Overview of Rose Mansion

An apartment block in Seoul becomes a site of mystery, fear and violence. The South Korean television series ‘Rose Mansion’ is the first small-screen effort from established film director Yoon Hong-seung, who goes by the pseudonym Chang.

The series pursues the truth about a missing sister in an apartment called Rose Mansion that is about to undergo reconstruction. Suspicious and doubtful neighbours hide their greed behind ordinary appearances.The characters are expected to provide intense suspense in conjunction with their extreme fear of reality.

Profile

• Drama: Rose Mansion
• Director: Chang
• Writer: Yoo Kab-yeol
• Network: TVING
• Episodes: 12
• Release Date: May 13 – May 27, 2022
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

• Lim Ji-yeon as Ji-na
• Yoon Kyun-sang as Min-soo
• Song Ji-in as Ji-hyun

Supporting

• Son Byong-ho as Ji-na’s father
• Jung Woong-in as Jang Won-seok
• Jo Dal-hwan as Woo-hyeok
• Kim Jung-woo as Dong-hyun
• Lee Mi-do as Seok-ja
• Kim Do-yoon as Charlie, was a student from abroad and opened a supermarket while taking care of his mother who had mental health problems.
• Song Bo-eun as People living upstairs at the scene
• Ae-joo
• Lee Moon-sik
• Ko Kyu-Pil as Obom, an informant hacker and criminal with a criminal record.
• Jung Ae-ri

Synopsis

Ji-na (Lim Ji-yeon) is working as a hotel worker in Busan, lying to her colleagues and boyfriend that her father is a hospital director. In reality, her father, Song Hyung-sik (Son Byong-ho), was only working at a construction site. She appears to have no regrets and leads a steady life, but inside she experiences a sense of inferiority as her father tends to be biased towards her elder sister, Ji-hyun (Song Ji-in).

Ji-na is not on good terms with her sister and father, as she feels inferior to her sister, who has higher educational qualifications and a well-respected job. Later one day, Ji-na’s father instructed Ji-na to return to his apartment in Seoul as her elder sister is missing. Reluctantly, Ji-na took leave to find Ji-hyun at the Rose Mansion.

Upon reaching Rose Mansion Unit 809, Ji-na could not find Ji-hyun; instead, she saw some blood stains and a mannequin hanging on the balcony. To Ji-na’s horror, the mannequin was wearing the same dress as her, which she purchased not long ago. Ji-hyun’s missing case was assigned to police detective Min-soo (Yoon Kyun-sang). He was furious about the intrusion into the apartment to place the mannequin on the balcony.

One day Ji-na visited the police station, and she secretly took the list of people to be monitored in her neighborhood. From inspecting the list, Ji-na found Woo-hyeok (Jo Dal-hwan), a suspicious person who killed a couple previously but was on probation as he was suffering from mental illness.

Even though Woo-hyeok had an apartment in the neighbourhood, he had been staying in his caravan parked outside. One day, Ji-na intruded into the caravan when Woo-hyeok was away feeding stray cats, and she found Ji-hyun’s underwear in the caravan.

Ji-na immediately informed Min-soo and leaves as she had intruded into the caravan without permission. When Ji-na’s father learns about this, he kidnaps Woo-hyeok in the hope of forcing him to reveal Ji-hyun’s whereabouts. However, Woo-hyeok attacks him violently, and fortunately, Ji-na and Min-soo arrive in time to save Hyung-sik, but he is still seriously injured. Woo-hyeok landed in a coma as he jumped off the bridge to escape when Min-soo chased him.

Meanwhile, other police detectives thought that Ji-hyun might purely leave home, as there was no evidence to prove otherwise. Min-soo introduced Ji-na to an ex-criminal, Obom (Ko Kyu-pil), an informant hacker with a criminal record. Obom is skilled in hacking, and he hacked into the CCTV to find evidence showing that Ji-hyun was kidnapped. He concluded that Ji-hyun was in the neighbourhood, probably in the second apartment block.

Due to this CCTV evidence, Ji-hyun’s kidnapping case was then transferred to another criminal investigation team. Min-soo was ordered not to get involved in this case anymore; however, he continued to help Ji-na.

Ji-na also found Seok-ja (Lee Mi-do) and Charlie (Kim Do-yoon) to be suspicious. Seok-ja is the chairperson of the neighbourhood women’s group, and Charlie is a supermarket owner. Seok-ja claimed that Ji-hyun had agreed to attend a matchmaking session with Charlie, while Charlie seemed to be monitoring Ji-hyun. Charlie had studied abroad before and had to take care of his mother with dementia.

The Suspicious Neighbourhood

The neighbours living directly above Ji-hyun’s unit were strange, as the female neighbour tended to suspect her husband of having affairs with Ji-hyun or Ji-na.

The Juvenile Delinquent

A juvenile criminal hacked into Ji-na’s mobile phone to retrieve information from her messaging app and sold the information to Han Mi-yeon (Song Lee-woo), who was working on the redevelopment of the Rose Mansion. The same person later also worked with Obom on hacking at the secret base in Obom’s shop.

What Happened to Charlie’s Mother?

One day Detective Jang Won-seok (Jung Woong-in) thinks that he has found missing Ji-hyun and informs the press, and it is when a dead body is found in the water tank on the rooftop. Later, it is revealed that it is Charlie’s mother, and she swallowed a key before her death. Police could not find any leads despite trying the key on all units at Rose Mansion.

The little hacker found that Ji-na was holding onto Ji-hyun’s laptop, and he passed the information to Mi-yeon. Ji-na later passed the laptop to Min-soo, and Min-soo then passed it to his junior Nam-young (Lee Joo-young) to look for clues. Ji-na found a file analysing the environment of Rose Apartment on the laptop.

A mysterious man then appeared at Ji-na’s house in search of that laptop. Fortunately, Min-soo appears at the right time and saves Ji-na from dying when the mysterious man ties her to the bathtub. Min-soo beats Charlie up in public, thinking that Charlie is the one who attacked Ji-na as he had previously tried to hurt her. However, Charlie was found dead after being violently attacked later.

When Ji-na returned to her house with Detective Jang Won-seok, she found her bathroom to be restored to its original condition, as if nothing had happened there before. Ji-na suddenly heard a sound and found Ji-hyun being hanged on the balcony. They attempted to save Ji-hyun, but she passed away.

Ending Explained

Ji-hyun’s autopsy results are out, and it is revealed that she was in contact with some uncommon plant, which led Min-soo’s team leader, Detective Choi Pyo-chang (Lee Moon-sik), to suspect Min-soo. Nam-young also finds some clues to suspect Min-soo. Choi Pyo-chang sent Nam-young to catch Min-soo, but Min-soo chose to escape from the police’s arrest. Min-soo later kidnaps Ji-na at his old house, where he tells his childhood story.

Min-soo’s Childhood

Min-soo’s father was a domestic abuser who often beat up his mother and Min-soo when he is drunk. One day, Min-soo’s father beats Min-soo and his mother. Min-soo ends up killing his father. His mother helped to bury the corpse in the greenhouse, and she admitted the crime on Min-soo’s behalf.

Who Killed Ji-hyun?

Min-soo first met Ji-na at the police station some years ago and got attracted to her. He began to gather information about her. He starts staying opposite Ji-na’s house to observe her, and he even bugged her house so that he could hear her. When Ji-na decides to leave the house to work in Busan, it breaks Min-soo’s heart. He decides to punish Ji-hyun for not understanding Ji-na and forcing her to leave the house and plans to kidnap Ji-hyun and make Woo-hyeok the scapegoat.

In reality, Min-soo was not related to Ji-hyun’s death, as Ji-hyun had escaped from his rented unit. Min-soo then committed suicide at the greenhouse after letting Ji-na leave, before the police arrived to arrest him.

Ji-na decides to give a fresh start to her life. She quit her job at the hotel after being a witness to her colleague’s complaint of workplace sexual harassment.

Theme

‘Rose Mansion’, set in a residential block in Seoul, follows the story of a hotel worker who discovers bloodstains on the floor when she visits her father’s flat. The uncomfortable outbursts and displays of senseless violence are compounded in the storyline.

The mystery thriller series is about obsessions and urges. The story will stand out from the rest as it unfolds in an intimately relatable setting: home. ‘Rose Mansion’ leads viewers to ponder the meaning of home and allows viewers to think about what it means to live.

Revolves around the apartment named Rose Mansion, a slightly old and rundown complex populated with an array of strange people and antisocial criminals. The combination of the existential threat of violence, particularly for women, and the tense social tapestry of modern-day flat-dwelling in Korea makes the drama an interesting one.

Awards

No information is available.

Interesting Facts about Rose Mansion

1. The production staff apologized for the scene of a stray cat being abused and killed in the 4th episode, and that scene has been removed and reworked.
2. The drama is star-studded and the performances by the talented ensemble cast bring depth and nuance to their respective roles.
3. The writing is sharp and intelligent, allowing for unexpected twists that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew.

FAQs

1. Who are the writer and director of ‘Rose Mansion’?
   The drama is written by Yoo Kab-yeol and directed by Chang.
   
2. What is the genre of ‘Rose Mansion’?
   The drama falls into the thriller, mystery, suspense, and crime genres. 
   
3. How many episodes are in ‘Rose Mansion’?
   The drama has concluded a successful 12-episode run.
4. Is the K-drama ‘Rose Mansion’ worth watching?
   Must-watch for fans of mystery and thriller genres. ‘Rose Mansion’ is a captivating South Korean mystery-thriller web series that will keep you on the edge of your seat. 
5. What is the Instagram ID of Lim Ji-yeon?
   limjjy2 is the Instagram ID of Lim Ji-yeon.
6. What is the Instagram ID of Yoon Gyun-sang?
   yunkyunsang_official is the Instagram ID of Yoon Gyun-sang.