You dare…
lay a finger…
upon my sister?
You damn fool. Did you think I would come alone?
Get up.
Now stay put.
Kill him! Now!
- Let me go! - Come here.
Come along!
Let go of me!
Be quiet, damn it.
This is all because of you!
- Let me go! - Come here!
You bitch. You did this to me!
Do you know what you put me through?
Die! Just die!
Do not come any closer. I am warning you. Back off!
Come any closer, and I'll push her.
I will throw her down there.
Let us swap.
Swap what?
Take my life instead of hers. Mine will be of far greater value.
What do you mean?
I shall become your hostage.
Why?
Because I am also in need of money.
I do not yet possess any of the guild's wealth.
I would prefer that you did not leave a scar.
I mean a great deal to many.
You foolish bastard.
DEAR HONGRANG
Not again.
That is how it goes.
A sprained ankle will falter again, just as deep wounds tend to fester.
No wound ever heals completely.
If you will not take my hand, hold my sleeve.
I guess you hate that too? Okay, then. Keep your hands to yourself.
What are you doing? Put me down now!
Stay still, or I will throw you off this cliff.
Why, you…
Put me down!
I said put me down! Hey!
Jae-yi!
- There! - There she is!
What the… What is he doing here?
- Brother-- - Do not say another word.
Sister.
When I grow up,
I swear I will never let anyone treat you with disdain again.
What are you doing? Put me down now!
Stay still, or I will throw you off this cliff.
It is as I expected.
Jo Bang-suk has been spreading false rumors to lure Sim Jae-yi.
It has become nearly impossible to discern
which rumors about the Snow Man hold any truth.
Now our only witness, the maidservant, is dead. We are at a standstill.
Once we catch the Snow Man, he will lead us right to the painter.
The painter is likely painting at this very moment…
while draining someone's life, just as he did to you and me.
Let us start from the beginning.
If, as we had suspected,
the painter is indeed someone inside the guild and close to my father…
we must start our search here.
Their tracks suggest they were injured before fleeing.
Do you mean he… the Soul Reaper spared the assassins?
He is being prudent as his position in the guild is not yet secure.
You mean to say he held back to avoid repercussions?
What is causing such a commotion there?
A new piece by Du-ryeong has just arrived.
They are arguing over who will buy it.
Boy! Watch where you're going!
Child, where are your parents?
Do you have a home?
Have you always been alone?
Well, then…
perhaps you will come with me?
Chief Merchant, Grand Prince Hanpyeong has returned.
Without sending word?
He's been at his country manor for a few days now.
Let us go. I must pay my respects at once.
Hongrang will join me.
Of course.
In the yearslong search for you,
Grand Prince Hanpyeong has been of great material and moral support.
He prefers to avoid politics, but he exerted his power for you.
Do not forget the debt of gratitude you owe him.
Yes.
I shall express my deepest gratitude to His Royal Highness.
Yes, as you should.
If I may ask, why does the prince reside in such a remote place?
His Royal Highness deems it
the best place to work on his art.
I have never seen the painter's face, but I shall easily recognize his work.
With a single glance,
I should be able to identify his work.
Hongrang,
is that you?
It is you.
It is undoubtedly you.
You have not changed one bit.
You are the spitting image of your maternal grandfather…
yet you have your father's air about you.
I, Hongrang of the Sim household, pay you my respects, Your Royal Highness.
All these years,
you must have been deeply distressed to lose such a dear son.
It is long overdue, but I extend my heartfelt congratulations.
It is all due to your grace, Your Royal Highness.
That is right. Next, "in" meaning "person."
He is not the painter.
He is not left-handed.
More importantly, his painting style is different.
The child he took from Gwangtong Bridge appears to be doing well too.
It is indeed discouraging, yet I also find myself relieved.
If the painter was a royal, it would have complicated matters.
I have also noticed. Go, walk ahead of me.
How was your retreat in Dongnae?
Have you somewhat recovered?
Not at all.
I feel that I have become quite useless.
Impossible, Your Highness.
By the way, I stopped by Gwangtong Bridge on my way here.
Du-ryeong appears to be quite a reputable painter there.
He is hardly reputable, merely a subject of rumor.
Rumors?
Of what kind?
Word is that he is always drunk on opium, liquor, and carnal pleasures.
His favorite subject is animal carcasses,
though he also makes human corpses the subject of his art.
However,
I hear the spirits that inhabit his art endow strange powers,
so his paintings can revive the dying or kill the living in an instant.
Goodness me.
Is it a dead body?
I shall paint the sight of your soul leaving your body.
Fueled by such baseless rumors,
one of his paintings fetches enough to buy several tile-roofed houses.
That crazy bastard!
How arrogant must one be to tarnish the virtues of the fine arts?
What do you wish to do?
Do what?
To whom?
We shall leave him be.
One creates their own fate.
He may do everything in his power to emulate greatness,
but he shall never duplicate a single stroke of my brush. Indeed not.
Articulating the essence of the spirit is a rare gift, you see.
You may leave.
I can no longer walk slowly for your sake.
Sister, why follow me with that ankle of yours?
I am not your sister.
The Mins' only daughter, Sim Jae-yi, then.
Why are you tailing me?
You tailed me first. That is why you were there that night.
Which is why you are still alive today.
Why did you save me, then?
Were you hoping to win my favor so I would believe you are my brother?
Yes.
I guess my efforts were in vain.
I have something for you.
What, for me?
Here.
Wait, that was the wrong one.
- What are you doing? - Maybe it was this.
No. It must be this.
This?
No, it is this!
What? Do you not like them? Do they scare you?
You cut down men with ease but cower before mere insects?
Perhaps you meant…
to give me this mantis?
Hey, mantises bite!
What has you so afraid, yelling,
"No, stop! Don't come near me"?
I may just keep this. Perhaps it will suckle on some honey.
Mother!
What are you doing out here? Hurry inside.
My visit is quite overdue.
What would a busy grandmaster want with a jobless nobody like me?
To what do I owe the pleasure?
I heard that, in your youth, you studied alongside Hongrang.
Not just studied.
We are second cousins born just a month apart.
Before we could even roll over, we shared all our meals and daily needs.
It was a tiresome ordeal, as you can imagine.
I was not so fond of Hongrang.
Not fond at all.
Everyone doted on him too much. I could not stand the sight of him.
Are you perchance aware of any of Hongrang's eccentricities?
His?
Well, he was just… meek, I suppose.
And a bit of a coward.
Why do you ask?
To be honest,
I still have my suspicions about that man.
Does that mean the Hongrang we have now could be an imposter?
The physicians examined him and conducted a blood test, did they not?
Though I understand your concern.
How does one lose only their childhood memories?
And Jae-yi said he was not Hongrang, didn't she?
She would never fail to recognize her brother.
She knows absolutely everything there is to know about Hongrang…
How on earth did I not think of that? How could I have forgotten?
Has something come to mind?
Listen.
Hongrang's birthday is approaching, is it not?
I hear there is to be a celebratory feast for all relatives.
I have an idea.
There is a way to know once and for all whether or not he is an imposter.
Hongrang.
Can you see me?
Sister, can you see me?
I can.
Jae-yi.
Do I still make you uncomfortable?
It is not something you did.
I just feel a little…
confused.
You shall not be for much longer.
His true identity shall soon be unveiled,
and all will see that he is a fraud.
What?
Start boiling this now. Make sure it is cooked through.
Hey! Hongrang!
It is you, isn't it? Remember me? Hong-sik?
Your second cousin and bosom friend!
My memory is still hazy, so I do not recognize you…
but you do look familiar.
It is great to see you!
Listen up. You and I, the two of us, were like two peas in a pod!
Jae-yi!
What a pleasure it is! Jae-yi!
You came, then?
Oh my, you are unrecognizable.
When did you become so pretty?
Let me take a look at you.
You have become quite the lady.
And you have become more unhinged.
Come on, Jae-yi.
You have not changed one bit.
I must say, I do find myself oddly drawn to feisty women.
Let us think. Well, since we are second cousins…
Damn it. That damned law.
I mean, we…
I guess marriage is off the table, then.
Hey, you.
Me?
Go inside. You are being awfully loud.
Boy, you have changed quite a bit.
You were never this rough around the edges. How strange.
Many years may have passed,
but how can one's natural temperament change so?
Things must have been rough.
Aunt! Uncle!
Congratulations.
Jubilations.
I wish you health and prosperity.
Jubilations.
What a joyous occasion.
You have all gathered here bearing such valuable gifts.
Rarely do we see all of the guild's masters united like this.
However,
it would seem that the grandmaster did not have time to come prepared.
That would be unacceptable.
It is a bow!
I thought that, rather than fine paper or ornaments,
that might be more to your liking.
From which animal's horn was this crafted?
That of a black cattle.
I see.
A rare thing to come by.
Well then, let us see how it draws.
I should break this in, lest it harm its own master.
Time will tell if you are its master.
A black cattle's horn is rather tough. Breaking it in will be no easy feat.
What on earth are you two doing?
Bring in the food now.
Now, let us raise our cups.
Why, is this not pomegranate wine?
Hongrang!
You cannot drink this!
- What is the matter? - Uncle, this is bad!
Quick, you must send for a physician at once!
I asked you a question.
A long time ago, when we were young,
Hongrang and I once stole and drank some pomegranate wine for fun.
However, as soon as he took a sip,
his face, neck, and entire body broke out in a rash.
He was struggling to breathe. It almost cost him his life!
He was in bed, sick, for over half a day,
but we feared we would be punished if you knew about the wine,
so we lied and said he was stung by bees after touching a hive.
Aunt, do you not remember?
The physicians asked what he had eaten, suspecting an allergic reaction.
I remember.
Have you ever seen him eat pomegranates? Have any of you?
Jae-yi, have you seen him eat them?
I bet you have not because he almost died from them!
After that, he never so much as glanced at them.
Well, what are you doing? Quick, call in the physicians…
But why is he… How is he not having a reaction?
How come he is absolutely fine after drinking two glasses of it?
If he really is Hongrang, this would not be happening.
Is this for real?
Does this mean he is not Hongrang?
I am not sure.
It is most curious.
Look! Hives!
How dare you!
You were intent on murdering my son, were you not?
Bring me some peach wood!
I shall rid this wench of the demon inside her for good!
Speak, child. Was it truly your doing?
Yes.
But why?
Because nobody would take my word
that he is an imposter.
Why, you crazy wench!
Madam!
Move aside!
I said move!
Move!
It was not her!
I did it, madam!
What?
It… it was…
it was me.
The drink to be served was quince wine,
but I feared we did not have enough, so I changed it to pomegranate.
No, Eul-bun.
It was me. It was my doing.
Is that so?
I see.
All right, then.
I shall show you what happens if you serve a wench like her.
Eul-bun!
My son.
I do not wish for this.
Sorry?
To see you this way, Mother, feels so unfamiliar and strange.
This is not the mother I envisioned.
Are you all right?
Yes,
so please rest assured.
If I recovered in half a day before, I will certainly do so even quicker now.
So,
you may forgive my sister now.
This incident could pass as a silly joke pulled on my birthday.
All right.
That will be all.
No.
It is not possible.
He must have known it and made a sly move.
You
were the one who made a sly move.
What?
If Hongrang were allergic to something, I would have known.
Although I cannot be certain,
I vaguely recall eating pomegranates with Hongrang when we were young.
If my memory serves me right, that man must be an imposter.
However,
if I am mistaken
and Hong-sik spoke the truth…
that would mean you almost harmed Hongrang.
Due to this incident,
many masters have shifted their allegiance to Young Master Hongrang.
If this situation persists,
Young Master Mu-jin's position within the guild may be at risk.
Send word to Jin Art Studio
to have the object prepared.
Yes, sir.
Is that a chestnut?
Let's share. You can have half. Just half.
Oh, come on!
There it is!
My tooth! Why did you do that?
You need to throw it on the roof for your new tooth to grow.
The roof? No, I want it.
Hand it over! Come on!
My precious front tooth.
What is so precious about it?
Do you not know the story about the rat?
Once upon a time, a man cut off his fingernails
and threw them away carelessly.
A field rat came along, devoured them,
and transformed into the man's likeness
so identical that even his wife could not tell them apart.
I would like there to be two of you.
One could stay with Mother, and one could play with me.
What if you are unable to tell us apart?
If you were to fail to recognize the real me,
then what would become of me?
Hongrang.
I am… breathing just fine.
Those are some drinks and snacks.
I will be out here while you stay in there.
Let us have a drink.
You want to drink now? Are you out of your mind?
After all that, you worry about me?
I am hurt and disappointed.
Had you the slightest suspicion I might be your brother,
you would not have let me drink that.
It seems I could never be him… to you.
It is fine.
I, too,
never really tried to be a little brother to you anyway.
It is both absurd and hopeless to try and prove I am indeed myself…
but that is also fine.
I am used to it,
trying to become something.
You tried
to become something?
Everyone is something from the moment they are born.
Someone's son, someone's baby brother.
Someone's cousin or friend.
Simply someone's neighbor, even.
But I was never something to anyone.
I was always alone.
As if
I was dropped from the sky.
That is why I made an effort
to become someone's colleague or even someone's sword.
Living like so…
I even became someone's nemesis.
That was the life I led
until I suddenly became someone's son.
The son of the chief merchant of the great Min Family's Guild, no less.
I thought becoming someone's brother would be just as easy.
Perhaps I hoped it would go that way.
I will make more of an effort.
Are you still
in a lot of pain?
No.
I am fine.
You said no wound ever heals completely.
I hope that wound of yours never festers.
Whether you are an imposter or not,
I hope you are no longer in pain.
Our leader was quite concerned for you.
If I may…
how did our leader know of Hongrang's allergy?
We cannot afford to repeat the risk taken today.
Until our work is done,
you mustn't be exposed as an imposter.
It is lacquer poison. Make sure not to use it in excess.
Subtitle translation by: Jimin Choi