Character Relationship Map: Vertigo

Characters

• Seo-young (played by Chun Woo-hee) — protagonist

  Seo-young is a contract designer living alone in a city apartment and preparing a promotional project for Japan. She is drawn to team leader Jin-su, but their connection remains uncertain; at work she...

• Jin-su (played by Teo Yoo) — supporting

  Jin-su is a respected and attractive team leader whose intense work and private personal life make him a focus of office admiration and gossip. He travels to Japan to address a project crisis, decline...

• Ye-dam (played by Park Ye-yeong) — supporting

  Ye-dam is one of Seo-young's coworkers in the office, where colleagues gossip as they prepare for a company picnic and celebrate a major software project's completion. The plot identifies her as part...

• Seo-young's Mother (played by Jeon Guk-hyang) — supporting

  Seo-young's Mother speaks regularly with her daughter, and her complaints about marriage, money, and loneliness increasingly strain their relationship. Their conflict escalates into a bitter argument...

Canonical Relationships

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

• Seo-young's Mother → Seo-young (mother)
• Seo-young → Ye-dam (Professional Coworker) — They share an office environment marked by workplace gossip and group activities.

  Ye-dam is identified among Seo-young's gossiping coworkers while the office prepares for a company picnic and celebrates a completed software project.

• Seo-young → Jin-su (Uncertain Romantic Interest) — Seo-young develops feelings for Jin-su, but he does not clearly reciprocate them.

  Seo-young appears interested in Jin-su and calls him from Vertigo to say that she misses him before his business trip.

Story Analysis

A lonely contract worker loses emotional and professional stability while the people around her remain difficult to reach.

Plot Progression

1. Alone Among Coworkers — Seo-young lives alone while managing tense conversations with her mother. At work, she handles a Japan promotion project and observes the office's admiration for Jin-su.
2. Waiting at Vertigo — Seo-young's interest in Jin-su becomes more direct when she waits for him at Vertigo and calls before his business trip. His refusal to meet is followed by harassment from an intoxicated stranger.
3. Brief Family Warmth — Her younger brother unexpectedly visits for her birthday and shares his café dream. The visit briefly interrupts Seo-young's isolation before workplace insecurity returns.
4. Rumors and Disappearance — Seo-young's contract renewal becomes uncertain, and Jin-su resigns for personal reasons. Rumors about security footage involving Jin-su intensify Seo-young's shock and distress.
5. Loss Without Closure — A bitter argument ends Seo-young's relationship with her mother, and her contract is terminated. The closing focus shifts to Gwan-woo repairing a lamp under unresolved workplace restrictions.