From ‘Squid Game’ to ‘Uncontrollably Fond’: K-drama deaths that broke our hearts

In a series where death is the norm and fan favourites are not spared, the death of Player 120 still left viewers reeling, prompting online tributes from those moved by her bravery. It’s hard not to root for Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), the transgender Special Forces soldier admired as much for her elite fighting skills as she is for her compassion, and harder still not to mourn her death deeply.

No doubt Players 120, 149 and 222 made a great team in Squid Game. More than survival skills, it was their deep concern for each other that made them formidable. It was also what made their characters memorable and clear crowd favourites. But kindness is never rewarded in the games, and no amount of fan love could save them from their demise.

Kang Sae-byeok’s (Hoyeon) story and death were so impactful, she served as Gi-hun’s moral anchor in Season 3, appearing to him in visions to remind him of his humanity. Her reason for joining the game in the first place—to bring the family she left behind in North Korea across the border—was noble. Her determination and vulnerability won the hearts and sympathy of audiences, making her a fan-favourite character. All these reasons made her death all the more heartbreaking and difficult to swallow.

Ji-yeong (Lee Yoo-mi), introduced as an outsider in the games, forms an unexpected and strong bond with Sae-byeok. In a place where friendship is the last thing you can expect to find, Ji-yeong proves the exception, sacrificing herself during the Marble Game to give Sae-byeok a chance at survival. Her death serves as one of the most heartbreaking acts of selfless love and friendship in the entire series.

Sweet and naïve Ali (Anupam Tripathi) joined the games after being taken advantage of by his employer. When he teams up with Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), whom he trusted and admired, he has no idea that his loyalty would be rewarded with betrayal. Exploited for his innocence and kindness, inside and outside of the games, his death hit viewers hard.

The bittersweet romance between Shin Jun-young (Kim Woo-bin), a popular actor with an incurable brain tumour, and Noh Eul (Bae Suzy), a producer tasked with creating a documentary about his life and career, is probably one of the earliest K-traumas for many fans. The scene where, as the end draws near, Jun-young places his head on Noh Eul’s shoulders is always heartbreaking, no matter how many times you have seen the K-drama.

The romance between terminally ill rookie actress Lee Da-eum (Jeon Yeo-been) and film director Lee Je-ha (Namkoong Min) is the slowest of slow burns. Her days are numbered, and the clock is ticking. They don’t have much time to play that will-they-or-won’t-they game, but that’s what makes their love story more poignant and bittersweet. The ending is tragic (this is a melodrama, after all), but it reminds viewers that love is worth the risk because of—and not despite—the possibility of loss.

See also: From ‘Vincenzo’ to ‘Our Movie’: every K-drama and movie to watch if you’re a Jeon Yeo-been fan

Whoever said “first love never dies” has probably never seen 20th Century Girl. Before Byeon Woo-seok spent 16 episodes meeting his demise again and again in Lovely Runner, he broke hearts in this coming-of-age film about first love and the heartbreak of loss.

For Poong Woon-ho (Byeon Woo-seok) and Na Bo-ra (Kim Yoo-jung), it’s all young love and promises of forever until circumstances tear them apart, and Woon-ho’s sudden silence leads Bo-ra to believe she has been ghosted. It’s not until years later that she learns the painful truth of why she never heard from him again. Woon-ho’s video message for Bo-ra at the end of the film? Absolutely gut-wrenching.

Hae-jo’s (Woo Do-hwan) cynicism, born from being abandoned as a child, is challenged when he receives an incurable diagnosis. He decides to grab life by the horns, embarking on a chaotic road trip to find his biological father, and “kidnapping” his ex-girlfriend Jo Jae-mi (Lee Yoo-mi) on her wedding day to force her to accompany him. This desperate final quest unexpectedly blossoms into a poignant discovery of found family and acceptance. It was bittersweet and resonated so deeply that it left viewers hoping for a miracle cure until the very last frame.

The fact that the K-drama was set in 1980, amidst the turbulent Gwangju Uprising, may have clued fans in on how Kim Myung-hee (Go Min-si) and Hwang Hee-tae’s (Lee Do-hyun) love story would end, but it did not make it any less tragic. That’s partly thanks to powerful storytelling and the undeniable chemistry the two leads brought to life on the screen. From their meet-cute to their courtship to their final moments together, Go Min-si and Lee Do-hyun gave audiences a love story worth rooting for and, in the end, mourning.

Like Youth of May, Snowdrop features another ill-fated romance, this time between university student Eun Yeong-ro (Blackpink’s Jisoo) and North Korean spy Lim Soo-ho (Jung Hae-in). When your loyalties lie on different sides of the DMZ, it is hard to imagine a relationship working out (Crash Landing on You is the outlier). Yet Jisoo and Jung Hae-in’s chemistry makes their romance compelling, which only makes the tragic ending even more devastating.

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