn't.
But
(sighs)
You said it wouldn't take long.
Why aren't you letting me go?
Right now,
Mr. Um Dongchul, the hit-and-runner,
is in the next room.
Is that so?
(tense music)
(door opens)
-What is it?
-Ms. Joo Youngsoon, you're in trouble.
What? Why?
Mr. Um Dongchul said something strange,
and it could work against you.
-What
-Excuse me.
(cell phone buzzes)
Yes, Detective Jin.
He'll confess?
All right. I'll be right there.
PIL: Just a moment.
MR. BAEK: Goodness.
Guess how Detective Jin is called
in the police station.
The bastard Jindo Dog.
Once he's after someone,
he makes sure they end up in tatters.
Mr. Um Dongchul was very unlucky today.
He's probably begging the detective
to kill him.
I see.
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 2
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 1
So, the stories from both sides
should correspond.
MR. BAEK: Otherwise,
the case can't be valid.
Goodness.
Unbelievable.
The child's mom is claiming
something strange.
She says all this was your scheme.
What? Do you know each other?
No.
What are you talking about?
(cell phone buzzing)
It's from next door.
Yes.
What?
You found that?
Well, I think we should have
braised chicken for dinner.
I'll be right there. Bye.
Did they find something?
(sighs)
(tense music)
Three, two, one.
DONGWOO: That woman made me do it!
(in English)
Bingo.
DONGWOO (in Korean):
That woman made me do it!
This damn piece of trash.
Detective, this is a total lie.
PIL: Get in.
You got the wrong room.
We got the wrong room. Come back out.
Hey! Are you trying
to put the blame on me?
Look who's talking.
You suggested we go for a big one!
This is all because you drove too fast.
You shouldn't have pushed her.
You killed her!
I didn't push her! She
Cut. Let's stop acting now.
"Yesterday's ally becomes today's enemy."
PIL: I'd say that in your case.
Now that things turned out this way,
let's do a joint interview.
Have a seat.
What is going on now?
You were so good at acting
that we almost got fooled.
Take a seat here.
Come on. They were terrible at acting.
That's why they got caught.
Look here.
You shouldn't lead us on like this.
Right, you don't even have evidence.
What are you talking about?
Yeseul, that child herself,
is the evidence.
I don't understand.
There's something common
in her 16 fractures.
HOGAE: They're all worth tens
of millions of won.
If an injury can cause
a permanent impairment to one's body,
they can receive accident insurance money
according to the payment rate.
(sighs)
INSURANCE STAFF:
All these fractures were the case.
They got five million won
as the heel bone fracture was accepted
as a defect by 3%.
And the wrist.
A normal wrist should be 210 degrees
when turned, but it wasn't.
Thus, it was accepted by 3%,
which got them 9 million.
With 2 insurance plans, it was 15 million.
This one was about the aftereffect defect
caused by her left baby finger fracture.
They demanded 30 million won in total.
"A special option for a 100,000-won cast
per 1 cm of a wound?"
-You even have such a thing?
-(scoffs)
MR. BAEK: We have just about everything.
You joined seven accident insurance plans
under Yeseul's name
and received a total of 85,470,000 won.
MR. BAEK: She's like a goose
that lays golden eggs
No, a lucky charm
that gets you insurance money.
Is it a new kind of investment?
(nervous chuckle)
Detective, I think you're mistaken.
Yeseul is such an active child
with fragile bones,
so she easily tripped and broke her bones.
It's not wrong to take insurance money
for her injuries, is it?
(thumps on table)
You're a horrible actor,
but you keep trying to act.
Yeseul's insurance guarantees
up to 800 million won.
You must have wanted
to get the most out of it.
But the payment rate wouldn't be 100%
unless you lose your sight or something.
The rate of a fracture
would be only around 3%.
That's why you pulled a trick.
Your next target was to cut off her foot
and take 240 million with the 30% rate.
With the weekend option,
it was to double the amount, 480 million.
So you deliberately went to a street
with no CCTV cameras at dawn on Sunday.
Oh! You're crossing a line here.
Are you saying we cut off her foot?
I couldn't believe it, either,
until I saw it for myself.
(tense music)
Thirty minutes before the accident,
this scene was filmed
on a delivery man's body cam.
PIL: It may not be too clear,
but I'll zoom in and make it brighter.
There were actually
two accidents that day.
Let me see.
She's fine. Try turning your ankle.
You should have done it properly.
MR. BAEK: Children's bones are elastic,
so they don't break easily.
Besides, the pressure of a wheel
isn't too serious
without much speed.
Of course, it did leave a mark.
So you sped up for the second accident.
-(Dongchul yelps)
-(body thuds)
And to reduce your sentence
for the hit-and-run,
you even put up a suicide show.
I
almost died there.
In case you'd die,
you didn't lock the doors
and parked your car
right below the fire alarm.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
(somber music)
(sighs)
Throughout this brutal show,
you were sincere about one thing.
That you begged us to save Yeseul.
Please save my girl!
Oh, goodness!
What about the child?
What happened to her?
But even that wasn't for Yeseul.
How can you say that?
This is too much.
Because you wouldn't get
to take the money if she died.
Children less than 13
can't join death insurance,
in case pieces of trash like you
might kill them.
(suspenseful music)
CHOI YESEUL
CHOI YESEUL
PIL: There are four candles on the cake.
It's her fourth birthday
three years ago, right?
There's something strange
about this drawing.
Her right foot is colored orange,
but her left foot is colored white.
Guess why.
Maybe she wore a different pair.
A cast.
On May 9, Yeseul's birthday, 3 years ago,
you got five million won
for her left heel bone fracture.
INSURANCE MONEY: 5 MILLION WON
Wasn't this the beginning?
She happened to get into an accident,
and you unexpectedly got five million won
as insurance money.
-Happy birthday, dear Yeseul ♪
-Happy birthday, dear Yeseul ♪
-Happy birthday to you ♪
-Happy birthday to you ♪
Blow off the candles.
(blows air)
-Good job.
-(laughter)
This is a gift for you, Yeseul.
-HOGAE: The whole family must've partied.
-A teddy bear!
HOGAE: Yeseul must have been happy, too.
-YOUNGSOON: Do you love it?
-YESEUL: Yes.
-YOUNGSOON: Should I unwrap it for you?
-YESEUL: Yes.
After that, you joined
eight more insurance plans under her name.
Yeseul probably didn't mind getting hurt.
That way, money would be deposited
and you two would be happy.
HOGAE: She loved her mom dearly.
She must have wanted
to do anything her mom wanted.
Even a car accident.
YOUNGSOON:
You should have done it properly.
Drive yourself, then.
I'm about to become a criminal. Darn it.
Mom, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad.
Can't we do it again?
Mom, I'll do better.
HOGAE: She was sorry
that she got hurt less.
MR. BAEK: She even decided to
(somber music)
-Yeseul!
-What the
-(tires screech)
-(bangs)
-(screams)
-(body thuds)
(Youngsoon screams)
YOUNGSOON: My goodness! Yeseul!
Hey!
Open the window. You hit her too hard!
She ran toward me.
What was I supposed to do?
What do we do?
Whatever. I'm leaving.
Hey! Darn it.
YOUNGSOON: Darn.
YESEUL: Mom.
Where are you?
Mom.
Mom
Are we having another party tomorrow?
Buy me a chocolate cake
Only then, her mom would give her a smile.
Her name "Yeseul" means
pretty and wise.
(Mr. Baek breathes heavily)
(somber music)
MR. BAEK: She was too pretty and too wise.
That's
That's why.
(crying)
(crying continues)
What have I done?
What have I
(knocks on door)
Hey.
About Yeseul
SEOL: She woke up and was moved
to a general ward just now.
I stopped them from calling her mom.
The teddy bear she dropped
wasn't at the accident site.
Her mom's lying.
The brain swelling got reduced,
and the damage was minimized.
They say it's a miracle.
(exhales heavily)
(exhales deeply)
The permanent damage rate
must be pretty high.
Unbelievable.
You're still not back to your senses!
Hey. I'm going to make you pay back
all the money you took
and rot in prison all life,
you darn pieces of trash.
(intense music)
SOON: If you hadn't conducted
needle cricothyroidotomy
on patient Choi Yeseul
while transferring her,
would she have died?
(Dongwoo sighs)
We wouldn't know.
SOON: Right. It's something
only a deity would know.
That's why there are restrictions
to the fire crew's work.
Needle cricothyroidotomy
isn't part of our work. You know that.
You know she couldn't help it
in that situation.
Fortunately, the child's mom
doesn't want to make an issue out of it,
so you'll only be punished
with a month's pay-cut.
A pay-cut? But she only tried
to save the child.
Yes, ma'am. I fully understand.
Jeez. What's with this mood?
Hey. This isn't even new
to have our colleague get punished.
Stop being so down,
or the chief will have no choice,
but to treat us to dinner.
Pardon?
(Dongwoo chuckles)
(chuckles)
I was going to do that, anyway.
Oh, really?
She made such a decision
in that difficult situation.
If I were a deity, I'd commend Seol.
I'll treat you guys to dinner for Seol.
-Okay!
-Yes!
-Dinner sounds great!
-Let's get ready.
MR. BAEK: Jindo Dog.
You should have told us
that the child woke up.
And you should have told me
that your child got injured then.
PIL: Did you know?
Of course, he suddenly stormed out
in the middle of his lecture.
It's eight years ago already, right?
Goodness. It's all right now.
(clears throat)
Don't you think
we worked pretty well together this time?
Yes. But your acting skills
aren't good enough.
-You don't seem genuine.
-Right.
Why you damn little mutt
It was an act. I was acting.
(laughing)
Are you kidding me?
Just have this. It's to die for.
It really is to die for.
I'll go home now.
I have to testify at a trial soon.
You're leaving now?
You should stay and have some more.
Then why did she even come?
-Why?
-Just sit down.
-We should have ordered a smaller one.
-Hello.
Hey, fire crew!
What?
It's a little noisy here.
Let's go somewhere else.
DOJIN: Let's do that.
Why? Do you have a problem with us?
You would have passed the golden hour
without Detective Jin's help.
The child arrived in time
and survived thanks to him.
Do you not know,
or are you just feigning ignorance?
(scoffs)
If our paramedic hadn't found
something suspicious
from the victim's fractures,
you wouldn't have gotten
the insurance fraud.
-Ma'am, let's just go somewhere else.
-Right, let's.
No, why should we go?
This place is delicious.
MR. BAEK: It's here.
Chief, let me pour you a drink.
All right.
-Let's clink our glasses.
-Here.
-Cheers to the fire crew.
-Cheers.
Cheers for the fire crew
Do you want a soju bomb?
No, I only drink soju.
Let me pour you some.
SEOL: Pour me some, too.
Okay.
I called the hospital
and heard something weird.
That said some cop paid
for Yeseul's hospital fees.
Why is that weird?
I sent her mom to prison.
I charged her with 23 more criminal acts,
so she'll be stuck in prison
for quite some time.
Anyway, I'll get to sleep now,
thanks to you.
See?
You called me a mad dog and a mutt,
but you're actually
quite persistent, Ms. Minnow.
You're persistent and skilled.
Just what did you do so wrong
that made you demoted to this suburb?
I wasn't demoted.
I volunteered to work here.
Good.
You must be busy lately.
Your father is very worried.
And aren't you busy, Chief Prosecutor?
Your son seems to be doing very well.
It's good that I'm taking a breather,
thanks to you.
But I know you're doing this for a reason.
TAEHWA: Did my father say he'll make you
a Minister of Justice or something
if he takes the presidency?
We both got our hands dirty.
That means we're in the same boat.
Don't you agree,
Chief Prosecutor Jin Chuljoong?
(tense music)
Let me deliver a word
from Assemblyman Ma Joongdo.
"For the time being,
stay dead."
(tense music)
I won't die alone.
You ran into the Jindo Dog of all people?
I apologize, sir.
You see,
I become very displeased
when my plan doesn't go accordingly.
Do you get it?
Why don't you just hire someone
to take care of him quietly?
Hey.
You want to bring me down, don't you?
You want me to rot in prison
for abetting murder.
CHIYOUNG: Of course, not.
As you already know,
he isn't an easy deal.
Exactly.
We need a bigger plan for that bastard.
CHIYOUNG: What are you going to do?
Something
that suits a rabid dog.
-Oh, please.
-What?
Soda? Seriously?
(glasses clinking)
A SPREE WITH FULL ITEMS
LOOKING FOR A TOUGH WORKER
(background chatter)
I'VE GOT LOTS OF BURNER PHONES,
CONTACT ME.
DOJIN: What are you doing?
What?
A civil servant can't have two jobs.
It's for a sting operation.
I provide an outreach arrest service
for criminals.
Sounds generous.
(cell phone buzzes)
There we go.
MAN 2: Let's do an interview soon.
He caught the bait.
(closing theme music)
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
(closing theme music)
HOGAE: Do I look like a thug?
You already look like a thug.
MAN 3: The company name changed.
From a year to five years.
-What does he mean by five years?
-HOGAE: Murder.
ANNA: If this was fabricated,
there must be a trace.
HOGAE: Is the hoodie our target?
MAN 3: There's no wound.
You're not experienced, are you?
HOGAE: The mud in the hallway
explodes when it meets water.
SEOL: It means if the sprinklers
are activated remotely,
it can explode anytime.
SOON: Don't ask why,
and just hurry out of there!
(explosion)
(closing theme music)
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
(theme music)
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
ALL CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS,
ORGANIZATIONS, INCIDENTS, GROUPS,
AND BACKGROUNDS DEPICTED IN THIS DRAMA
ARE ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS
(water trickling)
(clanking)
Thanks.
Is it good?
Yes.
If there's more, you should have it.
(chuckles)
CHOI YESEUL
CODE V30: DISEASE CODE ISSUED WHEN
A PEDESTRIAN IS INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDEN
DISPATCHER: All vehicles,
turn on a lightbar.
The view isn't clear due to the fog.
All vehicles, turn on a lightbar.
The view isn't clear due to the fog.
Make sure you keep the siren on
and drive safely but quickly.
TO GET TO THE ACCIDENT SITE
SAFELY BUT QUICKLY (FIRE CREW JARGON)
(sirens wailing)
Hey, what's going on?
Why isn't there anything?
-You're here.
-Where is the victim?
-Where is it?
-Over there.
YOUNGSOON: Please help my Yeseul!
Oh, no.
What?
Please save my girl!
Oh, goodness!
(Youngsoon crying)
How did this happen?
It seems she got hit by a car
and bounced off up there.
-SEOL: Is her name Yeseul?
-Yes.
Yeseul, are you okay?
SEOL: Can you hear me?
What are you doing? Get the ladder!
-DONGWOO: Yes, sir.
-MR. BAEK: Who's this bastard
that hit a kid and ran off?
That damn despicable bastard.
Don't mess with Mr. Baek today.
He loses it with hit-and-run cases.
PIL: There's a reason behind it.
(suspenseful music)
-DONGWOO: The ladder's ready.
-DOJIN: Is it ready?
SEOL: Let me go up first.
We must check her condition first.
Sure.
Hold tight.
(suspenseful music)
SEOL: Yeseul.
-How is she?
-Her breathing is faint.
Dongwoo! Get me the intubation kit.
INTUBATION: PLACING A TUBE
INTO ONE'S TRACHEA
It's clogged with blood and edema.
We must take her to the hospital now.
Give me the small-sized stretcher.
One, two, three.
DOJIN: Carefully.
Be careful.
Slowly. In one, two, three.
We're sending her down.
Slowly.
Support it from the back.
(sobbing)
Excuse me, ma'am.
I'm with the police.
You need to tell me
how the accident happened.
We were on our way home
after my work at a diner.
-Let's go.
-Mom!
YOUNGSOON: She dropped her stuffed doll.
She ran toward the street to pick it up
and got hit by a car.
-(thuds)
-(screams)
How dare they hit and run in my district?
Did you see what car it was?
No, I don't know.
I think it was a white sedan.
That's enough.
Make sure to collect every single thing
left behind nearby from the vehicle.
-PIL: Yes, sir.
-Check all the CCTV footage in the area.
-MR. BAEK: Hurry and get moving.
-Okay. Let's move!
-Go.
-Okay.
Dojin, I need you to drive.
We must go as soon as possible.
-Okay. Dongwoo.
-DONGWOO: Yes.
-Clean up and follow us.
-Let me go with you.
-Ma'am.
-Yes?
-Let's go with the police car.
-HOGAE: And this motorcycle?
Let me borrow it.
(action music)
(sirens wailing)
She isn't breathing properly.
How's the saturation?
It's 53, and there's no pulse.
What should we do?
The airway is obstructed.
It takes at least 15 minutes
to the hospital.
-Prepare for needle cricothyroidotomy.
-What?
Wait. Let me call the ER first.
(suspenseful music)
-(yelps)
-(tires screeching)
That surprised me.
Are you okay, back there?
Dojin! Keep the speed steady at all costs!
(sirens wailing)
(in English)
Nice timing.
DONGWOO (in Korean):
Damn. Why aren't they picking up?
Let's just go to the hospital.
If her organs stop functioning,
she'll be brain-dead.
But we're in a moving car!
What if things go south?
Then will you move a dead body?
This is an ambulance, not a funeral car!
(sighs)
(suspenseful music)
No.
Darn it.
(car horns honking)
It worked.
(suspenseful music)
(breathes deeply)
Done.
Give me the tube.
Squeeze the Ambu bag.
AMBU: ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION DEVICE
(air hissing)
SEOL: How's the saturation now?
DONGWOO: It's increasing to 68.
(sighs)
Good. We bought some time.
Apnea with bleeding and swollen airway.
-So we had to perform cricothyroidotomy.
-Good job. She's going to survive.
What? Needle cricothyroidotomy?
SOOJIN: Are you insane?
It was an emergency,
and you didn't pick up.
DONGWOO: We couldn't help it.
A cervical spine injury might have caused
the respiratory failure.
But you still did it?
She was having cyanosis,
the saturation was going lower than 53,
and the airway was blocked.
Shouldn't we have done it?
JAEHEE: What's the saturation?
It's currently 89, sir.
It's good, then.
SOOJIN: Still
Would you be able
to conduct cricothyroidotomy
in a car driving at 100 km?
Pardon? That's
JAEHEE: Let the paramedics deal
with what happens in an ambulance.
Do a trauma series,
and prepare for a whole-body CT scan.
Yes, sir.
KCSI
POLICE
Did you check the footage?
And the license number?
There are only abandoned factories nearby,
so we couldn't find any useful footage.
So we're identifying the car model
with the skid mark.
You know that's not enough
to specify a model!
Mr. Baek, there really is nothing
on this street.
The kid bounced off the car!
It must have left something!
What are you waiting for? Go and search!
PIL: Yes, sir.
I found the materials.
(in English)
Okay.
ANNA (in Korean): Jeez. My eyes hurt.
(thrilling music)
Anna, did you find anything?
MATCH
The tire model is SB780.
It's for vehicles from H Motors.
But this is all we can get
with the skid mark.
Did you find anything else?
I found it.
I found it!
MR. BAEK: We found a fragment
from the headlight.
Now we can specify a car model, right?
Search as fast as possible.
We don't have time.
It's a white one
with comb and fanned-out patterns.
Please check thoroughly.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Yes, ma'am.
Hello, this is Taewon Fire House.
How did things go with Choi Yeseul,
the patient from this morning?
We found a subdural hemorrhage
from her brain CT scan
and decided to do
urgent brain surgery on her.
A brain surgery?
(tense music)
(cell phone buzzes)
Yes.
ANNA: We've found a model.
Is it an LF Sonata 2014 model?
How did you know?
I guessed. Bye.
It's an LF Sonata 2014 model!
-Let's track it down.
-Yes.
All right. Let the control room know.
Of all the white LF Sonatas
that passed the accident site
at around 4 a.m. today,
look for one with a damaged bumper
and a broken left headlight.
-Got it.
-Let's get them.
Let's do that.
ANNA: A request for real-time search.
It's a white LF Sonata.
It has a broken left headlight
and a possible damaged bumper
due to a collision with a pedestrian.
(sirens wailing)
Let's get right down to it.
Yes, I'm ready.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE DOCTOR CHA JAEHEE
This is patient Choi Yeseul's
whole-body X-ray scan.
(in English)
Thank you.
(slow music)
(door opens)
(in Korean) Sir, what are you doing?
We're ready for the surgery.
Well, I'm checking something.
Please check this car.
PIL: We've found it.
It's at Woosung-ro 398-gil.
Really? Then we'll hunt them down
right away.
Woosung-ro
The signal!
(suspenseful music)
PIL: It just entered
Woosung Mart's parking lot.
Jindo Dog and Polar Bear
are going to kill you now.
HOGAE: It might take some time.
There are seven basement floors.
People used to call me Polar Bear.
There was nothing I couldn't find.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
An LF Sonata.
HOGAE: LF, hold on.
No, it's the wrong one. Keep going.
There are too many white sedans.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
(tense music)
TAEWON FIRE HOUSE
TAEWON POLICE STATION
DISPATCHER: Dispatch for firefighters.
A report from the automatic fire alarm
at the Woosung Mart parking lot.
Dispatch for firefighting,
medical, and rescue teams.
(alarm blaring)
(suspenseful music)
It's not here, either.
MR. BAEK: This is the last turn.
What's that?
(in English)
Stop. Stop.
(suspenseful music)
(coughs, groans)
(in Korean)
This is the car.
MR. BAEK: Is someone inside?
DOJIN: Don't touch it!
Do you want to die of suffocation?
Hey.
DOJIN: Seol, wait.
Stand by.
-DOJIN: Check inside first!
-KISOO: Yes, sir!
DOJIN: I found the driver!
-Kisoo, come over.
-KISOO: Yes, sir.
DOJIN: Hold his upper body.
Let's lift him.
One, two, three.
-Slowly.
-Yes.
This is the emergency medical service.
Are you okay?
KISOO: He lit a charcoal briquette.
The fire is off, so we just need
to ventilate the place.
DOJIN:
Check if any others need help in here.
KISOO: Yes, sir.
-How's his pulse?
-It's stable, but he needs oxygenation.
(air hisses)
This jerk is the hit-and-runner
from this morning.
What a waste of oxygen.
He must be alive to pay the price.
(inhales sharply)
(retches)
How did you come so fast?
DOJIN: We got the fire alarm.
(Dongchul coughs)
What
happened to me?
Why do you even ask? You're doomed.
A piece of trash like you
must never drive again. Do you get it?
DOJIN: You even tried to start a fire.
Wasn't a hit-and-run enough?
I was too sorry for the child
(sobs)
I felt so guilty
that I wanted to kill myself.
I'm sorry.
What about the child?
What happened to her?
I stopped her bleeding,
but I'm not yet sure
if her brain is damaged.
What do you mean?
Don't tell me
she isn't going to be all right.
We'll have to see
how she recovers in the ICU.
(door opens)
Doctor, we have a CO-poisoned patient
being transferred to the ER.
Excuse me.
He attempted suicide by lighting
a charcoal briquette in his car.
Prepare for a hyperbaric chamber
and get me a sampling kit
-for arterial blood.
-NURSE 1: Got it.
-What is this?
-He's the hit-and-runner.
Remember patient Choi Yeseul
from this morning?
-Mr. Baek, the mom's here.
-What?
-HOGAE: Hey. Myeongpil!
-PIL: Ma'am!
-Wait.
-Because of you!
-Wait, ma'am!
-Because of you, my Yeseul
-HOGAE: Get her off!
-YOUNGSOON: Let go of me!
It was so hard
to raise her without her dad
-Calm down.
-JAEHEE: Enough!
You damn scum!
I'll sue whoever makes a scene in my ER
for obstruction of business.
-JAEHEE: Let's move the patient.
-NURSE 2: Yes, sir.
What were you doing?
Why couldn't you see us come in?
Do you have a moment?
I have something to tell you.
I can't leave without my cuffs, anyway.
Officer Song, come with us.
You were there at the scene.
Sure.
-Myeongpil.
-Yes.
Go back to the station
now that we got him.
Why are you trying to send me back?
Just go back.
Being a bear doesn't suit you anymore.
Hurry on. Go quietly.
JAEHEE: Multiple fractures
on her heel bones
and her fingers and toes.
I see signs of bony callus
and subperiosteal osteogenesis.
Given that the fractures
are parallel to the growth plate,
it was caused by shearing force
or blunt force.
-Some injuries are healed
-Tell me
-you don't get it either.
-but some aren't.
Just act like you do.
Throughout her body,
there are 16 fractures
unrelated to the car accident.
They all have different healing.
It means, this has happened
for a long time.
Do you know
what children's bones are called?
A witness of abuse.
Are you saying these fractures
were made by child abuse,
not the car accident?
And I also see an unusual wound.
Do you see a unique mark here?
JAEHEE: It might be a trace
of what was used to abuse her,
but I'm not sure what it is.
(tense music)
So in short,
it has become a child abuse case
the moment we got the hit-and-runner.
Oh.
EUNJANDI KINDERGARTEN
TEACHERS' OFFICE
Yeseul started going to our kindergarten
about a year and a half ago.
TEACHER: As you can see,
she was a bright and ordinary child.
You're right.
She doesn't seem to be hurting anywhere.
Didn't she look intimidated
or appear anxious?
We would have noticed it right away, then.
I heard she did homeschooling
before going to kindergarten.
Maybe because her mom educated her well,
she was a polite and nice girl.
How was her relationship with her mom?
Would you like to see for yourselves?
(Pil scoffs)
She just loves her mom very much.
HOGAE: I don't smell anything.
As far as I know,
Yeseul doesn't have a dad.
TEACHER: That's her uncle, I heard.
CHOI YESEUL
YOUNGSOON:
I told Yeseul to call him Uncle.
He used to be a regular
at the diner I worked at,
and we dated a little.
-But
-Feel free to tell us.
(sighs)
He said we'd need a room
for Yeseul when we got together.
He wanted me to cancel my savings
to get a cheap lease,
and he disappeared with that money.
(sniffles)
Later on, I found out
that he used a fake name,
and his phone was out of service.
He was just a con artist.
(sighs)
Was there any time
when he was alone with Yeseul?
He would babysit her
when I was busy with my work.
Why do you ask?
-PIL: The thing is
-(sighs)
Actually, Yeseul
Hey.
HOGAE: Well
We'll catch that con artist, too.
File a complaint before you leave.
Sure.
CHOI YESEUL, (AGE 7 / FEMALE)
JOO YOUNGSOON (AGE 42 / FEMALE)
His fake name is Kim Chulho.
He's in his mid-40s.
He started seeing Yeseul's mom
three years ago.
He went off the grid seven months ago.
What about his phone?
It's a prepaid phone under a foreigner,
and he used a resale telecom service.
I smell something very lousy.
ANNA: But there aren't any pictures
or footage of them together.
The prepaid phone's the only trace.
A resale telecom service doesn't keep
any info more than three months old.
So we can't track that.
I do smell it,
but we aren't sure
this bastard is a child abuser.
If he's not a child abuser,
we'll arrest him for fraud.
He must have done this many times.
I doubt it'll be easy to find him.
A prepaid phone under a foreigner's name.
UNIDENTIFIED (MALE)
FAKE NAME: KIM CHULHO
Not many resale telecom services
would provide it.
Tell me about it.
Where are you calling?
Let me take this chance
to get a new phone.
(tense music)
CHIYOUNG: Did you ask for me?
Mr. Ma, you need to be careful,
for the time being.
Don't overact.
Get in.
Get me a phone that's perfectly laundered.
(ominous music)
TAEWON FIRE HOUSE
DOJIN: What?
Why are you handwashing it?
Just put it in a washing machine.
SEOL: You have to hand-wash the blood off.
What's up?
Yeseul hasn't been able to wake up
after the operation.
I see.
Move aside.
You've got to do this
when you hand-wash something.
No, let me do it.
Seol.
She will wake up. Don't worry.
SEOL: There.
DOJIN: Well, Seol
This may sound old-fashioned,
but first responders must move on
the moment they leave patients in the ER.
Only then, they can keep working, no?
I know.
Maybe I still have this habit I got
from working at a hospital.
I keep dwelling on them.
Especially when it's a child.
Right. It's not easy.
Do you regret changing your job
from a nurse to a paramedic?
Sometimes, I miss
an aseptic operating room
that doesn't shake.
But now, I've gotten used
to the field style.
Right, working in the field suits you.
DOJIN: Thanks for the food.
How can you be having late-night snacks
when I'm working my butt off
to catch a child abuser?
Don't even think of mooching us off,
and go on your way.
-I'll go my way.
-Sit down.
After I have just one.
DOJIN: How dense.
It doesn't taste the same.
They have a new part-timer.
That's not important right now.
Look, detective.
SEOL: Did you find out who abused Yeseul?
You ask me as if I must tell you.
She was abused to have fractures
mostly at the ends of her body.
It's really strange.
-What about it?
-How are you this dense?
See?
When one gets attacked,
they crouch down like you just did.
So small children tend to have fractures
on large bones,
such as ribs or backbones when abused.
But it's the opposite for Yeseul.
You could have just explained it
in a calm, intellectual manner,
instead of what you did just now.
Investigate it properly,
or you'll see me do it for real.
(sucks teeth)
I can't believe a paramedic
is giving me an investigative order.
You were begging us to cooperate before.
Okay, so you're smelling something.
See?
Now that you smell something,
you need to come at it.
Ms. Minnow, you have a mutt spirit, too.
-DOJIN: Hey.
-What the
Don't call her a mutt.
(clicks tongue)
So annoying.
-Bulldozer!
-What?
Don't cut the noodles.
It'll cut the case flow.
(slurping)
DOJIN: Are you kidding me?
Don't cross your legs.
It will twist the case.
Darn it.
Good. I like how obedient you two are.
All right. As of this moment,
you will have trouble sleeping at night
until this case is solved.
You will even have nightmares.
I guarantee.
I'll go my way.
SEOL: Did he have to say such a thing?
DOJIN: That damn mutt.
Darn Jindo Dog I mean, mutt.
(exhales sharply)
(sighs)
(eerie music)
(door opens)
What's with the face? Couldn't you sleep?
I even caught the ghost.
The teddy bear.
-What?
-At that time,
we couldn't find the teddy bear
at the accident scene.
-So?
-"So?"
That's for the detective to solve.
(cell phone buzzes)
MAN 1: Come pay
for the laundry in cash, deal?
COME PAY FOR THE LAUNDRY IN CASH, DEAL?
Nice. Let me get a new phone.
I'm taking the stairs.
What was that?
MR. BAEK: Darn it.
I'm here to get the phone.
It's going to take forever
to pick all these baseballs.
MAN 1: Pay me in cash. I'll check
the amount and give you the item on spot.
(playful music)
(grunts)
Payment first.
Goodbye.
(upbeat music)
Let's go.
PIL: Should I get the car?
HOGAE: We don't need a car
to follow an old man.
-He's riding a bicycle.
-Hey, get the car.
-No, let's just run.
-Oh, my.
-Darn.
-Be careful.
HOGAE: Keep the distance.
We're not catching him.
We're only following.
-He's going so slowly.
-Take this.
Why are you giving me this?
(upbeat music)
CAR REPAIR SHOP
Good work, sir.
Bye.
Move back.
-MAN 1: Who are you?
-The police, you bastard.
MAN 1: What the
PIL: We know everything, punk.
Stay still.
Look who this is.
Are you up to something shady again?
I'm quite popular among women.
Why? Are you even trying
to meddle with my privacy now?
Look at yourself in the mirror.
Your looks tell me otherwise.
Let's please avoid crossing paths.
I have my eye on you. Okay?
Don't do anything bad, you punk.
SPECIAL HEAT PAINTING
HOGAE: Myeongpil,
what are the last four digits?
PIL: Of my number?
Seriously?
-The con artist's number.
-It's 3452.
HOGAE: Here it is.
It's under a foreign name, too.
Hey, who bought this?
I don't know.
You know we don't do
real-name transactions.
As if that's something to brag.
Just be quiet, you bastard.
What? This punk has two phones.
What?
HOGAE: The recent deal
was made three weeks ago.
-Is it the same location?
-Yes, right.
WAJID, PAKISTAN, 3452,
12, YANGDEUK-GU 35-GIL
HOGAE (singing):
I hope pining for you ♪
Will help us cross paths one day ♪
You need to stop pining for criminals.
You meet them only when you're desperate.
PIL: There he is.
Shoot, it's his back.
Turn around. Come on.
Turn it back to before I met ♪
Stop singing. It's noisy.
Hold on. This guy is
(ominous music)
The victim received the deposit.
Thanks to it,
the release has been decided.
Darn, of course. I deposited so much
for the settlement money.
Where are you?
PIL: Why was the hit-and-runner there?
The child's mother and the assailant
already knew each other.
They tried to make a fool
out of the police.
(cell phone buzzing)
Hello?
Yes. We'll go to the NFS right away.
HONG: I stretched
this three-dimensional mark
out to be two-dimensional.
Do you see it now?
Isn't that a tire mark?
It's the same mark as the one
on the victim's stockings
that the Traffic Science Department
filmed with an infrared camera.
HONG: As the vehicle ran over the victim,
the tire mark was stamped on her skin.
She was crushed by a wheel.
Did she get hit from the side?
No, she got hit head-on.
And she wasn't crushed.
Right, it can't be wrong,
because it's her mom's statement.
Traces don't lie.
But people do.
HOGAE: Look.
The victim bounced off this way.
The assailant's car made a U-turn here.
And he ran off that way.
She couldn't have been crushed.
Exactly. I don't understand.
(siren wailing)
24 HOURS
DELIVERY'S HERE
-Get that guy. Hey!
-What? Why?
HOGAE AND PIL: Hey!
-HOGAE: Hold on.
-PIL: Hey, you!
(action music)
(Pil panting)
(Pil coughs)
I crossed the centerline only a little
while making a turn.
Please don't give me a ticket.
How's your business these days?
We have it going very well
in this neighborhood.
What about Sundays?
Do you make deliveries on Sundays?
Gosh. Delivery men must work on weekends.
HOGAE: Let us borrow this.
FASTEST AND MOST PRECISE
DELIVERY'S HERE
We've had it installed
instead of dash cams.
At 4:30 a.m. yesterday
Which street number was it?
-Street 38.
-Did you pass Street 38 or not?
We must pass that street
to go to Onjo Apartments.
Just a second.
Let me check yesterday's deliveries.
Right. There was one.
But it wasn't 4:30 a.m., but 4 a.m.
for the last delivery with pork trotters.
Only if they made an order
30 minutes later.
What a bummer.
Let's watch it.
Why should we bother?
The time's different.
-Why you little
-Will you please hurry up and play it?
DELIVERY MAN: Sure.
HOGAE: Deliberate assailants
always check the place in advance.
Stop. Rewind it.
-But there was nothing.
-(clicks)
Stop. Play it from there.
PIL: Wait. That car
(tense music)
What on earth?
Darn you.
Stay over there.
Do I press this?
PIL: Oh, no. Don't do it.
Goodness. Oh, please.
All right.
We need our imagination from now on.
I once said
an investigation was like a jigsaw.
It's Tetris this time.
The puzzles are so random.
They lost contact seven months ago.
They met again as the assailant
and victim of the hit-and-run.
She was all mad after the accident.
But she agreed to settle soon afterward.
These people are unbelievable.
What is it? Did you get it?
Minnow was right
about the missing teddy bear.
Who's Minnow? You mean Officer Song Seol?
Let's go. We have one last puzzle left.
Hey, tell Polar Bear to come.
And you, thanks.
-No problem.
-Bye.
(doorbell dings)
Why you little
(both chuckle)
Everything's set.
We just need
to call them over and get them.
No, we shouldn't underestimate them.
Let's take this artistically.
We'll exaggerate things a bit.
Let's see how Polar Bear
shows off his skills.
(monitor beeping rapidly)
Cardiac arrest!
-Dr. Han, get ready for intubation.
-SOOJIN: Yes, sir.
(somber music)
JAEHEE: Where's the patient's mother?
(tense music)
Let's get started.
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 1
OBSERVING ROOM
The fire station called regarding Yeseul.
Yeah?
Okay.
MR. BAEK: What is it?
Mr. Um Dongchul.
Are you prepared to pay 150 million won?
I'm assuming it'll be around that much.
What do you mean?
I'm insured.
Haven't they informed you yet?
The victim was declared
brain-dead just now.
Brain-dead?
Legally, brain death is applied
the same as death.
The story has changed.
It's now a hit-and-run death case,
not a simple hit-and-run.
In this case,
you'll have to pay 150 million won,
and the actual sentence
will be around 15 years.
(exhales heavily)
I've reflected on myself
and regretted it so much, too.
I even tried to kill myself.
You know that.
You saw it for yourself.
I did, but the judge didn't.
But
(sighs)
You said it wouldn't take long.
Why aren't you letting me go?
Right now,
Mr. Um Dongchul, the hit-and-runner,
is in the next room.
Is that so?
(tense music)
(door opens)
-What is it?
-Ms. Joo Youngsoon, you're in trouble.
What? Why?
Mr. Um Dongchul said something strange,
and it could work against you.
-What
-Excuse me.
(cell phone buzzes)
Yes, Detective Jin.
He'll confess?
All right. I'll be right there.
PIL: Just a moment.
MR. BAEK: Goodness.
Guess how Detective Jin is called
in the police station.
The bastard Jindo Dog.
Once he's after someone,
he makes sure they end up in tatters.
Mr. Um Dongchul was very unlucky today.
He's probably begging the detective
to kill him.
I see.
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 2
STATEMENT RECORDING ROOM 1
So, the stories from both sides
should correspond.
MR. BAEK: Otherwise,
the case can't be valid.
Goodness.
Unbelievable.
The child's mom is claiming
something strange.
She says all this was your scheme.
What? Do you know each other?
No.
What are you talking about?
(cell phone buzzing)
It's from next door.
Yes.
What?
You found that?
Well, I think we should have
braised chicken for dinner.
I'll be right there. Bye.
Did they find something?
(sighs)
(tense music)
Three, two, one.
DONGWOO: That woman made me do it!
(in English)
Bingo.
DONGWOO (in Korean):
That woman made me do it!
This damn piece of trash.
Detective, this is a total lie.
PIL: Get in.
You got the wrong room.
We got the wrong room. Come back out.
Hey! Are you trying
to put the blame on me?
Look who's talking.
You suggested we go for a big one!
This is all because you drove too fast.
You shouldn't have pushed her.
You killed her!
I didn't push her! She
Cut. Let's stop acting now.
"Yesterday's ally becomes today's enemy."
PIL: I'd say that in your case.
Now that things turned out this way,
let's do a joint interview.
Have a seat.
What is going on now?
You were so good at acting
that we almost got fooled.
Take a seat here.
Come on. They were terrible at acting.
That's why they got caught.
Look here.
You shouldn't lead us on like this.
Right, you don't even have evidence.
What are you talking about?
Yeseul, that child herself,
is the evidence.
I don't understand.
There's something common
in her 16 fractures.
HOGAE: They're all worth tens
of millions of won.
If an injury can cause
a permanent impairment to one's body,
they can receive accident insurance money
according to the payment rate.
(sighs)
INSURANCE STAFF:
All these fractures were the case.
They got five million won
as the heel bone fracture was accepted
as a defect by 3%.
And the wrist.
A normal wrist should be 210 degrees
when turned, but it wasn't.
Thus, it was accepted by 3%,
which got them 9 million.
With 2 insurance plans, it was 15 million.
This one was about the aftereffect defect
caused by her left baby finger fracture.
They demanded 30 million won in total.
"A special option for a 100,000-won cast
per 1 cm of a wound?"
-You even have such a thing?
-(scoffs)
MR. BAEK: We have just about everything.
You joined seven accident insurance plans
under Yeseul's name
and received a total of 85,470,000 won.
MR. BAEK: She's like a goose
that lays golden eggs
No, a lucky charm
that gets you insurance money.
Is it a new kind of investment?
(nervous chuckle)
Detective, I think you're mistaken.
Yeseul is such an active child
with fragile bones,
so she easily tripped and broke her bones.
It's not wrong to take insurance money
for her injuries, is it?
(thumps on table)
You're a horrible actor,
but you keep trying to act.
Yeseul's insurance guarantees
up to 800 million won.
You must have wanted
to get the most out of it.
But the payment rate wouldn't be 100%
unless you lose your sight or something.
The rate of a fracture
would be only around 3%.
That's why you pulled a trick.
Your next target was to cut off her foot
and take 240 million with the 30% rate.
With the weekend option,
it was to double the amount, 480 million.
So you deliberately went to a street
with no CCTV cameras at dawn on Sunday.
Oh! You're crossing a line here.
Are you saying we cut off her foot?
I couldn't believe it, either,
until I saw it for myself.
(tense music)
Thirty minutes before the accident,
this scene was filmed
on a delivery man's body cam.
PIL: It may not be too clear,
but I'll zoom in and make it brighter.
There were actually
two accidents that day.
Let me see.
She's fine. Try turning your ankle.
You should have done it properly.
MR. BAEK: Children's bones are elastic,
so they don't break easily.
Besides, the pressure of a wheel
isn't too serious
without much speed.
Of course, it did leave a mark.
So you sped up for the second accident.
-(Dongchul yelps)
-(body thuds)
And to reduce your sentence
for the hit-and-run,
you even put up a suicide show.
I
almost died there.
In case you'd die,
you didn't lock the doors
and parked your car
right below the fire alarm.
7TH BASEMENT FLOOR
(somber music)
(sighs)
Throughout this brutal show,
you were sincere about one thing.
That you begged us to save Yeseul.
Please save my girl!
Oh, goodness!
What about the child?
What happened to her?
But even that wasn't for Yeseul.
How can you say that?
This is too much.
Because you wouldn't get
to take the money if she died.
Children less than 13
can't join death insurance,
in case pieces of trash like you
might kill them.
(suspenseful music)
CHOI YESEUL
CHOI YESEUL
PIL: There are four candles on the cake.
It's her fourth birthday
three years ago, right?
There's something strange
about this drawing.
Her right foot is colored orange,
but her left foot is colored white.
Guess why.
Maybe she wore a different pair.
A cast.
On May 9, Yeseul's birthday, 3 years ago,
you got five million won
for her left heel bone fracture.
INSURANCE MONEY: 5 MILLION WON
Wasn't this the beginning?
She happened to get into an accident,
and you unexpectedly got five million won
as insurance money.
-Happy birthday, dear Yeseul ♪
-Happy birthday, dear Yeseul ♪
-Happy birthday to you ♪
-Happy birthday to you ♪
Blow off the candles.
(blows air)
-Good job.
-(laughter)
This is a gift for you, Yeseul.
-HOGAE: The whole family must've partied.
-A teddy bear!
HOGAE: Yeseul must have been happy, too.
-YOUNGSOON: Do you love it?
-YESEUL: Yes.
-YOUNGSOON: Should I unwrap it for you?
-YESEUL: Yes.
After that, you joined
eight more insurance plans under her name.
Yeseul probably didn't mind getting hurt.
That way, money would be deposited
and you two would be happy.
HOGAE: She loved her mom dearly.
She must have wanted
to do anything her mom wanted.
Even a car accident.
YOUNGSOON:
You should have done it properly.
Drive yourself, then.
I'm about to become a criminal. Darn it.
Mom, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad.
Can't we do it again?
Mom, I'll do better.
HOGAE: She was sorry
that she got hurt less.
MR. BAEK: She even decided to
(somber music)
-Yeseul!
-What the
-(tires screech)
-(bangs)
-(screams)
-(body thuds)
(Youngsoon screams)
YOUNGSOON: My goodness! Yeseul!
Hey!
Open the window. You hit her too hard!
She ran toward me.
What was I supposed to do?
What do we do?
Whatever. I'm leaving.
Hey! Darn it.
YOUNGSOON: Darn.
YESEUL: Mom.
Where are you?
Mom.
Mom
Are we having another party tomorrow?
Buy me a chocolate cake
Only then, her mom would give her a smile.
Her name "Yeseul" means
pretty and wise.
(Mr. Baek breathes heavily)
(somber music)
MR. BAEK: She was too pretty and too wise.
That's
That's why.
(crying)
(crying continues)
What have I done?
What have I
(knocks on door)
Hey.
About Yeseul
SEOL: She woke up and was moved
to a general ward just now.
I stopped them from calling her mom.
The teddy bear she dropped
wasn't at the accident site.
Her mom's lying.
The brain swelling got reduced,
and the damage was minimized.
They say it's a miracle.
(exhales heavily)
(exhales deeply)
The permanent damage rate
must be pretty high.
Unbelievable.
You're still not back to your senses!
Hey. I'm going to make you pay back
all the money you took
and rot in prison all life,
you darn pieces of trash.
(intense music)
SOON: If you hadn't conducted
needle cricothyroidotomy
on patient Choi Yeseul
while transferring her,
would she have died?
(Dongwoo sighs)
We wouldn't know.
SOON: Right. It's something
only a deity would know.
That's why there are restrictions
to the fire crew's work.
Needle cricothyroidotomy
isn't part of our work. You know that.
You know she couldn't help it
in that situation.
Fortunately, the child's mom
doesn't want to make an issue out of it,
so you'll only be punished
with a month's pay-cut.
A pay-cut? But she only tried
to save the child.
Yes, ma'am. I fully understand.
Jeez. What's with this mood?
Hey. This isn't even new
to have our colleague get punished.
Stop being so down,
or the chief will have no choice,
but to treat us to dinner.
Pardon?
(Dongwoo chuckles)
(chuckles)
I was going to do that, anyway.
Oh, really?
She made such a decision
in that difficult situation.
If I were a deity, I'd commend Seol.
I'll treat you guys to dinner for Seol.
-Okay!
-Yes!
-Dinner sounds great!
-Let's get ready.
MR. BAEK: Jindo Dog.
You should have told us
that the child woke up.
And you should have told me
that your child got injured then.
PIL: Did you know?
Of course, he suddenly stormed out
in the middle of his lecture.
It's eight years ago already, right?
Goodness. It's all right now.
(clears throat)
Don't you think
we worked pretty well together this time?
Yes. But your acting skills
aren't good enough.
-You don't seem genuine.
-Right.
Why you damn little mutt
It was an act. I was acting.
(laughing)
Are you kidding me?
Just have this. It's to die for.
It really is to die for.
I'll go home now.
I have to testify at a trial soon.
You're leaving now?
You should stay and have some more.
Then why did she even come?
-Why?
-Just sit down.
-We should have ordered a smaller one.
-Hello.
Hey, fire crew!
What?
It's a little noisy here.
Let's go somewhere else.
DOJIN: Let's do that.
Why? Do you have a problem with us?
You would have passed the golden hour
without Detective Jin's help.
The child arrived in time
and survived thanks to him.
Do you not know,
or are you just feigning ignorance?
(scoffs)
If our paramedic hadn't found
something suspicious
from the victim's fractures,
you wouldn't have gotten
the insurance fraud.
-Ma'am, let's just go somewhere else.
-Right, let's.
No, why should we go?
This place is delicious.
MR. BAEK: It's here.
Chief, let me pour you a drink.
All right.
-Let's clink our glasses.
-Here.
-Cheers to the fire crew.
-Cheers.
Cheers for the fire crew
Do you want a soju bomb?
No, I only drink soju.
Let me pour you some.
SEOL: Pour me some, too.
Okay.
I called the hospital
and heard something weird.
That said some cop paid
for Yeseul's hospital fees.
Why is that weird?
I sent her mom to prison.
I charged her with 23 more criminal acts,
so she'll be stuck in prison
for quite some time.
Anyway, I'll get to sleep now,
thanks to you.
See?
You called me a mad dog and a mutt,
but you're actually
quite persistent, Ms. Minnow.
You're persistent and skilled.
Just what did you do so wrong
that made you demoted to this suburb?
I wasn't demoted.
I volunteered to work here.
Good.
You must be busy lately.
Your father is very worried.
And aren't you busy, Chief Prosecutor?
Your son seems to be doing very well.
It's good that I'm taking a breather,
thanks to you.
But I know you're doing this for a reason.
TAEHWA: Did my father say he'll make you
a Minister of Justice or something
if he takes the presidency?
We both got our hands dirty.
That means we're in the same boat.
Don't you agree,
Chief Prosecutor Jin Chuljoong?
(tense music)
Let me deliver a word
from Assemblyman Ma Joongdo.
"For the time being,
stay dead."
(tense music)
I won't die alone.
You ran into the Jindo Dog of all people?
I apologize, sir.
You see,
I become very displeased
when my plan doesn't go accordingly.
Do you get it?
Why don't you just hire someone
to take care of him quietly?
Hey.
You want to bring me down, don't you?
You want me to rot in prison
for abetting murder.
CHIYOUNG: Of course, not.
As you already know,
he isn't an easy deal.
Exactly.
We need a bigger plan for that bastard.
CHIYOUNG: What are you going to do?
Something
that suits a rabid dog.
-Oh, please.
-What?
Soda? Seriously?
(glasses clinking)
A SPREE WITH FULL ITEMS
LOOKING FOR A TOUGH WORKER
(background chatter)
I'VE GOT LOTS OF BURNER PHONES,
CONTACT ME.
DOJIN: What are you doing?
What?
A civil servant can't have two jobs.
It's for a sting operation.
I provide an outreach arrest service
for criminals.
Sounds generous.
(cell phone buzzes)
There we go.
MAN 2: Let's do an interview soon.
He caught the bait.
(closing theme music)
THE FIRST RESPONDERS
(closing theme music)
HOGAE: Do I look like a thug?
You already look like a thug.
MAN 3: The company name changed.
From a year to five years.
-What does he mean by five years?
-HOGAE: Murder.
ANNA: If this was fabricated,
there must be a trace.
HOGAE: Is the hoodie our target?
MAN 3: There's no wound.
You're not experienced, are you?
HOGAE: The mud in the hallway
explodes when it meets water.
SEOL: It means if the sprinklers
are activated remotely,
it can explode anytime.
SOON: Don't ask why,
and just hurry out of there!
(explosion)
(closing theme music)