See You In My 19th Life has come to an end, and we’re sad that we can’t look forward to seeing a shy Ahn Bo-Hyun get rattled by a forward Shin Hye-Sun any longer. The 11th episode had to be the most dramatic of them all, and Shin Hye-Sun proves again that she’s incredible at crying on screen (Looking at you “Angel’s Last Mission: Love”). A lot of questions still remain at the end of episode 11, and episode 12 gives us the closure we need for them all, but is it a happy ending for Seo-Ha and Ji-Eum? Let’s find out!
Spoilers AheadÂ
What Happens In The Episode?
In her first life, Ji-Eum (Su) had died beside Seo-Ha (Han-Ya) after cursing herself to remember the rage she felt, and the moment Cheon-U killed her sister for 1000s of years until she got her revenge. Seo-Ha is right by her side when she opens her eyes after remembering everything that happened in her first life. Ji-Eum concludes that Seo-Ha was always a good person. In the meantime, at the office, Cho-Won visits Ha Do-Yun to say her final goodbye, but she can’t do it. Instead, she sits by the pool and tries to write a message to him. She’s interrupted by Do-Yun, who gives her an umbrella that reminds her of the first time they met. Since he’s in front of her, she musters up the courage to give him the flowers she prepared and tells him this is goodbye. Instead of accepting it, he admits he can’t hide his feelings anymore, and even if people talk about him, he’s okay with it. Cho-Won agrees that she couldn’t care less about what others thought, and they finally get together (Ugh, that took too long, but they’re super cute, as expected).
Ji-Eum meets Min-Gi to finally confront him about the happenings of 1000 years past. He admits he’s been tormented by his foolishness from back then, which killed people and left Ji-Eum with the curse of having to remember her past lives. Now, he tries to apologize to her, and Ji-Eum teases him at first but then forgives him. Min-Gi tells Ji-Eum that she will forget all the people she’s connected with in this life that were from her past lives, meaning Seo-Ha, Ae-Gyeong, and Cho-Won, but it will save Ae-Gyeong’s life, so she’s willing to pay the price. Ji-Eum doesn’t want to forget the life she’s had with her loved ones. Elsewhere, Seo-Ha visits his uncle in prison and tells him that he should’ve taken care of his father when he lost his wife. Do-Yun is there too, and he finally gets closure for his father’s death.
A few days later, Ji-Eum watches Seo-Ha, Cho-Won, and Do-Yun visit Ae-Gyeong in the hospital. They’re all very happy and cheerful, and she feels upset that she has to forget all of this. Min-Gi informs Ji-Eum that to forget she will have to have an open heart that is willing to forget all the resentment while holding the bells at the bridge and saying four words. When Ji-Eum is leaving Min-Gi’s office, she starts to cry, thinking about all her fond memories. Out of the blue, Seo-Ha grabs her hand and makes a run for it, just as she had done when she was 9 and then later when Seo-Ha had a panic attack in the market. They play a game of basketball, so she forgets her sadness as their memories unfold visually for us (you know, the montage for the last episode).
Seo-Ha promises Ji-Eum that he will be by her side even if she forgets everything. He promises he’ll be the one to come to her this time, just the way she found him, and he’ll bring Ae-Gyeong and Cho-Won along too. He gives Ji-Eum a couple’s ring as a promise. At night, Ji-Eum meets Cho-Won and has dinner with her sister and her mom from Ju-Won’s life. Ji-Eum spends some time in her old room, and when Cho-Won’s mother finds her, they talk about Ju-Won. Ji-Eum is curious why the room has been left the same way, and Cho-Won’s mother says it’s because Ju-Won had promised she’d come back, unbeknownst to the fact that she’s talking to her. Ji-Eum gives her a hug, and they sit that way for a little while, feeling some sort of closure.
Finally, Ji-Eum goes to the bridge with the bells and shuts her eyes. She’s taken into a dream-like state where she meets herself from her first life. Su asks Ji-Eum if she’s happy now, and Ji-Eum says she is. “Things are good now” is what she says when she’s said her goodbyes in her head and opens her eyes. We then shift to what seems like a few days later, where we see her as an engineer for the MI group again. Now it’s time for Seo-Ha to be the one with the memories.
Does Seo-Ha Succeed In Reminding Ji-Eum Of Their Love?
Seo-Ha makes a plan to bring Ji-Eum back to the hotel so they can meet again “naturally.” She’s been called to be a marketer, even though she’s an engineer. She agrees to do it just this one time. In the meantime, she’s out shopping, and Cho-Won “finds” her there. Cho-Won tells Ji-Eum (who thinks she’s a complete stranger) that a particular bag would look really good on her. Ji-Eum goes along with her and agrees. Their interaction gives the feeling that they know each other, but Cho-Won is a total stranger to Ji-Eum.
Finally, they exchange cards, but before leaving, Cho-Won tells Ji-Eum to go to a kimchi soup place just around the corner. Ji-Eum actually does visit the restaurant, and it’s Ae-Gyeong’s restaurant. Seo-Ha passes her some tissues there and tells her that she’s just as clumsy as before. Ji-Eum is completely baffled at this strange man telling her these random things, but he leaves before she can make anything out of it. She loves Ae-Gyeong’s soup, and Ae-Gyeong tells her to come often and even take Kimchi with her on weekends.
What is supposed to be a meeting turns out to be a kind of date. At the end of the episode, Seo-Ha introduces himself to Ji-Eum and pulls the same trick on her that she did on him when they first met. Seo-Ha tells Ji-Eum that he will ask her out three times, and if she says no on the third, then he’ll give up on her.
We don’t know for sure that Seo-Ha can convince Ji-Eum to be with him, but there are other things to consider too. As we know, Ji-Eum was such an interesting character because she had her past lives to rely on for her exciting personality. She had many tricks up her sleeves, but now would Seo-Ha still like her the same? We’re not so sure. At the same time, will they remind her of everything they went through together? If they do, then Ji-Eum might be tied down by the obligation to continue staying by their side. Additionally, we can assume Ji-Eum thinks she’s spent her whole life with her family because she has no memory of moving away to Ae-Gyeong’s house. We can just hope for the best for Seo-Ha and Ji-Eum. As with any kind of time travel story, we can apply similar theories to past lives and consider the fact that if Ji-Eum forgot everything, why didn’t the rest of them? At least in this life, things would’ve turned out differently for Ji-Eum, so those memories of her living with Ae-Gyeong would be completely void. Maybe not thinking too much about it is the best way to go and see it as a happy ending!
