Dear X is quickly proving to be one of the best K-dramas of 2025, and though we’re only halfway through, the webtoon’s dark ending gives clues as to where the story might be headed.
The new TV show centers on Baek Ah-jin (Kim Yoo-jung), a sociopath with a dark past who leverages her charm and beauty to climb her way to the top. At her side is Yoon Jun-seo (Kim Young-dae), her childhood friend who will stop at nothing to help her.
In Dear X Part 3, we may see Jun-seo starting to wake up to Ah-jin’s tactics. Even though we’ll have to wait for the next batch of episodes to drop, the K-drama is closely based on Vanziun’s original webtoon, which may hold the key to what’s coming next.
The webtoon reveals just how far Ah-jin’s manipulations will go and how her story ends. Still, the TV adaptation has already made some changes, and with Vanziun co-writing the script, just know that the finale could go in an entirely new direction. Even so, be warned: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
How does Dear X end?
In the Dear X webtoon’s chilling finale, Ah-jin loses everything – her fame, beauty, and power – yet still wins the only game that matters to her: getting revenge on Jun-seo.
Up until now in the K-drama adaptation, we’ve learned all about Ah-jin’s troubled past, and how it contributed to her sociopathy. Her step brother Yoon Jun-seo and friend Kim Jae-oh (Kim Do-hoon) will stop at nothing to help her, but they’re just two pawns in Ah-jin’s chessboard.
Along the way, Ah-jin meets countless bullies, including her own father Baek Seon-gyu (Bae Soo-bin). At first, it might seem like she just lays back and takes it, but Ah-jin is simply playing the long game, sometimes executing plans that are years in the making.
After graduating from school, she manipulates her boss Choi Jeong-ho (Kim Ji-hoon) into helping to kill her dad, and he ends up taking the fall for it. Even during her teens, she manages to destroy the life of her high school rival, Shim Sung-hee (Kim Yi-kyung).
Eventually, Ah-jin makes a name for herself as an actress and model, using idol Heo In-gang (Hwang In-youp) as a “stepping stone” for her career. When figures from Ah-jin’s past come back to haunt her, Jun-seo and Jae-oh step in once more to help her.
However, by the end of Dear X Episode 6, it looks like Jun-seo is waking up to the darkness beneath Ah-jin’s charm. While we’ll have to wait and see how the K-drama adapts the next chapters, what we do know is that the webtoon takes an even darker turn.
After In-gang’s grandmother dies, Ah-jin abandons him and leaks footage of him striking her during a breakdown, ruining his reputation. The scandal spirals, ending in In-gang’s suicide and leaving his younger brother to brand Ah-jin as a monster.
As she continues climbing the ranks, she sets her sights on Moon Do-hyuk, a wealthy man who can provide the resources she needs to stay on top. She finds out that he divorced his ex-wife as she couldn’t provide him with a child and heir (despite the fact that he’s the one who’s infertile).
In a bid to keep him, Ah-jin decides to break the news that Jun-seo’s biological father isn’t who he thinks he is, knowing it will put him in a vulnerable place. She then drugs Do-hyuk, goes to Jun-seo’s place to “comfort” him, and has sex with him, thereby getting pregnant.
But she doesn’t stop there: Ah-jin falsifies paternity test results in order to make Do-hyuk think the baby is his. Even though he finds out the truth, he wants to stay with Ah-jin anyway, relishing the fact that she’s as ruthless as he is.
Later, after Jun-seo wakes up to Ah-jin’s true nature, he helms a best-selling novel-turned-documentary that exposes her crimes, sparking the downfall of her reputation.
She flees to Hong Kong with Jae-oh where they open a bar and raise her and Jun-seo’s child. But one day, Ah-jin abandons Jae-oh and her daughter for another wealthy and powerful man.
The man’s daughter doesn’t like Ah-jin, so much so that she eventually pushes Ah-jin down the stairs of their mansion, leaving her horribly disfigured. Now, not only is her reputation ruined, but her perfect, angelic appearance will never be restored.
Jae-oh tells the whole story to Jun-seo, before asking if he wants to meet their child. “I think so,” he replies, and so Jae-oh gives him a letter, saying, “Ah-jin wanted me to give you this if you wanted to meet the kid.”
Ah-jin finalizes her revenge against Jun-seo
Later, at a meet-and-greet for Jun-seo’s next book, a young girl comes up to him asking for a signing. She says it’s for her mom, and when pressed for the name, she reveals it’s none other than Ah-jin.
In shock, he signs the book and the girl walks away. But Jun-seo realizes it must be her, and so he runs out, only to see the back of Ah-jin and their daughter walking away.
It’s at this point that we find out what Ah-jin’s letter really said. “If you’re reading this now, it must mean that I was successful in exacting my revenge,” it reads.
“Ever since the day you shoved me into that deep, dark pit, I have been thinking of you often. I wondered how I could exact my revenge, and what would make you suffer the most. Because, after all, it would only be fair for me to be able to punish you for your crimes, just as you punished me for mine, right?
“If the reason you ruined me was because of our child, I will use the same weapon to ruin you. So, Jun-seo, if you ever run into our child some day, somewhere, don’t let her find out who you are. I never told our child about your existence. You don’t exist in our world, and you never will…
“But in yours, we will always be with you, every breath, every step. You will never be able to forget me, and you will have to live always wondering where she is.
“You won’t ever have the chance to tell her that you’re her father. You’ll live and die missing her. And that’s how I will live and breathe in your consciousness. I will never stop. Remember, Jun-seo, I will always be with you.”
The letter exposes the full extent of Ah-jin’s sociopathy, and how she uses love as punishment. Her revenge isn’t violence or death – it’s a wound that never heals.
Whether the Dear X series will take the same direction is yet to be seen, but one thing’s for certain: Ah-jin is one woman you don’t want to see scorned.
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