Undercover High School begins with Jeong Hae-seong’s narration about how he got into this mess. It all starts with a mission where a Korean smuggler sells a golden statue to a Chinese smuggler. Jeong Hae-seong watches from his hideout. Once the statue is within sight, he moves in, aided by a colleague who is disguised as one of the smuggler’s henchmen.
The Korean smuggler runs off with the statue in the chaos and Hae-seong chases after him, first on foot and then on a bike. Despite orders to wait for backup, he pushes on and jumps onto the culprit’s car. He gets inside and the fight leads to the car being overturned and blowing up. But of course, Hae-seong gets out intact, with the seller and the statue in hand.
Back at the National Intelligence Service, Hae-seong and his team unwrap the statue to find its arm is missing. They find the remains and realise that Hae-seong’s bullet ricocheted into the statue and broke it.
The team leader, An Seok-ho breaks the news to Director Kim of the police, who says he wants Agent Jeong fired. Seok-ho says that Hae-seong is too good to lose and offers to do anything else. The director is pleased and hands over a file. Afterwards, the team of four drinks their sorrows. Seok-ho tells them that Hae-seong can keep his job if he takes up the Kim assignment.
It is regarding Byeongmun High School. During the Japanese rule, the founder of Byeongmun Foundation, Seo Byeong-mun, was given a vast number of gold bars from an emperor. He meant for the money to be used for Korea’s independence. Instead, Byeong-mun kept it all for himself. When the country gained independence, he went into hiding. The rest of his gold is said to be in the school somewhere.
Recently, the NIS received a tip that the gold bars would soon be transferred from the school to somewhere else. The NIS searched the foundation for the gold but they didn’t check the school. The assignment is for Hae-seong to go undercover as a high school student and find the gold. Hae-seong naturally isn’t keen on going as a student but there is no other choice.
Elsewhere, the teachers of Byeongmum High School go to a karaoke bar to celebrate Vice Principal Baek’s birthday. In order to appease him, Teacher Oh Su-a drinks a large tumbler of soju. As a result, she gets incredibly drunk and happens to pull off Baek’s wig.
Back in the restaurant, Hae-seong realises the fate of the entire team rests on his decision to take up this job. After the rest of them leave, Oh Su-a walks in and we learn this happens to be her mother’s diner. Suddenly, a group of men begins to harass the restaurant owner and even Su-a when she stands up for her mother. Hae-seong steps in and takes care of them easily, earning the favour of mother and daughter.
Hae-seong goes home and muses over the situation. A flashback shows how he was beaten up by bullies in high school, who called him an orphan. He then calls Seok-ho and tells him he’ll take the job. The team prepares for the job and Hae-seong learns all about the school, where there is a strong hierarchy among the students. Hae-seong’s fake profile is built and he learns slang terms as well.
He then has a meal with Seok-ho, his wife, and his daughter. We learn that Seok-ho and his wife basically raised Hae-seong after his father’s death. Seok-ho tells his wife and daughter that Hae-seong will be sent to Byeongmun, where Seok-ho’s daughter Yoo-jung also studies.
The next morning, Hae-seong puts on the school uniform and heads to school. Su-a welcomes Hae-seong but soon recognises him as the person from the diner. She tells him off but Hae-seong manages to get out of any punishment. In class, Ye-na claims she wants Yoo-jung to come on the school’s exchange trip with her to France.
Su-a then enters the class and has Hae-seong introduce himself. He takes a seat next to a boy named Lee Dong-min. Yoo-jung is surprised and texts him to meet her on the school’s roof after class. They do so and Yoo-jung makes him promise not to tell her parents about how she’s doing at school.
While wandering around, Hae-seong sees a gate with a “Keep Out” sign. He goes in and finds the building to the door locked. Behind one of the walls, he finds electricity meters. Suddenly, Hae-seong hears Dong-min being harassed by the school bullies. He’s about to leave but a noise alerts them and they order him to go buy things for them. He’s about to tell them off when a vision of Seok-ho tells him to hold back.
In the staff room, Su-a tells her friends about Hae-seong. She promises to not let him off if she catches him misbehaving again. After class ends, Hae-seong asks Dong-min about the building which is out of bounds. Dong-min says it is their old facility which has been around since the Japanese colonial era.
We then see the woman named Seo Myeong-ju, who is a chairwoman at Byeongmun Foundation. She goes to the funeral of a man who committed suicide and promises his wife that the foundation will care for her son. Later, an assemblyman points out that Myeong-ju had a rivalry with the dead man.
At home, Hae-seong tells Seok-ho his suspicions about the old building. He thinks the gold could be there because the electricity meter was higher than expected. Hae-seong sneaks into campus at night and uses a device that resets the security cameras. He then picks the lock at the old building and enters. At the end of Undercover High School Episode 1, he’s searching the place when somebody sneaks up on him with a gun.
The Episode Review
Undercover High School Episode 1 kicks off in all the right ways — it sets up the key mystery, the main characters, and a nice balance of action, crime and comedy. Hae-seong and his team find themselves in hot water and as a result, he is forced to take on this slightly ridiculous, undercover disguise.
It’s a solid premise and despite the misgivings of the teacher-student romance, our main leads’ first encounter at the diner was a suitably swoon-worthy one. Honestly, can’t blame Su-a for having heart eyes after that.
What really stands out is the episode’s energetic atmosphere in general. The story moves quickly, uses quirky editing and transitions, has lively music that matches the story and has a rib-tickling sense of comedy.
It’s engaging, lighthearted and more importantly, it’s quite fun. With the several different players involved, it’s clear that aside from the search for the gold and the villains of Byeongmun High School, Hae-seong is also going to have to deal with bullies and other school shenanigans.
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