Ha Ru has been visiting Hwang despite being told not to by his aunt and his mentor, Park. He is not yet aware of Hwang’s capabilities. In the previous episode of “Brain Works,” as soon as Ha Ru returns home after visiting Hwang, he finds his house broken into and gets attacked by an unknown person. On the other hand, Myung Se and Seul end their date after getting a murder report from Myung Se’s ex-wife.
Spoilers Ahead
What Statement By Ha Ru Shocks Everyone?
The attacker backs down after Ha Ru puts up a fight against him, but before running away, he calls Ha Ru “Kid” in a way that evokes Ha Ru’s memories from the past. The attacker manages to sneak away and enters an apartment building. He uses smoke bombs to activate the fire alarm system in the building and barges into a woman’s apartment as soon as she opens the door to escape. The same woman’s dead body is discovered by Myung Se’s ex-wife later. The case eventually gets transferred to the neuroscientific investigation team because the murderer has left a message in the woman’s room saying, “I only did what my brain told me to do.” Ha Ru has also filed a report against his attacker, and he requests that Myung Se use his connections to find the culprit quickly. Ha Ru learns about the murder victim case, Cho Na Young, and thinks that something is odd with it. The detectives believe that someone has deliberately challenged their team, specifically Ha Ru, with the written message.
The culprit wore a black suit and covered his face with a helmet. Moreover, none of Na Young’s neighbors noticed him while they were running to save themselves. Myung Se couldn’t find much information, but Captain Seul locates him in a CCTV recording outside a convenience store. The part-timer at the store tells them that he bought a tape and, beneath his jacket, wore some kind of uniform—like a police uniform. With this clue, the suspicion goes toward Na Young’s boyfriend, Lim Young Hoon, a police officer. Young Hoon claims that he was home all day and that they can check his call recordings to confirm this. According to the records, he was indeed at home and even called Na Young once. Seul suddenly asks him if he likes brains, and Young Hoon gets confused by the question. Ha Ru concludes that he is clearly not interested in brains because he wouldn’t have been so confused. On the other hand, Myung Se receives the CCTV footage from near Ha Ru’s house, and he finds an odd similarity between his attacker and Na Young’s murderer.
While the detectives try to find a way to track Na Young’s mobile phone, which is in her murderer’s possession, they suddenly start receiving signals from Na Young’s phone from Jangwon Prison, where Hwang is locked up. Ha Ru thinks that Hwang has something to do with it, and he tags along with Myung Se to catch the culprit. At the prison, Ha Ru’s mentor, Dr. Park, visits Hwang, who lies to him that he hasn’t met Ha Ru, but the prison guard tells him that Ha Ru visits Hwang often. The same prison guard, Kang In Ho, is the one who has Na Young’s phone, and he gets on the road on Hwang’s instructions. In Ho killed his ex-girlfriend Na Young because she’d started dating another man, and Hwang manipulated him into doing so. He assures In Ho that he will not get a big sentence and can kill people again once he gets out of jail. In Ho has switched on Na Young’s phone, fully knowing that he will get caught, and while Myung Se and Ha Ru are on their way to the prison, In Ho drives to the police station to surrender. In Ho tries to kill Myung Se’s boss, saying that he wants to cause pain to Ha Ru before going to prison; however, Captain Seul arrives at the right time and saves him. It is now confirmed that In Ho not only killed Na Young but also attacked Ha Ru.
Kang In Ho confesses that he killed Na Young out of jealousy, but his answer to why he broke into Ha Ru’s house and tried to hurt him is unconvincing. He claims that he is a fan of Ha Ru. However, Ha Ru thinks that Hwang Dong Woo is behind him. As soon as Park hears the news, he goes to meet Ha Ru. He tells him not to meet Hwang anymore, as he has just witnessed what he is capable of. Ha Ru is only curious about his parents’ accident, and when he asks Park about it, Park tells him that he already knows the whole truth. Ha Ru notices that he is lying. His curiosity makes him want to dig into the case file of his parents, but Myung Se doesn’t find many details because it is a very old case. To divert Ha Ru’s attention, his prosecutor friend, Han, visits his team for a consultation. Han is handling Kang In Ho’s case, and she needs Ha Ru’s advice. In Ho has hired a big law firm despite his poor background, which is already suspicious, and his lawyer claims a reduced sentence for him as he is a patient of psychopathy. Psychopathy hasn’t been accepted as a diagnosis yet, but the lawyer is going to bring in Hwang as a neurological expert to prove it.
Hwang appears in the court looking like an extremely sick person when he is in perfectly fine health. He claims that he is living proof of psychopathy and that he didn’t have control over himself when he killed people. To counter Hwang’s claims that psychopathy is a mental illness, Han puts forward the fact that there is no medication available to control psychopaths, which is why they should be eradicated from society to avoid further damage. Hwang agrees that there is no treatment available, but there are some scientists working on it, and he announces that Ha Ru, who is among the audience, is one of them. The judge allows Ha Ru to appear as an expert, but Myung Se and Han want him to be careful. Ha Ru admits to the court that psychopathy is a disease that is curable if the correct research is conducted, but he opposes a reduced sentence for In Ho. Ha Ru presents an MRI of two psychopaths and conveys the fact that not all psychopaths are murderers. There are many people with psychopathic brains who have contributed to society, and In Ho is the opposite of that. That’s why he deserves to be treated as a normal murderer. However, his lawyer demands more proof than just an MRI to support his claims, to which Ha Ru makes a shocking revelation. Ha Ru announces that the MRI of the other psychopath is of himself. He calmly tells everyone that he has a psychopathic brain and yet is not a murderer.
How Does Myung Se’s Ex-Wife Change Suddenly?
From In Ho’s lawyer’s copy of Ha Ru’s book, he states that a psychopath’s surroundings can have an effect on the brain and can determine the path on which it develops. According to that, In Ho’s poor condition growing up can be held responsible for his turning into a murderer, opposite to Ha Ru, who comes from a wealthy family. To this statement, Ha Ru replies with the fact that he lost his parents at the age of 6, and the experience even made his memories disappear, but he still grew up fine. The lawyer further adds that In Ho was surrounded by dangerous criminals all the time as well, and Ha Ru tells the judge that he has been in close contact with criminals as well, some of whom tried to kill him. Ha Ru had many reasons to turn into a psychopathic murderer, but he just chose not to because he could think rationally, unlike In Ho. Though Ha Ru’s statement can work against In Ho, Hwang is happy because this is what he really wanted—for Ha Ru to reveal his secret. Ha Ru’s colleagues accept the truth quickly, but reporters turn it into controversy and directly ask him if he will ever become a murderer. Ha Ru confidently answers that there is no chance.
Myung Se’s boss jokes that they have been working with two psychopaths—Ha Ru and Seul—but as soon as Myung Se’s ex-wife, Mo Ran, arrives, Myung Se frowns, saying that he has to deal with one more psychopath. However, Mo Ran seems different than usual, and she has noticed it herself as well. She talks with Ha Ru about how she doesn’t feel an irresistible attraction to men anymore and asks him if there is anything wrong with her. Ha Ru is genuinely concerned because he notices the changed behavior of Mo Ran as well and asks Myung Se to get her diet pills tested, as she has noticed the change after she stopped taking them for some days. Myung Se does as Ha Ru asks and goes on a date with Seul later. Myung Se is happy spending time with Seul, and his daughter misunderstands that he is getting on good terms with her mother again. Myung Se can never love the woman who cheated on him again. However, the test results of Mo Ran’s diet pills shocked both of them. A certain component of the pills caused Mo Ran to become hypersexual. Mo Ran asks Myung Se to forgive her because she wants to live as a good family again, but Myung Se doesn’t answer her. The next day, Mo Ran begs Seul to leave Myung Se for the sake of her family. Captain Seul is not one to back down, but she starts feeling anxious.
‘Brain Works’ Episode 12: Ending
Ha Ru is still in contact with Hwang but does not meet with him anymore. Hwang tries to provoke him to know more about the accident, and it works. Ha Ru searches for the accident news of the past but misses the news of two doctors getting killed. Ha Ru’s brain is as fragile as his aunt believes it is. Once he wants to do something, he does it obsessively. He has been helping prosecutor Han with In Ho’s case and, surprisingly, receives a love proposal from her. On the other hand, captain Seul breaks up with Myung Se while they are on a camping date. She states the reason that she went on a blind date and realized that she could date a better person than a divorced father. However, she did it because she had been losing confidence in herself. Seul is returning to her old self, and she is anxious that Myung Se will leave her eventually to return to his family.
Myung Se is heartbroken after the breakup, and that becomes the first time Ha Ru drinks with Myung Se to console him. The synergy between Myung Se and Ha Ru in “Brain Works” is one of a kind. Despite their differences, they care for each other in their own way. Myung Se has lived quite a peaceful life until now, except for his ex-wife’s affair, but something is about to shake his life up. His daughter, Yi Na, is seen with blood on her hands and her friend dead in front of her.
