(Note: This recap is long for one episode, but this episode is nearly twice as long as the other episodes.)

When last we left our fated duo, Pharm was in the grips of In’s feelings and things were getting really dark again.

We start the last episode like the first, with tears and death

It’s Korn and In’s funeral and everyone is sobbing. In’s dad ties a red string around In’s finger. With Korn’s dad’s help, they tie the other end of the string around Korn’s finger. They are now physically bound by the red string of fate. In’s father says the thread will bring them together in their next lives.

I love the implication that it’s not just In and Korn’s vow that led to their reincarnation and reunion. The family played a part too.  

We see most of the family members crying before we cut back to Pharm in the present. 

Pharm is crying, and hitting Dean, speaking as though he were In. He’s angry with Korn for dying by suicide. Dean is apologizing, but he’s calling him Pharm and not In. 

We catch up to the end of the previous episode, as Pharm puts the gun to his chin.

Everyone feels really, really bad about what happened

Dean doesn’t want In to take Pharm from him and gets the gun. Pharm/In sobs in his arms. 

Pharm’s grandfather/Korn’s dad arrives, along with Pharm’s uncle/Korn’s brother and Sin. Pharm looks terrified and becomes frantic. He shoves Dean away. Fluke’s acting as Pharm is so good it’s painful to watch.

Pharm’s uncle/Korn’s brother promises no one will separate them. He tells them Korn’s father bought the apartment and kept it for them and In’s father was filled with remorse. The families kept in touch.

Dean says it’s his fault, he hurt everyone around him, I think this is the first time Dean has spoken as Korn. Pharm’s uncle/Korn’s brother doesn’t want In or Korn to be angry with anyone. Their other brother never forgave their father.

Dean keeps apologizing and tells Pharm/In he was selfish. He says he loves everyone.

We see In crying to Korn that he’s sorry he blamed him for everything. He loves and forgives Korn and Korn should stop blaming himself. This feels like it’s taking place now, between whatever of In and Korrn are within Pharm and Dean

Korn/Dean says he loves In so much and they hug. Pharm’s grandfather/Korn’s dad watches them sadly.

Where do we go from here?

Pharm’s grandfather/Korn’s dad is in the hospital, and Dean is there with Pharm’s Uncle. Pharm is there too, getting fluids. Dean refers to Pharm’s grandfather as “dad”, which feels weird. Korn’s Dad asks him to take care of Pharm, and Dean says he will.

The strange, cross-family reincarnation kept the families tied together, but also allowed them this chance to atone. I like how that works.

Pharm dreams about Dean cutting the red thread. He’s uneasy about his and Dean’s love being real. It’ss a dilemma I understand. It’s why I don’t always like reincarnation love stories. They can feel like the lovers are being together by outside forces rather than because of a choice the characters make. Being forced together that way isn’t romantic to me. 

It also makes sense that Pharm is the one who feels this uncertainty. Dean always seemed clear that he wasn’t Korn and Pharm wasn’t In. Pharm was the one who sometimes spoke as though he were In.

Pharm doesn’t tell Manow or Team why he’s upset, which is also interesting. He has this supportive friend group who knows nothing about what he’s been through. But I feel like it’s not because he doesn’t trust him. It’s just not anything they can help him with.

Pharm cries as he asks Dean for time.

Three Months Later

Sigh. I understand the need for a breakup and time skip here, but it’s also kind of silly. We see Pharm with his friends and at the cooking club. We see that he and Dean are still in touch via text. Pharm is also passing along deserts. I think they are only staying physically apart. Pharm even tells someone they never broke up.

It’s like the show is teasing us with the possibility they won’t get back together when we know they will. So I’m annoyed I’m not getting to see them being a cute, happy couple. Luckily we got a fair amount of that earlier, so I don’t resent this time apart so much.

We get some cute Team/Win time and see Manow have a little romance with one of the other swimmers. 

Pharm wakes up in his bed but sees In and Korn together in their apartment, flirting and happy. In thanks Pharm and they leave. Pharm cries. He takes out Dean’s dog tags, which he’s still wearing. He says he can’t go anywhere because he belongs to…. 

Well, the guy at the door. Dean. Who had the same vision of In and Korn.

A few more tears before we’re done

Dean and Pharm have a, er, sweet reunion. Post-sex, Dean tells Pharm that he changed his surname to match In’s. It’s an apology to In and his father, and a way to honor In and Korn.

Dean also has In’s family ring, he inherited it as the oldest male in his generation. He puts the ring on Pharm’s finger while Pharm cries. He asks to live together after they graduate again. 

Happiness! Hugging! Yay!

Final words on the various red threads of this story

I’m still not sure who Pharm’s grandpa/Korn’s dad spoke with in episode 16. Pharm’s mom and brother?

Why three months before In and Korn said goodbye? That’s another thing that drives me nuts about break-up-time-skips, the amount of time often feels arbitrary. Whatever, it took In and Korn three months to say goodbye so Pharm could feel confident about his feelings. Why not?

There are sad bits to this story that are left sad, which I appreciate. In’s father didn’t live long enough to see the reincarnated couple. Pharm didn’t connect as In with In’s niece/Dean’s mother, though we saw she remembered In. Although, who knows, maybe she’ll mention In someday in the future? Pharm’s father never forgave his father. These things felt like they ended how they should.

It was nice discovering how much the fathers regretted what they’d caused. They deserved to suffer after the suffering they caused.

Meanwhile, Pharm’s stalker vanished only to off-screen date Dean’s sister? No. I don’t like that.

This is a solid final episode though, that wraps up everything that needs to be wrapped up. Past lives aside, Dean and Pharm are adorable together. It’s reassuring to know that they have loving and supportive families behind them, to help them deal with anything this life throws at them.