The first episode of If Wishes Could Kill starts off in a creepy and mysterious way, which sets the mood for a dark supernatural thriller.
The story starts on March 12, 2005, with a high school girl named Do Hye-rung. While filming a scary video, she is seen carving symbols into a board with a knife. She makes a terrible wish in it: she wants everyone around her to die. She cuts her own throat and kills herself, which is shocking.
The story then jumps to June 12, 2025, when Se-ah, a happy student getting ready for school, is introduced. She sends a text to Geon-woo, her neighbor and crush, to wake him up. Geon-woo and Se-ah are very close, so he is surprised when she kisses him in the elevator.
Their friend group is introduced at school. It includes Na-ri, who also likes Geon-woo, Hyeong-wook, and Ha-joon. As romantic jealousy and hidden feelings come to light, the group quickly gets tense. Hyeong-wook openly questions Se-ah and Geon-woo’s relationship, and Na-ri tells Geon-woo how she feels about him, which makes things even more awkward between them.
Later, Hyeong-wook shows off a weird app called “Girigo” that he says can grant wishes. He says that users need to write their name and saju (Four Pillars of Destiny), record a video of themselves making a wish, and send it in through the app. His friends think it’s just a coincidence or a prank when his wish seems to come true after he does well on his tests.
But things start to happen that aren’t good. Hyeong-wook’s mental health gets worse as he has emotional problems and acts strangely because of the app’s timer system. Meanwhile, Se-ah learns that she has been chosen for a national sports reserve team. This makes her both excited and stressed out.
As the episode goes on, the group’s relationships get worse. Friends’ misunderstandings, jealousy, and emotional distance get worse. Na-ri is alone for a while, and Se-ah has a hard time balancing her goals and her friends.
The supernatural part becomes clearer when the Girigo app seems to change reality in scary ways. Geon-woo even makes a wish with the app as a joke, not knowing what might happen.
At the end of the episode, things get very tense. Hyeong-wook’s emotional pain and the app’s power make him unstable in class. He suddenly loses control and becomes violent, attacking people around him as the countdown timer reaches its end. Things get worse when he finally stabs himself, leaving Se-ah covered in blood and traumatized by what she has seen.