Gold Land (골드랜드)

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF CHILD MALTREATMENT.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

- Heeju! - Heeju!

- Heeju! - Heeju, where are you?

- Heeju! - Heeju! Heeju!

Sunok, Sunok! Heeju!

Hey, what the hell are you doing?

How do we get down there?

- Heeju, it's me, Auntie Mija. - I swear she's nothing but trouble.

Right here!

Are you okay?

- How can we get her out of there? - What do we do?

You've got no idea how dangerous this place is.

Fine then, go on. Get back in there.

This woman is my mother.

"Nothing but bad luck."

That's what my mom always called me.

I thought my mom's misfortune was because of me.

And so I always felt guilty.

At the time, I didn't understand what that meant.

Spellbound by the dazzling lights

people streamed endlessly toward Gold Land.

They say not everything that glitters is gold.

In the end, it was nothing more than a gilded grave.

Maybe my mother was dazzled by those lights, too,

wagering everything she had.

Player, banker.

Hoping for a single stroke of luck.

Unfortunately, luck is never fair, is it?

Final bets.

- Ah. - Out.

You fold?

- House wins. - I can't believe this.

13, JEONGSAN BUS TERMINAL SEOKWOL-DONG

Did you eat yet?

Ramyeon.

I wanna go to school, Mom.

Da In gets to go to school and she's a year younger than me.

You can go next year.

Not here, though.

You can go in Seoul.

Really?

Yes. Really.

I just can't live in this place any longer.

We'll go to Seoul.

As always, it was just a lie.

But even if it was a lie, I wanted to believe it.

THE CITY OF DREAMS AND HOPE WELCOME TO GOLD LAND

HIGH-VALUE LOANS, HAENGBOK PAWNSHOP LENDING, PURCHASING

GOLD, SILVER, JEWELRY, WATCHES TOP PRICES PAID FOR GOLD

- Come here. - Instead of leaving like she said,

my mother got married to the pawnshop owner.

On the condition that he paid off her debt.

Both me and my mother were like collateral at his shop.

I said cut it out.

Slow down. Be careful, kids.

A heart with no destination to go always lets the feet know first.

For many years I was stuck,

walking down a road I never wanted to return to.

I prayed every day that my destination would be somewhere else.

In reality, the dream that felt so far away

only grew closer and more familiar.

My mother was like a plant that could no longer bloom,

slowly withering away.

The thought that I could end up like her

It terrified me.

At Haengbok Pawnshop, there is no happiness.

Only someone's collateral, held like hostages.

If only I could fly somewhere else.

How nice would it be?

Anywhere.

Anywhere but here.

Sometimes in the evenings,

the pawnshop became a gambling den.

Soju there, cigarettes here. We have to sell it all.

Bring it here!

Mr. Han.

I said I'd give it to you by next week!

So you keep saying.

I trust money, not words.

People say they'll pay back billions, even trillions.

What's wrong?

Is your little heart pounding?

I could cut you open for screwing me out of my money.

Is that what you're worried about?

Look here. You see that?

It's easy to control it when it's my own flesh.

But on someone else's, not so much.

That's why I always cut myself first to show you.

What are you doing here?

Just my homework.

I guess I fell asleep.

Oh, really?

Heeju!

- Where are you? - I'm leaving this place.

I won't go back. That man is crazy. He's not even human. I'm too scared to.

Where else would you go?

Anywhere. I don't know.

You got any money?

How are you gonna survive on your own?

I don't know. I'll figure it out.

And you? You're okay living like this?

You actually think he sees me as his niece?

Go and stay with Mija for a while.

When your uncle cools off, you can come back.

No, Mom, why can't we just leave this place?

Don't call me Mom.

Oh, that's right.

I don't have a mother.

I almost forgot.

I'm nothing but an utterly luckless brat.

EPISODE 2 HOMECOMING

Uh, hi there.

Last night there was a car accident on National Route 6 around midnight, I think.

Have there been any reports of the accident yet?

Could you tell me what hospital he's in?

May I have the name of the person calling?

I...

There isn't?

Okay, thank you.

Hello.

I'm calling to check on a patient who was brought to the ER after

a car accident around midnight last night. It's a man...

Hey, Heeju! Heeju!

They want all of us in the office.

Why?

The police are here now.

They have some questions for all of us.

Ms. Cha, too. We gotta go.

Sure.

What is that?

That can't be normal, can it?

Yesterday, who was-who was in charge of the scanner?

Uh, I was.

The warning alarm went off, right?

Aren't you supposed to request a physical inspection from customs?

Uh, sir, well...

She reported it to me.

As the one in charge, I review all anomalies and make the final call.

A visual inspection by an expert is considered the most accurate method.

The alarms are always going off.

And for inbound cargo,

physical inspections are deemed unnecessary unless

it's an emergency.

This is because it's already been through

a thorough screening at the outbound checkpoint,

especially when transporting a casket with a dead body.

So what kind of goods

were they supposedly smuggling?

Ma'am, we never said anything about smuggling.

The police wouldn't be making such a fuss if it was for anything else.

Look, you all know this man, right?

San Air first officer Lee Dokyung.

Yeah, I've seen him around a few times.

Have you been in touch recently?

Maybe the last few days?

No.

What about everyone else?

This airport's tiny, so, weird no one knows him.

Are you asking about the captain because he's somehow connected to all this?

No, not quite. It's not like that.

Oh.

Heeju, you were working at the arrivals terminal.

You must know him.

You would have handled security for inbound crew.

Yeah.

I see.

Have you been in contact recently?

Well, it's not like we keep in touch or anything like that.

We just say hello when he went through security.

Understood.

- It's Dokyung. They found him. - Well, where is he?

He's at Yangpo Jeil Hospital.

All right, thanks everyone.

We'll be in touch.

Heeju, wait a minute.

Can I speak with you?

Prep the patient for surgery.

Yes, Doctor.

So how long have you been close with Lee Dokyung?

What?

This isn't your first time, is it?

Smuggling goods.

Uh, Ms. Cha, I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to say.

Fine.

First time or not,

keep your mouth shut and pretend you don't know anything.

If you're caught by the police, you understand you and I are both done?

Send me your resignation letter tonight.

And don't come into work tomorrow.

I'll talk to the company and sort things out.

Once the police wrap up their investigation,

someone will have to take the fall.

I don't know what's going on between you two,

but our best hope

Is that Lee Dokyung goes and dies.

Is Mr. Lee Dokyung's guardian here?

Here.

Looks like the surgery went well.

Mr. Lee is now in recovery.