Jeong Ji-An loses the only family she has when her uncle, Jeong Jin-Man, takes his own life under suspicious circumstances. Ji-An’s troubled past entails her meeting Jin-Man for the first time and is marked by many personal losses.
At the tender age of seven, Jeong Ji-An’s world is one of simple joys and family warmth, shared with her mother Eun-Young, her father Jin-Cheon, and her grandmother Young-Soon.
However, the family faces near-extinction shortly after the return of Jin-Man, her uncle, after an eight-year absence.
A Shop for Killer episode 2 delves deep into the horrific past of Jeong Ji-An.
A medley of loss and horrors
Tragedy strikes swiftly. Jeong Ji-An’s grandmother succumbs to a prolonged battle with cancer, a harrowing five-year ordeal that culminates in her death.
At the funeral, Jin-Man shares his suspicions over the exact cause of her death, but they are immediately dismissed by Ji-An’s father.
When she causes a bit of childish chaos at the funeral, Ji-An is sent home with Jin-Man, while her parents stay at the funeral home to see to the proceedings.
The funeral home, a place meant for mourning and remembrance, becomes a scene of horror as unidentified assailants murder Ji-An’s parents.
Jin-Man swiftly leaves home to contend with the situation when he learns about it, leaving Ji-An home, and telling her to open the door only to his friend.
His friend does arrive, and tries his best to take care of the assailants, but ends up getting his hand cut off before being murdered.
Brave beyond her years
Little Jeong Ji-An witnesses this horrible incident, before escaping death by clinging onto a water pipe outside the window.
When the killer spots her, she lets go of the pipe and her fall is cushioned by a fortuitously placed sofa.
This escape, however, is short-lived as she is soon struck by a van and hospitalized.
The killers are relentless, and they soon track her down, leading to a nerve-wracking chase that ends in the morgue.
It becomes especially chilling and tragic when she hides in the same morgue freezer where the lifeless body of her mother is being kept.
It is here that Jin-Man intervenes, eliminating the threat and bringing a semblance of safety back to Ji-An’s life.
The subsequent month sees Ji-An relocating to her uncle Jin-Man’s home in Yecheong, marking the beginning of her tumultuous journey toward healing.
The aftermath
The trauma of her experiences manifests as aphasia coupled with dissociative amnesia, a testament to the profound impact of her ordeal.
The path to recovery is fraught with challenges, from the silent struggles within the confines of her mind to the overt bullying she faces at school.
Jin-Man’s approach to Ji-An’s condition is a bit unorthodox, to say the least.
Rejecting medical treatment for her aphasia, he believes in Ji-An’s innate strength to overcome her obstacles independently.
Overcoming trauma
This tough love, initially perceived as harsh, gradually fosters a strong bond between them.
One day, the bullies lock Ji-An in a basement at the school, where she confronts her deep-seated fears in the form of hallucinations.
As she bangs at the door, crying in fear of the hallucinations, she calls out for her uncle Jin-Man.
He comes and saves her, and she hugs him tightly, while lashing out at him for being so late, finally speaking words ever since the traumatic incidents.
Thereafter, their bond only becomes stronger as he goes on to train her and prepare her for all sorts of perils that she doesn’t really understand until he’s gone, and Jeong Ji-An finds herself being hunted by a bunch of assassins again.
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