Chapter 33
ON THE NIGHT OF THE LAST EPISODE’S PREMIERE, I invite Minjee and Bryan over to my apartment for a viewing party with my parents.
Minjee’s the first to arrive, and when she comes over, Mom gives her a hug and tells her “how much prettier” she’s gotten since she last came over to our place.
Minjee blushes and says, “Thank you.”
We’ve just settled down on the couch when someone knocks on the door. Mom gets up to open it, but before she can even fully open the door, Bryan bursts in with a flourish. And he’s not alone.
“Hello, everyone!” he says, dragging along a frazzled-looking boy with platinum-blond hair and round glasses. “This is Claude. Claude, meet the fam. Well, not my actual fam but you know what I mean.”
Minjee and I exchange confused looks as Claude greets us in English.
“Is he the person you’re dating?” I hiss at Bryan. “Or is he just a friend?”
“ Secretly dating,” Bryan says with a smirk. “I met Claude at a fashion show on one of my off days. He lives in France, but he comes with his parents to Seoul often.”
“ Of course you’d have a mysterious French boyfriend,” Minjee says. “The life of Bryan Yoon is never dull.”
“Shh,” he says. “It’s far too early for labels. After what happened with Hana and me, I’ve learned to take it nice and slow. ”
He waggles his eyebrows at me, and I laugh.
“I love this for you,” I say. “Live your best life.”
Our living room is definitely not big enough to comfortably fit six people, but tonight, everyone is in such good spirits that no one seems to mind. My parents sit on the couch while the rest of us settle onto the floor in front of the TV.
Mom hand-rolled kimbap that we can snack on while watching the show, and we’re all munching on those and other Korean snacks from our neighborhood grocery store as we wait for the episode to start.
“Damn, these are some of the best kimbap I’ve ever had! Thank you, Umuni!” Bryan yells, politely addressing my mom by using the Korean word for “mother.”
“You’re welcome!” Mom says. She looks dazed, as if she still can’t believe an internationally famous K-pop star like Bryan is sitting right here in our living room.
Then finally the screen goes black. Dad announces, “It’s starting!”
We all hush. No one says anything throughout the opening credits. I feel a weird, bittersweet sensation when the screen says “Last Episode” after the credits. And then, we all watch as Hyun stands on top of a hill overlooking the Royal Palace.
“Looking sharp!” Minjee says, clapping Bryan on the back. He laughs, but like the rest of us, he keeps his attention glued to the screen.
“So much has changed,” Hyun says in a voiceover. “Finally, there’s peace, but I don’t know if I can go on living like a normal high school student again.”
The show then plays a sequence of flashbacks that recaps what happened throughout the entire series.
Back when I was a viewer watching other K-dramas, I used to hate it when shows did this on the last episode—“They’re just using old footage to fill up the air time!
” I complained—but now the recap hits me differently since I can see how much I’ve changed throughout the show.
And it’s not just me. Bryan, Minjee, and even some of the supporting actors.
.. we all look so much younger in the footage from the first few episodes somehow, even though we started filming this show last fall.
So much has changed.... I repeat Hyun’s words in my thoughts. They can definitely apply to my real life, too. I take Minjee’s hand and squeeze it. She squeezes back.
The episode quickly picks up after that, with Hyun winning against the sorcerer that trapped our characters in their cycle of reincarnation. When Hyun delivers the final blow and walks off into the light, we all burst into applause for Bryan, since that’s his last scene on the show.
“That was a nice finish!” I say.
He smiles like a little kid as we all pat him on the back. Claude gives Bryan a peck on the cheek, which makes me grin.
As a voiceover, Hyun goes on to talk about how he realized that the only way to truly break the cycle is to stop making the same choices he did in his previous lives.
“Sometimes,” he says, “the people we think we’re meant to be with aren’t the ones we actually end up with, and that’s okay.”
The camera fades out to black and fades back in on my face.
As Sora, I look out into the distance, like Bryan was in the beginning of the episode. But instead of looking down at the palace, I’m looking at...
The camera slowly pans, following my gaze, the music swelling as it reaches Minjee as Danbi.
We’re both in our uniforms and look like normal high school students despite the fact that we just helped win a war against a powerful sorcerer.
A secret smile is playing on my lips, and my eyes are shining with happiness and love.
As I watch myself, I realize I wasn’t acting at all in that scene.
That’s genuinely how I look when I’m with Minjee.
It feels bizarre, like an almost out-of-body experience. Even though I’d seen myself on-screen lots of times, I’ve never had a moment when I distinctly knew I wasn’t really acting on camera.
Sora and Danbi walk along the beach, the same beach that I was once on with Bryan for one of the previous episodes.
The joyful music continues to play, blending nicely with the ebb and flow of the waves.
As Sora slips her hand into Danbi’s, Sora says quietly, “It took a long time for us to finally be together, didn’t it? ”
“Yes,” Danbi replies. “But everything leading up to this moment was worth it.”
Just before the camera fades to black, Sora leans forward and gives Danbi a kiss on her forehead. It’s not much, but it’s enough for now.
When the closing credits start playing, everyone stands up and claps.
“And we’re done!” exclaims Bryan. “Yay, us!”
Minjee, Bryan, and I get into a group hug. My parents take pictures to capture the moment.
“Congratulations!” Mom says.
She hugs me while Dad gives Bryan a pat on the back, just before Claude wraps him into a tight hug. Both Bryan and Claude get this intense look in their eyes, and I’m almost afraid they’re going to make out right in front of my parents when they burst into nervous laughter.
“I am so proud of you,” Mom tells me. “Your first show as a lead actress.”
“Yes,” Dad agrees. “It was a great finish. Congrats to all of you.”
Almost immediately, our phones start buzzing with notifications. I check social media and see that we’re trending #1 in the Korean entertainment news.
Fated Destiny Delivers Unexpected Twist in Final Episode
Fated to Be Without a Prince? Recapping the Last Episode of Fated Destiny
What Happened to Bryan? A Discussion on How a Show’s Top Star Didn’t End Up with Either of the Girls, and How This May Be the Better, Braver Choice
Aside from the news, the audience’s reactions are pure chaos. People are either screaming about “history being made” or bemoaning what they see as a sign of the end of the world.
Bryan laughs at some of the reactions. “Well, it looks like we did it. Everyone’s rocked to the core about the ending.”
“Hey, buzz is buzz,” I say, repeating the words Sophia told me a long time ago. “Good or bad, the studio will get the viewership numbers they want.”
In the end, that argument is how I convinced the higher-ups to get on board with the idea in the first place.
I still can’t believe we managed to pull it off.
While I was growing up, I only saw Korean dramas and movies where queer people suffered or even sometimes died a tragic death.
But that didn’t happen today. And I can hardly believe that I was part of this positive change.
“We really did it,” says Minjee, echoing my thoughts. From her awed expression, I can tell she’s thinking the same things as I was. “So many kudos for coming up with the idea, Hana.”
Everyone claps for me.
“Thanks,” I reply when it quiets down. “But none of this would have been possible without you.”
Minjee and I look into each other’s eyes. Now Minjee and I are the ones that are about to make out right in front of my parents.
Bryan loudly coughs.
“And you, Bryan,” I add, low-key grateful for the interruption. “And you.”
Everyone laughs. I pull my friends into a hug.
“No, but seriously. Thanks. Both of you. Without you guys backing me up, we probably wouldn’t have been able to convince everyone to change the script.”
“No problem,” Bryan says.
Minjee gives me a thumbs-up.
“All right, who’s up for some celebrating?”
I turn around to see Mom holding up an ice cream cake with a handful of candles on top. The cake looks like it should belong in a freakin’ art museum. I marvel at the intricate fruit overlays and icing designs, which again look too beautiful to eat.
“Mom!” I exclaim. “Wow, how did I not notice this cake was in the freezer this entire time?”
“I have my ways,” Mom says with a wink.
“She hid them behind the bags of steamed buns and dumplings,” explains Dad, causing everyone to laugh. “One of these days, when you guys are all of age, we can all do a toast. Until then...”
He gets up and takes out cans of Chilsung Cider from the fridge.
“Soda and ice cream cake!” Minjee exclaims. “I feel like I’m five again.”
“Forgive me, but...” Claude says in French-accented English, peering curiously at the white-and-green cans. “I’ve never had this... cider. What is it?”
“It’s kind of like Sprite but better,” I explain in English. “In my opinion, anyway. Try it!”
Dad hands Claude a can, and he pops one open and takes a sip.
“C’est magnifique!” Claude exclaims, making us all laugh.
My parents place the cake and the rest of the soda on the coffee table, and we all sit back down on the living room floor.
As we’re eating and drinking, my parents ask Claude about France, while Bryan, Minjee, and I talk about how we should all go on a trip together to celebrate the end of Fated Destiny .
“What about Australia?” Bryan suggests. “I’ve always wanted to go see the kangaroos.”
“ Australia? ” Minjee asks. “That’s so random.”
“School’s going to start soon, so we probably can’t go anywhere far,” I point out. “I still have some reading to catch up on, too.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Bryan says. “You and Minjee are taking in-person classes this year. I guess I’ll just go with Claude.”
He nudges Claude, who shifts his focus to us. “Go where?”
“Australia!” Bryan claps him on the back. “We’re going to go see kangaroos and koalas!”
“Ooh, I’ve always wanted to go!” Claude replies instantly. “When are we going? Next week?”
Minjee and I burst out laughing. I’m cackling so much that it gets hard to breathe.
“Bryan,” I say between gasps for air. “You and Claude are meant to be.”
Bryan waggles his eyebrows. “I guess you could say it’s... fated destiny .”
Everyone’s laughing now, and we toast our cans of cider.
“To Bryan and Claude!” Minjee exclaims. “And to us being done with Fated Destiny !”
We all cheer.
The last few months have been so wild, and I can barely believe everything that’s happened. Not even in my dreams could I have imagined that I would ever be sitting in the middle of my family’s Seoul apartment with my girlfriend on one side and my fake ex-boyfriend on the other.
I take another sip of my cider and eat my last sugary piece of ice cream cake.
“Hey,” Minjee says.
“Hm?”
When I turn toward her, she smears cake on my cheek.
We burst into giggles.
Bryan’s first to notice what’s going on. And then Mom. Soon, everyone’s cracking up again. Dad lovingly smears cake on Mom’s face, which makes us laugh even harder.
The left side of my face still covered with cake, I wrap my arms around Minjee and hug her tight.