15 K-Dramas That Didnt Have A Happily Ever After
K-Dramas often leave viewers feeling bittersweet by the end of a series. Here are times when they did not have a happy ending.
Content warning: This article contains discussions of suicide, terminal illness, and violence.
K-dramas rarely go past one season, or perhaps two if they're lucky. This often means that the overarching storyline has to come to a close by the season finale. Sadly, not all of these endings are happily ever afters. Not all couples stay together nor do the main characters finally get their shot at long-lasting love.
Fans are often left with bittersweet emotions watching the characters go through many trials and tribulations together to only have a sad ending. In some cases, there might be a glimmer of hope, but audiences will never truly know.
Updated on June 2nd, 2021, by Gabriela Silva: As mentioned above, not all K-drama storylines come with a happily ever after. More general fans might be surprised that there are some K-dramas with sad endings that were just as popular as some of the happier hits, even though they left fans with a sour taste in the mouth when all was said and done. After becoming emotionally attached to the main characters, fans only hope for the best and a good resolution yet sad endings are no new thing in K-dramas and seem to keep fans coming back to experience the heartbreak all over again. Amongst the countless K-dramas available, there are a select few that became well known for their unwarranted and sad endings. Like A Korean Odyssey, for example. In reality, not all K-drama characters or storylines can cheat fate or how things need to end, as some of these more classic K-dramas that we've added show so well.
15 Black
Fans really hoped for happily ever after in the supernatural K-drama, Black. A woman who sees ghosts joins forces with a detective who is actually possessed by an elite grim reaper. Fans saw the cold and dark grim reaper, Black (Song Seung-Heon), start to fall in love with Ha-Ram (Go Ara).
This ending didn't sway certain fans as the Reapers deem Black's punishment to be that he never existed. They erase all memories of him from Ha-Ram's mind. This means she grows up to have a normal life like everyone else. Fans didn't take to Ha-Ram not living out her days with Black. It's only when she's old does she remember Black after receiving a red string bracelet. Old Ha-Ram passes away and rejoins Black in the afterlife.
14 Kill It
Fans shouldn't expect a happy ending from this thriller K-drama. Kill It tells the story of a top assassin Kim Soo-Hyun (Jang Ki-Yong) and a police detective who cross paths to uncover the truth behind her lover's death. Soo-Hyun and Do Hyun-Jin (Nana) just so happen to fall in love.
The ending was bittersweet as Soo-Hyun exacts revenge against the person who hurt the woman he loves. In the final scene, Soo-Hyun kills said person and causes the SWAT team to open fire on him. Hyun-Jin falls to the floor beside him to hold his hand one last time.
13 Stairway To Heaven
No, this K-drama has nothing to do with the Led Zeppelin song. Stairway to Heaven is a complex love story about two childhood best friends that are forced apart by evil characters. As adults, Han Jung-Suh (Choi Ji-woo)'s stepsister makes her life hell out of jealousy to a point where she fakes Jung-Suh's death and causes her amnesia.
Years later, Jung-Suh reunites with her childhood friend and true love only to fall ill with the same type of cancer her mother died of. Fans were left heartbroken by the sad ending as Jung-Suh doesn't get her happily ever after. She dies in the arms of her love.
12 Empress Ki
Empress Ki is a highly popular historical K-drama that had a sad ending that left fans heartbroken for the main character. The final episode of the drama entails the last of empress Ki's (Ha Ji-Won) enemies to be defeated. The joy of their win is overshadowed by the death of a main character.
Ta Hwan (Ji Chang-Wook) realizes that he's been betrayed by someone close to him. He's been secretly fed poison for some time. Realizing it's too late, he allows empress Ki to take over his rule. He subsequently dies leaving empress Ki to once again lose someone she loves and rule the kingdom alone.
11 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Before fans fell head over heels for Seo In-Guk in the hit 2021 drama, Doom at Your Service, he starred in the 2018 drama, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. Kim Moo-Young (In-Guk) is a bit mysterious yet has a childlike personality. He falls in love with a woman who is connected to the past he can't remember.
By the end of the drama, fans were left in shock with its sad ending. Moo-Young accepts the consequences of his decision to kill an evil character. At his childhood home, the scene unfolds into tragedy as the truth comes to light between Moo-Young and his love. In a turn of events, both characters are killed by another and die in each other's arms after declaring their love.
10 Record Of Youth
Record of Youth is a Netflix show that debuted in 2020. The ending left viewers with a mediocre feeling. The two main characters go through a tough time as the male lead rises in fame as an actor as the female lead gets recognized as a makeup artist.
By the end, they part ways believing that it's not the right time for them to be together despite their love for one another. They do promise that if in the future they come to meet by fate then they'll give it another go. The last episode shows them meeting by chance at a movie shoot, strike a conversation, and walk together.
9 Cheese In The Trap
Cheese in the Trap became a notorious K-drama for its intense display of "second-hand lead syndrome" and the love triangle. While fans may not have initially liked the love interest Hong Seol (Kim Go-Eun) chose, fans were left heartbroken in the finale.
Yoo Jung (Park Hae-Jin) ends up leaving Korea stating that he was the problem in their relationship and needed time. Baek In-Ho (Seo Kang-Joon) doesn't get the girl either as Hong Seol recuperates from a broken heart. Still scarred by it, she still sends emails to Yoo Jung with no reply. The final scene of the show is one of the emails getting a response.
8 A Korean Odyssey
The ending of the fantasy drama A Korean Odyssey left viewers with a bittersweet feeling but ultimately made sense for the story. As the story goes, Oh-Gong (See Seung-Gi) becomes indebted to Sun-Mi (Oh Yeon -Seo) for what he did to her when she was a child. Many can say their love story was fated from the start.
Their fate also came with a dark reality. Sun-Mi is a Sam Jang and is fated to die at the hands of her true love, Oh-Gong. In the final episode, she comes to accept her fate but wants to die on her terms. She ends up being killed to stop a heinous evil from entering the world but Oh-Gong becomes the one to vanquish it. In the end, Sun-Mi dies in Oh-Gong's arms.
7 The Hymn of Death
The Hymn of Death was a 2018 drama that was a historical romance. The story would entrance any viewer as it depicts the tragic story between Joseon's first soprano and a playwright. As fans watch the show, they realize what's in store for the couple in the end.
Woo-Jin (Lee Jong-Suk) and Sim-Deok (Shin Hye-Sun) catch a ferry together using their pen names as an alias. That night they go onto the deck for a final dance. Sim-Deok tries to hide her tears but Woo-Jin wipes them and takes her hand in his. They share one final moment before turning to the railings. All audiences are left hearing is the crashing of waves.
6 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
The ending to Moon Lovers was hard and had fans feeling immense emotional pain. The storyline revolves around Go Ha-Jin/Hae Soo (Lee Ji-Eun) being transported to the Goryeo Dynasty and falls in love with the "wolf dog" 4th prince. Their story goes through the test of time but in the end, she dies after giving birth to her child.
To make matters worse, Wang So (Lee Joon-Gi) doesn't visit her beforehand and upon hearing of her death realizes that the letters he refused to open explained her feelings for him. Hae Soo wakes up in her own time thinking it to be a dream. Fans cried along with her when she visits a Goryeo exhibit and realizes it wasn't a dream at all.
5 Uncontrollably Fond
Uncontrollably Fond gave fans high hopes as two childhood classmates find each other in adulthood. Noh Eul (Bae Suzy) is tasked to document the life of actor/singer Shin Joon-Young (Kim Woo-Bin). Fans would recall Kim Woo-Bin for his not-so delightful character in Heirs. The show's end had fans in shock and tears but it was expected from the start.
Joon-Young comes to terms with his life and in the final scenes, he's with Noh Eul. He rests his head on her shoulder and a while later she asks if he's asleep. There's no answer and Noh Eul knows he's passed away. Some time passes and in the very final scene, she looks at a poster of him, kisses it, and says “See you tomorrow, Joon Young-Ah.”
4 Mr.Sunshine
Mr.Sunshine has gotten high remarks since its debut in 2018. It interweaved the drama and turmoil of a political era and the romance between Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-Hun) and Go Ae-Shin (Kim Tae-Ri). But the astounding story ends on a sad note. In the final episode, Dong-Mae (Yoo Yeon-Seok) dies fighting off his enemies but suffering fatal knife injuries. He dies smiling and thinking of Ae-Shin. Dong-Mae warmed hearts despite his bad boy appearance.
It doesn't end there, Eugene saves Ae-Shin from soldiers by using his last bullets to separate her train car. Eugene is then killed by multiple shots to the back by Japanese soldiers. In the epilogue, Ae-Shin continues to train soldiers under a liberated Korea, and all thanks to Mr.Sunshine aka Eugene.
3 Hotel Del Luna
This drama has fans heartbroken with the finale over Man-Wol (IU) not getting her happily ever after. She spends decades serving for her past crime by helping troubled souls who entered her hotel. Fans loved the character for being a badass and independent but she still got her own love story.
Her end was bittersweet. She doesn't drink the moonflower wine that would render her and Chan-Sung (Yeo Jin-goo) to live out their lives once again as the hotel's manager. In an emotional scene, Man-Wol decides to enter the afterlife on her own terms, not escorted by the Grim Reaper. Chan-Sung watches as she fades into the mist. There's an epilogue of what occurs to the remaining characters.
2 My Country: The New Age
This K-drama is for fans who want a show set in a historical time period riddled with the dangers of war and politics tied with love and rivalry. The drama centers mostly around two best friends, Seo-Hwi (Yang Se-Jong) and Nam Seon-Ho (Woo Do-Hwan). At the same time, the country is transitioning into a new era that leads both friends to be enemies.
But in the final episode, the story gets complex and upsetting. Both characters storm the palace fighting off guards. To allow Seo-Hwi to see Bang-Won (Jang Hyuk), the prince, Seon-ho sacrifices himself leading him to be speared multiple times. Seo-Hwi returns to hold his friend and is shot by arrows. They die in each other's arms in a heartbreaking moment.
1 I'm Sorry I Love You
If there was one K-drama that took the cake for having the most heartbreaking and gut-wrenching end, it's I'm Sorry I Love You. It told the story of a bad boy scammer living in Australia when he meets Song Eun-Chae (Im Soo-Jung) who gets her items stolen by criminals.
Their love story really blossoms when he returns to Korea to find his birth parents. He soon comes to learn about his real family. He, at first, seeks revenge but when his newfound brother is injured in an accident, he makes a decision. Moo-Hyuk (So Ji-Sub) kills himself in a motorcycle accident to save his brother. Before his death, he calls Eun-Chae and says, "I'm sorry. I love you." In the final scene, she visits his grave and dies by suicide.
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