In Bloodhounds, Mr. Choi shares a dark past with Myeong-gil. He taught Myeong-gil about the loan business. Now, Mr. Choi blames himself for not stopping Myeong-gil back then.
Mr. Choi was once a loan shark himself. He ran his own firm. Myeong-gil was one of those who worked under Mr. Choi. The business was booming, and Mr. Choi, even then, was a big-hearted person. He often offered loans to the poor without charging them any interest.
One day, suddenly, Mr. Choi decided to shut down the company. The decision didn’t sit well with Myeong-gil. At night, he and his associate, In-beom, broke into Mr. Choi’s office to steal his money.
Mr. Oh, who worked as the building’s security guard back then, called and informed Mr. Choi about the burglary. Mr. Choi arrived at his office and gave Myeong-gil and In-beom a tough fight.
During this fight, Myeong-gil receives his scar. However, In-beom and Myeong-gil manage to best Mr. Choi. In-beom picks Mr. Choi up and throws him off the building. This is how Mr. Choi loses the ability to walk.
With a broken body, Mr. Choi doesn’t dare to face Myeong-gil again, who, with time, grows in power and scams more people to make money.
Why did Mr. Choi shut his company down?
Mr. Choi had visited the funeral of one of his clients, who turned out to be Hyeon-ju’s father. Watching a little Hyeon-ju cry broke Mr. Choi’s heart.
Mr. Choi wondered what made a hard-working man like this kill himself. He endured pain for two long years to save his sick child. Now that she has recovered, why would he opt to make such a decision?
Talking about the loan, Mr. Choi gave him one with zero interest. He had even offered to give him an infinite extension if he needed more time to pay it back.
Lee Du-yeong and Hwang Yang-jung investigate the case. From Hyeon-ju’s neighbor, they learn that two loan sharks harrassed Hyeon-ju’s father from time to time. They used to grab him by the neck and beat him.
The description of these loan sharks matched that of Myeong-gil and In-beom. Yang-jung later finds out that Myeong-gil visited every other person Mr. Choi was trying to help by extending their loan. He asked for extension fees from them and said that Mr. Choi had ordered it. That’s why Mr. Choi made the decision of shutting his company down.
It turns out that Myeong-gil is using the same method even today to scam small business owners. Mr. Choi regrets not stopping Myeong-gil right away.
Kim Gun-woo assures Mr. Choi that his generosity brought them together. Mr. Choi at least has a strong sense of responsibility, which is why he feels guilty. Whereas shameless people like Myeong-gil feel no guilt and blame everything on the weak.
Also Read: Bloodhounds review: Compelling thriller comes with engrossing action sequences