The Bequeathed follows Yoon Seo-ha, a woman whose life is put in danger when she inherits a burial ground from her unknown uncle. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Yoon Seo-ha is an instructor who has been hoping to become a professor. She ghostwrites the book of Professor Kim in the hope of getting a promotion.
Seo-ha suspects that her husband, Yang Jae-seok, is cheating on her, so she hires a private detective, Kang Hong-sik, who brings her proof of her husband’s infidelity.
Meanwhile, Seo-ha’s uncle, Yoon Myung-gil, dies. As Seo-ha’s father, now deceased, had abandoned her and her mother when she was seven years old, she did not even know that she had an uncle.
It turns out that her uncle was murdered, and since Seo-ha is the only living member of the family, she inherits a burial ground that the Yoon family has owned for generations.
Seo-ha’s father had another family. His son, Kim Young-ho, who is Seo-ha’s half-brother, believes that he also has a claim over the burial ground.
However, Seo-ha’s father never added Kim Young-ho’s name to the family register. The land belongs to Seo-ha, but Young-ho’s claim complicates matters.
Seo-ha detests Young-ho, as her father left her and her mother for Young-ho and his mother. Young-ho received their father’s love, whereas Seo-ha had to grow up without it.
Additionally, despite Seo-ha’s dedicated efforts, Professor Kim recommends another person for the professorial role, leading to her disappointment.
Chief Detective Park Sang-min’s team is assigned Yoon Myung-gil’s murder case. Detective Choi Sung-jun is Sang-min’s senior, yet it is Sang-min who is the chief now.
Instead of following Sang-min’s orders, Sung-jun, who is a brilliant detective, investigates on his own and cracks the case.
He figures out that the village chief and his old friend killed Yoon Myung-gil because he refused to give up his land for the construction of a golf course.
Sung-jun never takes credit for the cases he solves. Everyone knows that he conducts investigations independently and then turns over his hard work to Sang-min, who receives the credit for it.
Sang-min and Sung-jun used to be close friends, but an incident changed that. When Sung-jun lost his wife, his relationship with his son deteriorated.
His son got involved with delinquents and ended up stabbing Sang-min, thinking that he was stabbing his father. The attack left Sang-min with a disability, which is why Sung-jun gives him credit for all his work.
Just when the police are ready to close the case, Seo-ha’s husband, whom she was going to divorce, is murdered.
Seo-ha believes that Young-ho is the murderer because she recalls that her father owned the type of hunting gun that was used to kill her husband.
Moreover, Young-ho goes so far as to draw a shamanic talisman on Seo-ha’s front door with blood, claiming that he did it to ward off her bad luck.
As the police do not have enough evidence to arrest Young-ho, Seo-ha, fearing for her safety, employs Kang to find evidence against her half-brother.
Kang also convinces her to sell the burial land and buy his friend’s building, as his friend, Choi Tae-seong, is in need of money.
Choi Tae-seong offers to make Young-ho abandon his claim on the land using illegal means, but Seo-ha refuses.
Soon after, Professor Kim finds himself in trouble when it becomes public knowledge that Seo-ha ghostwrote his book. Seo-ha ultimately walks out on him when he attempts to take advantage of her.
While looking for clues at Young-ho’s house, Kang is shot to death by someone. His killer uses his phone to call Seo-ha to meet them.
However, Seo-ha never reaches the location because Young-ho follows her. Although he follows her to keep her safe, he gets arrested. The police then discover Kang’s body.
They know that he went to Young-ho’s house before he was killed, but they do not have any concrete evidence to keep Young-ho in police custody.
Frustrated with the police, Seo-ha asks Choi Tae-seong to make Young-ho withdraw his claim by any means possible, which results in Young-ho’s kidnapping.
Even when his life is threatened, Young-ho refuses to sign the papers and ends up seeing Choi Tae-seong’s face. Due to that, Choi Tae-seong decides to kill Young-ho.
Some of the police detectives are going to face layoffs, and everyone thinks that Sang-min will be one of them.
Sang-min, who was convinced that Young-ho was the murderer, recognizes his repeated mistakes in the investigation and chooses to resign.
Surprisingly, his resignation is not accepted, as Sung-jun has already submitted his own resignation letter to protect Sang-min’s job.
All this time, Sung-jun has been looking into Young-ho’s past and comes to know that he lived at a temple with his parent when he was young.
He is also informed that the DNA found on Yang Jae-seok’s body belongs to a woman who is related to Young-ho on his maternal side and to Seo-ha on her paternal side.
Sung-jun orders the other officers to look for Young-ho and Seo-ha, believing that they are in danger. This leads to a fight between Sang-min, who thinks his authority is being undermined, and Sung-jun.
When they fight, Sang-min finally understands that Sung-jun keeps making sacrifices for him because he blames himself for his son’s actions.
After discussing their problems, the two detectives decide to work together. They meet with the Yoon family’s old neighbors to uncover the identity of the murderer.
Ending explained:
The third sibling
The neighbors of the Yoon family tell Sang-min and Sung-jun that Seo-ha and Young-ho’s father, Yoon Myung-ho, had another sibling apart from Yoon Myung-gil.
Myung-ho and Myung-gil’s younger sister was named Myung-hee. It was rumored that Myung-ho and Myung-hee were in love.
Myung-ho left his wife and daughter to be with his sister. The siblings had a child together, who is none other than Young-ho.
Myung-ho’s family believed that he was possessed by an evil spirit and had different shamans treat him, but Myung-ho never stopped loving his sister.
On the other hand, Myung-hee went to live at the temple with Young-ho and trained under the shaman there. Sung-jun had previously met this shaman.
Sung-jun then remembers that when he was investigating Myung-gil’s murder, he met one of his neighbors.
It strikes Sung-jun that the woman he met was Myung-hee, and she is the one behind Kang and Yang Jae-seok’s murders.
Myung-hee’s motive
Myung-hee kidnaps Seo-ha, who has been looking for Choi Tae-seong to stop him from killing Young-ho, and brings her to a cave.
Myung-hee believes that Young-ho deserves to inherit the family burial land, so she plans to eliminate everyone who stands between him and the inheritance.
While she could have easily claimed the land by revealing to the world that she is alive, she refrains from doing so to spare her son from the shame associated with being born in an incestuous relationship.
All her life she has tried to protect her son from that shame. That is why his second name was changed, his mother’s identity was hidden, and his name was not added to the Yoon family register.
Myung-hee does not want to kill Seo-ha, but she is going to do it for Young-ho, who has been trying to save Seo-ha from his mother all this while.
Saving Seo-ha and Young-ho
Seo-ha manages to stop Myung-hee from killing her by telling her that Young-ho’s life is in danger and she is the only one who can save him.
Seo-ha contacts Choi Tae-seong and threatens to report him to the police, prompting him to disclose Young-ho’s whereabouts.
Sung-jun also manages to contact Myung-hee and gets her to reveal where she is taking Seo-ha. Sung-jun and Sang-min hope to reach the location before it is too late.
Choi Tae-seong plans to kill Seo-ha and Young-ho together. Myung-hee lets Choi Tae-seong’s men catch Seo-ha.
She then attempts to rescue Young-ho. Choi Tae-seong’s men trap Seo-ha and Young-ho inside a kiln with the intention of burning them alive.
Myung-hee’s efforts to save her son get her shot by Choi Tae-seong’s men, but she still does not stop trying to break the kiln wall to get Young-ho out.
When Sung-jun and Sang-min arrive there, Choi Tae-seong’s men leave without killing Myung-hee and set the entire place on fire upon hearing the police sirens.
With the last of his strength, Young-ho frees Seo-ha’s hands. Seo-ha regains consciousness and, with Myung-hee breaking the wall from the outside, manages to escape the kiln.
Seo-ha then helps Myung-hee save Young-ho. While the three of them make it out alive, Choi Tae-seong gets arrested after shooting Sang-min in his leg.
Out of harm’s way
When the police arrive at the scene, Myung-hee realizes that she cannot do anything more for Young-ho and takes her life by walking into the blazing fire.
Now that Sang-min has been shot in the same leg that was stabbed by Sung-jun’s son, he relives Sung-jun of the guilt that he has been carrying for years.
Sung-jun quits his job and goes to meet his son in prison for the first time, expressing a willingness to improve their relationship and promising his son that he will keep visiting.
Young-ho denies being kidnapped by Choi Tae-seong because he does not want Seo-ha, who asked Choi Tae-seong to kidnap him, to suffer.
Due to that, all the charges against Seo-ha are dropped. Seo-ha starts a studio and gives art lessons. She is now safe and the sole owner of the burial land.
Seo-ha decides not to sell the land that has been owned by her family for years. Furthermore, she has Myung-hee buried with Myung-ho.
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