Warning: Twenty-Five Twenty-One Spoilers Ahead:
Twenty-Five Twenty-One ended on Sunday and it was an ending that many were preparing for. Over eight weeks, fans watched Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk) and Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) fall in love, one episode at a time. As the mid-season hit, fans were given hints that the characters do not end up together. Their break-up is eventually confirmed in the Twenty-Five Twenty-One finale.
Why Do Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee-do Break Up?
The last episode started off with Ye-jin bagging a Correspondent’s job in New York months after he covered the 9/11 attack. A heartbroken Hee-do accepted his decision, suggesting that they should break up. Ye-jin travels back to South Korea to wrap up his home there and set up a base in the US. At the airport, his suitcase gets swapped with Hee-do’s suitcase. While Hee-do decides to leave his bag at the airport, Ye-jin drops off her bag at her doorstep. Ye-jin and Hee-do talk, with Hee-do suggesting that their breakup is inevitable.
Hee-do breaks the news to the couple’s common friends, hinting that the couple has now decided to maintain distance. However, she is forced to reach out to him to cancel their couple’s mobile plans. As a result, they speak again but this time, Ye-jin informs Hee-do that he couldn’t fall back on her because of the trauma he experienced while reporting the 9/11 attacks. He chose to keep the pain to himself for he felt that it would be better if the trauma affect one of them instead of engulfing her in it.
This breaks Hee-do, with the fencer expressing that the couple is only lovers when they are happy and distant when they seem to be in trouble. Their fight aggravates, pushing them further and resulting in Hee-do deciding to proceed with the break-up. Having said things that she regrets later, Hee-do pens her real feelings and thoughts in her diary which she eventually loses. The diary somehow lands in Ye-jin’s hand just a day before he leaves for New York and he finds out about all that Hee-do was going through during his time at work. This breaks him. He manages to catch hold of her before he leaves the country and the two have an emotional farewell.
Do Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee-do reunite?
Over seven years later, Hee-do and Ye-jin have a digital reunion after she wins a gold medal in San Francisco. The interview is the same in which Ye-jin congratulates her on her wedding. The interview confirms that Hee-do has moved on. Twenty-Five Twenty-One finale shifts back to the present day, with Hee-do finding her hands on the lost diary.
Revisiting her days with Ye-jin, she comes across a letter written by him which he had hoped would reach her at the time of their broke-up. The present-day Hee-do visits the tunnel which holds their happiest and saddest memories and decides to truly let go of Ye-jin, giving herself closure.
While Hee-do seems to be closing this chapter, Ye-jin seems to continue his stint at the news channel UBS and seems to be struggling with his password. When he chooses to opt for the ‘forgot password’ option, a prompt pops up, asking him who his first love is. He types in ‘Na Hee-do’, suggesting that they might have moved on but they still cherish their first love.
Will Twenty-Five Twenty-One Return With Season 2?
There has been no confirmation about it from the makers at the time of reporting.
All the episodes of Twenty-Five Twenty-One are now streaming on Netflix.
