11 timestamped notes explaining the Korean cultural context in this episode — customs, idioms, food, honorifics, and history, at the moment each appears on screen. These notes discuss events across the whole episode. To see them revealed scene-by-scene as you watch, use the episode page to find an airing.
Seon-u has been holed up drinking 막걸리 or soju alone for six straight days since leaving the broadcast station. In Korean drama and real life, drinking alone at home for days on end is a recognizable signal that someone has emotionally hit rock bottom — friends and colleagues treat it as a serious warning sign, not just casual indulgence.
Min-yeong's family has gone to Noboribetsu (노보리베쓰), a famous hot-spring resort town on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island. It is one of the most popular overseas getaways for Korean families, known for its intensely sulphuric waters said to relieve stress and muscle pain — which is exactly what Yoo-jin says she needs.
Min-yeong mentions that tomorrow is her parents' 결혼기념일 (gyeol-hon gi-nyeom-il), their wedding anniversary. In Korean families it is common for adult children to be very aware of this date and to join in marking it — the fact that her father is flying out separately just to be there, even for only two days, shows how much weight Korean couples place on not missing the occasion.
The doctor mentions that Jeong-u had been showing signs of 우울증 (u-ul-jeung, depression) for some time. In South Korea, mental health struggles are still heavily stigmatized, and many people — especially professionals in high-pressure fields like medicine — avoid seeking help for fear of how colleagues will perceive them. The scene reflects a sadly common reality.
The detective explains that the suspect's DNA was already on file at the 국과수 (Guk-gwa-su), South Korea's National Forensic Service — the equivalent of an FBI crime lab. Prior convictions in South Korea can result in DNA being stored in this database, which is why a criminal with a 2004 conviction was traceable from a broken fingernail left at the scene.
Cheol-min declares this story will be '오늘 첫 꼭지' — literally the first 꼭지 (kkok-ji), meaning the lead segment of tonight's broadcast. In Korean TV news, the first story sets the tone for the whole bulletin and carries the most prestige; landing a scoop as the opener is the highest prize in the newsroom.
Chang-min tells Jin-cheol that the stabbing victim looks exactly like the man who jumped from 동작대교 (Dongjak Bridge) twenty years ago. Dongjak Bridge spans the Han River in Seoul and connects Dongjak-gu to Seocho-gu. For Korean viewers it is immediately recognizable as a real Seoul landmark, grounding the decades-old mystery in a very specific, real place.
Jeong-u's farewell letter reveals he has always known he was not the biological son of the man who raised him, making him a 혼외자 (hon-oe-ja), a child born outside marriage. In the Confucian-influenced family system that shaped older Korean generations, illegitimate birth carried enormous stigma — for both the child and the mother — which explains why both Jeong-u and Myeong-hui kept this secret their entire lives.
When Jin-cheol sarcastically suggests Seon-u must own a 타임머신 (time machine) from a movie, Seon-u simply says yes. This is the first time he admits the truth of the incense sticks to an antagonist directly. In the world of this drama, the magic incense (향, hyang) is the mechanism — each stick lets him travel exactly twenty years into the past for thirty minutes.
The 재판장 (jae-pan-jang, presiding judge) announces a 징역 10년 (jing-yeok 10-nyeon), ten-year prison sentence, at the 선고 공판 (seon-go gong-pan) — the final sentencing session in a Korean criminal trial. In the Korean court system, sentencing takes place at a separate hearing after the full trial, and the defendant must be present in court to hear the verdict read aloud.
영훈 immediately understands that Seon-u is heading toward Jin-cheol with a 향 (hyang), one of the remaining incense sticks that lets him travel back twenty years. The sticks have been the central supernatural device throughout the series — burning one sends Seon-u's consciousness exactly two decades into the past, and the handful he still has left is now a weapon as much as a lifeline.