Seok Kang-joon radiated an unstoppable forward momentum in pursuit of a horror tale.
In the second episode of the MBC Friday-Saturday drama "Undercover High School," which aired on the 22nd, Jeong Hae-seong (played by Seok Kang-joon) began to uncover the truth behind the horror tales that spread within the school with his friend Lee Dong-min (played by Shin Jun-hang). The viewership rating for the episode recorded 6.6% based on Nielsen Korea's national households and 6.5% for metropolitan households. In particular, the epilogue scene featuring Seo Myeong-joo watching Hae-seong through CCTV as he examines the basement of the old school building soared to 8.8%, elevating the tension to its peak. Moreover, the 2049 viewership rating, a key metric for evaluating channel competitiveness and popularity, was 2.8%, maintaining the top spot among all dramas aired that day and drawing significant interest from drama fans.
In the broadcast that day, while exploring the first floor of the old school building, Hae-seong encountered Su-a, who was on patrol, and found himself at risk of being discovered. Hae-seong shone his flashlight at Su-a before fleeing, narrowly evading discovery. Later, upon seeing Principal Park Jae-moon (played by Park Jin-woo) descending to the basement of the old building, Hae-seong sensed something suspicious, amplifying the mystery.
Meanwhile, Hae-seong learned from Dong-min about the circulating horror tale within the school. A long time ago, a female student who was bullied by her classmates took her own life in a classroom of the old building, and ever since, at the same time each day, the spirit of the deceased student is said to appear in a closed practice room. Dong-min shocked Hae-seong, who did not believe the horror tale, by showing him a video he had filmed himself.
Just as Hae-seong was about to hear the next horror tale, a group led by Park Tae-soo (played by Jang Seong-beom) appeared before him and Dong-min. Tae-soo spat into Dong-min's food and ordered him to eat it. When Hae-seong tried to intervene, the tension in the surroundings heightened. Enraged by the thought that Hae-seong was interfering with him, Tae-soo grabbed Hae-seong by the collar, leading to a serious altercation as Hae-seong fought back. During their time at school, despite the team's orders to remain uninvolved in any incident and to focus solely on their mission, Hae-seong became entangled in uncomfortable situations with the students, raising curiosity about what would unfold next.
Meanwhile, in his quest to uncover the truth behind the horror tale, Hae-seong went to the old building and unexpectedly met Dong-min, joining him. As the two entered the building, they heard classical music emanating from somewhere and followed the sound down to the basement. There, they found a mysterious man hammering, who threw the hammer and fled upon their arrival, raising questions. Moments later, in the underground room, there was a newspaper clipping about the first chairman Seo Byeong-mun (played by Kim Ui-sung) and King Gojong's gold bullion covering the walls, suggesting that Chairwoman Seo Myeong-joo (played by Kim Shin-rok) was also searching for the gold bullion.
At the end of the broadcast, as Dong-min was about to exit the building, he discovered a skeletal corpse of a female student wearing a school uniform beneath a wooden floor, causing him to clutch his heart in shock. With suspicious events continuing to unfold, Hae-seong heightened expectations for how he would unravel the complicated situation in the next broadcast.
Thus, the second episode effectively portrayed Hae-seong's tension-filled journey in tracking down the whereabouts of the gold bullion while also providing a rich assortment of stories intertwined with the students, captivating viewers on Friday and Saturday nights.
[Photo] MBC 'Undercover High School' broadcast capture