Dae-su confronts Lee in his penthouse. Lee doesn’t flinch. Instead, he smiles. “Do you know why I kept you for fifteen years? It wasn’t hate. Not yet. It was rehearsal .” He offers Dae-su a deal: solve the mystery in four days, or Mi-do (the chef, now his lover) will die.

Cut to a snowy forest. Mi-do finds Dae-su, dazed, smiling. She hugs him. He whispers: “I love you.” She smiles. She doesn’t know.

Dae-su and Mi-do fall into a desperate, tender relationship—sex, confession, shared scars. She joins his quest.