Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus

Synopsis

Han Yi-soo's (Kim Nam-gil) father is the chauffeur of the owners of Gaya Hotel Group, the family of Jo Hae-woo (Son Ye-jin). The chauffeur is persuaded to take the blame for a hit-and-run accident caused by the drunken son of the family. But when he changes his mind, he is murdered before he can recant. Yi-soo, then a high schooler, tries to find out the truth and exonerate his father. He calls Hae-woo, his first love, but a truck deliberately rams the phone box. Following the attempt on his life, Yi-soo disappears and ends up in Japan, where a wealthy and influential Japanese-Korean businessman, Yoshimura Junichiro (Lee Jae-gu) adopts him.

12 years later he returns to Korea with a new identity as Japanese-Korean businessman Yoshimura Jun and carefully laid plans. Hae-woo, who believed that Yi-soo was dead, becomes a prosecutor to find out the truth about what happened to him. She marries Oh Joon-young (Ha Seok-jin), the son of the Chief Prosecutor Oh Hyun-shik (Jung Won-joon) and also a close friend of Yi-soo in their school days. No one in Korea, including Hae-woo, recognizes Yi-soo, even though he constantly finds excuses to meet Hae-woo and even after Hae-woo realizes that Yi-soo is alive. Yi-soo and Hae-woo become caught between love and revenge.

Cast

Main

Kim Nam-gil as Han Yi-soo / Yoshimura Jun / Kim Joon

Yeon Joon-seok as young Yi-soo

Son Ye-jin as Jo Hae-woo, the only daughter and heir to Gaya Hotel Group, who refuses to live life as an heiress and becomes a prosecutor.

Kyung Soo-jin as young Hae-woo

Lee Jung-gil as Jo Sang-gook, Hae-woo's grandfather and CEO of Gaya Hotel Group.

Ha Seok-jin as Oh Joon-young, Hae-woo's husband.

Noh Young-hak as young Joon-young

Lee Hanee as Jang Young-hee, Yi-soo's secretary.

Nam Bo-ra as Han Yi-hyun, Yi-soo's sister.

Ahn Seo-hyun as young Yi-hyun

Park Won-sang as Detective Byun Bang-jin

Kim Kyu-chul as Jo Eui-seon, Hae-woo's father.

Lee Soo-hyuk as Kim Soo-hyun, prosecution office's investigator.

Supporting

Lee Si-eon as Kim Dong-soo

Oh Hee-joon as young Dong-soo

Lee Jae-gu as Junichiro Yoshimura

Jung Won-joong as Chief Prosecutor Oh Hyun-shik, Joon-young's father and Hae-woo's boss.

Jung In-gi as Han Young-man, Yi-soo's father.

Jung Kyung-soon as Mrs. Park

Kim Min-sang as Jung Man-chul

Jo Jae-wan as Detective Oh

So Hee-jung as Kim Young-joo

Choi Deok-moon as Kang Hee-soo

Jung Ae-yeon as Lee Hwa-young

Ham Sung-min as Lee-yu

Joo Jin-mo as the old Korean man in Okinawa

Min Sung-wook as reporter Jae Myung (cameo, episode 19–20)

Production

This production marked Son Ye-jin's return to television three years after Personal Taste in 2010, and the first acting project for Kim Nam-gil after being discharged from mandatory military service. Regarding his revenge trilogy, director Park Chan-hong explained that the first part, Resurrection focused on the man seeking revenge; then part two The Devil included the victim of revenge in the story; and the last part took into account both the victim and perpetrator in the structure of the story.

On April 29, 2013, the production company Annex Telecom released promotional stills of the two leads, Son Ye-jin and Kim Nam-gil, at the drama's first shoot on April 24–25 in Gangnam District, Seoul. This was followed by a 40-second teaser video on May 9, showing Kim and a shark swimming. Promoter Shall We Talk explained, "The reason we named the drama Shark and why Kim Nam-gil talks about sharks in the clip is because the lives of the two main characters are similar to that of sharks, which can't stop swimming."

Original soundtrack

Shark's Tale - Various Artists

천국과 지옥 사이 (Between Heaven and Hell) - BoA

슬픈 동화 (Sad Story) - Jung Dong-ha of Boohwal

Alone in the Dark - Various Artists

몇 날 며칠 (Countless Days) - Na Yoon-kwon

Lost - Various Artists

지독한 사랑 (Poison Love) - Lim Jeong-hee

Assassin - Various Artists

고독한 왈츠 (Lonely Waltz) - Various Artists

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.