Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020) s01e09 Episode Script

1
TALE OF THE NINE TAILED
I knew it.
All he cares about is that woman.
Hey, kid!
Lee Yeon?
I heard you talking shit just now!
Put that away!
I don't think this is
the time or place to be cranky.
You're not him.
There's no way Lee Yeon
would come to save me.
You're not entirely wrong.
Show me proof if you're Lee Yeon.
Proof? You need a copy
of my resident registration?
Jwibulnori on
the First Full Moon of the Year.
After spending a fun day
playing with fire,
you wet your bed big-time at night.
That's why I called you this
for the next three years--
-Shut up.
-Bed wetter!
-I'm going to kill you.
-Kill them first.
Run!
Mom?
Dad?
Ji-ah had her hypnosis therapy today.
What did Dr. Kang say?
She said she'd never seen
anything like this before.
I know I shouldn't,
but I can't help but feel terrified.
Will I be able to protect our daughter?
Will I be able to do a good job?
Mom.
Mom?
Ji-ah, are you awake?
We were going to give it to you
when we got home…
Here, a birthday present!
Birthday?
This music box.
No way.
FOX HILL
Fox Hill.
We shouldn't go there!
Do you like the present?
If we keep going,
we'll get in an accident. Stop the car!
Ji-ah, when you get better,
let's go ride a carousel again,
the three of us.
Dad, can't you hear me?
Stop the car!
Dad!
Mom!
They keep reviving, with no end in sight.
Were Starving Demons always this strong?
-I think we got weaker.
-What do you mean?
Not only the thunder and lightning,
but even the rain and wind aren't moving.
Your power isn't working at all?
Where could we be right now?
Isn't it obvious?
It's the Forest of Starving Demons.
I don't think so.
Dad! Stop the car! Dad, stop the car!
Stop the car! Dad!
CHAPTER 9:
DEMON OF DARKNESS
This was unexpected.
I thought he'd go to the girl…
But he went to his brother?
I heard they were eager to kill one other.
A mountain god is not someone
to look down on.
What?
He's fighting a mental battle with me,
even at this moment.
No way. So he went there on purpose?
I'm sure he figured it out.
This may seem like a test for those two,
but in fact,
it's also a test for Lee Yeon.
Damn. This is driving me crazy.
How did she know?
The vegetable juice lady.
-That I can't ride airplanes.
-You really can't?
What happens if you get on?
At first, I couldn't breathe.
I started sweating, and as soon as
I fastened my seat belt, I don't remember.
What did the lady actually say?
She asked me what I'm most afraid of.
What you're most afraid of?
No way.
-Oh, my God!
-Why?
An urban legend similar to this one
has been spreading online recently.
-A scary story of a vegetable juice lady?
-Isn't it similar?
She offers you a juice sample
and asks what you're most afraid of.
I think it's a kind of an urban legend
similar to the story
of the Hong Kong Granny Ghost.
What's interesting is that
if you're bewitched by this lady,
you will hear a song.
-A song?
-Did you hear it?
-No.
-It's this song.
Gatekeeper, open the gate
I can't open it without a key
It's that song you sing during
the Moon Circling Dance. The Gate Game.
If you listen to it,
the lyrics are a bit creepy.
One tells to open the gate.
The other says they can't,
because they don't have a key.
Just these two sentences
repeat until the end.
Wow, this is good.
Hey, is there anyone
who actually heard this song?
No. That's why we couldn't
cover the story.
Why not?
People say that once you hear the song,
you can't wake up.
Forever?
-Forever.
-No way. That's ridiculous.
Gosh, that scared me.
Is this the Scary Urban Legends team?
Ji-ah! What's wrong?
-Producer Nam!
-What's wrong with her?
Gatekeeper, open the gate
I can't open it without a key
Which gate shall I enter?
Enter Dongdaemun Gate
Gatekeeper, open the gate
I can't open it without a key
Which gate shall I enter?
Enter Seodaemun Gate
Lord Lee Yeon! Wake up, Lord Lee Yeon!
I can't open it without a key
Which gate shall I enter?
Enter Namdaemun Gate
Gatekeeper, open the gate
Lord Lee Rang! Lord Lee Rang!
Which gate shall I enter?
Enter Bukdaemun Gate
Gatekeeper, open the gate
Click, clack, it's open
I'm sure she must've
gone past Fox Hill by now.
Will I be able to save both of them
from this hell?
I hope my decision was the right one.
This is how…
you thank me for saving your life?
What are you playing at?
Can't you tell?
Why did you come here?
There's no way you would come here
just to save me.
I just had some time left.
And to watch my one and only brother
go to the World of the Dead.
Bullshit.
Why'd you come to me,
instead of that woman?
Good question.
I got the doors mixed up.
You liar.
I was on my way to save Ji-ah,
but when I got here,
I saw a bed wetter getting attacked.
How on earth did this happen?
I got bitten.
It turns out I'm a delicacy.
Bleeding is one thing,
but you also have a high fever.
Well, I guess the venom started to spread.
The venom will have spread
throughout his body within an hour.
I must get him out before it does.
This is why I told you
not to play with the Imoogi.
Stop trying to be a big brother now,
after everything. It's disgusting.
You bastard.
From here on, run for your life.
How can we wake him up?
You can't wake him up from the outside.
I tried everything I could,
but I couldn't wake my husband up.
-Is it really that thing?
-Yes.
Back in the day,
it was a peddler selling women's items.
It brought shiny things
and asked people
what they're most afraid of
to bewitch them.
For my husband, it was a tiger.
So what that thing shows
isn't an illusion?
I thought it was just a hallucination.
But Shin-ju,
I saw it with my eyes.
I saw his bones and skin getting shattered
after being bitten by the tiger.
Oh, no.
Lord Lee Rang! Please wake up!
Lord Lee Rang.
Lord Lee Rang!
Oh, dear!
That thing…
What's it called?
Demon of Darkness.
Demon of Darkness?
It feeds off the darkness hidden
deep inside people's hearts.
Ji-ah.
Ji-ah?
Mom?
Wake up, sweetie. Let's eat.
Mom, what are you doing here?
What do you mean? Because it's Sunday.
Did you work late again last night?
What kind of company
makes you go on business trips
and work late all the time?
Company?
What company do I work for?
-Are you still half asleep?
-Answer me.
You're a TV show producer
at a broadcasting station.
And you always go
to the Press Arbitration Commission.
Why do you think I became a producer?
-That's--
-To find my mom and dad.
In 1999, at Fox Hill, my life--
No,
my family was destroyed.
-What are you talking about?
-You're not my mom.
I won't fall for it again.
Stop talking nonsense and come out to eat.
Are you having fun pulling my leg?
What?
Above all else,
please don't bring up that accident.
While you were in a coma for years,
your dad and I shed bitter tears.
I was…
in a coma?
What did you used to give me
when I went to the hospital for a shot?
Strawberry candy.
That's enough now. Come eat.
Hold on.
What now?
I want some walnut pastries.
Walnut pastries?
I want some walnut pastries.
We don't have any walnut pastries
at my house.
Not since I was taken to the hospital
because I was allergic to nuts.
Oh, right. I forgot.
You're not my mom!
Where's my mom?
I am your mom!
Walnut pastries? In your dreams.
You're allergic to nuts!
A family reunion.
How nice.
But they're not the fake ones
that pretended to be her parents.
I guess that's not
what she's truly afraid of.
That woman is troubled by her family,
in both the past and present.
Is it getting cold out?
This place was created
by her subconscious.
She wouldn't welcome outsiders like us.
Let's leave.
Oh, wow. Cheesecake!
Did you see it?
The plan went wrong.
-Lee Yeon didn't come.
-Then why are you back so soon?
No matter how hard he tries,
he won't be able to make it out alive.
Once you take a good look at it,
one's mind is a lot weaker than you think.
Because it's a world created by the trauma
they've been carrying their entire lives.
By the way, if they die there,
do they die in real life?
Want to try it too?
Let go of me!
-Demon of Darkness.
-Yes?
Keep your hands off my things.
Come on. I was just kidding.
Please forgive me.
You have much to say,
even after asking for forgiveness.
"Even if it's an Imoogi,
it's been asleep for over 600 years.
I wonder if it still has its powers."
Well then…
Go ahead and try.
I am curious as well.
How dare I have such a thought?
Please forgive me! Please forgive me!
Can you please give me a hug?
Mom.
My mom.
Please don't leave me,
even in my dreams.
Please don't leave me alone.
You must've had another nightmare.
I know, right?
I wish it was all a dream.
What dream?
A dream of losing you and Dad.
Why are you crying? It's just a dream.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I survived alone.
I've been brave enough to hold it in
this entire time,
but to be honest,
I was so scared and lonely.
There were days
I didn't want to come home,
so I would sit at the bus stop for hours.
I'm so sorry, Mom.
Honestly,
I was a little angry at you guys too.
You left me all alone,
and you never came back,
no matter how long I waited.
You didn't forget me, did you?
How can I ever forget…
such a lovely daughter like you?
I missed you, Mom.
We've been going around in circles.
I don't have time for this.
Is Ji-ah all right?
Please hang on just a bit longer. Please.
Don't touch me.
This is not the time to be prideful.
I'm just a corpse without my pride.
You already look like a corpse, you know.
Have you heard of a phantom limb?
Do you mean when a soldier
who lost a leg in battle
says his leg is hurting all night?
When you feel pain
even if you don't have a leg,
that's when the real pain begins.
And once the pain begins,
the door is already gone.
That's the world she portrays.
Gatekeeper, open the gate
I can't open it without a key
-What is it?
-I can't go any further.
The venom has spread too far,
so my eyes are blurry,
and I'm sick of dragging this leg along.
So, you're just going to sit here
and get eaten by Starving Demons?
Just go to your woman.
I'm hopeless anyway.
You haven't changed at all.
Just like the first time I met you.
You still give up easily,
and you still whine.
How can you take life and death
so lightly?
Because I don't have anything
special to me.
I don't have a first love like you
to protect with my life,
nor do I have a family
to wait for my entire life,
like that woman.
I came here for nothing.
Back then and even now.
I came to see because I heard
my father's offspring is here,
but you're nothing special.
And you don't seem to have
the will to live.
I came here for nothing.
I'm leaving.
If I die…
bury me in our old forest
of the Baekdudaegan Mountains.
I'm not your will.
I wish I could go back to those days.
Rosebays were blooming all around.
Isn't it strange?
I can't remember the taste…
of the rosebays we used to eat.
If you can't remember
the taste of the rosebays,
make it out alive
and go eat it, you bastard!
At the very least,
give it your all to survive!
Be honest.
Why did you come here?
To save both you and Ji-ah.
-You expect me to believe that?
-I don't care if you don't!
You're the one who tried to kill me.
You massacred an entire village.
-You deserved it!
-Exactly.
So why are you trying to save someone
you once tried to kill?
Listen to me.
My sword has never missed a target.
I…
have never missed a target in my life.
Not once.
Use that dumb brain of yours to figure out
how you're still alive
after being stabbed by my sword.
I'm leaving.
And I'm not coming back ever again.
About Boat No. 4 that just set sail
to the Stream of the Dead--
Tell the captain to turn the boat around.
Yes.
An old grandpa from an ICU
with a ventilator just arrived.
Now, where were we?
-Demon of Darkness.
-Demon of Darkness…
Was there still such a thing
lurking in the World of the Living?
After meeting that witch,
Lord Lee Yeon and Lady Ah-eum--
I mean, Producer Nam, both fainted.
Please tell me, ma'am.
What can I do to save them?
Your power isn't enough to save them.
The girl is with her family,
and Lee Yeon went to
the Forest of Starving Demons.
-The Forest of Starving Demons?
-I guess he went to save his brother.
-Then Lord Lee Rang is also--
-But…
Were those two really that close?
That's not the problem!
-To me, that's the problem.
-Honey!
He tries to carry all the burdens himself.
He's the type to put himself in danger.
That's why he was a mountain god.
A mountain god's heart breaks
even over a wilting blade of grass.
And it happens to be his brother.
Being family is no excuse.
-Lee Rang has committed far too many sins.
-How can you be so heartless?
Please save them, ma'am.
You can take my life in return, so please…
How ridiculous.
Why would you risk your life
over Yeon's choice?
If you just tell me how to save them,
I swear I'll do whatever you say.
Whatever I say?
Don't you care about the future?
You exchanged your life
for that piece of cloth?
I'm sure this is what he would've wanted.
You and Yeon are both so…
Is that the way of a fox?
But I don't understand.
Why did he go to Lord Lee Rang,
not to Producer Nam?
Those worlds are made
from the knots of the mind.
And to both of them, it's about family.
If that girl met the parents
she's been looking for her whole life,
there's no place
for anyone else to come in.
It means that even if he goes,
he has no way of getting in that house.
Are you saying…
Yeon went there knowing
exactly what he was up against.
Is there even an exit here?
If there's a way in, there's a way out.
When I came in, it was a closet.
When I opened the closet,
I found myself at the old straw house.
-Not at the Forest of Starving Demons?
-No.
Tell me everything you saw there.
First, the villagers came
with clubs in their hands.
My mom was just watching me get beaten up…
-And then…
-You found yourself at this forest?
Yeah.
So that must be the reason why.
No wonder I couldn't find
the door anywhere.
What do you mean?
-Don't you know who that woman is?
-You know her?
She's throwing a party
with your most painful memories.
No way…
-What was its name again?
-Demon of Darkness.
Demon of Darkness…
This looks like my room, but it's not.
Where am I right now?
What's that sound?
Hey, Ms. Kim.
What did the doctor say?
They ran all the tests they could,
but they can't determine the cause.
Gosh. What the hell is going on?
Ji-ah, open your eyes! Please wake up!
I was at work just now…
TVC STATION BREAK ROOM
The vegetable juice lady.
Young lady,
what is it that you're most afraid of?
Is it Fox Hill?
Right.
VEGETABLE JUICE
After I met that woman,
I was suddenly at Fox Hill.
FOX HILL
WHERE AM I?
Then this place must be…
Hey, you!
Are you trying to starve
Mom and Dad to death?
Dad?
I'm hungry.
Dad!
-Sweetie. Let's go eat.
-Okay.
Let's go.
TVC STATION BREAK ROOM
VEGETABLE JUICE
FOX HILL
WHERE AM I?
There's no path.
Go over it.
But my leg…
Where your fear ends,
you will find the path and the door.
-I don't see a door anywhere.
-Don't get scared!
Don't get scared and think.
What is it that you're most afraid of?
Me?
What I'm most afraid of is…
being abandoned.
My mom abandoned me…
and you abandoned me too.
You're driving me insane.
I…
I've never abandoned you.
I see it.
Let's go.
You better make it out alive.
Climb out!
Don't look!
That's not your mom! Don't look!
Mom?
Damn it.
Damn it!
No.
No!
Lord Lee Rang!
I have to go.
Where are you going? Where?
To Lee Yeon.
To Lee Yeon.
I have to go to Lee Yeon…
What are you talking about?
To Lee Yeon. I have to go to Lee Yeon.
Gimbap.
It's Dad's gimbap.
I know, right? It's gimbap again.
The best part of gimbap is the end, okay?
Eat the ends first.
Let's eat.
Here. It's good.
Is it good?
It's good.
Sweetie.
Thank you for the food.
-The soup is good too.
-Isn't it?
Spinach, carrots, cucumbers,
ham and pickled radish.
Why? You don't like it?
No, I do.
The ingredients aren't all that special,
but it's so strange.
No gimbap in the world tastes like this.
Was that a compliment?
It was a compliment, no?
I got complimented by my daughter! Yay!
I love it! Yay!
-Help yourself.
-Okay.
-It tastes even better today.
-Oh, really? Thank you.
I had a sudden thought.
Perhaps my life so far
has been a long nightmare,
and this was my real life.
If this is a dream, please…
Please don't wake me up.
What the hell?
-Is something wrong?
-Hey, Ji-ah, Ji-ah!
-Ji-ah, wake up! Ji-ah!
-Hold on! Doctor!
Doctor!
Please go check on her.
It's delicious.
I spilled a bit here.
-Give me some tissue.
-Gosh. Your dad is so…
-Here.
-Thanks.
It's delicious.
Who was that just now?
Who was it?
Is it better than the ones
I made before we got married?
I don't even remember what it tasted like.
How come? I made so many of them for you.
You must not be late.
If you're too late,
they'll be consumed by that world forever.
We didn't do anything.
We were just looking at her.
Where did she go?
-What the hell?
-What the hell?
This is all I can do.
Please come back, both of you.
This was when you made your
first carnation in kindergarten, Ji-ah.
You know, the safety pin.
You accidentally stabbed me with it,
so my chest was bleeding, right here.
-Did I do that?
-Yeah.
I said you were
the best daughter in the world.
Don't we still have
this carnation somewhere?
I kept it nice and safe.
Ta-da!
"Mom, Dad, I love you."
You still kept this?
-Of course. It's our family treasure.
-Oh, my. Let me see.
Wow, it's well-preserved.
Of course. It's precious.
-Now.
-She was as small as your hand.
We're getting a call.
-How cute.
-Look at her hands.
I know, right? It brings back memories.
-Don't you hear the phone?
-How cute.
-You see her hair here?
-Yeah.
-She had such soft hair.
-I know, right?
-How cute.
-When was this?
Hello?
It's me.
Who is this?
Lee Yeon.
Lee Yeon?
I'm sorry I couldn't come and get you.
Who are you?
I think I know who you are,
but I don't remember.
You must realize
where you are and why you are there.
You must realize it on your own
to come back to reality.
What does that mean?
Come back, Ji-ah.
I'll be waiting for you, always.
Don't hang up!
TONG: CONNEC
You must come back.
Who was that?
I don't know who that was,
but I feel like I left
something very important behind.
It's a bouquet of mugwort.
It's special enough. At least to me today.
I'm sorry I couldn't come and get you.
If I had been bewitched by something…
You're home.
You must realize
where you are, and why you are there.
Come back, Ji-ah.
You sleep well?
I'll be waiting for you, always.
You will find your parents.
I'll make sure you do.
Thank you, Lee Yeon.
Lee Yeon!
It's the venom of Starving Demons.
Do something!
Lord Lee Yeon hasn't returned yet.
No! You can't go anywhere.
If Lord Lee Rang dies, I'll die too.
I promise to repay you
with whatever I can.
Please.
Please.
Please.
Help him, please.
-Look at this hat.
-How adorable.
Isn't her hat pretty?
-Did you knit it?
-Yeah.
How can she be so small?
-Wow, look how small she is.
-I know, right?
Ji-ah, come look at this.
This was the day
you babbled for the first time.
You threw up on your mom's chest
after this photo was taken.
It's because she started drinking
a new formula that day.
How do you guys remember all that?
Because we love you.
The movement of your hands
and feet, your babbling,
and the sound of you crying so loudly.
We love all of those. Every single one.
I see.
I was loved so much.
-Look.
-Oh, how cute. Look at her face.
So pretty.
Look at this one.
I was wondering,
how would you feel if you lost me?
Why would we lose you?
Just wondering. You never know
what's going to happen in life.
Don't you worry.
We would go to the ends
of the earth to find you.
-Of course. You're my baby.
-Of course.
I will do that too.
I promise to find you two.
What are you saying?
Someone asked me
what it is that I'm most afraid of.
What I'm most afraid of…
is being apart from my mom and dad.
What's going on?
Mom, I'm sorry.
Dad, I'm sorry.
But I have to go.
Ji-ah, where are you going?
-Honey, stop her!
-Ji-ah!
If you walk out that door,
you will never be able to see us again!
Ji-ah, why are you trying to abandon us?
That's not what it is.
Ji-ah.
Let's just live here together,
the three of us. Okay?
But this is not reality.
That doesn't matter.
We are happy here as a family.
Is that not good enough?
Why do you keep trying to end up alone?
Mom and Dad are right here.
I'm not alone.
I have Lee Yeon by my side.
Ji-ah.
-Please.
-Ji-ah, please.
I trust Lee Yeon.
-Ji-ah!
-Ji-ah!
Damn, the girl woke up too!
-Isn't this cheating?
-As far as I can tell, it's a fair game.
What should we do now?
-This is good enough.
-What?
I just wanted to look
deep into that woman's mind.
And thanks to you, we caught Lee Yeon too.
Lee Yeon.
You woke me up.
You said you'd always be waiting for me.
Where are you?
Where in the world did you go?
So this must be my hell.
Dying a slow death
in this world without her…
An infinite loneliness.
How's Lord Lee Rang?
It may take a few days
for the venom to leave his body,
but he'll be fine soon.
Why aren't you asking any questions?
It's right in front of you.
The reason I approached you.
You knew?
I happened to see you two together.
Thanks to that, I was taken
to a junkyard and beaten up.
-By Lord Lee Rang?
-Yeah.
Then why did you treat him?
Because I didn't want to see you cry.
Shin-ju.
Lord Lee Rang.
Where's Lee Yeon?
Is he back yet?
Lord Lee Yeon, please wake up.
Oh, no! Lord Lee Yeon!
Did Ji-ah return home safely?
I wanted to tell her she looked so pretty
when she was eating chicken feet.
I wanted to and tell her "good night"
and greet her in an ordinary way.
I just wanted to walk in the same era
with you just a little longer.
I wanted to protect
all of your days and nights.
I can't go back.
I miss you, Lee Yeon.
Even a nine-tailed fox
who was once a mountain god
isn't all that special.
Hey, you can't die yet.
It's no fun if you die already.
I guess he's not dead.
Your pretty body
will be taken to the Imoogi
and be used to put the world in chaos.
Demon of Darkness.
Gosh, you scared me.
You awake?
Did Ji-ah get back safely?
Why does that even matter
when you're dying?
Please.
Please tell me.
No, no! I don't want to!
I beg you.
Tell me, please.
Stop it! How disgraceful.
Yeah, she got out.
But it might have been better
if she didn't.
It looks like she is struggling
after losing both her parents
and now, you too.
So she got out, huh?
Are you smiling?
Then should I cry instead?
I went through a lot
to drag you to this place.
What?
Do you think I fell from that cliff
because of a damn Starving Demon?
-Don't tell me you did that on purpose--
-Demon of Darkness.
Allow me to return your signature line.
What is it that you're most afraid of?
I am the darkness and your fear.
There's no way I would have such a thing.
You're dying, aren't you?
You were forgotten
and abandoned by humans.
Because there's no fairy tale about you.
So you're seeking attention
by handing out vegetable juice,
and vent your anger on the famous,
such as the Water Snail Bride.
How-- How dare you…
-My brother even forgot your name.
-Shut your mouth!
You will live in the hell you have created
for eternity,
because you can't bring yourself to die.
Where do you think you're going?
Looks like you forgot something important.
This is not the Forest of Starving Demons.
It's inside the subconscious
of a mountain god.
In other words, it's my territory.
I can't see anything.
What do you want?
Don't worry. It's not you.
Found you!
I'll be going to catch you soon.
Wait right there.
The nine-tailed fox who loved a human.
You will slaughter that woman
with your own hands once more.
That…
is your fate--
Hey, lady, you should worry
about your own fate.
Don't come.
You stay right there.
This time, I'll be going to you.
I've been waiting for you.
TALE OF THE NINE TAILED
-Repay the kindness, Lee Yeon.
-No.
It was originally my place.
Both the place of a mountain god
and the place next to that maiden.
You slept in.
I want to break the deal.
There's always a way.
Kill your brother with your own hands.
I'll do it.
Give me the mountain god. If you do,
I'll return your parents to you.
Lee Yeon, if you give me your body,
I will spare the rest.