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'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' Ending Explained: Did Yijin die? Who does Heedo marry?

Everyone's favorite K-drama 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' airs its finale which leaves fans divided over the ending

March was an iconic month for K-drama lovers as we had several amazing K-dramas airing back-to-back. Well, one of them happened to be the coming-of-age sports drama ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One' starring Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk. The drama and its main leads were the most-talked-about since the show’s premiere and topped all the drama charts. We also had over 40 K-pop idols watching it including BTS’ Jungkook and Blackpink’s Jisoo. However, with the drama coming to an end on Sunday, April 3, the ending had many asking for an explanation.

Since the premiere of ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One', it was established that our favorite couple, Joo-hyuk’s Baek Yi-jin and Tae-ri’s Na Hee-do had not ended up together. Hee-do was married, had a daughter and had not seen Yi-jin in years. Their love story unfolds through the eyes of the daughter who finds her mother’s diaries when she was young. And so, one of the biggest questions was who did Hee-do end up marrying? Another was whether Yi-jin was dead which could be why the two did not end up together.

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‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One' finale

In the finale of ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One', Ko Yu-rim retires from fencing and opens a fencing school. Her boyfriend, Moon Ji-woong launches a fashion blog which leads to him owning his own online fashion store. The two end up engaged in the most adorable way as we see them fencing together for the first and last time. Ji Seung-wan becomes a variety show producer. Meanwhile, Hee-do retires from fencing after her last gold medal. Yi-jin goes from being a New York correspondent, the post that leads to the two breaking up, to becoming the successor to Hee-do’s mom, a TV news anchor.

However, what fans everywhere wanted was for Yi-jin and Hee-do to end up together. And while they thought that it would happen at the age of 25 and 21, it looks like that was when their love story ended. They have a huge fight and break up before Yi-jin moves to New York as their relationship starts to fizzle. However, they realize that their love was much more and hug each other before parting ways for good. Hee-do’s husband is never revealed as ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One' was the story about her first love, Yi-jin. And quite to everyone’s predictions, Yi-jin did not die.

Unfortunately, we do not see Yi-jin's older self who was rumored to be played by K-drama favorite, Gong Yoo. ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One' ends with Hee-do and Yi-jin writing in the former’s diary, the things they wished that they had said when they broke up. But in the epilogue, we see the back of an older Yi-jin who is trying to log into his work email and has forgotten his password. One of the security questions happens to be the name of his first love. Without hesitation, he types in Na Hee-do.

'It's just life'

Many fans were upset as they wanted a happy ending where the main couple ends up together. However, others found this realistic take on first love refreshing. One fan tweeted, “The villain in this story: time. Neither of them is the bad guy. For Heedo, it was the sinking feeling of not being a priority. For Yijin, it’s the endless work. They aren’t falling apart bc of  bad character traits. It’s just life.” Another posted, “2521 is an indication of how we, as teenagers, thought that everything we had atm will last forever BUT feelings, people, weather, things, and trends change. nothing is ever certain. all we know is we just had to live in the moment.” One fan added, “They may have not ended with each other but there's no denying that what they had was special and beautiful.”

'Who is the father?'

Meanwhile, many joked about Hee-do’s mysterious husband, “TVN JUST TELL US WHO IS THE FATHER JUST TELL US STOP THIS MESS JUST TELL US ALREADY UGH.” Another made a reaction meme, “#TwentyFiveTwentyOne plot be like #TwentyFiveTwentyOneEp15.” One summed up the ending, “So this is why it is titled Twenty Five Twenty One. It's not “they fell in love at 25 and 21” it's “their story ends at 25 and 21”.” One fan was sad that Yi-jin and Hee-do did not end up together, “How do you make a STRONG lead couple, each facing THEIR OWN hardship but overcoming it, and yet they can’t overcome the smallest bump in their relationship but everyone else who has a LDR can?! 👏🏻MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.” Another said, “It's time to burn tvn.”

All episodes of 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' can be watched on Netflix.