'Why Her?' Ending Explained: Who killed Na-jung? Did Soo-jae and Chan get a happy ending?
The SBS K-drama, 'Why Her?' (Why Her) starring Seo Hyun-jin and Hwang In-yeop (Hwang In-youp) in the lead roles had been taking up the attention of K-drama fans all over the world. For some, it was Hwang In-yeop finally getting his chance to shine as the main lead while for others, it was the talented star cast composed of a strong female lead in Seo Hyun-jin or a finding an evil and menacing villain in Huh Joon-ho.
The show has been at the top of the list when it comes to viewership ratings and the finale gave fans a much-deserved conclusion. From the start of the show, 'Why Her?' has been an intense K-drama with an alleged suicide taking place in the first episode itself. With the way the K-drama ended, fans have had a lot of questions but it seems like the story was able to answer most of those with Episode 16 of 'Why Her?'.
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Who killed Park So-young?
The final episode of the show 'Why Her?' already started at a high point with Oh Soo-jae being in the middle of the second hearing of her disciplinary trial. At the trial, she is accused of manipulating her rights as a lawyer when she threatened to kill the room salon hostess Park So-young's family. Under the instructions of Choi Tae-kook, Seo Joon-myeong and Police Chief Kang Gil-joo claim that Soo-jae abetted So-young to jump off the building.
Soo-jae first uses the evidence Tae-kook's younger son, Choi Yoon-sang had stolen from his father to prove that Choi Tae-kook had murdered Park So-young. Soo-jae reveals a video clip she procured from Tae-kook's executive secretary, Ha Il-ku which shows the TK Law Firm owner, Tae-kook pushing So-young down the law firm building after she demanded five million dollars. Soo-jae claims that Tae-kook manipulated So-young into lying about being involved with Assemblyman Ahn Kang-won who was the rival of Tae-kook's friend, Assemblyman Lee In-soo.
Since So-young was pregnant with Tae-kook's child, the bar hostess was threatening the law firm owner of making his affair with her public which triggered Tae-kook to push her off the building. Ha Il-ku appears at the hearing as a witness to speak on behalf of Soo-jae and reveals that he was instructed to delete the footage but he still chose to keep it because he was worried Tae-kook would ask him to take the fall.
Who killed Jeon Na-jung?
Frustrated by the allegations against his father, Choi Joo-wan brings up Soo-jae's past when Director Baek Jin-ki had coaxed her to stop investigating the Na-jung murder case in order to save her family. Back then, Baek Jin-ki had followed Tae-kook's instructions and offered Soo-jae a permanent position at TK Law Firm to Soo-jae who was the public defender. The Na-jung murder case had convicted Kim Dong-gu (alias Gong Chan) of raping and murdering his step-sister - Jeon Na-jung.
Soo-jae accept that she let Dong-gu/Chan go to jail because of her ulterior motives but the disciplinary team point out that it could not be possible for Jin-ki to get Soo-jae a position at the firm without Tae-kook's involvement. Soo-jae states that Tae-kook wanted to dismiss the case in haste as he was the one who murdered Na-jung. Song Mi-rim, Soo-jae's defendant uses the set of fingerprints she took from Tae-kook's pen and matched it with one of the two sets of unidentified fingerprints from Jeon Na-jung's murder weapon.
Joo-wan tries to protect his father by saying that he and his friends were to blame for the murder but Soo-jae plays a video from Ha Il-ku from the scene of the crime. Secretary Ha Il-ku takes the stand again and explains that since Tae-kook often asked him to run such errands on his behalf, he filmed the incident to protect himself. He explains how Choi Joo-wan and his friends, Han Dong-o and Lee Si-hyuk had murdered Jeon Na-jung because she was a witness to their crimes.
The trio had drugged and sexually assaulted Baek Jin-ki's daughter, Kang Eun-seo and as she escaped from the house, she ran into Na-jung before fleeing away. Afraid that Na-jung would expose them, they tied her up and attempted to kill the girl. After Tae-kook arrived at their rescue, he noticed that Na-jung was still alive and killed her. The footage filmed by Il-ku showed how Tae-kook wiped his bloodied hands with the secretary's handkerchief which still had the imprints of Tae-kook's ring, the one that he still wears.
Il-ku takes the chance to apologize to Chan for all that he did wrong. The secretary eventually reveals that it was Tae-kook who had the hostess bar owner, Hong Seok-pal murdered and claims that Tae-kook made Il-ku kill No Byung-chul - the man that was made to take the fall for Na-jung's murder when Chan (Kim Dong-gu) was proven innocent.
Did Choi Tae-kook die?
Since Soo-jae had requested a public hearing, the entire event was live streamed with news reporters broadcasting the events of the trial in real-time. Tae-kook, who had been watching the trial from his cabin is shaken by Ha Il-ku's betrayal. He rushes to Il-ku's cabin and finds a letter of resignation from the secretary. Tae-kook also finds a second letter from Il-ku where the secretary claims that he was tired of working at the law firm owner's beck and call and was going to give up now that his son had passed away.
A shocked Tae-kook comes back to his offices and watches the rest of the trial unfurl where Soo-jae is glorified and he is berated. He finally gets a text message from Baek Jin-ki who tells him the meaning behind the photograph - to remind him of the place where the incident happened that night. Tae-kook is infuriated and as menacing as it can get, he goes out to get a shave from his favorite barbershop.
On his way back into TK Law Firm, he gets one last message from the police chief informing him that the cops were going to arrest him the following day. Tae-kook enters his own firm and notices how his employees were talking about him with pointing fingers and how most of the associates were leaving his firm. With the respect of his two sons and his employees out of the window, Tae-kook finally accepts defeat. He drinks himself into oblivion and swallows some pills as he calls Soo-jae.
She is with Chan when she answers the call and chats up with the law firm owner about his wrongdoings. Soo-jae calls him evil but Tae-kook states that he was doing only what was right for him but eventually passes out mid-call. She alerts the cops about Tae-kook and Joo-wan as well as the cops find him lifeless in his cabin after he had died by suicide.
Did Baek Jin-ki go to jail? What happened to the 'evil trio'?
After Tae-kook had died, like clockwork his friends betrayed him. While investigation against them is still going on, Han Seung-beom of TK Law firm is suffering damages for his deal with SP Partners' Yoon Se-pil (who was also the fiancee of Kang Eun-seo and the promised son-in-law of Baek Jin-ki). Director Han states that he had nothing to do with the trio but since there was evidence against Assemblyman In-soo, the public opinion against him has soured.
In-soo has now dedicated his life to regaining the trust of the people and has promised that he will make it back to the top, rightfully this time. Meanwhile, Baek Jin-ki who was charged with accepting a bribe while he was a judge accepts the accusations against him and requests a strong sentence to prove that the law is fair. While Baek Jin-ki is serving time, Yoon Se-pil is in charge of Kang Eun-seo in the nursing home.
Do Gong Chan and Oh Soo-jae have a happy ending?
After all that went down at TK Law Firm and after losing Jae-yi, not once but twice due to the manipulations of Tae-kook, Soo-jae finally gives up the chase to the top and starts her own small law firm. Before Tae-kook's death, as Soo-jae wondered what she was going to do with her life, Chan had promised her that he would always be by his side. Keeping his promise, Chan as well as the rest of the class sans Yoon-sang is now in the second semester of their first year of law school degree.
Soo-jae is still the professor there while Mi-rim is helping out with the Legal Clinic Center. After the end of the class, Soo-jae is leaving the University gate but it starts raining. As she starts bolting into the rain to her car, Chan appears from behind her and takes her into his umbrella as a call-back to the older episodes. The couple walks under the umbrella with Chan's arm around her shoulder as they exchange smiles with Soo-jae finally being truly happy.