In our final week, the Lee family rallies round their patron saint of self-sacrifice as she recovers from her donor surgery. And now that their dad has shamelessly accepted Hyo-shim’s liver, the family cuts him out of their life for good. Hyo-shim eventually crumbles under the weight of her self-sacrificing ways, and disappears from the hospital. Tae-ho tracks her down to Jeju Island, and she apologizes for choosing her family over him. That’s fine with Tae-ho, as long as they can get married now. But when he wakes up the next morning, Hyo-shim has disappeared again! She leaves a letter behind stating that she doesn’t have the confidence to build a family of her own, and she’s leaving to find out for herself what true independence means. After 50 episodes! But better late than never, I guess. Ironically, Hyo-shim’s disappearance kinda proves her father right. To gain independence from the Lee family, you have to ghost them! Lol.
Time skip to a year later, and Hyo-joon has passed his bar exams and opened a law firm with Mi-rim. But Mi-rim finally lands a role in a drama, and Hyo-joon becomes manager/babysitter/cheerleading husband. Ga-on’s dad meets a nice widowed PD in the course of managing Ga-on’s singing career, and there’s prospects for a second chance at love for them. Tae-ho finds Hyo-shim thanks to a random TV program, and he drives all the way to Busan for another tearful reunion. Tae-hee and Hyo-do briefly reunite during Tae-ho and Hyo-shim’s wedding preparations, and they mend fences and play catch up. Tae-hee flew in from Paris where she’s learning how to make pastries, and Hyo-do has transitioned from jobless bum to owning two chicken restaurants — which I still find very unbelievable, by the way. Almost as unbelievable as the success of Hyo-shim’s mom’s cafe.
Checking in with the Taesan folks, Sook-hyang and Mr. Yeom are sentenced to 15 and 20 years in prison respectively. Chairman Kang is released after a year, and Tae-min comes to pick him up. I love that their father-son bond did not change. Tae-min becomes the new chairman of Taesan Group, and this is his own happily ever after. As for Hyo-shim and Tae-ho, they finally get married and jet off to England for the next two years. Yes. We had another two-year time skip, and during this period, Hyo-do somehow went to Paris, presumably to be with Tae-hee. By the time Hyo-shim returns to Korea, she’s the proud owner of a Master’s degree in Sports Marketing, and the expectant mom of twins! It’s a happy family reunion for everyone, and they all live happily ever after. The end.