SBS’s Curious Stories Y will share the story of a young man living in an abandoned motel.
Last August, Tae Joon (alias) and Do Yoon (alias), who were exploring abandoned buildings out of curiosity, witnessed an unbelievable sight. They entered a closed motel within a hot spring complex in Ulsan and noticed that, unlike the other rooms, one door on the second floor wouldn’t open properly. To check what was going on, they pried the door open with a lever, only to startle a young man who suddenly appeared. He had been living alone in the room, which was filled with trash.
Unable to just walk past him, Do Yoon contacted a broadcasting station for help. In November, the production team headed to the abandoned motel in Ulsan’s Ulju County to meet the young man. Unsure if he was still there, they found him hiding behind a door on the second floor. Despite the cold weather, he was wearing thin clothes and had bare feet. He firmly refused help, forcing the crew to leave. When Do Yoon reported that the man was still there even after the new year and a cold snap, the crew returned to the motel. When they offered him a warm meal, the young man confessed, “I don’t like being watched… I’m afraid of people.”
He had been living in the abandoned motel because, as he revealed, “I’m afraid of people,” even going so far as to use the room to relieve himself and eat food long past its expiration date. Gradually opening up to the crew, he began to share bits of his story. What could his background be?
This week, SBS’s Curious Stories Y will air on Friday, January 16th, at 8:50pm KST.