'Backstreet Rookie' Episode 16: Finale sees Dae-hyun teach Yeon-joo lesson in love, will Saet-byul choose him?
'Backstreet Rookie' Episode 16, the finale of the SBS show saw Dae-hyun (Ji Chang-wook) decide that he will pursue Saet-byul (Kim Yoo-jung) despite what his mother expects of him -- to be the son-in-law of a rich family and earn a lot of money so that he doesn't have to live the middle-class life like his parents do. They want him to escape what they deem mediocrity and many a time, when Dae-hyun's mother Boon-hee had advised him to patch things up with Yeon-joo, this had been her intentions too. Saet-byul who heard this perspective from Dae-hyun's mother multiple times began to feel as if she was an obstacle in Dae-hyun's life and had left in the previous episode.
In this episode, Dae-hyun retraces Saet-byul's last day in his home to figure out where she had left to. He even goes to the cops to check if she had left a forwarding address now that her deposit money had been found. However, none of it really works. Just when he is about to give up due to frustration and continues to get a hold of her over calls, he finds help from an unexpected source. His friend Dal-sik takes his girlfriend and Saet-byul's best friend Geum-bi to meet his father after he gets pressurized into going on a blind date. Turns out, Dal-sik is a rich farmer's son who is trying to make his own life in the city as a webtoon writer.
What is even more of a coincidence, is the fact that Saet-byul chose to work in his father's orchard. She had always loved flowers and her dream had initially been to be a florist. So even when she had to leave Dae-hyun's side after hearing a love confession that she had always wanted to hear, she wanted to go far away to a place where there were no convenience stores and so she took refuge in something that she had always loved. Dal-sik, who sees Saet-byul, calls Dae-hyun and lets him in on the secret. So we see him arrive in a hurry to tell Saet-byul that she was wrong and that it was not the end for them but just the beginning.
He also tells her, now that he has seen her and is sure that she is at a safe place and doing something that she likes he will continue to wait. Initially, he wasn't supposed to hear her thoughts until she got her GED exam results anyway. So he just continues to flirt with her over text messages. Saet-byul is definitely in love but it is the thought of Dae-hyun making his mother unhappy that stops Saet-byul from accepting Dae-hyun.
After returning from the orchard, Dae-hyun tells his mother the truth. After hearing this, Bon-hee realizes how she had unintentionally hurt Saet-byul. He also takes Yeon-joo out for dinner and tells her that it is time that they stop, and that he was going to resign now. Yeon-joo asks him if he cannot give her another chance and he doesn't bother responding because that is all the importance that Yeon-joo holds in his life right now. So Yeon-joo decides to finally give up and leave to the US. Her mother, who hears of Yeon-joo's decision tries to speak to Bon-hee and ask her what went wrong.
During this conversation, Bon-hee learns that her son had given up his job when he was not even aware of Yeon-joo's background but instead she had hidden and lied a lot. So even Dae-hyun's mother realizes that her son was right in choosing to live his life like his parents, giving and receiving love than choosing wealth. He believes that the convenience store will be more than enough to support him and that is the reason why he returns to becoming a convenience store owner. He also puts up a post for a part time worker, and the only criteria is that the applicant must be Jung Saet-byul.
The show comes full circle as Saet-byul who learns that Dae-hyun left his job as a consultant rushes to meet him at the convenience store. She chooses him over the orchard and the flowers because she had recently said that her dream was to become a convenience store manager. As expected, the rom-com came to an end with Dae-hyun and Saet-byul getting together and living happily ever after.
