Longing for You (2023) Episode 2

Longing for You episode 2 starts with Jin-sung arriving at the murder scene and realizing the victim is Hye-soo, a local high schooler. 

Meanwhile, Young-joo tries to reach Jin-sung but is unsuccessful the first few times. Young-woon wonders why she needs to talk to him so urgently and she explains she needs him to bring her car to Seoul. Young-woon says they must be close and she teasingly tells him that she is dating Jin-sung. Of course, Young-woon pretends he is not affected by this nugget of information, but he looks flustered.

Finally, Young-joo is able to reach Jin-sun and he tells her about Hye-soo’s murder. Young-woon immediately decides to return to Woojin. At the same time, Jin-sung asks the town chief to look into external cars that came into town that day. Once Young-woon and Young-joo arrive, they take a look at the crime scene. 

The search for the perpetrator begins and Jin-sung takes over the case and starts issuing assignments for his fellow police officers. He wants one group to look into CCTV footage around the crime scene and external-facing points. The other group is ordered to do a concentrated search of the hill near the scene of the crime. Jin-sung firmly believes that the killer is an outsider as Woojin has had no murder case for the past three decades. He is also worried about Hye-soo’s mom and wants to see the case through.

Unfortunately, the case is handed to Young-woon and Jin-sung is not happy about it. He agrees as long as he is added to the team. Young-woon is shocked by his forwardness but thinks it is a good idea to bring him along to Seoul. As expected, Young-joo has no objection either but she warns Young-woon that Jin-sung is a handful. Young-woon adds Jin-sung to his team under one condition. There shall be no cursing, violence and overreacting in his team. Jin-sung finds this request ridiculous but agrees to it anyway. 

The next day, Jin-sung says goodbye to his family saying the team can’t function without him and he needs to leave for Seoul until the case is closed. With that settled, he arrives in Seoul and gives one hell of an introduction to his teammates. His colleagues find him funny as he has no filter and warmly welcome him.  

They soon start looking into the case and Jin-sung shares his belief that the Woojin murder was done by an outsider. He even went ahead and looked into what connects Min-gyu to Hye-soo. As it turns out, Min-gyu’s father has a villa near the crime scene in Woojin. Young-woon is impressed by Jin-sung’s overzealous efforts but doesn’t mention it to him. He instead asks  Jin-sung to look into Min-gyu’s alibi for the third murder while  Detective Yook looks into the Woojin murder. Young-woon feels it will be better this way since Young-woo and Jin-sung have close ties to Woojin and it can lead to them being biased. 

As they discuss their different assignments, the team is uninterrupted by Hee-Joo, who wants to know why she is not part of the team. Young-woon ignores her and she tries to take her frustrations on Young-joo but is quickly handled. Jin-sung is surprised by Hee-joo’s demeanour but Young-joo refuses to tell him more. He lets the matter go as he is happy they are in one team. 

Jin-sung starts his investigation by visiting Min-gyu’s dental clinic and talks to one of the workers there. The worker claims that the clinic closes on Tuesday and he was not around but he seems scared of the police. Jin-sung watches Min-gyu as he treats his patient and is more convinced that Min-gyu is the culprit. 

After finishing up with the patient, Min-gyu is interrogated by Jin-sung. Jin-sung is different from the other cops he has dealt with and things become interesting. Min-gyu insists he doesn’t remember where he was on the day of the third murder. Just then a woman walks into the office and Min-gyu claims he was with her at a hotel the day of the murder.  

Jin-sung casually lets it slip that Min-Gyu is still seeing Eun-Byul and the woman goes ballistic. She starts hitting Min-gyu but he overpowers her and ruins her expensive bag. Jin-sung silently records the drama as it unfolds. The scorned woman comes clean and admits that she was not with Min-gyu on the night in question and angrily leaves. Once the woman leaves, Jin-sung asks Min-gyu to present his alibi but Min-gyu is rude. Jin-sung grabs him and explains why he is arresting him. 

Elsewhere, Jung-sook lovingly prepares a meal for her son Young-woon and has it delivered to him.  Reporter Park interrupts Young-woon during his lunch and tries to get information but fails.  They discuss Jin-sung and hope that the investigation will flow smoothly even with Jin-sung’s temper. It is at this moment that Young-joo arrives and informs Young-woon that Jin-sung arrested Min-gyu and brought him in for questioning. 

Earlier, during the group briefing, Young-woon had made it clear that they were to keep a low profile until they get substantial evidence to bring Min-gyu in. Jin-sung explains that he felt like he had no choice and honestly feels like following the procedure is a waste of time. He questions if Young-woon really knows what he is doing. He tells them that he found evidence that one of Min-gyu’s cars was in Woojin on the day of Hye-soo’s murder. He also explains that Min-gyu refused to give an alibi. 

Young-joo asks Jin-sung to calm down and starts her interrogation of Min-Gyu. Outside the interrogation, Young-woon clarifies to Jin-sung that he is qualified to work on a murder case and his methods shouldn’t be questioned. Jin-sung says he was joking but Young-woon tells him he is not funny.  They continue to bicker. 

Young-joo does her best to corner Min-gyu but he fails to take the bait. He claims he doesn’t remember the events of the past few days because of acute stress. He is soon released by Jin-sung promises to keep his eyes on him and embarrassed him in front of his lawyer. The lawyer ends up getting the brunt of Min-gyu’s anger.  The detectives hope they can discredit Min-gyu’s alibis in the past and get an arrest warrant but that will take time.

Later, jin-sung calls Eun-Byul’s manager and asks to meet with the actress in regards to the case. The manager tries to play holy but he meets his match in Jin-sung and promises to bring Eun-Byul as soon as she wraps her schedule. 

On the other hand, Detective Yook’s investigation in Woojin leads him to Jin-woo ( Jin-sung’s little brother.) Jin-woo was the last one to contact Hye-soo and was to meet her that night. Jin-woo is also a skilled chef who owns one of the knives claimed to be the murder weapon. Add this to the fact that he is acting suspiciously and burning a blue box and he comes off like a likely suspect. Detective Yook sends everything he has found out to Jin-woo and they agree to bring him in. 

Jin-sung loses it when he sees his brother being brought in for questioning. He goes after Young-woon and grabs him by the collar. He accuses Young-woon of framing his brother and messing with the case to help Min-Gyu. Young-woon tries to explain the mounting evidence against Jin-woo but Jin-sung is still angry. 

He grabs him again by the collar and swears bloody murder. Young -woon suggests he watch himself lest he reports him but Jin-sung is only seeing red and wants to punch Young-woon. Young-woon’s heart rate starts rising and the alarm on his wristwatch starts going off. Young-woon tries to pace himself and leaves the room.

His mom watches the feed of his condition and quickly sends someone to look into the issue. She is happy to hear he is doing well but says she needs to get him to stay away from murder cases. She is also relieved to hear there is a new suspect in the case. Remember, she is close to Min-gyu’s dad.

Young-joo finds Young-woon and tries to calm him down. She tells him that she believes Jin-woo is innocent. Young-woon asks her to be unbiased and investigate the facts but she insists she has known Jin-woo since he was a child. 

The investigation into Jin-woo continues and Jin-sung vows to prove his innocence. He leaves the station to head somewhere else and Young-woon takes the lead in Jin-woo’s interrogation. Jin-woo reveals that he bought the knife se online from a user named Lemontree. He also explains that Lemontree was the one who suggested he visits the gallery and, wanted to meet at the cafe where the second victim was killed.  He claims that Lemontree was, however, a no-show and he left the cafe. 

On the night of the third murder, he explains he was to meet Hye-soo but changed his mind. His mom and a fellow neighbour also arrive and give their testimony that he was with them the night of the third murder. They admit that he only left for a short while to prepare mixed noodles. The investigators check Jin-woo’s statement and everything is proven to be true. The polygraph also proves he didn’t lie and Jin-sung brings a digital analysis report.

The report clearly states that Jin-woo’s knife was not the murder weapon because he sharpens it differently.  Young-woon is not fully convinced that Jin-woo is innocent but the facts are not in his favour. There is also the fact that Young-joo is defensive of Jin-woo and keeps reminding him they can’t hold him. She says Jin-woo is like family and wants to protect him. In the end, Young-woon gives in and lets Jin-woo go. He, however, asks Detective Yook to continue looking into Jin-woo and find out the data he deleted from his camera’s memory card.

Young-joo invites them to spend the night at her place. Later that night, Jin-sung expresses his relief that Jin-woo was found innocent and they share some light brotherly moments. They also talk about Jin-sung’s feelings for Young-joo and he admits he loves her but, feels he is not good enough for her. He thinks Young-woon will be a better match for her. Jin-sung then leaves to meet with Eun-Byul and shows her the video of Min-gyu’s other lover. 

As the night wears on, Young-woon receives a call from Detective Yook about the new evidence. Young-woon visits Young-joo’s place and shows the new evidence to Jin-sung and Young-joo.

The episode ends with the three of them standing outside the building, looking at the damning photos of women’s legs that Jin-woo took and then deleted. They look up towards the house and see Jin-woo watching them.

The Episode Review

Jin-woo has been acting suspiciously but it is not surprising that the people close to him failed to notice. It is ironic how Jin-sung and Young-joo are ready to crucify Min-gyu with circumstantial evidence but willing to defend Jin-woo. We get that they believe he is innocent but did they expect him to shout he is a serial killer? 

Ultimately, Jin-woo is innocent but he has an idea about the real killer. His foot fetish might have led to them crossing paths. He needs to tell the truth about the pictures and anything else he might have done. This is the only way Jin-sung and Young-joo will be able to clear his name. 

There is also the mystery of Young-woon’s mom. Why is she keeping such tabs on her son? Yes, he is sick but he is a grown man and can take care of himself. Is she involved in this case and what did she mean when she said she needs to get him off murder cases? Is she going to interfere with his career as well?

Lastly, I loved that Young-woon called Jin-sung off on his prejudice against him. Just because he comes from a rich background, doesn’t mean he is some evil, corrupt detective willing to let his rich friends off when they commit crimes.  Young-woon is not the villain that Jin-sung tries to make him out to be. If he had been anyone else, Jin-sung might have lost his job.