Chapter 2 – I’ve Been Waiting for You

Flashback…Lee Yeon is nine tail fox who is the mountain spirit that controls the wind and rain. He falls asleep and wakes to find a young girl petting him. She introduces herself as A Eum and guesses he is a fox.

Lee Yeon "If I had one moment to change in my past, I'd make sure that girl never found me".

Now A Eum is a beautiful woman who sports a red umbrella which she gives to Lee Yeon. They enjoy spending time together. They fall in love. They kiss.

Lee Yeon "This love story has a tragic ending. Someone stole her life".

A Eum travels on the boat to the other world. Lee Yeon rushes to stop her from completely leaving his world. Lee Yeon freezes the river to stop her progress. Lee Yeon walks to the boat. A Eum shakes her head. Lee Yeon falls to his knees. He tells A Eum to be reincarnated. Lee Yeon promises to find her. He pushes his magic fox bead into her, kisses her, and the die is cast.

Over the years Lee Yeon finds women that look like A Eum but none have the fox bead.

1999… Lee Yeon tests a young Ji Ah for the fox bead. She doesn't have it. He sighs and says she's not A Eum. He tells her to forget what she's seen or he'll kill her.

2020… Nam Ji Ah (Jo Bo Ah) tells Lee Yeon she's been waiting for him. She stabs him with a syringe! Lee Yeon looks at her in surprise.

Lee Yeon "Maybe I should have killed her then and there".

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2020…Lee Yeon wakes to find Ji Ah starting at him. He sits up with a massive headache. He warns her if she can't explain her actions to his satisfaction, she'll be punished. He promises to take her eyes for seeing what she shouldn't have seen. Ji Ah agrees.

Fox Lee Rang and Ki Yoo Ri arrive at a funeral home. Yoo Ri pretends to be an executive from the bus company where Lee Rang killed all the passengers. He tells Yoo Ri they are here to enjoy the sadness of the families of those he killed.

Ji Ah notes Lee Yeon looks the same as he did in 1999 when they first met. She asks what he is. Lee Yeon says he's a nine tailed fox. Lee Yeon is impressed this doesn't phase her. Ji Ah admits her TV show called Unveiling Urban Legends focuses on those the live amongst humans that aren't human. She asks what happened on the night in 1999. Lee Yeon says he followed the smell of blood and saved a little girl. He notes that girl is ungrateful. He says he saved her because she looked like someone . Ji Ah asks about her parents. Lee Yeon assumes they died. Ji Ah asks for his help in finding out what happened to them. Lee Yeon isn't interested in helping her. Ji Ah threatens to expose him by airing the recording of his fight with Lee Rang from the hidden cameras in her house on her show this week. Ji Ah admits she's desperate for his help. Lee Yeon isn't interested.  He puts his hand over one of her eyes. She goes blind in the eye. She drops the flash drive with the recording in her tea. Ji Ah says he's indebted to her now. She wants his help to find out what happened to her parents. Lee Yeon shakes his head.

Yoo Ri greets the families and pays her respects. One of the family members, a young man, recognizes Lee Rang and asks why he's there.

Flashback…The young man meets Lee Rang at a wishing fountain. Lee Rang shares he wished for his older brother to be miserable for the rest of his life. Lee Rang says he'll bother his brother until one of them dies. The young man's wish is to marry his girlfriend. He admits his parents are against the match. Lee Rang offers to help.

At the funeral home, Lee Rang tells the young man with his parents dead, he can marry his girlfriend. The young man demands to know if Lee Rang killed his parents. Lee Rang calls him crazy.

Vet Gu Shin Joo is appalled when Lee Yeon shows him the anesthetic that Ji Ah injected into him. Shin Joo wonders why Ji Ah's memory wasn't erased in 1999. Lee Yeon says his powers don't always work on humans. Shin Joo can't believe that Lee Yeon let Ji Ah go and healed her eye. Lee Yeon reminds him that they must repay kindness. Lee Yeon says it shows a fox's dignity. Shin Joo mutters it is a curse at times. Shin Joo asks if Ji Ah looking like A Eum bothers him. Lee Yeon says he's met hundred of humans that look like A Eum.

Ji Ah watches videos of herself and her parents. They had a happy family. She cries.

Ji Ah dreams her parents rolls a skull to her from the TV. She wakes with a start.

Lee Yeon arrives at the Afterlife Immigration Office. Hyun Ui Ong is briefing the victims of the bus accident. He tells them they will be judged for the sins they committed during their life. He tells them his wife, aka Granny, is King Hade's older sister. Lee Yeon tells Granny they need to talk.

Ji Ah arrives at the studio. In the lobby she meets coworkers Jae Hwan and Sae Rom. Jae Hwan says he had a dream of Sae Rom weeping. Sae Rom worries about the dream she had. Ji Ah soothes Sae Rom.

Lee Yeon asks if A Eum was reincarnated. Granny asks why he wants to find her. Lee Yeon says he wants revenge. Lee Yeon presses her to reveal where A Eum is. He doesn't care if A Eum is a girl or boy, just as long as she's not too old so they have time to spend together. Granny warns him that finding A Eum could change his destiny. Lee Yeon doesn't care. He asks her to resolve a civil case.

Lee Yeon texts Ji Ah for name and birthdates of her parents. He responds that he didn't find anything good or bad. Ji Ah wants to meet. He suggests the Snail Bride eatery.

When Ji Ah arrives, the hostess tells her she's the first guest Lee Yeon has had. In the private dining room, Lee Yeon states her parents don't appear on his list of the dead. Ji Ah asks if they are alive and where are they. Lee Yeon doesn't know. Ji Ah is grateful to know they aren't dead. They share a meal. Ji Ah vows to find them. She says she didn't think her parents were dead in 1999 but no one believed her. She apologizes to Lee Yeon for injecting him with an anesthetic. Lee Yeon says he can understand her desperation.

Shin Joo examine a cute dog and tells his owner the dog ate the spicy leftovers and has an upset stomach.

Ji Ah asks Lee Yeon is there are other foxes that look like humans. He admits there are other foxes living in the city that look like humans. Ji Ah guesses Shin Joo is a fox. Lee Yeon says other foxes live where humans wouldn't suspect.

Sae Rom is stunned to get a phone call saying her mother is dead. As she cries at her desk, Jae Hwan remembers what he said in the lobby.

Lee Yeon tells Ji Ah she is on her own. He warns that those that interact in his world either go crazy or die young. Ji Ah doesn't care about the risks, she wants Lee Yeon to help her find her parents. Jae Hwan calls Ji Ah about Sae Rom's mother's death. Ji Ah tells Lee Yeon both she and her coworker had bad dreams last night. Lee Yeon uses the term contagious nightmares. He asks Ji Ah if she wants to visit his world.

Lee Yeon allows Ji Ah to accompany him as he disciplines a wayward entity that collects nightmares and a security guard at Ji Ah's studio. The entity tells Lee Yeon that Lee Rang told him the studio was a good place to feed. The entity gets Ji Ah in a headlock. Lee Yeon points out she's a liability. He dispatches the entity. Lee Yeon warns Ji Ah that his world will alter her forever.

A fisherman retrieves a skull with their catch. As others on the boat declare they must pay their respects to the skull, to avoid being cursed. As they gaze at the skull, they recognize the tooth and wonder if it was Mr. Seo.

Ji Ah meets Detective Baek to get details about the skull.

The skull is removed from the boat. A girl cries for her father. The police drive away with the skull. Lee Rang offers the girl a handkerchief.

Lee Yeon remembers Lee Rang's statement that if Lee Yeon didn't find it, Ji Ah would die by the end of the month. Lee Yeon tells the entity to give up Lee Rang's whereabouts. The entity agrees to call Lee Rang. He tells Lee Rang things didn't go as planned.

Lee Yeon arrives at the docks where Lee Rang is drinking. Lee Rang realizes Lee Yeon used the entity to track him down. He believes A Eum has been reincarnated. Lee Yeon agrees stating if Lee Rang wanted to kill A Eum, he'd have no qualms about showing him her dead body. Lee Yeon warns Lee Rang not to touch her. Lee Rang rails that Lee Yeon gave up his status and abandoned him all for a woman. Lee Yeon agrees that happened. Lee Rang tells him to leave. Lee Rang taunts Lee Yeon that he'll find her. Lee Yeon acts unconcerned. Lee Rang says he knows where she is. Lee Yeon doesn't believe him. He walks away. Lee Rang smiles an evil smile.

Ji Ah tells Jae Hwan she's can handle the assignment by herself. She doesn't believe the nightmare about her parents was a coincidence.

On a boat Ji Ah and Lee Yeon talk on their way to an island. Lee Yeon admits the entity might have only given him partial truth about her parents.  Lee Yeon warns Ji Ah this may not pan out. Ji Ah is determined to find out. Lee Yeon realizes that the island they are going to is where A Eum last was, and Ji Ah looks like A Eum. He can't believe this is a coincidence. He wonders what is waiting for them on the island.

They get off the boat. The skull man's daughter meets them. The fishermen walk by and observe them. The skull man's daughter invites them to her house. Lee Yeon knows the fisherman are staring at them. They arrive at the house. Ji Ah interviews the daughter who reports her father disappeared in a storm. The police believe his head was severed by the propeller. She says she missed her father's last call. She plays the voicemail for Ji Ah. It's a sweet message where her father speaks of a dream, he had about her dead mother running off holding her hand. Lee Yeon suggests the daughter was supposed to die that day not her father. The daughter is taken aback. Ji Ah glares at him.

The fishermen wonder why the director of a TV show is here. They wonder why they had to have the misfortune to find that particular skull of their deceased coworker. They wonder if the coworker that found the skull is freaking out. Turns out he is upset as he puts locks on his door.

The daughter offers Ji Ah and Lee Yeon a room in her house to stay the night. Ji Ah tells Lee Yeon this is her room and he can find another place to stay. Lee Yeon enters the room and declares they'll share. Lee Yeon is dismayed there is no mint chip ice cream sold at the convenience store. Ji Ah interviews two of the fisherman. They claim they were only neighbors. Ji Ah counters they were coworkers. The men demand payment. She refuses. They threaten her but her recording camera shuts them up and they leave.

Ji Ah asks why Lee Yeon is following her while she pursues the story. He retorts he'll let her do as much of the work as possible. As Ji Ah attempts to talk to other island residents, they flee. Lee Yeon suggests they can talk to others to get information.

He heads into the forest. Ji Ah follows. Lee Yeon listens. He says the forest has no spirits because they were abandoned years ago. Lee Yeon hears footsteps. He calls out. A young girl approaches. Lee Yeon says she's the spirit of the guardian tree. He asks what tragedy happened. The girl doesn't know the details. She states the spirits left the island years ago. She shares an evil spirit arrived after the Korean war but she didn't have the power to stop it. She can't leave the tree. Ji Ah examines the tree. She cuts a rope around the tree at Lee Yeon's suggestion.

The skull man's daughter attends a ceremony for her father with a shaman. The woman intones the dead man become a spirit and soul.

The young girl thanks Ji Ah for freeing her from the tree. Ji Ah suggest the girl invest in shoes. The young girl says Ji Ah has been here before. Ji Ah says she hasn't. The young girl tells Ji Ah to travel north and she'll find her first answer. The young girl disappears. Ji Ah is impressed. Lee Yeon tells her that only a human could cut the rope binding the young girl to the tree. Ji Ah starts traveling north.

The shaman continues the ceremony. The daughter cries for her father's spirit. The shaman stops and yells that her father's body returned to the island long before his skull.

At a north point on the island, Lee Yeon and Ji Ah find a cave. There are warning signs about the rising tide. Ji Ah feels she's seen it before. She takes about a picture of her parents and realize this is where the photo was taken. She tells Lee Yeon this photo was taken when her mother was pregnant with her. She walks to the cave's entrance. She wonders why her parents came to the island.

Back in the house, Ji Ah tells Lee Yeon her liver is fatty. He's offended and declares he wouldn't touch her liver. She laughs. Lee Yeon remembers how A Eum laughed just like that. He tells her not to laugh.

Shin Joo tells the Snail Eatery owner that Lee Yeon went to the island to find the reincarnated love of his life. They both agree it is romantic. Shin Joo declares he'll never give up his life for love like Lee Yeon did.

Lee Yeon watches Ji Ah sleep sitting up. He crouches near her. He tests Ji Ah for the fox bead. She doesn't have it. Lee Yeon knew it. He drapes a blanket around her. Lee Yeon goes outside and stares into the night. He remembers Granny warning him about searching for A Eum and Lee Rang warning her Ji Ah would die if he doesn't find what he's looking for by the end of the month.

The next morning, Ji Ah wakes to an empty room.

Lee Yeon wows the village ladies with wild ginseng IF they talk to Ji Ah. She asks why everyone is freaked out about the skull. The ladies hesitate then admit this isn't the first time a skull has been found. Ji Ah calls Detective Baek who finds out that four skulls have been found. The first one was found in 1954.

Ji Ah spies the freaked-out fisherman that found the skull. She wants to talk to him but he runs away into the forest. She follows him. He goes to hit Ji Ah after yelling at that she's a spirit and must leave. Lee Yeon appears to block the blow. He wants to hit the man but Ji Ah yells at him to stop. The man runs away.

Lee Rang calls Yoo Ri and asks for a favor. He says the haunted house is now open. The two fisherman Ji Ah spoke with earlier appear to die.

Back in the forest, Lee Yeon puts herbs on Ji Ah's scratch from the man. She complains his hands are hot. A spider like web appears under her skin. Ji Ah grabs Lee Yeon's throat. But it isn't Ji Ah. The entity smiles and tells Lee Yeon it has been awhile. Lee Yeon asks who she is. The entity says she's the ones he's been waiting for. She strokes his face and asks why he killed her.