Buried Hearts’ ending might as well get on a list of the most disappointing K-drama endings of all time. The Park Hyung-Shik starrer completely derailed in the last two episodes, in my opinion, and maybe if it had just been some mindless action like the beginning, it might’ve been better. I understand that the real message the show is trying to give us is that revenge really isn’t rewarding in any way, kind of like that one TV show we used to watch when we were younger called Revenge? I don’t know; at least, that’s what I remember it being. The concept was great, but the last two episodes made it stale bread. Having said that, I won’t waste any more time, let’s jump straight into everything that happened at the end of Buried Hearts. At the time of writing this, nothing’s been confirmed, but I will also explore some theories for a potential second season.
Spoiler Alert
What Happened To Yeom?
Buried Hearts’ finale jumps from a few days after Yeom’s disappearance to an entire year after he dropped off the grid. During this time, a whole lot changes within Daesan. For one, Dongju becomes the CEO of Daesan Energy, and Eunnam becomes a director on the board. On the other hand, Gukhui leads a new sub-company called Daesan Volt, and Taeyun is sent to work under her and learn the ropes. Meanwhile, Seonu is sent off to school so he’ll be capable of taking over Daesan after Dongju. Suddenly, after one year has passed, it looks like the Chairman’s dead, but he’s just taken a back seat because Dongju’s in charge of everything. Things seem to be running smoothly, and even Gukhui is happy because her subsidiary might go public soon. But something still seems very off.
It’s hinted that Yeom is in the vault at the beginning of the episode when Dongju leaves a hamburger parcel in there randomly. Later, when Seonu wants to have a look inside the vault, Dongju hesitates in opening it, which makes Seonu upset, but he pretends he’s totally okay that his dad trusts Dongju more than him. At this time, Dongju doesn’t let Seonu go inside the vault, and it’s finally revealed that Dongju had prepared a secret room in the vault for Yeom as part of his revenge plan.
The only thing Dongju really wants from Yeom is to take all of his fortune away from him. Back when Ildo shot Dongju, he decided his revenge would be taking every last bit of Yeom and Ildo’s fortune from them. Dongju did inherit all of Ildo’s stuff, but with Yeom, he needs him to hand it over voluntarily. Dongju doesn’t want to kill the guy or anything; he simply wants one signature that’ll finish his revenge plan. On the other hand, he also visits Yeom’s wife, who is moving out of the hanok house and going to make it a home for orphans like Dongju. She says the house never felt better than when Dongju was there as a child. It took me a long time to realize that Yoem and his wife don’t have their own kids. I have a feeling she looks at Dongju almost as her own child. That’s why she wanted to tell him that she knew him as a kid.
Yeom told Dongju that the highest he’d ever be in the world would be number one to be fed amongst the goldfish. Basically, he mocked him for never being able to become so powerful that he would be able to be above Yeom. However, Yeom would rather die in his own home than in that vault, where if Dongju died, nobody would be able to find Yeom. Dongju only fed Yom hamburgers because the man had always had a traditional mindset, making his wife cook elaborate meals for him every day and always eating traditional Korean food. Dongju doesn’t just deprive him of socio-political activities; he strips away his identity too, which eventually leads to Yeom giving up, signing his fortune over to Dongju, and going to prison for Ildo’s murder. At the end of the show, Yeom’s being moved to a new prison (possibly), but it is implied that he’s still in cahoots with Seonu. But by this time, Dongju’s finished everything he needed to do to take his revenge, so he’s left hollow on the inside, with no reason to live. He finally decides to take a long break from Daesan and possibly the real world, leaving Eunnam alone too.
Is Taeyun dead?
The biggest shock in Buried Hearts’ ending is Seonu killing Taeyun with one little push off the same wall they were just sitting and drinking coffee on. I did say Seonu would do something stupid, but I didn’t expect it to be so close to the end of the final episode, which is what makes me think there will be another season. What’s worse is that Taeyun never wanted to be in the business and only did it for his grandfather’s love and affection. With Taeyun dead, Deokhui understandably goes crazy, but Gukhui is also left confused and a little bit sad. By the end of the show, Dongju doesn’t even know that Taeyun is dead and Seonu has taken over the company, while the Chairman’s gone truly senile.
Are Eunnam and Dongju still together?
The worst thing left open-ended on the show is that Eunnam and Dongju are separated, and he doesn’t take her along on his “break.” I suppose this isn’t a romantic show, though in the beginning, it definitely looked like that’s what it was banking on. Dongju gives Eunnam the vault password, which makes her realize what’s really going on. But, instead of stopping him, she drops him off to sail off into the distance, just like the painting she’d once been working on at his house.
Is Dongju Dead?
In Buried Hearts’ ending, Dongju scatters his father’s ashes in the sea just as Ildo had requested. We get a montage from the show and how Dongju finally did everything he’d wished to do but still remains unhappy, or maybe even worse than where he began. In the end, Dongju doesn’t know that Taeyun is dead and that Seonu and his mom have taken over Daesan. But more importantly, as he’s watching the sea and sitting with the same gun that his dad shot him with more than once, I almost expected him to shoot himself, but I don’t think he’ll go through with it. Specifically because Yeom’s wife told him that his mother almost “went into doing the wrong job” before thinking about Dongju and not doing it. Yeom’s wife told Dongju to keep living with the thought of his deceased mum, so I guess he must still be alive, in the middle of nowhere.
What Can We Expect From Season 2?
Dongju’s given Eunnam the vault password, which is the most important detail that makes me think there’ll be a season 2. If Eunnam doesn’t give Seonu and his mom access to the vault, they’ll never have what they came there for in the first place. While painting at the end of the show, Eunnam has a ring on, but in the voiceover, she tells Dongju that he doesn’t have to come back any time soon. What I can definitely expect from Buried Hearts season 2 is that the family will come together for the sake of Taeyun and their family legacy to try and overturn Seonu. In the absence of Dongju, I wonder if Eunnam will have taken over Daesan Energy. In the end, we can expect a full-on face-off. We also don’t know what Dongju plans on doing with the funds, maybe hand them over to the kids staying at the hanok (I’m just kidding).
