In episode 14 of “Twenty Five Twenty One,” Yu Rim changes her nationality and moves to Russia because she needs money to pay off her parents’ debts. Yu Rim is being painted as a traitor in Korea, and Yi Jin was the one who first reported it. Years later, Yi Jin is seen as a news anchor congratulating Hee Do on her gold medal and marriage. How did Yi Jin and Hee Do’s relationship fall apart? Let’s find out what happened in the final episodes of “Twenty Five Twenty One.”
See More: ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ Episode 13 & 14: Recap And Ending – Why Does Yu Rim Change Her Nationality?
Where Does Yi Jin Get Transferred From the Sports Department?
After the incident with Yu Rim, Yi Jin has been devastated. He starts wondering how he got into this career. He didn’t expect that he would have to hurt someone so close to him for the sake of his profession. He is scared that he will hurt Hee Do someday too. Yi Jin tells Hee Do’s mom that he doesn’t want to become a sports reporter, but he wants to become a news anchor just like her. This is followed by his confession of dating her daughter, Hee Do. One does not become an anchor overnight. Yi Jin has now been transferred from the sports department to the local news department as it rules the newsroom. He has a long way to go, but he is out of sports for now. He did it to avoid hurting Hee Do in the future, with no idea that this transfer was going to hurt them more than the slight possibility of it happening in the sports department.
Yu Rim has been adjusting well in Russia and keeps in touch with her friends through emails. Ji Woong had promised to visit her in Russia, and he kept his promise. After a tough phase, Yu Rim’s life is getting back on track again. For the fencing world championship, she is going to represent Russia as a defending fencing champion. With that, the reporters twist her words against Hee Do, which makes Koreans hate her even more, and their expectations from Hee Do increase. Yu Rim stopped replying to Hee Do’s emails before the tournament because she could not talk about her practice sessions with her anymore. Hee Do has also been focusing on Yu Rim as a competitor rather than her friend. However, Hee Do ends up winning the gold medal, and the two friends finally reunite with no hard feelings.
Yi Jin has been transferred to the local news, and he is busier than ever. Hee Do has been training as well, and they have been struggling to find a time when they’re both free. A local news reporter has a busy schedule every day compared to a sports reporter. Yi Jin couldn’t even attend the dinner with Hee Do and her mom as her boyfriend. They wanted to celebrate Hee Do’s gold medal win together. To make up for it, Yi Jin plans a trip for just the two of them and visits the night market to buy a “couple luggage” with Hee Do. However, on the day of the trip, Hee Do comes back home alone because Yi Jin is being sent to New York to cover the 9/11 incident. That’s when Yi Jin’s short trip to New York turns into a 6-month long stay, and that’s when the distance between Hee Do and Yi Jin starts growing.
See More: Character of Yi Jin, Hee Do, Yu Rim, Ji Woong, & Ji Seung Wan In ‘Twenty Five Twenty One,’ Explained
What Is Hee Do’s Biggest Regret?
Hee Do always leads Yi Jin to a better place. She always rooted for him and wanted him to do his best. It was a big pushing force for Yi Jin whenever he felt down. News reporting in New York was by far the most challenging task Yi Jin had to do in his career. It opens his eyes to a different world and makes him feel hopeless. He starts drinking and smoking to cope with a hard time. He has nothing good to speak with Hee Do about, and their calls are slowly being reduced. After spending 6 months in New York, he applied for the position of correspondent because he felt it was the right thing to do. He is accepted and becomes the youngest correspondent in the history of UBS. Yi Jin keeps growing in his career, but that means he has to leave Korea now.
Yi Jin returns to Korea, only to pack his belongings and move to New York. Hee Do, and he had already fought on the call, and their relationship was already in shambles. He doesn’t know how to face Hee Do and talk to her. To solve his problem, their couple bags finally come into play. Hee Do returns from her tournament on the same day, and their bags get interchanged at the airport. They had to meet to get their own bags, and that’s when they broke up. Hee Do tells Yi Jin how she felt, and Yi Jin had seen it coming. They don’t see each other again until later, when they meet for an unavoidable reason and have the worst fight they’ve ever had. The words coming out of their mouths pierce their hearts. Yi Jin wanted to reconcile with Hee Do, but their fight ended their relationship on a bad note. Hee Do left him behind, and it has been her biggest regret in life; hurting Yi Jin with words she didn’t mean and leaving him to cry alone.
Yu Rim retired from fencing and opened her own fencing club in Korea. Ji Woong now owns his own clothing business, and he finally proposes to Yu Rim for marriage after ten years of being together. Their relationship sustained the difficult times, and they made it work even when it was long distance. Seung Wan works at a TV broadcasting station, and she still finds life meaningless. After returning from New York, Yi Jin replaces Hee Do’s mom as the news anchor after she retires. He achieves his dream of being like her. Hee Do has also retired from fencing and has gotten married. Hee Do and Yi Jin had let go of their grudges when they talked for the last time before Yi Jin left for the USA, and they had never seen each other after that.
‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Just Your Existence Make Me Shine
It is painful to see two people who were each other’s heart and soul part ways, but that’s how it happens sometimes. When Yi Jin and Hee Do were in the very initial stage of their friendship, their love bloomed even when they were apart. They cared for each other and supported each other in hard times. As both Hee Do and Yi Jin grew up, their relationship failed to grow. They expected it to stay the same when they weren’t the same people anymore. Yi Jin understood this fact more than Hee Do, but miscommunication, misunderstanding, and impatience took the best of their relationship. Maybe it is true that sometimes two people aren’t destined to be together. Yi Jin and Hee Do could have worked together to make their relationship work, but they gave up on it. No, they didn’t think it through, but they did what they wanted to at that moment.
Many viewers resort to Kdramas to escape from reality, but this drama slaps reality in everyone’s face. Life is not perfect, we make mistakes and regretful decisions, and life before adulthood feels like a happy illusion. “Twenty Five Twenty One” captures and combines elusive youthful days and realistic adulthood in just the right way. Hee Do gets her lost diary back in which she had written an apology to Yi Jin many years later, only to find out that Yi Jin had found it and had written an apology for her as well. Yi Jin had given it to the bookstore owner, but he had forgotten to deliver it to Hee Do. It makes Hee Do happy to know that Yi Jin read that, and she is finally able to let go of her regrets.
Season 1 ends with a heartwarming moment but leaves many questions behind. Whom did Hee Do marry, and who is Min Chae’s father? He never made an appearance on the show. Did Yi Jin ever get married, or could he not love anyone else after his first love, Hee Do? After the end credits, we see an older Baek Yi Jin make an appearance, trying to log in to some old web portal. Could this be a possible hint at season two of ‘Twenty Five Twenty One,’ where Yi Jin and Hee Do reunite? Only time can tell.
