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Biography Header
In modern day, young Heo Joon-jae runs away from home after the divorce of his parents and his father obtaining the rights to raise him. His father Heo Il-joong (Choi Jung-woo) adopts stepson Chi-hyun (Lee Ji-hoon) after marriage with Kang Seo-hee (Hwang Shin-hye). Joon-jae's mother Mo Yoo-ran (Na Young-hee), after the divorce, works as a housekeeper after running out of money after the divorce. In his search for his mother, Joon-jae becomes a con-artist, using his good looks, wits, and skills in hypnotism in conducting scams with his mentor Jo Nam-doo (Lee Hee-joon) and computer hacking genius Tae-oh (Shin Won-ho). His affections are chased after by his college classmate, Cha Shi-ah Shin Hye-sun.
Using the money earned from his scams, Joon-jae flies to Spain for a vacation. There he meets a mysterious beautiful woman who breaks into his hotel room. He calls the police who take her as a suspect for recent thefts in the local area but Joon-jae retrieves her after being curious about the jadeite bracelet he saw on the woman's arm. Nam-doo receives from Joon-jae a photo of the woman with the jadeite and confirms over the phone that the jadeite is genuine and of unimaginably high price due to its quality. Meanwhile, Joon-jae is being chased by gunmen hired by a rich businesswoman who had fallen for Joon-jae's scams. He brings the mysterious woman with him throughout the pursuit, until they end up cornered on a cliff facing the sea. They jump into the water and the woman, who was revealed to be a mermaid unbeknownst to Joon-jae, kisses him to erase his memories of her but promises to follow him to Seoul.
Joon-jae returns to Seoul and is tormented by the gaps in his memories and by Jo Nam-doo's claims of him being with a girl with an expensive jadeite. After months travelling, the mermaid also arrives in Seoul wandering around the city for days, until she runs into Joon-jae. He recognizes her to be the woman Nam-doo is referring to from the pictures he sent to Nam-doo and interrogates her on her identity and why he cannot remember her, although she hesitates to answer. He brings her to his home and names her Shim Cheong. He allows her to stay at his home for several days to recollect his memories of her but just after he makes her leave as he was unable to remember anything significant, she gets hit by Chi-Hyun's car that evening, due to which he takes her back to his house. After this, they steadily grow close to each other.
Kang Seo-hee hires the fugitive Ma Dae-young (Sung Dong-il) to kill Joon-jae as part of her scheme to inherit Heo Il-joong's fortune. She also has secretly introduced Heo Il-joong with small yet potent doses of anticholinergic and monkshood extract, contributing to his failing health, particularly his vision. Chi-hyun dutifully nurses him, completely unaware of his mother's treachery. Ma Dae-young attempts several times to murder both Joon-jae and Shim Cheong but fails. After trying to murder but caught by Shim Cheong, she erases Ma Dae-young's memories and, in the process, learns the fate of their Joseon era incarnations Kim Dam-ryeong and Se-hwa, which Ma Dae-young recollected again over time.
Linked by dreams, mysterious artifacts, including the jadeite bracelet, a vase with an image of a mermaid kissing a man in modern-day clothes, and the portrait of Kim Dam-ryeong with the inscription โeverything is repeating itself", Joon-jae also learns of Dam-ryeong's world and his own fate, concluding that he and Shim Cheong are reincarnations of Kim Dam-ryeong and Se-hwa. Through his consultations with Professor of Neuropsychiatry Jin Kyung-won (Lee Ho-jae), he is able to retrieve his lost memories and the full rendering of his dreams about Kim Dam-ryeong and Se-hwa. He can also hear Shim Cheong's inner voice; he learns that she is indeed a mermaid and that, unless she returns to the sea, her heart will harden and eventually stop if he will not love her.
Joon-jae and Shim Cheong live comfortably with each other despite conflicts and the fear of the impending ill-fate. Joon-jae also finds his mother Mo Yoo-ran, who quit her job as housekeeper. On the other hand, Chi-hyun learns that his real father is Ma Dae-young and he is Kang Seo-hee's lover. He also learns of Kang Seo-hee's crimes and reluctantly consents to them. Kang Seo-hee finally kills Heo Il-joong, using a strong dose of monkshood. Joon-jae, with the help of Shim Cheong, Jo Nam-doo, Tae-oh, and police officer-detective Hong Dong-pyo (Park Hae-soo), busts Kang Seo-hee, revealing her real name to be "Kang Ji-hyun" and her schemes finally revealed. A maddened Chi-hyun grabs a police officer's gun as he's being arrested and aims at Joon-jae but Shim Cheong takes the shot to save him. Kang Seo-hee is detained while Chi-hyun later kills himself with monkshood poison.
As Shim Cheong, being a mermaid, survives the fatal injury and Joon-jae learns that Ma Dae-young is visiting Professor Jin Kyung-won. As Joon-jae, Jo Nam-doo, and Officer Hong Dong-pyo rush to get him, Ma Dae-young recovers his memories of his past life and learns the death of his incarnation, Mr. Yang, and Yang's concubine, revealed to be by the hands of Park Moo, Jo Nam-doo's incarnation. Just as Professor Jin Kyung-won was about to be murdered, Joon-jae arrives, and Ma Dae-young is seized by the police. Shim Cheong is discharged afterwards, but does not recover completely as she was shot at her heart. In order to fully recover, she decides to go back into the water. Shim Cheong erases Joon-Jae's memories of her, even after he disagrees with the idea and later, of everyone who knew her, except that of her friend named Yoo-na (Shin Rin-ah), a young girl and returns to the ocean.
Three years later, Joon-jae becomes a prosecutor, Jo Nam-doo works as a lecturer, and Tae-oh, now working as a white hacker, is engaged to Cha Shi-ah (Shin Hye-sun). Shim Cheong fully recovers her health and returns to Seoul and returns to Joon-jae. Despite his lost memories, Joon-jae recognizes Shim Cheong and it is revealed that he recorded his life with Shim Cheong, in case his memories are lost again. They move to a house near the sea and Shim Cheong becomes pregnant. Joon-jae ultimately evaded the ill fate that had been in store for them with Kim Dam-ryeong's visions.
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