Reborn Rookie Ending Explained: JTBC’s fantasy revenge series 신입사원 강회장, which is adapted from the web novel New Employee Chairman Kang and directed by Go Hye-jin and penned by Kim Soon-ok and Hyun Ji-min, mixes up workplace battles, family betrayals, and body swapping to create a heartwarming story of redemption. This series features Lee Jun-young as Hwang Jun-hyeon, Son Hyun-joo as Kang Yong-ho, Lee Joo-myung as Kang Bang-geul, Jeon Hye-jin as Kang Jae-gyeong, and Jin Goo as Kang Jae-seong and others.
Reborn Rookie Ending Explained
Who Tried to Kill Kang Yong-ho at the Hospital?
While suspicion may be raised against Kang Jae-gyeong at first glance, the reality of what took place concerning the death of Kang Yong-ho is more complex than that. Through the entirety of the story, everyone thinks that Jae-gyeong is guilty of her father’s murder since she is the only one who came in contact with her father prior to his death and tried to kill him by suffocating him when he was unconscious. However, after piecing everything together, Yong-ho discovered that Jae-gyeong had only left his hospital room once she discovered the hidden camera in his room.
However, it is Na Eun-se, the wife of Kang Jae-seong and daughter of the Chairman of Taeha Group, Na Byeong-mo. As an act of protecting her own father and her family, Eun-se disguised herself in order to avoid any suspicions from Yong-ho, and entered the room of Yong-ho after Jae-gyeong had left and disconnected his ventilator, resulting in his death.
In her hurry to get away from the place, she wounded her ankle, which then became the vital piece of information that would help Yong-ho understand the timeline of what happened. Through blaming Jae-gyeong, while getting rid of the only one who could expose the slush fund scheme, Eun-se thought that she was securing the power of Taeha Group over Choiseong.
How Did Hwang Jun-hyeon and Kang Yong-ho Return to Their Original Bodies?
The soul switch that had been the premise of the whole show was finally brought to an end in the climax of the Reborn Rookie final episode. Following the recovery of Yong-ho’s original body from the coma, he was kept alive privately from the public gaze as everyone thought he was dead. Meanwhile, Jun-hyeon, who had been possessing Yong-ho’s soul, was kidnapped by the people of Na Byeong-mo. During the incident, Byeong-mo hit Jun-hyeon on the head with a metallic pole which had a shocking resemblance to the previous car accident.
The harsh strike brought about the same enigmatic occurrence that allowed both souls to get back into their original bodies. Kang Yong-ho finally awakened in his own body and went immediately to save Jun-hyeon, who got his identity and memories back. Not viewing each other as strangers anymore, both acted quickly as well as cooperating in solving their problems. Jun-hyeon used an earpiece while the two carried out the last operation, which was aimed at uncovering Jae-gyeong, under the direction of Yong-ho. The cooperation showed that despite the fact that the body swapping act ended, the relationship they formed between them was not destroyed till the very end.
How Did Jun-hyeon and Yong-ho Bring Down Kang Jae-gyeong?
In Reborn Rookie Episode 12, once they regained their original bodies, Yong-ho and Jun-hyeon decided to uncover any wrongdoing which would lead Jae-gyeong to take control over Choiseong. Rather than facing her, they created circumstances so that she is isolated from all her allies. The arrest of Byeong-mo occurred after he was found to be involved in the slush fund operation, whereas Na Eun-se remained stranded abroad because of the release of original CCTV footage from the hospital.
It all happened at the board meeting of Choiseong. When Jun-hyeon asked for Jae-gyeong’s dismissal as chairwoman, she confidently denied it, thinking that she was still in charge of the company. However, at this time, the video from the hospital where she tried to cut off Yong-ho’s life-support system was shown to the board. And then Kang Yong-ho himself entered the board meeting, being alive and shocking everyone who believed he had died. At the same time, Kang Jae-seong told the police everything he knew about the crimes committed by the family members, including how Jae-gyeong attempted to kill their father. As a result, the police caught Jae-gyeong, and her rule in Choiseong ended.
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What Happened to Na Eun-se and Kang Jae-gyeong in the Ending of Reborn Rookie?
The involvement of Na Eun-se in the murder case of Kang Yong-ho came into light when he realised that it was not Jae-gyeong but Eun-se who had unplugged his ventilator in the hospital in secrecy. When the true video was released, and the power of Byeong-mo started dwindling, Eun-se managed to run away from the law in Singapore as per the orders of her father. She could not avoid punishment for too long, and she made her final attempt to murder Jae-gyeong by driving an accelerating car towards her as the police were escorting her out of there. To the surprise of all, Yong-ho saved Jae-gyeong’s life this time.
Jae-gyeong did not fare well either when the consequences of her actions caught up with her. After failing in her ambitions of becoming the chairman and being incarcerated on charges of attempted murder, corruption, and conspiracy in regard to Choiseong, she went underground. Two years later, we learn that she had lost all of her memories. She lived anonymously, cared for by her husband Seok-do, without recollecting anything of her past or of her struggles for power. The irony here is that she was the one who made such sacrifices for power, and yet in the end of Reborn Rookie, she forgot about the world she fought for.
Who Ultimately Became the New Chairman of Choiseong?
Despite the general expectation that Kang Yong-ho would assume his role back since he had come back alive, Yong-ho decided to take an alternative route. With a clear understanding of how his workaholic nature and poor parenting skills had led to the collapse of his family, Yong-ho was unwilling to rule Choiseong like before. Instead, he let a person whom he fully trusted take charge of the company.
Two years later, at the ending of Reborn Rookie, we see Sang-jae is found to be the new Chairman of Choiseong, and Bong-ki takes up the post of Managing Director. However, Yong-ho is still active, but not as an active CEO of the company; he is now just one of the respected elders. His decision shows that he has understood the important lesson from his life’s journey that real leaders are those who give away their power after some point in time and finally look after the people they ignored.
Did Hwang Jun-hyeon and Kang Bang-geul End Up Together?
Indeed, after all those fights together, Jun-hyeon and Bang-geul ended up together as romantic partners. Throughout the body swapping, the actual soul of Jun-hyeon was locked up in the unconscious body of Yong-ho, where he could observe the pureness and determination of Bang-geul when she kept visiting her hospitalised father again and again. It was during those times that he came to know the true nature of her sweet personality, whereas she herself fell in love with the man she thought was Hwang Jun-hyeon, but whose soul was that of Yong-ho all along.
Their love story has developed into a joyful romance by the end of Reborn Rookie. Jun-hyeon leaves his office life behind him and goes back to his first love through coaching kids in football, whereas Bang-geul stays by his side. They share a kiss by the end, officially stating that they have a relationship. Their happy ending gets interrupted by one last comedy of the drama, as Yong-ho runs towards them and bumps into Jun-hyeon and a lady played by Ryujin from ITZY, which causes their souls to change once again and hints that the chaos is still not over. However, regardless of the comedy, their happy ending is clear throughout the series.
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