We are sad to know that we will no longer get to see our favorite bromance every week on screen. Episodes 11 and 12 are the last episodes of “Divorce Attorney Shin,” and they have neatly wrapped up all the conflicts of the season. To be honest, not a single one of the cases was too complicated. But we have realized that it was never about them. It was about Sung Han, Jeong Sik, and Hyeong Geun’s friendship. We laughed with them, and they made us see how a good friend is the best thing one could ask for in the toughest of times. This is how the finale episodes of “Divorce Attorney Shin” wrap up.
‘Divorce Attorney Shin’ Story So Far
Shin Sung Han was a successful pianist before he decided to leave it all behind for a career in law. His reason: he wanted the custody of his nephew. His sister, Shin Ju Hwa, was married to Jeong Guk. He divorced her to marry Jin Yeong Ju, an insecure and possessive woman who wanted to retain custody of Gi Yeong. The excuse she gives is that she wants no outside interference in the family, but it is only recently that we have come to know that it all might have something to do with the assets of Daenam Electronics. She fears that if Gi Yeong’s custody goes to Shin Sung Han, he will have control over his share of the assets, and she won’t be able to usurp them for herself and her daughter. But Shin Sung Han is determined to fight for custody. He also has to occasionally face Park Yu Seok, a corrupt attorney who originally fought Ju Hwa’s case but sold out to Yeong Ju and has since been employed in her firm.
Throughout this ordeal, Shi Sug Ha’s biggest supporters have been his best friends Jag Hyeog Geun and Jo Jeong Sik, along with his staff members and a recent hire, Lee Seo Jin, for whom he won a case in the recent past. Seo Jin has been meaning to get back to her radio job and has started live streaming in the meantime. But coming back to the crux of the matter, Gi Yeong comes to visit Sung Han in tears, asking him to fight for him. This is what happens from thereon.
Lee Seo Jin’s Radio Job
Lee Seo Jin has found success in her live-streaming venture, but one of her seniors at her previous workplace let her know that she could make a comeback to the radio if she wanted to. Since her live streaming is a success, the radio people want her back and have given her a 4-person slot. Lee Seo Jin is overjoyed but is still cautious as nothing is confirmed yet. She speaks with him about what he thinks of her return to radio, and he is enthusiastic. However, Lee Seo Jin is still not completely confident about going on, and Hyeon U tells her to keep strong. This is what she remembers when she reads some particularly nasty comments on her next live-streaming session, and she gives it back to the person appropriately enough.
On the other hand, she wants to withhold from going back to the show yet, as she believes that she should be with Sung Han in his tougher times as he had been there for her. She doesn’t say anything about it to him and just continues with her job. However, Ho Yong cries in front of Sung Han because she feels bad that Seo Jin is risking such an opportunity. Honestly, this scene was a bit much, and we laughed. The look on Sung Han’s face clearly showed that he had been cornered by something he did not even ask for. Either way, towards the end of “Divorce Attorney Shin” Episode 12, Seo Jin goes back to her old radio job at the 4 PM slot. Though it is not even hinted at in the series, maybe Sung Han can ask out Seo Jin someday when they are both ready, and it will be quite the pairing for the next chapter of their lives.
Jun Hui’s Case
Jun Hui was the troll who was leaving hurtful comments on Seo Jin’s live streams in “Divorce Attorney Shin” Episode 10. After learning about her family situation, Seo Jin and Choi Jun decide to help her. They go to her grandmother’s restaurant, and some interesting revelations come to light. Jun Hui’s mother had run away with another man and opened a restaurant with him. That restaurant used the grandmother’s recipe for “corn sujebi,” which was a grand success. Meanwhile, Jun Hui’s father had passed away, and her mother refused to make the child support payments to the extent that Jun Hui had to drop out of school. Choi Jun and Seo Jin decide to file a case for child support, but cases like that often take very long, and it might be too late to help Jun Hui if that happened.
When Choi Jun is cracking his head over it, he is given a suggestion by Sung Han. Jun Hui’s mother is taking advantage of the fact that child support cases take a long time to resolve. Therefore, it is better to take the bull by its horns and find her weakness, which they both deduce must be the recipe. Since the grandmother’s recipe was never patented, she can’t sue her in court over its use, but if the story of Jun Hui’s abandonment ever got out, the court of public opinion might just boycott the mother’s restaurant business. Choi Jun visits their restaurant and lays down these facts before them, pointing out how their claim to the recipe is weak since it comes from the grandmother’s hometown. Understanding the new dynamics of the situation, the mother agrees to pay child support while also covering the past payments.
The First Hearing Of The Trial
Shin Ju Hwa’s death was caused by an accident when she was hit by a vehicle in front of a convenience store. Right before the accident, she had received a particularly cruel call from Yeong Ju, asking her to leave Gi Yeong’s life. In the present day, when Gi Yeong comes crying to Shin Sung Han, it is because the driver, Mr. Jang, has been fired by Yeong Ju. Mr. Jang had been the last person who Gi Yeong believed he could count on, and his leaving was devastating for Gi Yeong. Sung Han talks privately with Mr. Jang, and he comes to know that Gi Yeong has been binge eating convenience store food and has exhibited signs of depression. Mr. Jang had informed Yeong Ju about this, and that is why he was getting fired. Knowing this, Sung Han files a suit for Gi Yeong’s parents’ termination of parental rights over him. Since he is fighting that case, he takes a closer look at the divorce suit of Ma Geum Hee and feels that there might be something bigger going on that he is unaware of. He has already negotiated for her to get 27% of the assets, and he now asks her to let him leave the case.
But a particular incident causes him to change his mind. Jeong Sik has always carried the guilt of being the one to introduce Ju Hwa to Yu Seok. Therefore, he is trying to help Sung Han in any and every way he can. This makes him take the rather unwise step of following Gi Yeong’s new chauffeur. When he is caught, Yeong Ju blasts at Sung Han, and among the other hurtful things she says, she asks him why he has been provoking Geum Hee. According to her, Geum Hee is a person who has donated most of her wealth. Therefore, Yeong Ju cannot fathom why she is demanding 50% of the assets now.
As angry as Sung Han is, this sets him thinking, and he meets Geum Hee to talk about this. Sung Han understands that Geum Hee wants the money to secure Gi Yeong’s assets. He wonders why she is favoring her grandson over her own children, and Geum Hee replies that it is because Ju Hwa was no less than a daughter to her, and she has loved her like one. Protecting Gi Yeong was her way of protecting what remained of Ju Hwa. Knowing this, Shin Sung Han changes tactics. He tells the Chairman that since he doesn’t want a divorce and Geum Hee only wants one to protect Gi Yeong, he should transfer the assets to her while they are still married, and she will drop the suit. The Chairman agrees, but he lets Sung Han know that his attorneys will come at him with all their might for Gi Yeong’s case.
There are a few other things that happen in the meantime. Yeong Ju confronts Geum Hee regarding her hatred for her, and Geum Hee reveals that she overheard the phone call Yeong Ju had made to Ju Hwa before the latter died. On the other hand, Yeong Ju pays off Yu Seok with a cafe as severance pay so that he would keep his silence about his tampering with evidence in Ju Hwa’s case. On the day of the trial, Sung Han successfully proves that Gi Yeong’s depression had been neglected by his father and his stepmother. He even gets Yu Seok on the witness stand and makes it clear that he must have been a corrupt lawyer who tampered with Ju Hwa’s case, but Yu Seok is stubborn and doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing. However, the trial does not end in Sung Han’s favor as the lawyers point out that Sung Han could not guarantee that he could provide a better home for his nephew’s upbringing than his parents could.
After The First Hearing
Sung Han and Jeong Guk have a tough talk, and Sung Han questions why the latter keeps turning a blind eye to his son’s suffering. Jeong Guk is unable to reply to that because it is true that he has never really made a decision for himself and has just let things happen around him. Sung Han tells Jeong Guk that even if he loses the case, he will keep fighting again and again until he wins it, or at least to show Gi Yeong that he is not alone in the world. Later, Jeong Guk asks his mother what Yeong Ju told Ju Hwa in that phone call. Geum Hee had been holding back because she did not want to ruin her son’s relationship, but after he specifically asked her, she let him know everything. On the other hand, Geum Hee decides to go ahead with the divorce anyway. She initially decides to go back to Hawaii to live separately from her husband as before, but the burden of her life is getting to her, and she wants to separate from him.
‘Divorce Attorney Shin’ Ending Explained: What Finally Happens To Gi Yeong And Sung Han?
At the hearing, Sung Han doesn’t have much of a case, but he tries to talk about how it would affect Gi Yeong to grow up in a negative environment. When Jeong Guk offers to come to the witness stand despite having initially refused, it looks like there might be hope again. Jeong Guk reveals that he had gotten Ju Hwa’s psychiatric reports after having been told about them by Yu Seok, thus proving that the latter had indeed been a corrupt lawyer. Sung Han questions him on how Gi Yeong would feel in his later years, knowing that his own father had behaved this way with his mother. Following this testimony, the court grants custody to Sung Han and limits Jeong Guk’s parental rights.
At the end of “Divorce Attorney Shin,” Jeong Guk tells Yeong Ju that he knows that she would have preferred total termination of his rights so that Gi Yeong would be excluded from the family. He wants nothing to do with her and decides that he will be with her only for their daughter’s sake and nothing else. Following this, Yeong Ju also backtracks on her promise to Yu Seok to give him the cafe. As for the others, Geum Hee is working on the separation, and Gi Yeong is finally happy, living with his uncle. Meanwhile, Hyeong Geun is going on a Europe trip with his lady love, So Yeon, and our favorite couple is taking things forward. Everyone is happy, and the series ends with Sung Han drinking wine in a paper cup outside a convenience store with his friends.
Final Thoughts
As we said before, at the heart of it, “Divorce Attorney Shin” is a bromance and one that we have loved watching. The three main protagonists have worked with effortless chemistry, and that remains our favorite quality for any relationship we see on screen. Repeating what we said in one of our previous articles, this series deserves a lot more hype, and we hope that it gets that soon. Maybe one of the BTS members could watch it while live streaming on Weverse, and that will make people tune in.
