Sweet Home ending explained: What happened to Hyun-soo?

The apocalyptic horror series, Sweet Home, concluded in 2020, setting the stage for a potential continuation in Sweet Home Season 2. However, the fate of the characters, including Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang), remains a mystery. What transpired after the events of the first season?

A seemingly ordinary world falls into chaos and bloodshed when an unknown threat turns people into monsters based on their desires. Cha Hyun-soo finds himself trapped inside the residential building trying to stay alive from the monsters outside. But anyone can turn, even Hyun-soo who is a special breed. He has all of a monster’s powers but remains human.

By Sweet Home Episode 10, a lot of characters have died, but the cataclysmic events occur when a gang infiltrates the building for their own greed. One of its members has ulterior motives and a secret.

In the Sweet Home ending, Hyun-soo finds himself in a bloody fight and is forced to make a sacrifice to save the others. With Sweet Home Season 2 taking off after the ending and continuing the webtoon, here’s a refresher on what happened in the K-drama.

Sweet Home ended on a cliffhanger

Hyun-soo gives himself into the military, as the other characters are taken to a safe zone. But Hyun-soo wakes up to discover Jung Ui-myeong (Kim Sung-cheol) isn’t dead.

Episode 10 of the K-drama takes off after Ui-myeong and his gang barge into the building and kill many of its tenants. After killing the gang, Ui-myeong reveals to Hyun-soo that he too is a special breed of monster. In a heart-to-heart with him, he explains his desire to want to find more people like them. But Ui-myeong is special. In his backstory, he explains he willingly gave himself up for experimentation. He wasn’t infected by a monster, he is the monster. Existing as an autonomous goo, like Venom, he’s able to take over people’s bodies.

As he establishes himself as a threat to the tenants, he tells Seo Yi-kyung (Lee Si-young) and Lee Eun-hyeok (Lee Do-hyun) that the government plans to bomb areas to kill off monsters. Sooner rather than later, he becomes a central villain when he kills Park Yu-ri (Go Yoon-jung) and Pyeon Sang-wook (Lee Jin-uk) when they try to leave to get her asthma medication.

As the sun disappears, Hyun-soo gives into his monstrous powers and evovles with his arm turning into a wing with multiple burning hot shards. He manages to kill Ui-seong but also kills Han Du-sik (Kim Sang-ho) when hugging him to bring back his humanity.

In the aftermath, Hyun-soo is beside himself as more graves are dug. Yi-kyung discovers a secret passageway to an underground tunnel. The following night, the military arrived after one of the tenants called for them. The only way to ensure they’re taken to a safe zone is for Hyun-soo to turn himself in.

As the others make their way through the tunnel before the building is destroyed, Hyun-soo walks out in front of the military. At the same time, Eun-hyeok decides to stay behind and dies in the wreckage. The tenants find a way out and are greeted by the military. But Yi-kyung is advised she failed and her mission isn’t over. The rest are taken to a safe zone while she joins the soldiers.

The Sweet Home ending has Hyun-soo in the back of an armored vehicle. He wakes up to find the driver to be Sang-wook. How? Ui-myeong never died. In his goo form, he went into Sang-wook’s body and took over.

Read more K-drama content in our hub here, A Time Called You ending explained here, The Worst of Evil here, and Doona! here.