Ep. 24 - Welcome to the Underside is the twenty-fourth episode of Hand Jumper.
Plot[]
A heavy thunderstorm crackles outside, but inside everything is dry. This Episode shows us the Underside, a bar in which rogue aberrants conduct some of their business. The bar is full of patrons, and the relaxed chatter discusses many sensitive and mundane topics. Minnie is sitting at the bar when she is approached by Jiwook. He apologizes for missing his "first meeting," and gives an excuse that is quickly dismissed by Minnie. She tells him that he's all soaked from the rain outside. Text on the panel tells us that Minnie is an associate of the Begonia Group. Minnie says that she told Jiwook to clean up the warehouse and to then come directly to the bar, but that it is now already past midnight.
Jiwook explains to her that there were two aberrants there, not one as she had thought. Minnie is surprised, but Jiwook tells her that both of these aberrants (Sayeon and Ryujin) were blue ties, and although they attacked him, one of them (Ryujin) couldn't use her gift due to being drained so much in prison. This is why Minnie couldn't detect her. Minnie expresses sympathy for Ryujin, and disgust for the Aberrant Corps. After being asked about it, Jiwook tells Minnie that he blew off the head of his prisoner, and dumped his body in the pier.
While continuing to gloat about how far the man's head flew, and expressing his disdain for the Sea Wolves, Yesol approaches him from behind. Jiwook asks the manager of the underside, Geum, for a drink. Geum tells Jiwook that he is banned from alcohol at his bar, calling him by his nickname "Butcher." Jiwook doesn't remember why this happened, but Minnie tells him that he got so drunk he beat up their last client. Although incredulous, it doesn't take much to convince Jiwook that he did actually do this. Geum tells Jiwook that he broke the peace agreement, the highest rule at the Underside which prevents people from fighting each other. Geum explains that this bar is a neutral ground created by the three largest groups in Korea's underworld, and that next time Jiwook acts out of line, Geum will tell his boss. He serves him water, but Jiwook complains about the size of the glass.
Minnie finds out from Jiwook that he didn't get any information from the prisoner before killing him. Minnie is not pleased, but Jiwook is unfazed by this. Minnie accuses Jiwook of having made a mistake by killing the entire Sea Wolves team before interrogating them. Jiwook excuses himself by saying that since they were not aberrants, it was too easy to kill them, so it's not his fault. Yesol disrupts this conversation by intentionally spilling wine over Jiwook's hair, which angers Geum. While Geum tells her not to provoke a fight, Yesol continues to taunt Jiwook. In a flashback, we see Jiwook being reminded of being bullied as a schoolkid for being an aberrant in a similar way, and he activates his essence. The episode ends there.