A White Christmas
Episode 16 of Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol begins with Ra-Ra opening her online Lala Land with the star of the show playing piano – Mimi! With so many students, Ra-Ra contemplates whether to bring in another piano and teases Seung-Ki and Ha-Young that they may need to move out.
Next door, the women from the salon discuss Joon studying in the US and how he and Ra-Ra spend all night talking and texting on the phone. Both of them are still wearing their relationship rings but Joon is clearly struggling.
Ra-Ra is awoken by Joon phoning while sitting on the edge of his bed. He has an IV drip next to him but mentions how he misses Mimi and her. She realizes this is a bit out of character for him, especially given he usually scolds her, but follows his request when he asks her to sing so he can fall asleep. With tears falling gently down his face, he reminisces on old times.
In the morning, Eun-Seok rings Ra-Ra with good news – Mr Kim has woken up. She rushes in to see him and the pair discuss Joon being Dodosolsollalasol. She also confirms to him that Joon has moved abroad to study but he left behind a letter for Kim to read. She hasn’t read it out of courtesy for Joon, but hands it over and leaves.
Ra-Ra heads back home and starts making sushi for a grateful Sook-Kyeong and Ha-Young. Only, when she mentions Ha-Young’s boyfriend, she quickly changes her tact and becomes suspicious of her daughter.
Ra-Ra manages to save face though, steering the conversation across to Ra-Ra proposing to Joon. They decide to do so at an upcoming Christmas party – which Joon agrees to head along to.
And Christmas time arrives! The party goes ahead and everyone gets into the festive spirit. There’s drinks, food and all the Eunpo residents showing up to celebrate. They comment on how it’s a white Christmas outside as snow falls lazily to the ground, blanketing the ground with a frosty hug.
All of them await Joon showing up but unfortunately his plane has been delayed thanks to the heavy snow so he’s going to be late. Phoning his number, Joon doesn’t pick up but they do have a video of him playing piano instead.
The Christmas concert goes ahead and each of the different residents take their turn to perform, including Jae-Min who completely shocks his Father with a pitch-perfect rendition of Flight Of The Bumblebees.
Eventually the final performance goes ahead for Ra-Ra and Joon. Using a video of Joon performing from home, he and Ra-Ra do their piano duet together – long distance style.
Interspersed around this are numerous shots of their time together. It’s an emotional performance and one that sees Mr Kim sitting solemnly by, struggling to hold back tears.
As we soon find out, the contents of the letter ask Kim to take good care of his health given Joon’s ill and has blood cancer. He needs to receive treatment but promises to return soon.
That evening, Ra-Ra gets Mimi dressed up in a Christmas outfit. Honestly this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. So much so that I’ve had to add a picture of it here.
Instead of Joon waling in the shop though, Yun-Sil shows her face. They sit together and eventually she reveals the truth about Joon. He recorded the piano-playing video a month ago and didn’t want to tell her.
Her presence alone gave him strength to carry on and she thanks Ra-Ra for her help over the past few weeks. As a token of her appreciation, she hands over a gift – that being the teacup Ra-Ra wanted to use with her future husband. That gesture, of course, insinuates that he too wanted to be married.
Remembering her own words echoed back by Joon, Ra-Ra starts crying over the loss of Joon.
We then cut forward 5 years in time. Lala Land is still open and Ra-Ra happens to be on the phone to someone regarding a little girl called Ji-A. This happens to be Seung-Ki and Ha-Young’s child. Sook-Kyeong is still with the divorced ladies and both Ha-Young and Seung-Ki join the TWD. Ra-Ra also joins their group too.
Jae-Min is off to Germany to perform the piano but with Mr Kim and Joon gone, Sook-Kyeong comments how much she misses them both. Ra-Ra smiles sadly and agrees, struggling to hold back tears.
Eun-Seok meanwhile finally caves and decides to get back with Young-Joo again, who’s finally happy to be serious. She promises to be a loving wife and agrees to let Eun-Seok stay in Eunpo. Afterward, he breaks the news to Ra-Ra and thanks her for helping him find himself again.
With Joon gone, Ra-Ra continues to do her best living each day as best she can. She plays the piano alone…until Joon suddenly rocks up again! He’s alive after all! It looks like he’s fully recovered too but she’s not happy he lied to her.
The truth is, Joon really wanted to wait until he was fully recovered before seeing her. As they sit together, he kisses Ra-Ra and it seems all is right in the world.
The Episode Review
Everything we’ve seen over the weeks has really been leading up to this, especially with Joon hinting that he could potentially pass away. Yet I – like many others I assume – didn’t see this coming and it was definitely quite emotional.
However, after that absolute rollercoaster ride of emotion, we do get a happy ending for all involved as Joon returns. It’s a little fairytale-esque and the sudden return perhaps undoes some of the emotional weight the reveal about Joon’s death actually had earlier on.
There is, however, a theory going around that the Joon we saw at the end isn’t actually the real one but an apparition summoned by the music. It is admittedly quite abrupt the way he suddenly pops back up and I can understand why some people would be torn over this one. So what do you think of that ending? Is Joon really alive? Or is this all in Ra-Ra’s mind?
As a healing drama and a romcom to boot, this one definitely hits all the right notes though. It’s not perfect but definitely has some very memorable moments throughout.
When it comes to Korean dramas in 2020, Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is definitely up there with one of the best and it’s most certainly had a lot of dramatic and funny moments along the way.
I’ve really enjoyed this one but that ending is definitely going to make or break this for a lot of people.
I’m definitely going to miss our characters going forward though but perhaps it may have been better had Joon stayed dead all along.
Previous Episode |
|
Click Here To Read Our Full Season 1 Review For Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol! |
|
-
Episode Rating
(4)
I really liked this k drama. What a tear jerker for the final episode. I have to admit I read the recap before watching. I hate a sad ending and needed to know there was a happy ending. I’ve thought about the 5-year gap and no contact between the two. Also why Jun’s mother made Ra-Ra think Jun was dead. I believe it’s supposed to mimic Mr Kim and his beloved. Remember the parts of the young Mr Kim and his beloved were played by the same actors that play Jun and Ra-Ra. As a young man in love, Mr Kim broke up with his beloved because of his circumstances -being poor. He felt his beloved was better off working for her rich boss. When he reconsidered and left a letter for his beloved with her rich boss, to meet him at a coffee shop, the rich boss lady purposely told the girl the wrong coffee shop. The rich boss lady (played by the same actor that played Jun’s mother) selfishly wanted to keep her employee. So Mr Kim and his beloved didn’t find each other. 5 years later, they meet outside a music store listening to their favorite song, the maiden’s prayer. Jun’s mother delivering the “sad news” to Ra-Ra is her way of keeping her son for herself. And Jun and Ra-Ra reconnecting after 5 years with Ra-Ra playing her song for Jun — well it’s Mr Kim and his beloved meeting again.
The last episode made me cry so many l couldn’t stop crying I am happy for both cute couples but please don’t make such sad scenes I can’t get over it please please ! But I realized that how life is short after I see him
So be happy do happy things that make you happy even sometimes I will forgot that but remember it .😊
My interpretation of the end is: Everybody continue with their lives, but when she stops trying to forget him, is when Joon come back to her life, she never could love anyone as she love him so she decided to live with him in his hard and spirit not physically of course.
It was an endless love, that even the death could not kill it. ❤️❤️❤️
I was dramatically satisfied, although greatly saddened, by Jun’s death. It reminded me of Love Story. I felt the final ending (his death was greatly exaggerated) was tacked on and out of place. I can’t see Jun doing that to Ra-Ra, friends or his family. Way too cruel. I prefer to believe the ending was in Ra-ra’s imagination.
Otherwise, I loved the entire series!
So Jun comes back to Rara at the end and then i first get happy like oh, it’s gonna be a happy ending but when Rara says « thank you for coming back to me « and there’s a bright star shining which use to happen when Lala thinks of her late dad and looks at the sky , it now made me confuse like maybe that was Jun’s star shining on her cuz he was dead but then he did prove to her that he was alive by kissing her. At the end it was just got kinda scary and confusing like is he a ghost or what !
I can understand the ending. As a mother whose daughter had ALL, and a grim prognosis, the 5-year mark, without relapse,
is a good indicator that the treatment had worked. In my daughter’s case, a stem cell transplant was a long, arduous
procedure with many hurdles. Being in close proximity to a world-class blood cancer /transplant hospital was of paramount importance. I think the reasoning is that Jun’s posture was to have those in his life move forward no matter the outcome, albeit, a bumpy ending, but relatable.
Lovely story enjoyed immensley.
I am happy with ending.
I watch kdramas for the happy endings so crying when I thought Jun was dead was not what I signed up for when I started this 16 episode binge instead of doing uni work or house chores.
Thank you writer for not making it realistic. I don’t watch Kdrama for reflection of stuff that could actually happen. I like being lost in the fantasy and predictability that all it works out in the end. Keep it up 👍🏾
I can not re-watch this show. They started of so good. It was laugh out loud funny. I agreed with another comment that said it went downhill after the kidnapping. That climax should have signal the end, I feel like they lost direction after that. And another comment said they should have just sent him aboard to study because of some threat from his parents, the whole sickness story was too tragic and rushed. They dropped little clues about his nose bleeds but most of the time it was from him getting headbutt, other than that he was fine. That whole switch from us assuming it’s dr. Cha that’s sick to him was crazy. They completely changed his character in the end, I think he would have told her he was sick and he would not have waited 5 years to contact her. This ending ruined both of them for me. The fact that he kept something so big from her, taking away her right to decide to stay or go was a very jerk move. And then assuming after not contacting the girl for 5 years that’s she’s still waiting for him was unbelievable. Then she just accepted him back with no malice, no head scrath like’ I’ve been to your funeral how are you here’.. The writers wanted to send there watchers on an emotional ride and get people talking and it worked. But I could never re-watch knowing that he turned into such a jerk at the end. I just can’t get over the fact that he has such a bad illness and thought it best not to tell her and just kept stringing her along and lying to her, what kind of love is that? He had so many opportunities to tell her and he chose not to, that’s unforgivable. I’m very disappointed in a show that had so much promise in the first 14 episodes.
I loved this series. Even with all the unanswered questions. I was completely destroyed when Jun’s mom returned the teacup. I like many others hated the popping back up at the very end. Maybe if there had been more of an ending after he came back it would’ve been more believable that he had survived. But…… earlier in the show they assumed Jun was older but never really had an answer from him. So when the mom never said he passed, could we really believe he did? Also, she was in black and full mourning attire but perhaps she was waiting for the inevitable end to her son’s life. So, the piano teacher was with Jae-min abroad. The stalker went to jail. We could only assume due to the untimely death of his son Juns father left to work abroad to forget the anguish of failing to save his son. Five years seems like to many it could’ve been 2/3 that would’ve been more believable. The baby was still little anyways. I do have a theory about the end. Instead of being dead, being Sick and healing for five years, or coming back as a ghost. What if Ra-Ra had died of a broken heart and Jun came to get her to take her on that boat. Then they never returned. Because they were both in the afterlife. Mind blown. lol I cried and got mad at the ending. Couldn’t breathe through my nose for two hours. Had fun watching.
I think it is a given fact that people who are dying are also dying to be with their loved ones no matter what. Besides their presence help the patient to stay strong and continue to have a will to survive. So it is stu*** that he kept himself secluded from Rara for 5 yrs and come back and expect her to still be available for him. I just don’t get it, it doesn’t add up at all.
I’m extremely tempted to email the genius who wrote this show and ask what the heck happened at the end… What happened with that Moon guy? Where was Jun’s dad through all of the ending? He’s a doctor so I feel like he should have been directly involved in his son’s treatment. RaRa’s piano instructor also disappeared after that sleepover. If Jun DID actually die, there definitely would have been a funeral, and he comes from a wealthy family so it’s not like nobody would have heard about it at least. And for this reason, I don’t believe Jun is dead. I’ve seen it said several times, but his mom did NOT confirm that he was dead. But I also don’t believe that she was playing a cruel scheme on RaRa. She looked like a mom genuinely worried or sad for her only son.
I do think it’s odd that there was no contact at all for 5 years, but I could understand him not wanting her to see him ill. But a good part to include in the script would have been Jun telling her about his sickness because he didn’t know what might happen in the future. He might be at peace because he let her move on, but she would never be fully at peace as you can clearly see when it jumps forward 5 years. I’M not at peace and it’s because this ending SUCKED!! Like… really??? I was crying over Jun and I don’t cry during shows or movies.
These two characters are some of the best acted and portrayed characters I’ve seen in the numerous K-dramas I’ve watched. They were believable, relatable, adorable… honestly all the characters in this show were amazing. So in casting, awesome job. Script writing? Great up until that last bit. That hurt my heart… AND my brain….
And the fact that there was no epilogue to fill in the gap or any explanation whatsoever made it worse. Even an additional episode that was 30 minutes long that summed up the 5 years of the progression of the kids’ relationship, the doctor’s relationship and Jun’s recovery would have sufficed. Do better people!! I’m with the fans who say we need an explanation, please!
I was so upset with the ending. I can’t believe that Jun would be so cruel as to stay away fromRa-ra for five years just because of a sickness. It makes no sense because he had already went through the devastating loss of a best friend. If he truly loved Ra-ra he wound never knowingly put her through such torment. No. I’m just so dissatisfied with the ending. It could have been something really great but it was trashed. I don’t know who was responsible for the writing but it’s as if they brought a completely different person in for the last few episodes. It was way too rushed. I’m just going to chalk this up as a loss and move on but I really needed to vent and get it out of my system. It would have been one of my favorites, right up there with home town cha cha cha if not for the botched ending. Anyways thanks for helping me process my disappointment. I at least feel comforted knowing I am not alone with my opinion. 😌
Remember RaRa’s teacher’s offer to join her as an assistant and to continue her piano studies? Wouldn’t that have been much more satisfying and emancipatory ending, going on living without a man to lean on?
The ending was definitely disappointing. But they were so many unresolved parts. Like RaRa’s fathers old business partner…. Very shady. He definitely took her money and there were hints and then nothing….
This was the worst television cluster that I have ever witnessed. Maybe it is a Western thing and in other culture we can just magically have the main character pop back from the dead in a drama. They were going towards something that would have been epic and they went total children’s theater. I feel cheated because I was starting to cry with the mother and Ra Ra scene. I invested time in this series only to have such a stupid ending.
I think he needed more time to recover. He couldn’t return at the day they decided to meet so maybe he sent his mom to tell rara about his fake death as he didn’t want rara to suffer anymore. Or maybe he wanted rara to move on and live a happy life without having to wait for him. As we can see he is so much in pain already while talking to rara. But he did come to meet her in the end telling he just wanted to recover fully first before meeting her. The problem here is the writer rushed up the ending. Maybe a expected season 2 of dodosolsolalasol
ok so the only way I can be content with this is that while rara was playing the piano she died and then got to see jun in the afterlife.
Well, Jun’s mother only said that Jun was too ill, she didn’t say that he was dead. I guess the only problem here is that the ending was too rush. It might be better if there is one more episode for us to see what happened to Jun. I also believed that Jun was alive, it was just the ending story was too short and has the need to be explained further.
Unfortunately, this series is the proof that you can STILL ruin a wonderful script of 16 hours even in the last 5 minutes. It’s not about korean twist of plot. It’s about “demolishing” the fidelity of your own characters and script as a screenwriter. #OhJiyoung
That ending made me go from extremely sad to extremely annoyed in 3 minutes. I just don’t get it and needed to vent!
Guys Jun is dead and reunites with Rara in the afterlife. That’s the story ending.
Close it in your mind and move on. ❤️
I loved this show until they brought in the mean girl former classmate who was still harboring an unrequited crush on Jun…and that ending…whoof. But it wasn’t any big shock since many a k-drama has pulled a similar thing. It’s lazy writing.
I also wanted to point out that Gimbap (or Kimbap) is what Ra-ra was making. Gimbap is NOT sushi. Sushi has to be made with sushi rice (specifically seasoned rice), and Gimbap is just made with regular short-grain rice.
When he came back I was like, “No! Writers! That’s cheating!!! I actually yelled at the TV the last 10 min of the finale.
I cried the entire time, then they ruined it by cheating.
There must be a season 2 to close all those thoughts about the ending.
I think Jun is still alive, although I agree with other viewers that the ending was badly written and that we were cheated, receiving a sloppy ending instead of a truly satisfying closure. The reason I think Jun is alive is because his and RaRa’s relationship parallels that of the Kims in many ways, although there is a reversal of roles. Mr. Kim thinks he has lost his love forever, but she does come back into his life, and they live a long, happy life together. Also, there are other parallels in Mr. Kim’s and Jun’s life – a love for plants, as has already been mentioned, loyalty, and a caring attitude and lifestyle. Mr. Kim almost dies twice, but miraculously survives and lives almost to the end of the series. So, I believe Jun also miraculously survives and comes back to RaRa after a long absence, as happened with the Kims.
Pienso que él en realidad está muerto, no hay manera de pensar que una persona que ama mienta tanto, ocasionando dolor a las personas que lo quieren y estiman, por la idea de que no lo vean enfermo?? Eso no tiene sentido en una persona normal, si esa fue la idea de la serie, pues están equivocados, no es sano y menos congruente con el personaje de Jun, que en el fondo es cálido y sabe querer a los demás, no hay excusas para mentir tanto, asi que pienso que tristemente Ra Ra no lo olvida y todo está en su mente, me entristece este final. Hubiera querido verla recuperada de la pérdida. Llegue a ver 2 veces el final, y él no esta aquí lamentablemente, esperaba un final reparador luego de matar a Jun en el capítulo final :/.
This is the way the story telling goes in every episode. At the end of each, there are shocking or surprising revelations. And that will be explained on the next episode.. right? So i guess, the last epidose is the same. Unfortunately, it was a finale. I was actually waiting for an epilogue. Another 1hr epilogue perhaps? Hahahahaha. But its a good open-ended mystery that require another episode!!!! Or another season? Hahahha
I think the korean finale is that Jun dies and life goes on with the sad and happy memories.
Unfortunately sad endings are despised in the West.
Therefore the producers added a happy ending without explanation in order to keep the West Audiences happy.
I believe the mother would have faked Juns death. She probably saw it as an opportunity to get Ra Ra out of his life for good. Or Jun faked his death to get away from his crazy mother. He already ran away once. Now he can be free and love RaRa as he wants without his parents taking him away. Maybe he waited until he had his rights as an adult in Korea. I’m not sure what that age is there.
I feel like he had to have died, I doubt his mother would lie to her that her son died when she didn’t think he was in the country anyway. It also explains why this happened so close to the end, and they didn’t show him seeing everyone else. I have mixed feelings about it all, I thought it was daring for a kdrama to kill off their lead but kind of backtracked with the potential bringing him back.
Also, I am not sure about to reply to other comments but the person who saw the swasticka – this is a common symbol in Buddhism and is used throughout signs, maps etc, it is the Nazis who stole the symbol.
I think that Jun is alive at the end and it makes sense. I don’t think he necessarily tried to deceive anyone, but that he was so sick that he truly couldn’t be there, perhaps he was in a coma, which would be why his mother was so emotional and communicating through his phone, she never said he actually died. It would also explain why she began crying so hard when Ra-Ra mentioned his death, imagine thinking your son is dead or is going to die. He could have even been brain dead. Like …maybe they were all preparing for his death, he wanted Ra-Ra to let go and be able to move on if he couldn’t make it back to her, but then he did end up in remission and even being completely healed. There are some plot holes in the end, like why would no one visit his grave.
The meaning of the color black in korean culture (according to a Google search) is “The color black is associated with mastery and the ending point of a cycle in Korea. Black represents the darkness after mastery has been achieved, the place beyond light. However, because Koreans believe that everything is based on a balance of opposites, darkness is also necessary as an origin for light.” Therefore, Jun being dressed in black could actually mean it was the ending of his cancer and his mastery over it.
The Nazi Swastika can be seen on episode 16 when 6:10 minutes are left. I was pretty shocked as that is a very controversial thing and for it to come out on there it was shocking. They should have at least blurred it.
I am disappointed with the rushed finale. I dont believe Joon is alive nor Rara is dead. Joon appearing on her doorstep with the melody playing is just a manifestation due to the mood of the music. Rara said she did not cried that much since he passed away and trying to live her best life everyday, meaning her grieving is not yet over. I think everyone going thru grief over a loved one has that episodes in their lives. I think thats what the story writer wants to tell.
TO the person that sent me that song name. You have completed my life and I am greatly indebted to you
I’ve been wrestling with this finale for the last few days. I’d truly like to believe some of the theories that are floating around, that at the end both Jun and Ra-Ra are in the afterlife, or that “finale Jun” is just a manifestation of her imagination, unable to move forward after losing him. Those are very valid and reasonable theories and either would at least show some level of creativity that the ending at face value clearly lacks. I don’t know though, I feel like they botched the whole thing. Like all along they were planning to kill off Jun and at the last minute had a change of heart and couldn’t find enough time in the final episode to properly bring him back in a way that wasn’t a complete slap in the face to both Ra-Ra and the audience.
They spent the entire season basically writing Jun as a saint, and then in the last couple episodes turn him into a master of deception. I can buy Jun not wanting her to know he was sick, it’s a commonly used trope. Faking his own death, on the other hand, is not something Jun, as his character was developed all season, was capable of. Then taking Ra-Ra and making her a prisoner of his love, where at least 5 years after his “death” she still hasn’t moved forward with her life and then having her accept his one sentence explanation immediately before living happily ever after. What a despicable thing to do to both of your main characters, who had such a sweet, storybook love story going on, and insult them both with a twist like that.
I’m not even angry at the ending itself so much, if it had been done carefully and in 15-20 minutes, rather than 2-3 minutes it might have even worked. The whole thing just felt like it was completely tacked on like “Oh, here’s Jun, he’s alive. See, happy ending!”
To me, it all started to fall apart when she was kidnapped and after that it went almost entirely downhill, with the exception of Ep 15 which I thought was the best episode of the entire series. Their cafe meet-cute was so incredibly adorable and I don’t know how you can’t write a better, happier, less confusing ending in light of that alone.
Obviously they changed the ending because it was all too sad. I cried when I hear Jun died. Considering the state of affairs in the world right now we have way too much sadness so I am sure the writers changed to a happy ending. As for how he knew Ra Ra would still be there and single he would be easy to keep tabs on her and his love for her was so great he did not want her to see him suffer and did not know if he would recover but hoping to see her again gave him strength to survive and it does take five years to recover from this kind of leukemia. He probably continued his studies while recovering. I think he did return they got married he took over Mr. Kims nursery because he loved plants and would grow healthy plants to cure sickness including cancer. They would then have 2 kids and live a long and loving time together as Mr. Kim and his wife did.
confused. the ending brought up so
many questions.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
i wish there’s a season2 for this. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Jun died and at Ra Ra death he arrives to take her, that’s why he’s dressed in black ( death). As some noted only Mimi and Ra Ra saw him. He arrives at a time when the women are next door, deserted street and she notifies no one.
I agree with the commenters above, the ending was totally unsatisfying and confusing. A romantic comedy should have a HEA (happily ever after) but not at the expense of the plot we have followed all season. True love conquers all would mean they remain in love through death. Even if Ra-Ra later married, she would always have a special place in her heart for Jun. The ending made him seem cruel and thoughtless. Surely as he would have at least taken Dr. Cha into his confidence and then let him know how he was progressing. Ra-Ra would have continued to communicate with him through telephone if he had continued the lie of studying making it impossible for him to return.
This ending left an unsettled feeling; the only way I could rationalize it is to think that it was like Man-bok’s true love, who he didn’t see for years and years. I found that confusing, because I thought they were married. But since June and RaRa act out the past story as Man-bok tells it, maybe it’s a sort of parallel somehow. I thought it was a mess at the end, but i loved the series. I also found Lee Jae-Wook to be a wonderful part of the cast. He’s one of those watchable people, a beautiful young man (22) who only debuted in 2018 in Memories of the Alhambra with Hyun Bin and has worked quite a bit from there.
The ending was not the one I expected. I wanted A better happy ending for Mr twinkle and Rara. However the series was so heartwarming . Good chemistry from both main characters. I do hope there’s a season 2 to continue their love story. A better happy ending this time. Thank you for giving us this kind of series during this pandemic. Hopefully you will fulfill your fans request for a sequel.
Ok, but why didn’t Jun’s mom say anything when Ra-ra asked if he was dead?…she just sat there and cried. IF YOUR SON ISN’T DEAD MAYBE TELL HER THAT. Honestly, that whole useless drama at the end made no sense and made me not even care for the ending because it was so dumb. The mom literally let Ra-ra think Jun had died when he was alive the whole time. That’s so messed up.
I think he is still alive. If he is dead, the parents would have held a funeral for him and Ra-ra will surely come. Five years is enough time for a person to be declared cancer free. I just cannot take that he had to hide from Ra-ra for those 5 years. He fooled everyone by thinking he was dead. I wish there would be a second season or at least a special episode for all of our minds to be clear. This is a beautiful drama, sadly the ending has been poorly written.
I enjoyed every chapter until 15, 16 for me was unnecessarily dramatic and brought about so many questions and so much pain and deception. The end was not what I expected for Joon and RaRa. They are terrific actors and the end was so unpleasant, why would someone lie for 5 years about being dead to someone he loves? It not coherent.
I’m really disappointed with this ending as are many people.
I absolutely loved entire series until the last 15 minutes… whatever the intention was, I just think it was really badly done and very emotionally anticlimactic, whereas earlier I’d been quite drawn into the emotion of Jun dying.
I think one way to appease the fans is to make a sequel of the drama. The opening salvo would be the beautiful, grand wedding of Jun and Rara, maybe in the same church where the promotional wedding was shot. This would also give the writer the opportunity to redeemed herself and write a beautiful, believable and adorable married life story and give an endearing ending of the love story. You have captured a wide, worldwide audience that I think a sequel would be phenominal.
From episode 1 to 15 it was 100% perfect, I love everything about it, I laughed, I cry and I get so mad tho.
The story line itself was so fantastic until the last final episode and it’s kinda looks weird tho, But i thought about it and I was like wait Jun mother never say that her son died, Rara assume that jun pass away because the way Jun mother approached her while she was wearing a black dress with the teacup that it returned!
Of course as a human being I’ll think the same thing lol..
I was so sad when it says 5 years later Mr.Kim was gone it breaks my heart tho, he reminds me alot of my grandfather, he always loving, sharing and caring about others, An the doctor and his roommate is Hella funny. I love the relationship between the salon lady and her daughter tho, and the boyfriend he’s loyal tho. Jun mom i fully understands her the way she act! An over protecting mother, and Jun dad I don’t get it why he have to be so mean to his one and only son. They both lack of communication. But anyways everything about this show is extremely excellent… I hope there is a 2 season of this show..
Jun is dead. Rara missed him so much… play the same tune everyday, waiting for his return… she finally snapped… it all in her mind… even the dog did not bark or got excited…
Honestly they should have scrapped the whole leukemia storyline. It was too late in the season to give the topic enough time to be developed properly. If they wanted a 5 year gap he might aswell have gone to the US to study and get that medal then come back.
That may be one of the worst endings ever. Jun is one cruel guy, if she has any sense she will dump him.
To Madelyn Hinckley,
The name of that song is 20 Fingers, by Lee Nam Yeon and Kim So Hyung.
There were obvious and subtle hints that Joon died. Obvious was Dr. Cha (who had connections at and whose friend worked at Joon’s dad hospital) would have known of Joon’s death announcement, and of course everyone google searches obituaries. Subtle hint was Joon’s letter “he left” told Rara to “cry all you want and start over”, and returned Rara’s teacup, it was so Rara could marry and have tea with her ‘husband’, which could not be Joon. A good hint was Joon’s narrated last words; memories of Rara brought him back to summer when he was 19. Joon’s heaven? Also Joon says at first of episode 16 he misses Mimi. When Joon returns only Rara and Mimi are there, it is literally deserted of anyone. Joon returns at day, and it turns to nite and still noone else knows Joon is back? It could be many years in future when they are reunited, say after Rara lives a full life and dies an old woman or dies young – it doesn’t say, but Joon knows he won’t live with Rara until she is old and ‘wrinkly’. Interpretable ending was age appropriate as kids see a reunion, adults may see Rara’s death. Good timeframe of Acute Leukemia death in adults; say 4-6 months. Joon’s mom wasn’t evil, she knew Joon’s love for Rara kept him fighting for life, but he died before he could attend reunion concert he recorded while he still could, his mom probably sent the vid clip and she did reply to Rara’s texts until concert was over. The mom only talks about Joon in ‘past tense’, as does everyone else. Rara asks Joon if he is a ghost twice, he only smiles and doesn’t answer. It was one of my fav K-dramas for sure, I watch many, and they don’t waste time on repeat dialogues, or over emphasizing points of concepts, they just lay it out once and is for the viewer to think about it, sometimes to interpret. I don’t know much Korean so I’m not sure if more hints were in natural language. Cheers!
I had trouble sleeping after that ending. I woke up with Jun on my mind and found this page to vent and see what others thought. Thanks to all who shared thoughts about this. 1) did they change the script at the last minute, run out of budget for the show, or something like that? It was a rush job if indeed Jun was supposedly alive. 2) if they could have fleshed out the ending, the mom couldn’t become nice over night. She was mean. Did she make him finish med school in order for Ra-Ra to get to stay at the Lalaland? He comes back dressed like a rich successful man when he left as a boy in sneakers. 3) Dr Cho never looked like he was happy with that horrible ex. It wasn’t believable for him to live with her. Not when his life was now happier. And why didn’t he reflect back to moments with Jun when he didn’t pick up on how sick he was. Or Ra-Ra. No one connected his nose bleeds to being sick. 4) Also, like people wrote in the comments, in the age of social media they would have been able to see the funeral announcement, Or proof of life because 5 years with nothing isn’t believable. As for the ghost idea, I don’t see how that was the ending because I have seen other k dramas and ghosts are not uncommon but they are written in in a way that makes them believable. This ending was NOT believable. It was disturbing because it felt completely rushed and not explained in any artistic way.
Looking back on the episode, Juns mother doesn’t say he died, Ra ra says it, the 5 year gap threw me, in that letting them asume he was dead would stop them finding out he was sick as he would have to make excuses not to see her, because she would run to his side. The other thought would be that Ra ra died and Jun went to meet her. It was a very emotional episode that had me bawling my eyes out and then totally confused at the end.
Joon is dead, so is RaRa at the reunion – tho the show doesn’t tell how she died, or how much time passed since Dr. Cha told RaRa the story about Joon crashing the wedding, the story only moves forward to RaRa and she narrates that she lived another day, looks pretty… something an old woman would say. Joon narrates at the end that the memories of that summer with RaRa brought him back to life, he waited for her death so he could reunite. Story gave no visual hints like some ghost shows do, but no one else saw Joon come back, no other characters in the town at all, only MiMi. Ending is open for interpretation but everyone grieved Joon when he died, the death of the son of a hospital director would have been news. The Death of Mr Kim, Dr Cha’s wedding, Ha-Young and Seung-Gi’s wedding and birth of their child would have brought word from Joon if he was alive, since acute Leukemia cures lasts about 2-3 years. Also RaRa asks Joon if he is a ghost, she already knows he is a ghost, she just doesn’t know SHE is a ghost.
So the ending is well its very odd. I was think that maybe Rara passed away in the end as well. She did asked him if he was a ghost. Technically I don’t think there was a no. He said “what can I do to make you believe I’m right here and real?” That doesn’t mean she’s still alive. Its just a thought. Because I don’t like how he was gone for years without a word to anyone. Thats just wrong.
The ending was soo sooo bad. Cant believe this ending for a romantic comedy genre. Why why why couldn’t the authors think of a better ending than killing jun and making him alive which was unbelievable. I am so sad at the loss of Jun.
Ugh… I agree with you. They should’ve just kept the ending with Joon dying from leukemia. Popping in like that for whatever reason… I can’t wrap it around my head. Didn’t the Joon’s mom confirmed everything? I really enjoyed this series until that few minutes…. Why???!!!!
The ending clearly did not make sense and for me, was a huge let down. Full of rather silly teasers like leading viewers to assume the child Ji-A was Rara’s child, and the dreadful and inexplicable lie that he was dead.. wtf was that for? He was already hiding his illness from her – what difference did it make then – what changed that necessitated his ‘death’ and cutting of all contact for 5 years? This spin completely misses the point of what love is and an opportunity of real character growth. In order for one to give love like a man Jun should first learn how to receive it. Better ending options would have been not to spin the terminal illness scare at all, which should not be lightly treated and brushed off since they chose to go down that route. Acute Leukaemia for a 20 year old is a horrible disease and if he had that – even if they wanted to show him surviving it perhaps they could have shown his mother coming to RaRa to tell her about his illness and Rara flying to be by his side to support him An even better spin would be that RaRa finally repays Jun by being a bone marrow donor for him, allowing him to survive for 5 years and then both returning to Eunpo successful in their fight against Leukemia having survived 5years of it. Alternatively, Jun should remain dead, the child should be a boy called ‘Little Jun’ and the show moves on with Rara and Dr. Cha as parents of Little Jun showing how life moves on, even as you learn to cherish the memory of lost loves.
The ending clearly did not make sense and for me, was a huge let down. Full of rather silly teasers like leading viewers to assume the child Ji-A was Rara’s child, and the dreadful and inexplicable lie that he was dead.. wtf was that for? He was already hiding his illness from her – what difference did it make then – what changed that necessitated his ‘death’ and cutting of all contact for 5 years? This spin completely misses the point of what love is and an opportunity of real character growth. In order for one to give love like a man Jun should first learn how to receive it. Better ending options would have been not to spin the terminal illness scare at all, which should not be lightly treated and brushed off since they chose to go down that route. Acute Leukaemia for a 20 year old is a horrible disease and if he had that – even if they wanted to show him surviving it perhaps they could have shown his mother coming to RaRa to tell her about his illness and Rara flying to be by his side to support him An even better spin wiuld be thay RaRa finally repays Jun by being a bone marrow donor for him, allowing him to survive for 5 years and then both returning to Eunpo successful in their fight against Leukemia having survived 5years of it. Alternatively, Jun should remain dead, the child should be a boy called ‘Little Jun’ and the show moves on with Rara and Dr. Cha as parents of Little Jun showing how life moves on, even as you learn to cherish the memory of lost loves.
He’s gone but the music bring him back to her. It just doesnt make sense why the mother basically inuciated he was dead
I’m a bit confused why Jun decided to lie and not contact anyone. I thought the secretary at the beginning DID steal Rara’s inheritance money? Does she never get it back? We clearly saw a scene where he immediately abandoned her and was living lavishly.
May I ask if Mr Kim passed away too or he just merely moved away from eunpo? Thx!
El final estropeo toda la serie. Al final la pobre muchacha siempre fue engañada, siempre le mentían todos. Una mentira tan grande como la de la muerte de Jun, no merece después un final feliz. Ya no podría ni mirarle a la cara por mentiroso y todo el sufrimiento que causó. Cualquiera..
Let’s wait for the Epilogue to explain if Joon is indeed alive or just a product of Ra-ra’s imagination. I love the story. It warms the heart.
Should have stopped right when he got to the door. Although I didn’t want him to die originally, it’s far better than bringing him back after five years of not making any kind of contact. Irritating ending to an otherwise great show.
I Really enjoy this show. I was so happy to see jun return to his love
I think the dead story is assumed by Rara, the mother did not confirm anything. If Rara has felt Joon’s spirit is around, why must she wait till 5 years? My only regret is that the writer make it like suddenly Joon is alive. The writer should show 5 yrs ago what happened to Joon. Maybe he is in a state of coma that he can’t even talk to the phone or any other explanation. I feel missing Joon for 5 years and then he came back last 5 minute of the drama with reason “I want to be fully recovered to see you” is so lame.
Very disappointed in this ending. That sudden return – he’s just so nonchalant.
“Hmmm yeah I was just waiting around while you all grieved and moved on” Putting RaRa and all his friends through that was really a jerk move.
Hi, just to clarify some doubts, Jun is actually alive. This is something that I read somewhere else and, after going back myself and looking at the scenes carefully, it makes absolute sense. So basically, what it said was that they never actually tell you that he is dead, they just tell you that he isn’t able to return. But, this plus both letters that he sent to Man Bok and to Rara and everything that happens throughout the episode, you are led to believe that he is dead. And this is exactly what happened to Rara and why everyone thought that he was dead. Because she thought that he was dead. If this still doesn’t make sense, go back and notice how they never say that he is dead, they just cry and say that he won’t be returning. Then go to the end of the episode where Jun is talking to Rara and see that he says something like “I didn’t want to return until I was sure that I was okay” and she says something prior to this like “you should have at least called”. This shows how he possibly talked to her and explained that he wasn’t going to return nor have contact until he was sure that he was going to be 100% okay. Hope this helped!
This drama giving me the most emotional ending, my husband diagnosed with AML in 2019 and 6 months chemo treatment such a roller coaster journey for us. Praise God that he is now well and healthy and I would love to believe the drama have the same ending. 5 years is the medical standard for cancer patients to be declared clear from the disease, so lets believes that this is a happy ending.
Reading this idea that Jun was alive without RaRa for 5 years is nauseating. I will NOT watch the final episode. Talk about toxic masculinity. Letting others help you is a gift to them. Koreans seem to avoid being indebted to another like it is a plague. Relationships are never perfectly 50/50. I know this is fiction – if Jun is coming back as a ghost figure, that too is an unsatisfactory ending.
I think Jun is alive at the end because: first, his mother didn’t actually say it that he was dead with words, second, they touched on the question of wheter he was real or not and seemed to confirm he was, and third, earlier in the show Mr. Kim told Ra Ra about his relationship with his wife and how when they were young ended up being separated for 5 years before they could really be happy, and mentioned how because of lack of technology at the time they couldn’t meet, I felt like there was a parallel drawn between the two relationships and also found it interesting how Jun left the most important messages as letters rather than texts or so.
Hi just my humble opinion- whilst I want every fibre in my body to believe that he is alive; I honestly cannot rationalise that he is. Surely his family would have held a funeral for Jun, why wouldn’t Ra-ra attend his funeral? How could you not speak to someone for 5 whole years? I’m sure Ra-ra would have been messaging Jun (or Joon’s) Dodasolsollalasol’s instagram account in times of her hardship and suffering. There is NO WAY that Jun would have remained quiet over this. 5 years is a lot of time for someone to change. Surely he would not have coped if he were only supported by his parents? Jun would have had to make more friends and who knows, maybe even meet another girl? Whilst this is all speculation- I just cannot believe that Jun would have endured such a painful and strenuous journey without the support of Ra-ra and his Eunpo family. Especially with Mr. Kim having sadly passed away, Jun would have wanted to say his goodbyes too!
He loved Ra-ra and I do not believe he would have wanted her to suffer in this way for 5 years- it’s just too cruel. This is also very cruel for Jun to ask his mother to lie and pretend that he is dead whilst visiting Ra-ra on they day they were supposed to meet. A lot can change in 5 years, however the scene of the Eunpo residents celebrating anniversaries does demonstrate that the life there has been unchanged and remains familiar.
I think the ending was confusing, emotionally wrenching and should have been more confident in it’s ending. To give audiences the guise that the beloved main character had passed and then to spring such a surprise and seemingly resurrect him from the dead- I simply felt attacked emotionally. I guess this was the intention of the writers to create such a strong emotional attachment with the characters that you felt their pain, joys and losses. I believe they should have taken more care in giving audiences closure by addressing some of these grey areas from the past 5 years. I still love this drama, but my goodness was it a rollercoaster of emotion.
Thank you so much too all the people involved in making such a heart-warming and heart-wrenching drama.
Has anyone found out the name of the welcome song that rara plays for Jun when he comes home from work?
I don’t think he’s alive. Faking his death for five years, and including his mother in the lie (dressed in black) is preposterous. Though I wish he had survived. People die in real life, but I don’t want a beloved character to die. And telling her about being sick would have been kinder than cruelly breaking up with her with an elaborate lie.
Aargh…seriously, not contacting her for 5 years!!! Too cruel, so I couldn’t t accept the ‘happy ending’. Darn it!!
So jun is alive? I dont really understand why they told everyone he was dead. Why didn’t they give them hope that he would live? Why didn’t they contact Rara after a whole 5 years? So many questions but I really did enjoy this show alot!