01x09 - Episode 9

[bunniefuu]

Oh my, look how pretty he is.

Isn't he?

There, there.

Sorry.

Aww.

Are you sleepy? Are you?

Let's get you changed quickly.

Be careful with his hand.

All done.

-It's chilly, isn't it?

-Put this on quickly.

My name is Kang Seong-min.

KANG SEONG-MIN, 29 YEARS OLD

JULY 16TH, 2016

LEFT, RIGH

Mom.

KARAOKE

Aren't you Korean?

Do you have anyone who can vouch for you?

PART-TIMER WANTED

No, I don't.

I'm sorry, but no.

He should learn to speak Korean

if he came here.

So many losers come into Korea

thinking they can get by speaking English.

CHRISANN MOTEL

Today is the 25th anniversary

of the Sampoong Department Store Collapse.

We swore to make Korea safer then,

but little has been done to this day.

I hope we'll feel less ashamed

a year after today.

I am Kang Eun-jeong,

and thank you for watching SBC News.

-By the way,

-What?

what made you come back?

You said that he's my family.

That the uncle needs to protect

the one and only nephew.

Have you fallen ill or something?

Are you dying?

What?

My mom says when it's time to die,

people tend to change suddenly.

Don't go back to before

whether you're dying or not.

If you make Geu-ru worry again,

I'll tell Mr. Oh on you

and take over the guardianship myself.

That's your intention all along.

Gosh, my intention

has been clear all along.

Let me ask you a question.

How long have you liked Geu-ru?

What? Unbelievable.

I'm just his friend.

-As his bestie, I'm responsible--

-So when did you start liking him?

Well,

if you must know,

when I first met him?

When did you say it was?

Maybe around when we were six?

That's when they moved in.

By the way, did anything

seem out of the ordinary?

What do you mean?

Well, Geu-ru is unlike ordinary kids.

Did his parents seem to be struggling

or acting cold to him?

My family was like that.

I've been seriously wondering

even to this day

if my mom is my real mom.

Hey.

Why are you asking me that now?

Just because.

Geu-ru doesn't really resemble his dad,

so it got me thinking

if Jeong-u is his real dad.

Right, Geu-ru is really handsome, though.

All thanks to his mom's superior genes.

Actually, now it's time for me

to do a DNA maternity test.

You don't need to.

You're just like your mom.

What?

Oh, he's just come in.

For me?

Hello?

Oh yes.

Sure.

Okay.

All right.

Right.

CHRISANN MOTEL

Thank you for coming so quickly.

No problem.

We didn't have anything else planned.

Because his body was found much later,

the room is quite messy.

May I have

the name and age of the deceased?

His name is Matthew Green.

A male.

He was born in 1988.

Oh.

Was he a foreigner?

No.

He was of Korean origin

but adopted to the US

as soon as he was born.

His Korean name is Kang Seong-min.

But we kept calling him Matthew.

Were you also in charge of him, Ms. Son?

There's this organization which helps

people find their birth parents,

and I'm a volunteer there.

That's where I met him.

I see.

How did he pass away?

He had a genetic problem

with his heart.

With no one to help him

since he lived alone,

he could do nothing when he collapsed.

It wasn't my job,

but I wish I'd come by more often.

I'm sorry I didn't.

sh**t.

Oh boy.

Mr. Matthew Green,

you passed away on June 29th, 2020.

We are

trauma cleaners from Move to Heaven.

I'm Han Geu-ru,

-I'm Cho Sang-gu.

-That's us.

From now,

we'll begin to help you

with your final move.

KOREAN FOR BEGINNERS

WITH NEWS ANCHOR KANG EUN-JEONG

He must've become her fan

while studying Korean.

This one too?

This as well?

THE LATE MATTHEW GREEN, REST IN PEACE

A-JI

"A-ji."

A-ji.

A-ji.

A-ji!

What? What did you say?

"A-ji."

Mr. Matthew had a dog.

-Really?

-But it's not here.

That's strange.

Here, I got this for you.

Thank you.

We can't find Mr. Matthew's dog.

Is A-ji dead too?

How do you know about A-ji?

Right. He's at the vet now.

I found A-ji next to Matthew

when I first got to his room.

He'd been whining next to him.

Matthew has been in Korea for four years,

but didn't he have anybody?

No parents or family he found?

He wanted to find them, obviously.

But it's not like you can find them

just because you want to.

Is it possible they can't meet

their family although they find them?

Yes, if their birth parents

refuse to meet

or disclose their information.

Is it what happened to the deceased?

They were adopted,

but how could they end up

being stateless and then deported?

Things have improved now,

but back then

they had few resources to check

if those children gained citizenship

of the countries they were adopted to.

So if their adoptive parents

didn't apply for their citizenship

or the adoption is dissolved

as in Matthew's case,

it's impossible to be a citizen.

Dissolve the adoption?

You mean his adoptive parents

gave him up because they didn't like him?

In Matthew's case,

his heart condition was discovered

after he was sent to the US.

So he was sent to many different places…

Matthew's belongings.

We must give them to his mom.

That's the problem.

The center asked her about it

when they told her about his death,

but she said no.

I'm afraid we can't give this box to her.

Give me her address, please.

I'll go and give it to her myself.

I don't have it.

And that kind of information

can't be disclosed to anyone.

I'm sorry, I really--

It's not your fault.

Okay.

We will

take care of it.

Are you serious?

The mother gave up

her own flesh and blood,

and now she refused to see him

knowing he flew all the way here?

How can a mother do that?

Gosh.

People can be very sly.

Well,

what do you mean by that?

To be frank,

till now, I thought I was

the most unfortunate person in the world.

But now I learned

that my life wasn't too bad

compared to the deceased's.

This never occurred to me before.

Mr. Cho,

you have

changed a lot.

Gosh.

What do you mean?

I've been always like this.

Geu-ru, good job.

SPEEDY AND SAFE WASTE DISPOSAL

Take care.

All righty.

CHRISANN MOTEL

LONG-TERM STAY WELCOME

Let's take off.

WAITING FOR MY DAY TO SOAR

What are you doing up here

at this late hour?

Geu-ru?

Did you put this whole thing

back together?

Seriously, you're something.

Hey, just forget about it.

It'd be better

not to find that kind of mom.

Still,

I think Mr. Matthew wanted to meet her.

What do you want?

I wanted to see what's up. Is it a crime?

Oh, what is it?

It's a baby garment.

It belongs to the deceased, Mr. Matthew.

It's the tiniest shirt I've ever seen.

It's called baenaejeogori,

a wrap shirt for a newborn.

You also wore one of these.

This is odd.

The deceased still had this, you said?

Usually, moms keep these.

That's why

I want to find his mom to give it.

"To find his mom"?

So this woman

had his son when she was a teenager

and gave him away for overseas adoption?

And she refused to see him

when he came back after 30 years

because she saw him as a burden?

-Yes, I guess so.

-How could she?

What kind of mother would do that?

She might've had no choice as a teenager.

But after all those years,

her son came back, longing to see his mom.

How could she say no to him?

I wonder how we can find his mom.

Shall I post this photo

on the internet sites?

No.

Mr. Matthew missed his mom.

He wouldn't have wanted

to cause any harm to her.

All we need to do is

to deliver his belongings to her.

But still,

I feel really bad for him.

What can we do?

We can't go and argue on his behalf.

I found her!

His mom in the picture is right here!

AT MY HOMETOWN HOUSE, 1988

EUN-JEONG AT AGE 16

They look the same.

So this girl

gave birth to him at 16

and sent him away for adoption

and then kept refusing

his request to meet her.

That's Kang Eun-jeong, the anchor?

You found this book

all ripped up in a box?

Unbelievable.

That means Matthew knew

who his birth mom was.

You're right!

Now we can give this box to his mom.

Do you think a woman like her

would bat an eye over this?

She might take it if she sees it herself.

I'm awfully disappointed.

My mom is a big fan of Kang Eun-jeong.

I feel totally betrayed.

If it were up to me,

I'd post this on her network's homepage.

Yeah, do that.

I would like to, but I won't.

Why are you suddenly chickening out?

SBC

KANG EUN-JEONG'S NEWS DAY

-Hi.

-Hi.

How can I help you?

Actually,

we're here to meet Ms. Kang Eun-jeong.

Do you have an appointment?

An appointment?

Well, no.

Then do you know her personally?

No, we don't,

but we have something to give her.

Are you her fan?

Hell, no.

You can leave with us

what you want to give her

with your name and number on here.

It's not something

we can just leave with you,

and we also have things

to say to her in person.

Leave it with us, or leave here.

-Don't make a scene, please.

-Over there!

She's right there!

Oh? That's her.

Ms. Kang Eun-jeong!

Ms. Kang Eun-jeong!

Ms. Kang Eun-jeong!

-Here!

-Stop shouting and move your van.

-Please leave.

-Oh man.

sh**t.

Wow, seriously,

it's freaking hard to meet her

just because she's a celeb.

Gosh.

Where could she be?

Right there!

Uncle!

Ms. Kang Eun-jeong!

Can I help you?

Do you know Matthew Green?

Who?

His Korean name is Kang Seong-min.

He was found in May, 1988

and was adopted to the US

in September the same year.

He was your son

that you gave up.

Oh my. That's Kang Eun-jeong!

-Sorry?

-Hi.

Let's talk somewhere more quite.

How do you know this man?

How did you come and find me?

We are trauma cleaners

from Move to Heaven.

We gave the service for Matthew.

Trauma cleaners?

-That means…

-Mr. Matthew Green

passed away on June 29th, 2020.

He died alone from his chronic illness

in his motel room.

His body was found a week after his death.

These are his belongings.

With the help of the center,

he found his mother,

but I heard she refused to meet him

or disclose her information.

I understand that as a celebrity,

it wasn't easy for you

since you had to consider the public eye.

So he didn't get to meet

his biological mother.

What?

Wait.

I'm not talking about

a random person here.

You're the one who refused to see him.

I'm sorry, but…

I'm not Seong-min's mom.

In 1988,

I was only 16.

That's all the more reason

you needed to keep it a secret.

No.

I'm not his mother.

I have a photo.

The photo of you and him.

I have it right here.

How did he have this picture?

That's him.

My dear Seong-min.

My mother ran a foster home.

My family took care of babies

who would be adopted overseas.

Right?

One, two, three.

Look over here.

Good. Right here.

One, two, three.

SEONG-MIN

SEONG-MIN IS LEAVING

Smile.

That's it.

Say Eun-jeong.

Good.

-So cute.

-It's the last day with Seong-min.

It's okay.

We're all done now.

Seong-min was

the last foster baby we looked after.

It became difficult for both my mom and I

to continue on with it.

But because of this photo,

Seong-min thought I was his mom.

He found the same face in the book.

That's how he knew about you.

WAITING FOR MY DAY TO SOAR

BY KANG EUN-JEONG

KOREAN FOR BEGINNERS

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

MEET WITH KANG EUN-JEONG

NEWS ANCHOR KANG EUN-JEONG'S ESSAY

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH EVEN TOMORROW

Mom.

Why didn't he come to see me?

Had he said his name,

I'd have remembered him.

I would've welcomed him.

Why didn't he come to me?

He did.

Mr. Matthew went to see his mother.

Hello.

My name is

Kang Seong-min.

I am Seong-min.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-What's your name?

-Ju Ji-yeong.

-Ms. Ju Ji-yeong?

-Yes.

-Pleasure to meet you.

-Thank you.

I'm your big fan.

-Thank you.

-Sure.

Hello.

-What's your name?

-It's Jang Seo-gyeong.

Okay.

Hi.

What's your name?

Well…

You name please?

Seong…

Yes, I can.

MATTHEW, BE HAPPY!

KANG EUN-JEONG

Why didn't he say who he was

when he came to see me?

If he had just blamed me to my face--

Because he was told

his mom didn't want to see him.

But still, he wanted to see her

because she was his family.

So he took up courage to see you,

but he got scared

to tell you who he was.

"What if she doesn't remember me?"

"What if she finds me disappointing?"

Sang-gu!

He would've wanted you to remember him,

but he got scared

if you'd be disappointed

with who he really was.

And he was also mad at himself

for being the way he was.

SEONG-MIN

He must've been in so much pain

all by himself.

He must've been so devastated and lonely.

Actually, we apologize

for our ignorance. We misunderstood you.

We are sorry.

I'm sorry.

No, it's fine.

Thank you for helping me remember him.

You said you were trauma cleaners, right?

I didn't know this kind of thing

was part of the service.

Your work seems hard yet rewarding.

Thank you so much.

-No problem.

-Sure.

If you don't mind,

can I keep these?

Are you sure?

Will you keep his stuff?

If it's okay with you.

Of course, it's okay.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

How can a person

be this miserable even to his death?

Why was he miserable?

He thought he found his mom,

but it turns out she's not the one.

Still, he wasn't miserable at the end.

What?

Mr. Matthew saw his mom,

and Ms. Kang, who he thought his mom,

remembered him

and grieved over his death.

Uncle.

Yes?

We have a place to go.

HEAL ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER

This is a gift for A-ji from Mr. Matthew.

A-JI

There you go.

I'm taking him with me.

I wasn't a good friend to Matthew,

but I will to A-ji.

Look!

Over 65 years, about 200,000 Korean kids

were sent away for overseas adoption.

That's two percent of Seoul's population,

which is nearly ten million,

and it brought dishonor on Korea

as the biggest baby exporter

in the 20th century.

One out of ten children

who were adopted before the year 2000

failed to obtain citizenship

and became stateless

because no one cared about them.

As they are not recognized as citizens

by either of the countries,

they struggle to live lonely life.

On the 29th,

Matthew Green, an adoptee from the US

who died alone in his motel room in Seoul,

was one of them.

When everyone was enjoying the weekend,

Matthew had to meet lonely death.

To him, his mother country

remained as same

as it was 32 years ago

when he had to fly alone to the US

while people celebrated

the Seoul Olympics.

The government must take action

to help those children in need

who were adopted overseas.

"Matthew" means a gift from God,

but this man couldn't live

as Matthew, an American,

nor Kang Seong-min, a Korean.

GOD'S GIFT, ABANDONED TILL THE END

I express my sincere apology to him

on behalf of Korea.

I'm Kang Eun-jeong,

and thank you for watching SBC news.

Good job, everyone.

I could have been

a Matthew Green, not Han Geu-ru.

What do you mean?

I am just like Mr. Matthew.

I don't know my real mom and dad.

Geu-ru.

But because I met my dad, Jeong-u,

I can be Han Geu-ru now.

My dad loved me very much.

I know you're still caring and worried

about him even in your grave.

MADAM

FINALLY, IT'S TOMORROW! AT 11 P.M.

You still have my documents, right?

I won't fight until I get them back,

so keep them safe.

And this is my last warning.

In case

something happens to me

at the tomorrow's game,

don't you ever set a foot near this house.

You got that?

Make sure you do your part

because I bet everything on you.

sh*t.

What?

Uncle.

Good morning.

Have a seat.

Breakfast is ready.

Eat up.

-Uncle, are you dying?

-What?

Na-mu said people suddenly change

when they're terminally ill.

Gosh, you don't want my food? Is that it?

Forget it, then. I'll have it all.

Tell me you're not dying, then I will eat.

Your uncle is not dying, kid.

Look how strong I am.

Then thank you for the food.

I'm not dying!

The yolk is broken.

Oh okay. Let me swap it.

Thank you for the food.

DRINKING YOGURT, CHOCOLATE MILK

Good morning.

Breakfast is ready for you.

Eat it before it gets cold.

What's going on?

Na-mu.

No way.

See? Something is up.

Geu-ru…

Take care of him.

Just keep up what you're doing now,

no more, no less.

Are you going somewhere?

It just

came to my mind. That's all.

Are you running away from home again?

To run away from home,

you need to have home first.

This is home.

This is your home too!

Geu-ru, we have a problem!

I know.

Oh, you do?

Yes.

Uncle prepared breakfast for me

and cleaned the house.

But he's not dying.

Maybe he is.

Your uncle might not come back for good.

He texted me he'd not come back,

but he did.

No, this time

I have a strong feeling he won't.

Didn't you notice anything odd?

"You still have my documents, right?"

"I won't fight until I get them back,

so keep them safe."

"And this is my last warning."

"In case,

something happens to me

at the tomorrow's game,

don't you ever set a foot

near this house."

"You got that?"

This is what Uncle said last night.

How are you doing?

You said you wanted to talk.

My documents.

I want them before I go up to the ring.

-I need to send them to someone.

-I said I'd give them back.

I've never lied to you, have I?

That's true.

But in life, you never know

what might happen.

Who knows?

I might end up like Su-cheol

in a few minutes.

I guess he's taught you a good lesson.

Give it your best.

When I said I bet everything on you,

I wasn't joking.

Yuk.

What?

What is it?

PUNCH DRUNK

CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY

Now the moment we've been waiting for.

As we announced,

the biggest match of the year will begin.

A champion from Russia,

Hell Raiser!

And the undefeated legendary fighter

with 88 wins out of 89 matches.

Nightmare!

Geu-ru,

do you know anything about punch drunk?

You mean punch drunk syndrome?

Yes. That thing.

It's a neurodegenerative disease

commonly seen in boxers and footballers

who experience repeated head injuries.

It can cause conditions

such as aphasia, agnosia and dementia

as well as acute conditions

like anxiety, memory loss

and loss of consciousness.

In severe cases, you can lose your life.

Oh no! Uncle Sang-gu might die

if he fights tonight.

He went fighting knowing all that.

Really? It can't be!

It can't be happening!

I don't want Uncle to get hurt.

I don't want him to die.

He cannot die!