Young Soon was The Good Bad Mother, who made her son, Kang Ho, hate her because of her overly strict method of upbringing. Young Soon was scarred by the traumatic incidents in her life, and she didn’t want Kang Ho to go through the same. However, Kang Ho became emotionally distant from Young Soon because of this. Young Soon didn’t have any idea how much Kang Ho had drifted apart from her because of the villagers who treated her like family. She wasn’t lonely even in Kang Ho’s absence and hoped he would return someday. Kang Ho did return home, but after surviving an accident that gave Young Soon and Kang Ho a chance to revive their broken relationship. Throughout the story, both Young Soon and Kang Ho’s friends stayed by their sides and helped them get through the tragedies in their lives.
Spoilers Ahead
Jin Young Soon
Young Soon was a young and happy girl who worked in a pesticide shop, and she thought marrying Hae Sik would make her happier. She was right, and her short-lived marriage with Hae Sik was the happiest time of her life. However, not long passed, and Hae Sik died in a tragic way. She was pregnant with Kang Ho at the time and had already lost her farm and pigsty. She moved to another village to start a new life but faced a backlash from the villagers for setting up a stinky pigsty in their peaceful and clean village. Young Soon didn’t give in to their protests, and eventually, the villagers accepted her. Young Soon’s life had been tragic since her husband passed away, and she hadn’t felt truly happy since. Right from childhood, she treated Kang Ho strictly so as not to make him look vulnerable in front of others. Though she wanted the best for Kang Ho, he found her burdensome and hated her. Kang Ho didn’t call her or visit her even once after he went to Seoul to study law. She boasted about him to everyone, but little did others know that Young Soon was deprived of her son’s love.
After many years, Kang Ho returned to the village only to ask Young Soon to give up her parental rights over him. However, by that time, Kang Ho had discovered the reason behind his mother’s behavior. That was the last moment they shared before Kang Ho’s accident. Young Soon realized her mistake when she found out what kind of prosecutor Kang Ho had become, and despite Kang Ho’s sorrowful condition, the accident was a chance given to her to make things right with him. She raised Kang Ho again, and they resolved their misunderstandings and resentments when Kang Ho regained his memories. Young Soon’s life was miserable in many ways, but she was also blessed with good people around her. She went through many hardships, but she died only after seeing her husband get justice. She suffered for a long time because her husband was taken away from her wrongfully, but she died happily, knowing her son avenged his father’s death.
Choi Kang Ho
Kang Ho was like a ray of sunshine in Young Soon’s life after she went through a series of unfortunate incidents. He gave Young Soon a reason to live. Kang Ho was an intelligent kid from childhood. He was good at studying and took creative genes from his mother and athletic genes from his father. He was good at drawing and playing baseball, but as he grew up, Young Soon banned him from doing both. She became strict about his studies and micromanaged his schedule until he passed high school. Kang Ho was scared of his mother, but there was one person who loved him genuinely—Mi Joo. Kang Ho cherished Mi Joo equally and even skipped his most important exam when Mi Joo got into an accident. Young Soon raised Kang Ho in such a way that he was driven to succeed, and he managed to do so. He knew that Young Soon wanted him to become a prosecutor because she had been wronged by the people in power in the past, but she never told him about what really happened to his father. Later, when he passed the bar exam and joined the office, the first thing he needed to find was his father’s case papers. The revelation that his father was probably murdered was a shock to Kang Ho, and when he couldn’t do anything about it despite being a prosecutor, he realized the importance of power.
Kang Ho understood why his mother was so strict with him and how much pain she must have gone through to become this ruthless. He was determined to get revenge and bring justice to his parents. The process wasn’t going to be easy, as he was ready to go to any lengths. He had a plan that he couldn’t tell anyone about and had to sacrifice Mi Joo’s love first to keep her safe. After breaking up with Mi Joo, he found Oh Tae Soo’s daughter, Ha Young, and made her fall in love with him. Just getting closer to Ha Young wasn’t enough; he needed to be close to Tae Soo and to do that, he needed a position of power. To gain that position, he was already working with Chairman Song, his number one enemy before Tae Soo. Kang Ho was aware of the risks he posed, and as he anticipated, Tae Soo tried to kill him because he was a threat to him. Kang Ho survived, just with a mental disability, and Young Soon only wished he would forget all about the revenge. His disability was a blessing in disguise, as it helped him reconnect with people he had left behind on his mission of vengeance. Kang Ho’s urge to get revenge was so strong that even after he regained memories, he still didn’t give up on it. He was relentless until the end and got Tae Soo and Chairman Song in handcuffs.
Lee Mi Joo
Kang Ho’s one and only love, Mi Joo, was also Kang Ho’s number-one supporter right from their childhood. Born on the same day, at the same place, and only a few minutes apart, Mi Joo and Kang Ho were made for each other. Mi Joo was devastated when Kang Ho suddenly broke up with her after he became a prosecutor. She couldn’t even tell him that she was pregnant with his children. Mi Joo didn’t study after high school and struggled with maintaining a job. She left her twins with her mom in her hometown and lied to them that she was living with their father in the USA. Mi Joo resented Kang Ho, and when she returned to her hometown after getting conned by her business partner, she saw Kang Ho for the first time in many years. Her children were already friends with Kang Ho, who didn’t remember her anymore. She hid her pain because not even her mother knew that Kang Ho was the real father of her children. However, no matter how much she hated Kang Ho, she still couldn’t stop caring for him. Mi Joo was mad at Kang Ho for abandoning her, but her feelings for him never changed. When she learned the truth later on, she even helped Kang Ho get his revenge. After going through a lot of struggles, she found her lover again, and her children found their father.
Oh Tae Soo
Kang Ho’s father was first betrayed by Oh Tae Soo when he worked as a prosecutor and handled his case against Song Woo Byeok. Tae Soo colluded with Song Woo Byeok to help him win the case and worked with him for many years until he became a presidential candidate. Tae Soo did a lot of dirty business with Chairman Song and was even going to marry off his daughter to Song’s grandson, but it fell apart. Tae Soo was ambitious, and he would get rid of anything that could endanger his political career. He didn’t like Kang Ho from the very beginning because he had done a background check on him and was suspicious of him. His desire to always win and his power was more important to him, and he didn’t even think twice before ruining his own daughter’s life by making her an accomplice in Kang Ho’s attempted murder. Nothing lasts forever, and neither did Tae Soo’s power, image, or career. His daughter turned her back on him in the end. Tae Soo thought he was undefeatable, but Kang Ho made him pay for all of his sins.
Song Woo Byeok
The beginning of all the problems: Song Woo Byeok was Kang Ho’s archenemy. Song was just a contractor when he killed Kang Ho’s father, but over the years, he developed his business and became the owner of a construction company. When Kang Ho joined him, Song knew about his father but still let him work because he believed Kang Ho couldn’t do anything to him. Kang Ho had been helping him in his illegal activities, so he was impressed by him and agreed when Kang Ho asked him to adopt him. However, after Kang Ho’s accident, he wished to ensure Kang Ho never regained his memories and sent his men to keep an eye on him. At one point, he even tried to kill him. Chairman Song was powerful and got away with all his crimes, including murder. Everyone who helped him cover up his crimes also met their demise. Kang Ho was also bound to be one of them, but he defeated Song. Song Woo Byeok was a typical villain who was fearless, proud and didn’t flinch while killing anyone. Even when he was in court, he was relaxed and believed he would get away with anything, but he was wrong this time.
