Download Mousetrap Episode 8

Mousetrap Episode 8 begins with Moon-jae still trapped in a desperate identity crisis. He tries to contact Han Ji-hye, his longtime editor, and begs her to meet him so he can explain everything in person. He tells her that he is really Je Moon-jae and that she is the only person left who might be willing to listen to him. But Ji-hye is already convinced that the other man is the real Moon-jae, leaving the real Moon-jae increasingly isolated and desperate. The police soon close in on Moon-jae. He is stopped near the water and confronted by officers who already have a warrant connected to the vehicle. Moon-jae tries to escape, but the police surround him and take him into custody. Inside the station, detectives aggressively question him about Noja and the violence surrounding the case. Three officers have died during the investigation, and the detectives blame Moon-jae for the chain of events that has led to the bloodshed. Moon-jae refuses to reveal Noja's location because he does not know where Noja is. The police believe that he is protecting a criminal, but Moon-jae insists that Noja is the only person who ever genuinely tried to help him. His situation becomes even more hopeless when the detectives tell him that there is no body proving Noja is alive. To the police, Noja is already presumed dead. While Moon-jae is being interrogated, Seung-gyu confirms that Noja has been captured. He also discovers that Han Hui-su, Moon-jae's supposed uncle, has been located at the nursing home. Seung-gyu realizes that Hui-su's existence could potentially provide evidence connecting Moon-jae to his identity, so he orders his people to keep watching the old man. Noja is meanwhile being held by Seung-gyu's men. Severely injured and exhausted, he is beaten and interrogated about Moon-jae. Noja refuses to give them the information they want. Even when he is threatened with death, he remains defiant and tells them that he would rather die than help the people behind the identity operation. Seung-gyu's confrontation with Noja reveals an important part of their shared past. Seung-gyu once admired Noja and considered him a powerful figure worth imitating. He claims that he worked for Noja, carried out his dirty work and helped him build his criminal empire, yet he never received the respect he believed he deserved. His resentment has grown into hatred, and he now sees Noja's downfall as an opportunity to finally take everything from him. Seung-gyu also accuses Noja of being responsible for terrible acts in the past, including watching people being buried alive as punishment. Noja does not deny the darkness of his former life, but the confrontation makes clear that Seung-gyu's hatred is personal. He believes Noja used him and discarded him after he had sacrificed everything to become like his former boss. Seung-gyu eventually decides that Noja must disappear permanently. He tells his associates that he intends to eliminate everyone who knows about his past before leaving the country. Noja is taken to a remote location and prepared to be buried alive, echoing the brutal methods associated with his own criminal past. Even when he begs for his life, Seung-gyu remains determined to kill him. Meanwhile, Sun-yong heads to the nursing home to finally obtain a DNA sample from Han Hui-su. The Rat himself contacts Sun-yong and surprisingly agrees to undergo a DNA test with his supposed uncle. He presents himself as the real Je Moon-jae and confidently says that the test should settle the identity dispute once and for all. Sun-yong is suspicious of his eagerness but agrees to proceed. Before the DNA test can happen, disaster strikes. A fire breaks out at the nursing home. Smoke fills the building and the residents are evacuated, but Han Hui-su is nowhere to be found. Sun-yong searches desperately through the confusion and realizes that the fire was not accidental. Someone has deliberately destroyed the nursing home and removed Hui-su, likely to ensure that no biological evidence remains that could prove Moon-jae's identity. The Rat's plan becomes obvious: he anticipated that Moon-jae would use Hui-su as the final proof of his identity. By removing Hui-su and destroying the nursing home's records and possible DNA evidence, he has once again eliminated the evidence before Moon-jae can use it. Sun-yong realizes that The Rat is always one step ahead and has been manipulating the investigation from the beginning. Moon-jae eventually learns that Hui-su has disappeared. He is devastated when Sun-yong tells him that the nursing home was burned and that someone appears to have taken everything that could contain Hui-su's DNA. Moon-jae understands that The Rat knew exactly what he would do. Every time Moon-jae finds a possible way to prove his identity, The Rat destroys it before he can reach it. During this period, Moon-jae begins opening up to Sun-yong about his past. He explains that the first time he met Seo Yu-min was at a college literature club. Yu-min introduced himself as a new student and quickly became fascinated by Moon-jae's writing. He admired Moon-jae's talent and repeatedly told him that he wanted to write like him. Moon-jae, Yu-min and So Min-yeong eventually became close friends. Both men developed feelings for Min-yeong, although Moon-jae initially believed neither of them had a realistic chance with her. Yu-min was more confident and insisted that he would eventually win her over. Their friendship seemed harmless at first, but jealousy slowly began destroying the relationship between the two men. During a trip, Yu-min finally revealed that he and Min-yeong were secretly dating. Moon-jae had believed they were only friends, and the revelation deeply hurt him. Yu-min accused Moon-jae of being jealous and suggested that he wanted to become him. The confrontation became violent, and Moon-jae never spoke to Yu-min again after that day. Years later, Yu-min returned with Moon-jae's face. Moon-jae explains to Sun-yong that he initially believed Yu-min's obsession with him had been caused by jealousy and Min-yeong, but he later discovered something far more disturbing: Yu-min had never actually been a legitimate student at the college. He had fabricated his student identity from the beginning. Sun-yong begins investigating this claim. He visits the school and searches its student records for So Min-yeong's name, but there is no record of a student under that identity. He then searches for Seo Yu-min. This time, a record appears, but it shows that Yu-min had been dismissed and had studied Korean Language and Literature. The discovery confirms that something about Yu-min's supposed history was deliberately falsified. The revelation gives Sun-yong a new direction. Yu-min had been lying about his identity long before he appeared in Moon-jae's life. His relationship with Moon-jae may therefore have been part of a much older plan rather than a simple romantic rivalry. Sun-yong begins to suspect that Yu-min deliberately entered Moon-jae's life, studied him and eventually built the foundation needed to steal his identity. Moon-jae also explains his childhood memories and the mental illness that affected his mother. He remembers his father saying that he had inherited his mother's condition and describes how his dependence on medication caused many of his memories to fade. He fears that the more his memories disappear, the easier it will become for The Rat to rewrite his past. Sun-yong tests Moon-jae by asking him about details inside his parents' bedroom. Moon-jae correctly remembers a simple black rectangular vanity. Sun-yong realizes that the detail matches an object known to him from his own investigation, but instead of proving Moon-jae's identity, it reveals another layer of The Rat's manipulation. The Rat has deliberately created situations where Moon-jae's genuine memories can be turned against him. The police investigation simultaneously begins searching for Seung-gyu and trying to locate Noja. Officers believe Noja may already be dead and want to recover his body so the case can be closed. But they cannot find him. Seung-gyu's people are also struggling to locate Moon-jae, and the entire criminal network begins to fracture as different groups pursue their own agendas. Sun-yong discovers another important clue when investigators trace the movement of a suspect vehicle. The trail leads into a heavily wooded mountain area where the terrain makes searching extremely difficult. Police organize a search party and begin moving through the forest to locate the missing witness and the people connected to the case. As the search continues, the police suddenly discover that someone has disappeared. Han Hui-su is gone, and the evidence suggests that he has been taken deeper into the mountains. The officers realize that the old man may have been deliberately removed before they could obtain his DNA. The episode ends with Moon-jae confronting the brutal reality of his situation. Hui-su has disappeared just like Noja, and both men may have been buried somewhere in the mountains. Moon-jae realizes that he cannot continue depending on witnesses or official records because The Rat will destroy every piece of evidence before it reaches him. With no reliable witness left and his identity still impossible to prove, Moon-jae reaches a desperate conclusion: he must find The Rat himself. Catching The Rat is no longer simply about getting his money, name or career back. It is the only way Moon-jae can prove that he is really Je Moon-jae. The episode closes on that realization as the mystery becomes a direct hunt between the real identity claimant and the man who has built his entire life around stealing it.