In Bloodhounds, Hyeon-ju lives and works alongside Mr. Choi, who took her in from the orphanage he built. The character is played by Kim Sae-ron.
Hyeon-ju regards Mr. Choi as her grandpa, but they are not related by blood. She aids Mr. Choi in his moneylending work, where he offers money to the poor and those who need it without charging them any interest.
When people who took money disappear, like Yang Jae-myeong, Mr. Choi sends Hyeon-ju to investigate what is up with them. Hyeon-ju often takes unexpected risks, which makes Mr. Choi worry about her. Therefore, he hires Gun-woo and Woo-jin to be her bodyguards.
Unlike Mr. Choi, Hyeon-ju doesn’t feel it’s bad to make some money by catching people like Yang Jae-myeong if they are going to take advantage of Mr. Choi’s generosity. It is later that she finds out that she is walking into something far more dangerous.
Hyeon-ju’s past
When Hyeon-ju was eight, she was diagnosed with spinal cancer. She was cured by the time she was 10. Unfortunately, her father, who worked hard for her, passed away.
Hyeon-ju was sent to an orphanage. She hated being there, so she ran away. After hustling outside and eating leftovers, she returned to the orphanage but got dragged to another one, owned by Mr. Choi, when she was 17.
For some reason, Mr. Choi gave Hyeon-ju special attention. At first, she thought he was a pervert. She eventually realized that he was just being himself—a nice man who wanted to help others.
Mr. Choi, with his money, let Hyeon-ju learn everything she wanted, from Kendo to riding a motorcycle.
What happened to Hyeon-ju’s father?
While talking to Gun-woo in the sixth episode, Mr. Choi reveals how Hyeon-ju’s father died. It turns out that he killed himself. Mr. Choi found the death unusual, considering that, for the past two years, her father had been working hard to cure Hyeon-ju. Now that his daughter is cured, he suddenly decided to take his own life. It just didn’t make any sense.
Mr. Choi had even given Hyeon-ju’s father a loan with zero interest. If he needed more time to return it, Mr. Choi was also ready to give him an infinite extension.
Mr. Choi ordered his lieutenants to investigate, and they found out that Myeong-gil, who worked under Mr. Choi back then, and his associate, In-beom, used to harass Hyeon-ju’s father from time to time.
Myeong-gil had asked Hyeon-ju’s father and many others like him who took loans from Mr. Choi for extension fees and said that Mr. Choi had ordered it. Myeong-gil and In-beom beat Hyeon-ju’s father when he didn’t pay them, which led Hyeon-ju’s father to kill himself.
During Hyeon-ju’s father’s funeral, Mr. Choi met a little Hyeon-ju. Watching her cry and long for her father broke Mr. Choi’s heart. After realizing how many have suffered because he has Myeong-gil in his firm, Mr. Choi ultimately decided to shut down his firm.
What happens to Hyeon-ju?
Hyeon-ju, Gun-woo, and Woo-jin end up getting mixed into Myeong-gil’s new business. Myeong-gil’s goons start hunting them down. Now that Hyeon-ju’s life is in danger, Mr. Choi feels that they should take care of Myeong-gil once and for all.
Initially, Mr. Choi’s team, which now includes Lee Du-yeong, Hwang Yang-jung, Hyeon-ju, Gun-woo, and Woo-jin, makes all the right moves. Myeong-gil eventually tracks all of them down and manages to kill Mr. Choi, Lee Du-Yeong, and Hwang Yang-jung.
Hyeon-ju struggles with the loss of Mr. Choi. She leaves for Rome, the place Mr. Choi and she agreed to go to after taking care of Myeong-gil. In a letter written to Mr. Oh, she reveals that she blames herself for this.
By staying at Mr. Choi’s, she would have kept thinking about him. Therefore, she decided to move away, believing that things will get better this way.
Also Read: Bloodhounds summary and ending explained
