A Hundred Memories Ending Explained: Written by Yang Hee-seung and directed by Kim Sang-ho, the Korean drama 백번의 추억 concludes in a beautiful way as all the tales, from Kim Da-mi’s character Yeong-rye’s aspirations to Shin Ye-eun’s Jong-hee’s salvation, all lead back to the same reality: love, in all its guises, leaves an indelible imprint that no time can remove. Those memories, in all their guises—scar, smile, or whispered moment of empathy— render life vulnerable yet worth retaining. The drama also includes Heo Nam-jun as Han Jae-pil, Kim Jung-hyun as Jeong Hyeon, Lee Won-jung as Ma Sang-cheol, Jeon Sung-woo as Ko Yeong-sik, and others.
Kdrama A Hundred Memories Recap
Set in 1980s Korea, A Hundred Memories revolves around the path of Ko Yeong-rye, a poor woman whose existence is that of survival and self-dependency. She is a conductor in buses, then in saloons of beauty, in counterpoise to the compulsions of society and to experiences of lost love in the form of Jae-pil, a man in another world whose mercy and toleration build stability in her turbulent world. Theirs is a start, not in love at first sight, but in small acts, in acts of mercy that blossom into something much deeper.
Side by side with the crisis of Yeong-rye is that of Seo Jong-hee, the protagonist’s friend-turned-rival. Raised in an upper-class home, Jong-hee lives in the shadow of an overbearing mother who has dominion over every corner of her being, professing to love. Privilege in Jong-hee’s universe means the loss of liberty. The friendship of the two central leads is the show’s focal centre, where respect blurs into envy, and love means sacrifice.
Korean drama A Hundred Memories is a story about choices. Yeong-rye dreams of higher education, while economic deprivation binds her to the workforce. The filial adherence to his father’s tradition binds Jae-pil to a future of duty. Jong-hui is exhorted to perfection by her mother needs her to be, until she gazes in the mirror at the cost of being perfect. Their lives intersect, collide, and mend in the interludes of tenderness and disaster.
A Hundred Memories Ending Explained
What Happened at the Miss Korea Pageant?
The Miss Korea pageant became the turning point in the lives of all the protagonists, the glittering platform that obscures years of undercover harm. By losing her job at the salon, Yeong-rye is offered a pageant placement by the Julie Salon’s CEO, seeing it as the opportunity to then attend college, she agrees to do it. Jong-hee is spurred by jealousy and the imperative to impress her mom and gets herself into the pageant, but her mother wants her to win at all costs.
Their rivalry takes symbolic form. The inseparable pair, Jong-hee and Yeong-rye, come to embody, respectively, opposing tendencies, genuineness, self-assertive strength, as against ambition, birthright. In the dorm, Jong-hee is the president, and Yeong-rye finds it hard to fit in. The tension in the pair brews, not because they loathe one another, but under the intolerable strain of expectations.
Panic erupts at the finale show. Jong-hee passes out at the sight of the man who sought to exploit her, the manager of Cheonga Transportation. The mother’s hopeless attempt at “shutting him up” by resorting to hiring goons turns catastrophic. The manager shows up at the stage carrying a knife while Jong-hee is being crowned Miss Korea. In a definitive, indelible moment, Yeong-rye springs in the path of the knife to protect her friend. The audience gasps, the music discontinues, and time itself seems to stand still. It’s an impromptu action, the culmination of all the love and misery that defined their shared existence.
Do Ko Yeong-rye and Han Jae-pil Find Their Happy Ending?
Yeong-rye’s relationship with Jae-pil is rooted in stamina and emotional intelligence. Their love is not in big melodrama, but in tiny, daily acts of mercy. From caring for her while she was sick with her mother to listening to her without censure, Jae-pil is her centre in a world where she’s judged all the time.
The attack verifies what both had long suspected but never really stated, that they would not live without the other. Once they’ve recovered, the two set forth into a peaceful new beginning. There’s no dramatic, tearful reconciliation; there’s calm instead. The show ends with the walk of Yeong-rye off to college, something she yearned for at last made possible, the unyielding Jae-pil beside her, proud and satisfied.
Their love story has a heartwarming ending that’s subtle yet rewarding, a validation that love doesn’t have to be grand in order to overcome the caprices of time. It’s a gentle form of triumph, the sort that’s good for the heart and worth all the heartbreak that they’ve endured.
Does Ko Yeong-rye and Seo Jong-hee’s Friendship Stay Till the End?
The most poignant reconciliation in the series is that of Jong-hee and Yeong-rye. Their friendship, which was initially characterised by laughter, comes unravelled in the face of pride and hurt. Jong-hee’s possessiveness over the seriousness of Yeong-rye, and the woundedness at Jong-hee’s unfaithfulness make the bond seem broken irrevocably. But the instant that Yeong-rye throws herself in the path of the blade in order to save Jong-hee, the years fall away in a nanosecond.
When Jong-hee discovered that her mother was the mastermind of the previous attempt at assassination against the manager. Broken, Jong-hee runs away from home and becomes a member of the family of Yeong-rye, a role reversal in the literal definition of their previous standing. The woman whose personality was characterised by extravagance finds herself comforting herself in humility, that love is no pretension, but acceptance. In the ending of A Hundred Memories, we see that their friendship has evolved into something quieter but unbreakable.
Do Jeong-hee and Yeong-sik End Up Together?
The relationship Jeong-hee and Yeong-sik have is in the margins, subtle, implicit, and gut-wrenchingly real. The only stability in Jeong-hee’s turbulent world is Yeong-sik, whose silent urging he offers even when he’s not recognised. Their relationship grows with shared vulnerability instead of ecstatic fervour, making it all the more poignant.
By the end, the two aren’t even technically together, but in the wedding of Yeong-boon and Sang-chul, both of them appear in the family photo side by side, the visual proof of the potential that was there. It’s a subtle, sad acceptance that the timing was poor, yet love is there beneath the surface. It does seem intentional, though.
Not all of the vignettes in A Hundred Memories end so tidily. Others leave us in the same place that memories leave us, unfinished yet lovely. Jeong-hee’s and Yeong-sik’s love becomes another of these memories, so that there’s the sense that love simply is in existence, that there’s no need for it to be declared.
What Happened to Jung-hyun at the End of A Hundred Memories?
Jung-hyun’s journey is perhaps the most quietly tragic. Once a stabilising presence in Yeong-rye’s life, his story becomes one of silent endurance. He’s the man who provides all the affection, the understanding, the loyalty, and gets back nothing. He’s done in by his own kindness, rendered invisible in a world where power is more rewarding than compassion.
Following the Miss Korea expeditions and the convalescing of Yeong-rye, Jung-hyun sets his sights on leaving Korea for Europe. The leaving is not dramatic; it’s contemplative. He opts for distance as therapy, and the pain of love left unrequited accompanies him. He was the man who ran out of love and left him none, and that encapsulates the show’s bittersweet essence in a nutshell.
Jung-hyun’s conclusion provides finality to the thought that A Hundred Memories isn’t romance; it’s the gentle suffering that comes with giving too much. In leaving, he is the ghost of what might have been, yet the embodiment of peace. Free, he leaves, not defeated, but free.
