(The Empire)
(We would like to inform you that the names, institutions, companies and incidents in this drama are fictional.)
(Ham & Lee law corporation)
It's like meeting my first love. Nice to see you again.
I'm always amazed at how beautiful you are whenever I see you.
That must be why that jerk, Na Geun...
I can see why Kang Baek is so smitten with you.
Let's cut to the chase. Tell me what you want.
I'm sure you know that you must keep this confidential.
I'll be honest. It's not too bad.
Objectively speaking, stealing someone's technology...
isn't even big news.
Even if the report was fabricated,
the medium-sized company went bankrupt,
and the owner of the company committed suicide,
this kind of thing happens all the time.
Should I say it's so obvious what the conglomerates...
and law firms are up to?
But...
the news I plan to expose is of a different nature.
I'm sure you know where these photos were taken.
As the tables have turned, the conditions must change. Correct?
Who are you? How did you...
What? How did she have these photos?
Apologize...
to my father...
and the factory staff.
And apologize...
to me.
We're sorry about that. That's why we're trying to...
That's not an apology.
You're trying to silence me.
Make a public apology, pointing out your wrongdoings.
Apologize to us.
If not, this will be the headlines for tomorrow's news cycle.
(Episode 9)
Yes, Gwang Jeon.
The land and the bonds I told you about are under borrowed names.
Right. Keep the documents, deeds,
and the affidavits to surrender in a safe place.
Yes. That's it.
Honey.
(Affidavits to Surrender Properties)
Hallelujah.
Calm down.
"My goodness, honey. Are you all right?"
By the way, what do you think her job was?
Maybe she was a masseuse.
No way.
Why not? She can melt his heart with her massage.
"Honey, this feels good. Right?"
Left and right. "Do you want me to massage your legs?"
"There."
"What about your toes?"
Gosh. That's so awful!
(Law and establishment of order)
(30 years ago)
You have a new inmate coming in.
(The Almighty will save me...)
So you're the girl who killed her father...
for the insurance claim.
Why aren't you answering me?
What? Are you looking down on me?
I didn't do it.
What?
I didn't kill my dad.
I'm really...
I'm really innocent.
My gosh. Everyone here is innocent.
Gosh. Everyone here wants to cry.
Stop crying. And get your things...
What? This is all you have?
Stop crying.
What?
Gosh.
No.
- Are you all right? - My goodness.
She's all right. She must've hanged herself not long ago.
Goodness.
You think you got it worse than everyone else?
Why did you stop me?
Why did you do that?
Why won't you even let me die?
I don't want to live! Why are you getting in my way?
Hey, you guys. What's going on here?
It's nothing.
You know how tough the first night can get.
All right.
Help her calm down and go to sleep.
Sure.
"To some, life is a war."
"To some, life is peace."
Have you heard of that?
No.
Do you even realize what you were about to do?
If you were to dig your own grave and put yourself in there,
you would only be making Ham Min Heon's life better...
after that jerk had driven your life to the ruins.
What...
Ham Min Heon?
How do you know that?
If you're going to throw away your life, give your life to me.
Then I'll help you.
Why?
Why do you want to help me?
Because...
I need to get back at Ham Min Heon for many reasons.
"Always be joyful, never stop praying,"
"and be thankful in all circumstances."
"Always be joyful, never stop praying,"
"and be thankful in all circumstances."
I always find the meaning of this passage so valuable.
"Don't fight evil with evil."
"Always be kind." I like that passage too.
Machiavelli said that...
we mustn't be so generous to the people who helped us...
and be the as cruel as we could when taking revenge.
Right.
But there's something that always bothers me.
Our Lord allows only those who are wedded to sleep together.
But we're still not married.
We're married in His eyes.
And everyone knows that we are married too.
We never registered our marriage.
It's not like we had a wedding in front of everyone either.
It always makes me feel like a sinner.
There's a lot going on in our family for the time being.
- So when the time is right... - When is that right time?
It's been over five years.
You don't want...
to register our marriage. Isn't that it?
When it comes down to it,
you're just toying with me. Aren't you?
What? Toy with you?
What do you mean?
I would never do such a thing to you.
Then why do you keep putting off the wedding?
You're not the only one getting old. I'm in my 50s too.
How much longer do you want to live like this?
Okay.
Come here.
I got it.
(Assistant Woo)
(Missed calls, Assistant Woo)
(You're not answering my calls? So this is what you want to do?)
Come see me in your office. I'll give you an hour.
If you don't come here in time, you'll see me at your house.
I'll go over there right away.
You have one hour.
Come in.
Hey.
I forgot some files in my office.
I was going to read them tonight.
So I'll go back and pick them up now.
I guess it must be urgent.
Yes. I need to submit them by tomorrow morning.
I see.
Then you should go get them.
I won't be long.
("Labour Law")
(Mobile application for MINGUK UNIVERSITY)
(Professor's Office)
You're here.
Why?
Why are you going this far? Why?
What have I done so wrong to cross you like this?
It's not like you're a saint either!
Let go of me.
Answer me!
What have you done wrong?
(Professor Na Geun Woo)
We had sex here in your office a lot, didn't we?
At one point, I didn't feel so safe about the security of this office.
Just to be sure, I checked out the director's computer.
Yes, I hacked into your mother-in-law's computer.
Then I found this. How interesting.
Your mother-in-law is something else.
How did she manage to have breakfast with her cheating son-in-law?
After all, she knew everything we did.
I get it.
She lived with her dirtbag husband herself for 40 years.
So I guess putting up with you was a piece of cake.
Out of greed to have more,
and to fill their basement with wine that costs...
tens of thousands of dollars when they won't even drink it,
stealing from other people came easy to them,
and they ruined other people's lives.
I never wanted what wasn't mine.
What we wanted was fair!
Nan Hee.
What are you talking about?
You'll find out tomorrow what I mean by this.
First of all,
the phone.
Give me the phone I gave you.
Wake up.
I won't be gone even if you get rid of that burner phone.
Just give it to me.
This little thing isn't the issue here.
- Give it to me. - No.
- I said, give it to me! - I said, no.
Give it to me.
No! Get off me.
Let go!
(Professor's Office)
Let go!
Come in.
Thank you.
Sleep a bit more.
We still have time before breakfast.
No, I need to get up now.
- Here's the newspaper. - Thank you.
There.
- What's going on? - Kang Ye.
I found her missing hairpin...
while cleaning up this morning.
She screamed out of excitement.
Did I wake you up? I'm sorry.
I was so happy that I couldn't help it.
What's going on?
Grandma, I found my hairpin.
You found your hairpin?
And here I thought...
Kang Ye, you shouldn't scream in the house early in the morning.
I apologize,
but it's pretty to wear a pair together.
I see you're having a grateful morning.
Why don't you say grace for our breakfast today?
Grandpa, please.
What?
They aren't having breakfast today.
- Everyone else in the family? - Yes.
This has never happened before.
Is something up?
Earlier this morning, an unidentified woman was...
found dead in the lake of MINGUK UNIVERSITY in Seoul.
A female student found the body...
on her way to the library...
and reported it to the police.
The body was floating on the surface when it was found.
The police are working to identify the dead woman...
and to check the CCTV camera footage and the periphery of the lake.
(Forensic Investigation)
The body has been identified.
It's Hong Nan Hee, the sophomore in law school here.
She didn't come back last night, so her roommate called the police.
We compared the body's fingerprint with hers,
and it was a match.
Let's take care of these people first.
They're like flies in mid-summer.
If they were like flies, it'd be a relief.
But they're worse than mosquitoes and even piranhas.
The body's over there!
Cases and accidents aren't just shows anymore.
Other people's misfortunes are a way to make money.
Streaming is their source of income.
That's why they're swarming in like hyenas.
What?
Why is she over there?
She's unbelievable.
Over here!
- Gosh, it's so noisy. - Hello.
Something like this is...
What's wrong with you today?
See some reason on a day like this.
So many people are watching.
You can't just jump up and down to call me over like that.
Did you identify the girl?
What about the phone? Did you find it?
Why do you ask? This is so out of the blue.
I heard something here...
yesterday.
Near the lake.
Were you here last night?
An informant wanted to meet me here.
Right here.
The informant chose this place.
They probably felt...
familiar and safe here.
We only exchanged texts,
but I guessed it was a student here.
It was so secluded that no one came around from 11pm.
There were no CCTV cameras either. Only a student here would know that.
If it'd been like any other day,
I would've thought they changed their mind.
I mean, it often happens to reporters.
The phone is turned off. You'll be directed to voicemail.
After the beep...
But strangely, I felt awful.
(Informant)
Press one to leave a voice message.
Press two to leave your number.
I can't wait any longer, so I will be going for today.
You even turned your phone off so suddenly.
I'm flustered, but I do understand.
It takes courage to do this.
But...
everything's okay, right?
I'll be waiting for your call.
I...
should've gone there.
I should've checked.
If then,
she could've survived.
I knew it was dangerous.
I knew it.
Look. Nothing's for sure yet.
Whether you heard a body thrown in the lake.
Whether the dead person was the informant.
Whether that person was alive or dead already.
Nothing has been found.
Don't jump to conclusions.
You were clueless at that time.
And if somebody had committed murder and abandoned the body for real,
you would've been in danger too. So don't think of it that way.
What time was it?
When you heard the sound. Did you see anything else?
It was around 12:05am.
I just couldn't reach her that I texted her then.
Darn, there were no street lamps.
And because of the branches, I couldn't see the lake from here.
The number.
I have the number. The informant's number.
Please identify this number.
Then we will know.
- Check. - Okay.
Eun Mi, calm down a little.
You need to rest.
Right, Ms. Yoon. Your eyes are sunken.
Go wait at home, and I'll get to you.
It's them.
Those people.
(Do not enter)
Here.
By the way,
this lake is easily visible now that the sun is up high.
It's glowing like a stage with the sun right above it.
Don't you think so?
So the murderer was probably too flustered to think that far.
They just wanted to get rid of the body.
Look. There was a case I handled before joining our team.
It was just like this one.
The body was floating on a rice field.
It turned out to be a hit-and-run.
The culprit thought it was a pit and abandoned the body there.
But it was actually a rice field.
The water overflowed that the body floated eventually.
To think of that time...
I'm not sure though.
But this seems too much like a play.
I mean, it's common sense that a body floats on water.
I doubt the culprit forgot about it no matter how flustered they were.
They probably didn't care whether this murder...
was discovered or not.
If Hong Nan Hee is the informant that Eun Mi mentioned,
- it could mean a warning. - A warning?
As in, "Keep your mouth shut."
Who did the culprit want to silence?
(Assistant Woo, where are you?)
(Open link)
(My documents)
(Hongyeon Engineering Document)
(Evaluation Report)
(To Attorney Nam Soo Hyuk, Jusung-Hongyeon Engineering Case)
Remember.
I can be Aegis, but also Hades.
Here. It doesn't have many pages.
I'm not sure.
Professor?
You're here.
Don't you know how to knock?
Well, I knocked.
You're more than 30 minutes late for the lecture.
Oh, the lecture.
- Professor? - Enough!
(The dead body found in the lake of MINGUK UNIVERSITY...)
(turns out to be the law school student, Hong.)
A criminal trial is an institutional strategy...
operated by the five principles,
which are discovery of truth, justice, rapidity,
human rights, and proper procedures.
One of the important principles...
is the principle of legal procedures.
This principle implies that a nation's punishment right...
must be realized according to fair legal procedures.
Article 12 Clause 1 of the Constitution says...
that every citizen has the right to liberty.
Unless provided by the law,
they must not be arrested, detained,
seized, searched, and interrogated.
Without any legal procedures,
they must not be punished,
sentenced, or forced to labour.
The principle of legal procedures...
Your wife is here too.
Come in.
Did you want to see me, Father?
What are you doing here, honey?
Father called me in to say something.
Don't you have to be on campus? It must be a mess there.
No matter how busy I may be,
my children's business comes first.
Yes, of course.
But sometimes,
it seems like Hye Ryul is your only child.
I cannot stand your sarcasm anymore.
Well, this is what I'm like.
You know from experience.
If you can't stand it, will you divorce me or something?
- I could do that. - What?
Enough.
I called you guys over to say something,
so don't talk about anything unnecessary.
Why are you looking at me?
- She started... - Do you...
really want to get kicked out?
Father.
I'm turning 70 soon.
You can't even kick out a dog like this.
A disobedient dog doesn't get kicked out.
It gets killed instead.
Stop Hye Ryul from being punished.
If you can't stop it,
I'm going to make her the CEO of Ham & Lee.
Are you surprised?
Then were you going to let her stay in the prosecution...
after suffering from the punishment?
And you call yourself a father?
You will be kicked out if she's stained even a tiny bit.
(Prosecution Service)
Watch it.
It's not in my plans...
to get run over by my sister's car in front of my office building.
And you'd easily die in my hands?
I thought we agreed to be strangers outside.
We better.
It'd be unpleasant to see a judge and a prosecutor...
from the same family stay close together.
But I'm in no position to mind that.
Actually,
we're both in no position to mind that.
Hye Ryul, we aren't really on horrible terms.
We aren't on good terms either.
Let's stop here.
And why did our sisterhood fall apart?
I was close to your ex-husband too.
Then why didn't you marry him instead?
It's all because of your greed.
You want Ham & Lee while keeping your reputation high.
At the same time, you even want to realize your romance.
Then is it not your greed...
that you can't let your husband spend a short time in jail?
About the female student of MINGUK UNIVERSITY...
who was found dead this morning,
she was Kang Baek's girlfriend, right?
Does this draw your attention now?
It's going viral online.
But when I saw her in our family's house,
she seemed too familiar.
Where do you think I saw her?
Why do you ask me?
Hye Ryul, aren't you curious?
Just how much I know.
Just how far I can go.
I won't go home anymore.
Come to me if you change your mind.
I'm open for compromises.
It's fine.
Yes, it's really okay.
Don't worry about it. Just do your work.
Yes, she'll be all right.
This has happened a few times already.
Yes.
I'll call you when I arrive. Okay.
(Nursing Home Director)
Yes, Na Geun Woo speaking.
Breathe. Take a deep breath, slowly.
Slowly.
Mom...
Mom... My mom...
My mom...
I feel so bad for her. What do I do now?
She spent her entire life just suffering.
Her husband left her with nothing but debts.
She sold tteokbokki...
and sundae to raise her son.
But that selfish son of hers...
left her alone in a care home...
and barely visited her a couple of times a year.
You should go see her now.
To say your last goodbye...
and let her go.
I can't go there.
If I go there now...
It means it's real.
It means she really is dead.
If you don't go now, you'll regret it.
If you wait too long and end up holding her cold hand...
You shouldn't do that.
Get in.
Get in the car and call Ms. Han.
If you can't talk to her on the phone now, text her.
I'll just drive you there...
and take the bus back to Seoul right away.
Right now,
she's the one you need.
So get in the car.
Let's go.
(MINGUK UNIVERSITY)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Nan Hee.
You see,
back in the day, people said...
judges could do everything except for changing genders.
But these days, judges can even change someone's gender.
Judges can kill or spare lives...
and even change someone's gender.
What can't they do? Are they omnipotent?
They have more power than deities. They really do.
Such a mindset is the problem!
A judge should never allow a man...
to become a woman.
A judge should talk some sense into them and make them repent.
The young men these days must be out of their minds.
They should be locked up in one of the guardhouses in the military.
A judge ought to make them realize the gravity of their sin.
Why let them have their way?
"The sin that must lead to death."
"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman,"
"both of them have done what is detestable."
"They are to be put to death."
"Their blood will be on their own heads."
Leviticus 20:13.
The law school student who died.
Isn't she Kang Baek's girlfriend who came over a while back?
We're having breakfast. Must you bring it up now?
From the Internet to social media, her personal info is everywhere.
But we aren't even talking about it.
What does that incident have to do with the family?
Well...
Hearing that someone I know has died...
makes me feel weird.
Isn't that why you all skipped breakfast yesterday?
- Kang Ye, that's enough. - I just find it odd.
It's so odd.
Dad.
The hairpin set you bought for me when you had a conference in France.
It was a limited-edition.
What is this, Dad?
Don't tell me this is the limited-edition set.
There are only 300 sets in the world.
You said you wanted it, my princess.
I didn't think you'd actually get me one!
It's so pretty! It's gorgeous.
How did you get your hands on this?
What do you think?
I got there before the shop opened and waited in line to get one.
Didn't you have a busy itinerary?
But I had to make time for it. Look how excited she is.
Dad, you're the best.
Thanks so much!
How can you be so sure?
That I can't change anything.
There are some photos of her circulating on the Internet.
One of them was a photo of her wearing those hairpins.
There are only 300 sets in the world.
The day I finally found one of the hairpins,
she died.
Hey, how can you eat right now?
The girl you wanted to marry is dead.
It's what everyone wanted.
I'm trying not to ruin everyone else's happiness.
Dad, I'm sorry.
But I'll just throw out those hairpins.
It creeps me out.
They left a lot of food today.
I know. They barely ate.
Right. They barely ate.
Has this happened before?
No.
Something must've happened.
Yes. Something too serious to eat.
You two.
If you want to eat,
you better watch your mouth.
Yes, ma'am.
We're changing the menu for this week.
For the time being,
we're only making dishes easy to digest and help one calm down.
Understand?
- Yes. - Yes.
(Do not cross)
- Here. - No thanks.
I'll only feel uncomfortable underwater if I eat.
Did you check whom the number Eun Mi gave us belongs to?
Just as you expected, it's the same as the victim. Hong Nan Hee.
Do you really have to go in there yourself?
We have expert divers.
Gu Won. Geez.
This is where it begins.
This is why I got the license.
- Stop complaining. - Be careful.
Don't worry.
It's not that deep, and I'm not going in alone.
Oh, right.
Watch the monitor carefully and see if I miss anything.
Yes?
Hello, professor. You have a mail.
The lecture is at 2pm.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
(To Professor Na Geun Woo)
Oh, geez.
Are you happy that I'm gone?
Are you happy that I'm dead?
(The Empire)
The man in Hong Nan Hee's photo on the internet.
Isn't that Kang Baek?
Did you think I was unaware?
Did you really think I wouldn't know?
Kang Baek. You're acting weird.
Nan Hee was murdered.
She was killed trying to tip off.
You must find out who wanted to silence her and why.
You're a prosecutor. You know it.
How women normally get killed.
The murderer is nearby.
You don't seem desperate at all...
as if you don't want to catch the culprit.
I think the time that you mentioned has come.
I'm not sure if I can be of any help, but you can ask me.
There's someone I'm suspecting.
You know, you let me borrow this thing the other day.
There's a hacking program installed on this thing.
(The Empire)