Dear X has never been a warm watch. The twelve-episode thriller follows actress Baek Ah Jin, who claws her way to the top of the industry by using everyone around her. The final episodes, now out on TVING and streaming platforms, bring that rise and fall to a ruthless close.
Episodes 11 and 12 push Ah Jin into a psychological maze built by her enemies and by her own choices. There is no last-minute redemption. No soft landing. Only a grim answer to the question the drama has asked from the start. How far can someone go when ambition matters more than human life?
What Happened So Far on Dear X?
The finale opens with Moon Do Hyeok fully embracing his role as puppeteer. After the attack on Ah Jin, he spins the story so that Sung Hee becomes the villain. She is painted as a dangerous stalker and locked away in the same psychiatric facility as his ex-wife.
At the same time, articles start calling Ah Jin a psychopath and questioning her past. She begins to lose chunks of time and behaves in violent and erratic ways. On a film set, she snaps during a scene that mirrors her father’s murder and almost beats a man to death. Only later does she learn that Do Hyeok insisted on adding that exact scene to the script.
Ah Jin knows he is behind it. She confronts him, and he admits that he wants her entirely dependent on him. He expects her to survive his cruelty and still keep him entertained. His gaslighting does not break her immediately, but it leaves her unstable and paranoid.
Jae Oh’s Sacrifice and Joon Seo’s Breaking Point
Backed into a corner, Ah Jin turns again to Jae Oh. Together with him and Joon Seo, she plots a way to get real leverage on Do Hyeok. The plan is brutal. Jae Oh uses himself as bait and lures Do Hyeok’s men to a rooftop fitted with hidden cameras. They beat him and throw him off the building. The footage exposes that they acted on Do Hyeok’s orders. Jae Oh dies from the fall.
For Ah Jin, his death is a price she is willing to pay. She grieves him, yet she also treats his sacrifice as another step in her climb. That cold reaction is the final straw for Joon Seo. For him, the life of their friend is worth more than any victory. He finally accepts that Ah Jin will never stop as long as there is power left to chase.
The Awards Show that Turns into an Execution
Joon Seo moves from loyal accomplice to executioner. A producer has offered him a documentary that exposes Ah Jin’s long history of manipulation and the deaths linked to her. He agrees and times the broadcast to air during the biggest night of her career.
Ah Jin wins Best Actress and delivers her dream speech. Backstage, the screens around her switch from celebration to attack. Old classmates, colleagues, and people she has hurt appear on screen and tell the truth about her. The documentary lays out how she has used others, covered up crimes, and treated people as disposable. The show turns into a public trial.
Realizing that her perfect image is gone, Ah Jin runs. She wanders through the city in shock, stripped of her fame and support network. Then Joon Seo pulls up beside her and offers her a ride.
That Cliff Scene and Ah Jin’s Final Choice
The car scene is the actual climax of Dear X. In the silence between them, Joon Seo admits that he cannot save her. He still loves her, yet he sees clearly that she will never change. He suggests that they go to hell together. She does not refuse.
Their car collides with a guardrail and plunges off a cliff. News reports later say both have died. In reality, the story ends in an even darker way. Joon Seo is badly injured and trapped in the wreck. Ah Jin manages to free herself and climbs up the cliff. She looks down at him one last time, with a strange mix of laughter and tears, then walks away and leaves him to die.
It is the ultimate betrayal. Joon Seo destroys her public life. She answers by taking his actual life and cutting off the only person who truly loved her.
A True Antiheroine To The Very End
What makes this ending hit so hard is that Ah Jin never softens. The drama refuses to give her a convenient change of heart. Even at her lowest point, she chooses survival and ambition over any bond. The final image suggests she will disappear and likely reinvent herself elsewhere. The cycle may continue, just without cameras this time.
Joon Seo and Jae Oh stand as tragic mirrors. Joon Seo represents a love that confuses devotion with salvation. Jae Oh represents a kind of desperate purpose. Both men think that giving everything to Ah Jin will give their lives meaning. The finale makes clear that love without boundaries can be just as destructive as open hatred.
Drama Ending VS Webtoon Finale
For viewers familiar with the original webtoon, the drama’s final act takes a different path. In the source story, Ah Jin becomes pregnant with Joon Seo’s child and later marries Do Hyeok. She eventually lives a quiet life with her daughter after a serious injury ruins her face. Jae Oh survives and flees with her to Hong Kong, then abandons the child to pursue another wealthy man.
Both versions keep Ah Jin consistent. She remains someone who will sacrifice anyone to stay ahead. The drama chooses a leaner, more symbolic ending. The cliff scene removes any safe distance. There is no child, no extended epilogue, only the brutal image of one woman walking away from the wreckage she helped create. For television, that choice feels sharper and more haunting.
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