After their uncle’s death, Seo-ha’s half-brother, Kim Young-ho, enters her life and appears to be a threat to her. In The Bequeathed, Ryu Kyung-soo plays Young-ho.
At the age of seven, Seo-ha was abandoned by her father. He left her mother to be with the woman he loved, with whom he had a son named Kim Young-ho.
One day, when Seo-ha visited her father, she observed him showering Young-ho with the love and care that she herself had been deprived of.
Seo-ha grew up envying her half-brother, unaware that Young-ho had led a miserable life and had reasons of his own to envy Seo-ha.
Young-ho’s family life
Young-ho’s parents were siblings who fell in love. Their relationship was not accepted by society; even their own family shunned them.
After Young-ho was born, Young-ho’s parents got a house together. However, the rumors followed them there as well, which led to his father, who already had a wife and a daughter, returning home for a while.
On the other hand, Young-ho’s mother, Myung-hee, took him to seek refuge at a temple where no one would be able to find them.
Myung-hee lied about Young-ho being a visionary to get a place at the temple, where Young-ho became a disciple and trained under a shaman.
To shield Young-ho from the stigma of being born into an incestuous relationship, Myung-hee distanced herself from him.
Young-ho was sent to an orphanage, where his second name was changed. Eventually, Young-ho’s father took him back home.
His father left his family to raise Young-ho on his own. Young-ho got to live with his father, but not his mother.
Like Seo-ha, Young-ho never experienced a normal family life. He had to conceal his mother’s identity, and his name was not even added to the family registry.
Young-ho’s relationship with Seo-ha
When Young-ho and Seo-ha’s uncle, Yoon Myung-gil, passes away, the police reach out to Seo-ha because she is his sole living relative.
Seo-ha inherits a burial ground that has been in the Yoon family for generations. It is at Yoon Myung-gil’s funeral that Young-ho meets her and asserts his claim on the land.
Young-ho weeps and creates a scene at the funeral, making Seo-ha fear him. This fear is heightened when her husband is killed with a gun similar to the one her father owned.
Seo-ha suspects Young-ho, unaware that Myung-hee is the murderer. Myung-hee does not live with Young-ho, but she still controls him.
Myung-hee believes that the land rightfully belongs to Young-ho. She leaves messages for him, and Young-ho obediently follows her instructions.
Young-ho does not know that his mother has been leaving messages. To prevent more deaths, he follows the orders even when he does not want to.
He lays claim over the land only because he has been asked to do that. He tries to warn Seo-ha, but Seo-ha is unwilling to talk to him and misunderstands his intentions.
The talisman that Young-ho draws on her gate with blood to prevent disaster and his efforts to follow her for her safety are misconstrued as attempts to terrorize her.
The police also suspect him, but they cannot keep him in custody due to lack of evidence. Seo-ha then decides to take matters into her own hands.
She arranges for Young-ho to be kidnapped. Even when faced with danger, Young-ho refuses to withdraw his claim over the land.
Later, when Choi Tae-seong tries to kill Young-ho and Seo-ha, Young-ho uses the last of his strength to free Seo-ha.
Thanks to Young-ho’s efforts, Seo-ha makes it out alive. She returns the favor by helping Myung-hee take Young-ho to safety.
As Young-ho considers Seo-ha his family, he denies the fact that he was kidnapped by Choi Tae-seong, leading to the dropping of kidnapping charges against Seo-ha.
Young-ho never gets to have a good relationship with Seo-ha, but after learning the truth about Young-ho’s life, she no longer avoids him as she once did.
