Character Relationship Map: Arang

Characters

• so-young (played by Song Yun-ah) — protagonist

  A veteran detective and Hyun-ki's partner, so-young investigates a series of incendiary homicides linked to a girl who died ten years earlier. Haunted by visions of Min-jeong, she confronts Hyun-ki an...

• Hyun-ki (played by Lee Dong-wook) — supporting

  A rookie detective and so-young's partner, Hyun-ki is revealed as Min-jeong's first love and the person behind the continuing murders. He distributes cigarettes containing a gas that simulates heart a...

• Min-jeong (played by Kim Hae-in) — supporting

  Min-jeong is the girl whose mysterious death ten years earlier is connected to the present murders, and she was Hyun-ki's first love. After being raped, she was pregnant and buried alive in a salt hou...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Min-jeong → so-young (Meta Supernatural Helper) — Min-jeong may function as a vengeful spirit aiding So-young's revenge.

  So-young concludes that Min-jeong helped her take revenge after dreaming of Min-jeong smiling in the salt house before the assailant's death.

• so-young → Hyun-ki (Professional Police Partners) — They work as detective partners on the linked homicide investigation.

  The plot introduces veteran detective so-young and rookie partner Hyun-ki investigating an incendiary homicide case together.

• Hyun-ki → Min-jeong (Romantic First Love) — His unresolved attachment to Min-jeong shapes his guilt and later actions.

  The plot explicitly identifies Min-jeong as Hyun-ki's first love.

Story Analysis

A homicide investigation uncovers an old assault, a buried mother and child, and a cycle of guilt, revenge, and supernatural justice.

Plot Progression

1. The Case Beneath The Case — so-young and Hyun-ki investigate an incendiary homicide. The evidence connects the present deaths to Min-jeong's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier.
2. Dreams Of The Salt House — Min-jeong begins appearing in so-young's nightmares as additional deaths continue. The investigation gradually points toward a repeated killing method.
3. The Buried Crime — Hyun-ki's connection to Min-jeong is exposed, along with his role in recording the assault. The salt house becomes the center of the hidden crime.
4. Judgment At The Salt House — Hyun-ki forces the recovery of Min-jeong's body and is confronted by so-young. He asks for death, but so-young insists that he face a life of regret.
5. Rain And Reckoning — Rain dissolves the salt and reveals Min-jeong and her unborn child. so-young connects Min-jeong's apparent haunting with her own revenge and records the experience in a published novel.