Tale of the Nine Tailed

Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook), an over 1000-year-old Gumiho and the former guardian mountain spirit of Baekdu-daegan, is now a city dweller. He works with Taluipa (Kim Jung-nan), an agent in the Afterlife Immigration Office and the protector of the Samdo River, to eradicate supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world. He lives in the city where he is assisted by his loyal subject, veterinarian, and fellow Gumiho, Goo Shin-joo (Hwang Hee). On a mission to capture a fox that has killed and eaten the livers of many humans and is now marrying a man in the guise of a human woman, he is spotted by Nam Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah), a smart, ferocious, and dauntless producer at TVC Station. Ji-ah recognizes Yeon when he is leaving the venue and later spots him on camera through his red, distinctly marked umbrella. She finds where Yeon lives, suspects him of being supernatural, and ultimately tests her theory by jumping off of his flat with a memory chip that contains a video of Yeon fighting another fox (Lee Rang, his half-brother) with their powers, forcing Yeon to follow and save her. It is then revealed that as a child, on her ninth birthday, Nam Ji-ah was involved in a road accident in which her parents were supposed to be dead. However, Ji-ah is the only one who remembers that two other people, not human, posed as her parents. They were foxes trying to eat Ji-ah but she was saved by Lee Yeon. Even though he compelled her to forget him, the magic did not work on her. Later, she found herself at the accident site but her parents' bodies were never discovered. It motivated her to believe that her parents were alive and so she decided to look into supernatural beings and look for any way to find and rescue her parents. Later in the series, it is revealed that Nam Ji-ah is the reincarnation of Ah-eum, a human who was the first love of Yeon. She died at the hands of Yeon while trying to save him from Imoogi, an evil earth dragon who wanted to inhabit the body of the guardian mountain spirit. By abusing his powers, a heartbroken Yeon stopped the boat carrying Ah-eum across the Samdo River, kissed her, and gave her a fox bead while asking her to promise to be reincarnated. In return, he promised Ah-eum that whenever she came back, he would find her through the bead. Throughout centuries, Yeon encountered several lookalikes of Ah-eum but none bore the fox bead. The story progresses as Lee Yeon tries to fight his growing attraction to Nam Ji-ah despite the absence of the fox bead, his investigation as to why Ji-ah not only looks like Ah-eum but also resembles her habits, and his reaction upon discovering that she indeed is his first love. Meanwhile, Yeon has to deal with Lee Rang (Kim-Bum), his half-brother who felt abandoned when Yeon abdicated his post as guardian mountain spirit to work with Taluipa in exchange for Ah-eum's reincarnation. Rang develops a deep grudge against his brother for choosing Ah-eum over him and being the mountain's protector. With the assistance of Ki Yoo-ri (Kim Yong-ji), he continuously harms human beings as a way of antagonizing his brother. In this mix is added the also reincarnated earth dragon. Imoogi is back and this time, he wants not only Yeon's body but also Ji-ah's heart. With so many humans, demons, and supernatural beings standing between their reunion, just how the nine-tailed mountain spirit and fierce production director will protect their love, pacify the broken hearts around them, and beat the hellish being that craves their bodies, hearts, and lives makes up the rest of the story.