Little Women – K-Drama Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Episode 12

Does In-joo go to prison?

Episode 12 of Little Women starts with Hwa-young making an appearance at the final trial of In-joo. Hwa-young confesses that the 72 billion was embezzled by her and Sang-ha while In-joo was not to be blamed for it. She clarifies that In-joo did not even know about the money and alleges that Sang-ha manipulated her for 10 years in order for her own entertainment.

Hwa-young claims that her original motive was to seek revenge on Sang-ha and all Hwa-young was the one who brought In-joo into the case for her own benefit. Hwa-young does not elaborate on the nature of her staged death and the Prosecutor that she make revelations about her alleged suicide at a different time.

The judge charges In-joo with six months in prison and two years on probation for keeping the 2 billion won amount. As she leaves the courtroom, Sang-ha tells the reporters that she is being framed and promises to cooperate with the investigation. 

How did Hwa-young find In-joo in Singapore?

Six months later, In-kyung and Jong-ho drive In-joo back to Hye-suk’s bungalow after she has served her sentence. Inside, Hwa-young waits to greet In-joo and explain her side of the story. Hwa-young explains that she had left to live in Singapore with the hope that In-joo will use the 2 billion won cash to live her dream but was shocked to learn how the Oh sisters had been catapulted into the embezzlement drama due to Sang-ha.

She recalls attending the Orchid festival and noticing Sang-ha there. Hwa-young states that she tried reaching In-joo multiple times but never had the occasion to do so. When In-joo left the bank with the 70 billion won cash, Hwa-young recalls rushing into the truck to save In-joo from the accident Park Jae-sang had orchestrated. Despite suffering head trauma, Hwa-young had reached out to In-joo and woken her up, asking her to flee with the money.

Hwa-young then states that she sent the security to her apartment after she saw Sang-ha there. After collapsing, Hwa-young states that she was taken for treatment which kept her from returning to South Korea to save In-joo. In-joo is angry at Hwa-young for risking her own life to save In-joo.

They reconcile and Hwa-young asks In-joo to stay out of her business and lead a hassle-free life. In-joo then gets a call from Do-il. He tells In-joo that his case was dropped due to a lack of evidence and that Hwa-young had funded her trip to the Netherlands with him. Do-il also mentions that he had gotten hold of In-hye and Hyo-rin. As In-joo was on a call with him, Hwa-young had left the house. 

How did fake Hwa-young die?

Hwa-young now holds a press conference with CCTV footage from her house showing that Sang-ha was a murderer. She claims that in order for her to disappear, Hwa-young had found a person who was willing to commit suicide. However, before that woman could do so, Sang-ha appeared at her house and killed the girl by hanging her in the closet.

Hwa-young also releases an online application that will allow the masses to access the ledgers that Jae-sang had burned. With the help of these ledgers, it can be easily proven that the Jeongran Society was responsible for embezzling a much larger sum than just 70 billion won. 

What does Sang-ha do to save herself?

As Sang-ha is watching the news report featuring Hwa-young, she asks Soo-im if she can possibly make it out alive. Jong-ho does not like how In-kyung is working with Sa-pyeong because he was the person who kidnapped her and put her life at risk. Sang-ha and Sa-pyeong are in General Won’s hospital room as they discuss the future of the Jeongran Society.

Sang-ha argues that she deserves an equal chance at running the society. General Won suddenly starts breathing heavily in comatose and Sa-pyeong rushes to see him, Sang-ha takes the opportunity to knock him out by tranquillising him using the blue orchid potion. She has also added the same potion to General Won’s nebulizer that is causing him to breathe heavily.

As he is slowly passing out, Sa-pyeong tells Sang-ha that she could never lead the Jeongran Society because she was completely insane. Once he passes out, Sang-ha asks Soo-im to make a show out of Sa-pyeong’s death and hang him up somewhere in public. 

Did Sang-ha kill Hwa-young and In-joo?

In-joo is on the flight to the Netherlands with Do-il when she appears worried about Hwa-young. She puts her phone down after reading a text and goes to the washroom. Do-il notices that In-joo has been out for a while and goes looking for her. He learns that In-joo had left the flight and attempts to leave too but he is stopped as the flight has already started taking off.

Meanwhile, Sang-ha has kidnapped Hwa-young and claims that she wants to wait for In-joo to arrive. Hwa-young states that In-joo was already on a flight and would not make an appearance. In-joo calls the cops to Sang-ha’s house using a phone booth and rushes there herself. 

What happened to Sa-pyeong? Is Jong-ho alive?

In-kyung and Jong-ho are at the Wonryeong school when they find the dead body of Sa-pyeong. Just then, some men arrive and strike Jong-ho with a sword, kidnapping In-kyung. An injured Jong-ho flees the scene and calls In-joo’s phone.

Do-il answers the call and states that he too is rushing to Sang-ha’s house. In-joo takes something out of a locker and reaches Sang-ha’s house. She enters the orchid room to discover Hwa-young tied to a chair and Sang-ha waiting.

In-joo threatens to blow the place up by using a small bomb Hee-jae gave her. Sang-ha states that she had a different ending in mind. She claims that she switched the water in the room’s vents to have hydrochloric acid in them.

Does Sang-ha kill In-joo and Hwa-young?

Sang-ha’s plan is to kill Hwa-young as well as the orchid tree. In-joo instigates Sang-ha and distracts her, taking her back to her mother’s death. Sang-ha claims that she had only killed her mother by accident but was shocked to see her mother hang herself up in the wardrobe. Sang-ha then claims that In-joo was going to arrive soon.

However, Do-il manages to intercept Soo-im’s car with In-kyung inside it. Jong-ho arrives in due time too and frees In-kyung taking her away as Do-il fights Soo-im and her men. Sang-ha starts her party and the vent starts releasing acid and burning Hwa-young to death in the process.

Is Sang-ha dead? What happens to the Blue Orchid tree?

As Sang-ha enjoys watching Hwa-young suffer, In-joo uses the bomb to bust up a metal gutter cover in the room and use it as a shield to protect Hwa-young from burning to death. In-joo manages to save Hwa-young and Do-il arrives at the scene to save them.

As Sang-ha notices In-joo leaving, she rushes to stop her but In-joo pushes the woman away and into the hydrochloric acid pond and watches Sang-ha burn to death along with the father tree aka Blue Orchid tree.

What happens at the end of Little Women?

A few days later, the local news reports that Sang-ha was found dead in her house. In-kyung receives a document from late Sa-pyeong as Jong-ho is recovering in the hospital. The document narrated how General Won found the blue orchid and proves his valour during the Vietnam War proving his innocence in the embezzlement associated with the Jeongran society.

Hwa-young too is recovering in the hospital. In-joo drops Do-il at the airport for his flight to Greece and he tells her that he will meet her again. In-joo visits Hwa-young in the prison. Hwa-young received a 12-year sentence for her involvement in the embezzlement. Hwa-young thanks In-joo for being with her and promises to meet her in the future.

Back at the Oh house, In-joo receives a tax invoice and finds that Hye-suk had left In-joo an apartment as a gift before her death. In-joo visits the house and is overwhelmed by the sudden turn her life has taken.

Does In-kyung start dating Jong-ho?

In-kyung receives an offer to work for the news platform she used to expose Park Jae-sang. She declines the offer and tells Jong-ho that she had different plans. In-kyung tells Jong-ho that she actually plans to join him in the states and wants to be around him a lot more. Jong-ho asks her if he now makes her heart race and she tells him he does as they kiss.

In-joo and In-kyung are at the Oh house. The two older sisters talk about how they want their futures to pan out now with new life changes and then discuss how In-hye hadn’t contacted them since she left. They both rant about how much they hate their parents who are still clueless about the three girls’ adventures.

Where is In-hye? What happens to the 70 billion won?

In-hye and Hyo-rin are with Do-il in Panama. A flashback shows how Do-il had then managed to keep the 70 billion won in Hyo-rin’s Panama account and only lied to show that the money was returned to Sang-ha. The trio have the 70 billion won transferred among themselves with Do-il, Hyo-rin, In-kyung and In-hye all receiving equal amounts.

In-hye ensures that In-joo receives the most amount among them all because of all the sacrifices she made over the years. While on her ride back home, In-joo is shocked to see the huge amount in her bank account with a heartfelt message from In-hye. 

The Episode Review

The entire show was an absolute roller coaster but I am highly disappointed with the season finale. The makers gave In-kyung an amazing ending but I am sad with how things panned out for In-joo. While she was actually responsible for Sang-ha’s death, this episode seems like it was rushed to the end.

It is usually the case with the season finale of 12-episode K-dramas. While Episode 11 was a fireball, I expected something even greater from this episode. The 12th Little Women had its moments where Hwa-young’s press conference was a shocker.

Meanwhile, Jong-ho fighting Soo-im’s men with a sword for kidnapping In-kyung, and Do-il beating Soo-im up for hurting In-joo were two of the hottest moments from the entire show. I really wish there was another episode for In-joo’s relationship to flourish though.

I am glad for In-joo’s individual character development in the show, despite her romantic story being non-existent. In-joo always dreamed of marrying a rich man and now, the makers made it so that In-joo herself was rich and competent enough on her own.

Meanwhile, it was refreshing to see In-kyung give up her dream of love and chase other things that life had in store for her. I wish we got to see more of what In-hye did while being away with Hyo-rin. With all this said, there is definitely a possibility of Season 2, all thanks to Do-il’s promise to In-joo.