My Demon (2023) KDrama Episode 1

My Demon episode 1 starts with Do-hee running one misty night. She is scared, looking back over her shoulder, then she stops as she sees a man walk toward her. In her narration, she explains how her life has always felt like a misty night. She is always on her toes, trying to distinguish the friends and foes in her circle. Now, as a man approaches her, she wonders what he is and if he will save her. She rushes towards him. 

In a flashback, we travel back 200 years ago in Joseon. A group of believers are meeting to pray one late night. Suddenly, a demon appears before them and dims out the candles. Everyone is shocked, confused and scared. Blood writing appears on the wall, and everyone starts running. Jeong Gu-won, a demon, walks to the pulpit and leaves a red rose.

He grabs the nearby cross and walks over to a young girl watching. The bishop returns to save the girl, but Gu-won gives her the cross. He then makes a dramatic, fiery exit and praises himself. 

Later, he heads to the port and runs into a man trying to fish. The country is facing starvation, and the man is hungry. Gu-won entices the man by giving him a fish. He asks if he would be interested in a deal. Of course, the man wonders who Gu-won is.

Gu-won explains he is a demon and can give the man wealth for the next ten years in return for his soul. The man, Park Bok-gyu, accepts the terms of the agreement and signs a blood contract. Gu-won leaves him happy after successfully fishing.

Present Day 2023

We meet Do-hee at the 2023 Korea CEO Awards. She is happy about the turnout at the event and puts a pretentious man in his place when he tries to flirt with her. She then wins the CEO award of the year and proudly gives her acceptance speech. Do-hee is a chaebol heiress and is part of the Mirae Group, one of the top companies in Korea. She is a beauty with brains and is not afraid to shine. 

A few days later, Shin Da-jeong (Do-hee’s secretary) informs her about troubling news regarding one of their company drinks. Do-hee asks her to look into it and report back. Do-hee believes someone within the Group is targeting her in a power grab move. 

Do-hee tries to use this opportunity to back out of a blind date planned by her grandmother, Ju Cheon-sook, but fails. Cheon-sook refuses to go through with her check-up if Do-hee won’t attend the date. Left with no choice, Do-hee heads to the hotel, where she is to meet her date. She promises to start for at least thirty minutes to avoid appearing rude. 

Elsewhere, Gu-won is at his lair and notices one of the contract’s times is up. He quickly leaves to collect the soul as in agreement with the contract. This time, the man heads a mafia group and is unwilling to die. He tries to fight and bargain for a new contract, but Gu-won refuses. Gu-won insists a deal is a deal and says at least the man got the power and wealth he wanted.

The man worries about what happens next, and Gu-won explains in detail that he will die of a heart attack and go to hell. After the man dies, Gu-won leaves, but he is spotted by one of the mafia men. 

However, there is a miscommunication about her date, and she ends up at the wrong hotel. Here, she interrupts Gu-won, who is busy spoiling himself. He is displeased by the intrusion and is confused when she says they are meant to be on a date. As Do-hee keeps referring to her grandmother as the almighty, Gu-won wonders why the deity bothered to get him a date. By the time he realises what she means, it is too late. She refuses to leave. 

Do-hee finds Gu-won handsome but rude. She is staying because she needs to endure and get over this ridiculous date. The more they try to talk, the more outraged each gets. Gu-won wants his peace back, and Do-hee wants them to get their story straight on why their date failed. She realises they didn’t even introduce themselves, so she hands her card to Gu-won. Initially, Gu-won is hesitant to give her his card but finally does.

It turns out that when he is not working as a demon, he runs the Sunwol Foundation. The foundation supports traditional artists and regularly produces superb traditional performances. Gu-won is offended that Do-hee doesn’t recognise his foundation and asks why she is so uncultured. She points out she is busy running a big, successful company and trying to manage the modern warfare that is her life. 

She thinks Gu-won was tricked to attend the date and finds it funny. She deduces he might have a big problem if his side had to go to such lengths. Gu-won says that she is making him nervous and their 30 minutes come to an end. As she leaves, she barges into the mafia men, who are there to settle the score with Gu-won. 

Gu-won’s cake nearly falls on her, but he steps in to save his cake. Do-hee thinks he is saving her. She is also moved, thinking he got her the cake since it is her birthday. Her heart flutters as he holds her in his arms. She quickly comes to her senses and excuses herself to use the restroom. 

While she is busy blushing and trying to calm herself in the restroom, Gu-won handles the mafia men. He uses his powers to put the men inside the newspaper but later releases them. He is pissed because they ruined his cake and disrupted his time. Once Do-hee returns, she is shocked that the cake has already been touched. She asks why he started without her and brutally responds that he has no clue what she is talking about. He doesn’t know or care that it is her birthday and just wants his free time back. Do-hee is hurt by his words and orders him to be less rude if they ever meet again.

On her way back, Do-hee wonders how her grandmother could set her up with such a jerk. She asks  Da-jeong about the article. Da-jeong already looked into it and discovered that Noh Su-ahn [CEO of Mirae Apparel] is behind it. Do-hee is sad that someone in her family is always coming for her. She was adopted by Cheon-suk when her parents died, and even though the rest of the family acts friendly towards her, she knows they are plotting against her. 

The family consists of Noh Suk-Min, CEO of Mirae Electronics,  his wife, Kim Se Ra, Managing director of Mirae Electronics and their shy son, Noh Do-Gyeong. Secondly, we have Noh Su-ahn and her twin sons. Lastly, we have Joo Seok-hoon, the nephew. Out of all these people, Cheon-suk only trusts Do-hee, and this infuriates the other family members. For this reason, Do-hee is always watching her back. 

On the drive back after the date, she gets a mysterious call from an anonymous caller. The caller says he has priceless information that can help her become the chairwoman of Mirae Group. Do-hee becomes more suspicious and asks Da-jeong to look into Su-ahn’s schedule. 

She then gets a cryptic message from Cheon-suk saying goodbye. Of course, Do-hee is worried and rushes to the hospital. She is slightly pissed when she learns her grandmother was pranking her. Cheon-suk wants to celebrate her birthday and be there for her. We learn that Do-hee’s parents died on her birthday 20 years ago, and since then, she no longer celebrates the day. Cheon-suk argues that it is time to change this tradition and also get Do-hee married. 

She wants Do-hee to find someone to be there for her when she is gone. To push her point across, she gifts Do-hee two rings, one for her future man and herself. Do-hee patiently explains she doesn’t wish to be married. Cheon-suk asks if the date went well, and Do-hee says it was awful. Cheon-suk worries that Do-hee doesn’t like her date because of his looks, and Do-hee says all the man has is looks. Da-jeong interrupts them and announces there was a mistake with the date. 

Elsewhere, Gu-won continues to run his foundation as usual. Park Bok-gyu and Ga-young are at his side. He receives a call from Da-jeong, apologising for the confusion and offering compensation. Gu-won curtly says there is no need and hangs up. Cheon-suk is surprised by his attitude and decides to get Do-hee another blind date, but she runs out of the room.

After chatting with her grandmother, Do-hee is informed that Su-ahn is currently having a staycation in Sokcho. Do-hee decides to drive to Sokcho and confront Su-ahn. Unfortunately, when she gets there, Su-ahn is long gone. Do-hee stays back and visits the beach, where she reminisces about her parents and the last time they celebrated her birthday.

On the other hand, the man who mysteriously called her saying he has some information is attacked and killed.

Meanwhile, Ga-young is hurt that Gu-won went on a date with a human girl. Gu-won is pissed as she and Bok-gyu argue about who understands him more. They ask how Gu-won feels being an immortal and whether he is lonely. Gu-won says he likes it, and living as a predator forever is great.

After spending the rest of the day at the beach, drinking  Soju, she calls for a driver. However, the driver turns out to be the man who killed the anonymous killer. Do-hee realises she is in trouble when she wakes up while he is driving, and she sees a message from the driver app on her phone. She tries to act calm and asks who he is. The man stops the car and says that is the wrong question. She should instead ask why she is about to die, and he says it is because of Cheon-suk. He gets in the backseat and tries to knock her out using a chloroform-dipped handkerchief.

Thankfully, Do-hee manages to get out of the car and starts running. In the meantime, Gu-won is looking for a new target and senses her. He teleports to her, and she begs him to help her. She believes he is her best option to make it out alive. He clarifies that he can only help if she agrees to a deal. Do-hee is scared as the killer approaches her with a knife and agrees to make a deal. However, considering it is an urgent issue, Gu-won decides to handle the man before making her sign the contract.

As Gu-won fight the man, Do-hee runs back to the car and tries to drive off. She stops in her tracks when Gu-won throws the killer against the windshield and tries to hide against the bridge. Gu-won approaches her to help, and the man wakes up and drives the car towards them. Gu-won tries to use his power to teleport them, but it fails. Do-hee slips from his hands and falls; he jumps after her.

They fall into a body of water, and Do-hee is the first to recover her consciousness. She starts saving herself but decides to go back for Gu-won. However, she is unable to lift him to the surface and passes out. As she struggles to hold his hands, the demon mark on his hand is transferred to hers.

They later wake up ashore, and Do-hee is happy they are alive. However, Gu-won is puzzled by his miss demon mark. He is even more shocked to see the mark on Do-hee’s hands. He grabs her hand, and the water from behind them starts slowly rising, and time suddenly slows down.

The episode ends with Gu-won and Do-hee staring at each other as the water droplets behind them make such a beautiful, cascading fountain frozen in time. 

The Episode Review

What a perfect shot to end the episode with! The first episode of My Demon started with the perfect balance of comedy, mystery and thriller. The bickering between the leads was funny and a testament to their amazing chemistry right off the bat. The cinematography, especially in the final scene, is also perfect, and the striking visuals of the leads are simply another bonus. This episode managed to live up to the hype the show has received so far, and we can only hope it will maintain momentum. 

As for the story, we are just getting started, but it looks intriguing. We look forward to learning why the killer blamed Cheon-suk for the attempted murder of Do-hee. What is Cheon-suk hiding? Did she have something to do with Do-hee’s parent’s death? 

There is also the power grab within the family, and it will be intriguing to see what happens next. So far, we know Su-ahn is on the move and displaying her cards, but what about the other parties? When will they unleash their claws?

Lastly, we can’t wait to find out more about Gu-won. He is used to being immortal and having powers. What will he do now, and what about his deal with Do-hee? Technically, they never finalised the details or signed the contract. Do-hee is a businesswoman and will want a good deal, especially now that she holds all the power in her hands!