A Shop For Killers: How did Jin-man die?

Hulu and Disney Plus’s A Shop For Killers focuses on Ji-an uncovering the truth about her uncle’s real business – which leads to questions of how Jin-man really died amid the shocking truths.

Ji-an’s life has been less than great after the death of her parents at a young age and her uncle taking over guardianship. Their relationship wasn’t ordinary, but they still relied on each other. When Ji-an’s uncle supposedly dies by suicide, she’s left uncovering the truth about who he is.

Behind his tough and aloof exterior, Ji-an ran a weapons store in secret on the dark web. With him gone, Ji-an becomes its new caretaker and the target of Jin-man’s clients. Not to mention the sudden interest in her is also linked to Jin-man’s past as a special forces soldier.

More and more details come to light in A Shop For Killers, including about Jin-man’s death. But is he really dead?

How did Jin-man die?

According to A Shop For Killers, Jin-man slit his throat in the bathroom after supposedly being tricked by Jung-min that Ji-an was in trouble and Babylon was after them.

Disney+

In Episode 5, Ji-an learns the upsetting truth that Jung-min isn’t her friend and has been working with Babylon to get intel on Jin-man. He posed as a college student looking for work and started to help Jin-man in his store. In reality, he was looking for any information about the weapons store. When his computer begins having issues, he asks Jung-min for help as he’s a computer science major.

It becomes Jung-min’s golden ticket to hack the online store. But he needs an insurance policy when Babylon wants to get rid of him. To ensure his safety, he tells Lee Yong-han he has a plan to trick Jin-man. The episode goes back to real time where Jung-min is watching video file 404 with Ji-an.

You see Jin-man suspended in the air in the living room while Jin-man takes a call. He ends it and goes off to the bathroom before the video feed cuts off. Disappointed, Jung-min shows Ji-an the pen drive he has and tells her he’s going to show her how he really killed her uncle.

The pen drive reveals Jin-man listening to a recording on Jung-min’s phone. It’s supposedly of Ji-an being captured and in danger. The voice sounds exactly like her and Ji-man listens to it several times. He then calls Pasin and tells him he doesn’t have to pay back his debt.

Jin-man gives Jung-min a message to Babylon that they better keep their promise and set him free. He then goes to the bathroom. Jung-min ventures to the bathroom and finds Jung-min with his throat slit in the bathtub. By all accounts, it seems that Jin-man died by suicide, believing Jung-min’s recording. He reveals to Ji-an that it was all fake and an AI-generated program.

Is Jin-man really dead?

With two episodes left in A Shop For Killers, Jin-man’s death status may be a big plot twist for the K-drama.

According to KPopMag, there are a few reasons why his death may not be concrete. One of them is a more obvious one as Jung-min and no one else saw him die. Neither the house feed nor Jung-min’s pen camera witnessed him dying by suicide. But you do see Jung-min’s body in the morgue when Ji-an goes to confirm it’s him. Not to mention his funeral service. But it all could have been a part of his plan.

Another reason is Pasin. The K-drama explains that shortly after teaching Ji-an Muay Thai, he fled with money from people in the neighborhood. When Jin-man tells him he doesn’t have to repay his debt before his death, it may have been a code. Pasin appeared at the right moment to save Ji-an from Babylon.

Another reason is a foreshadowing scene with Bale. He had warned Jin-man that he would kill him first. Jin-man returned home after several years to protect his family, and maybe he faked his death knowing Babylon and Bale would all go after Ji-an and the store – all of his enemies are in one place. Like Ji-an said, her uncle wasn’t the type of person to die the way that he did.