Her Private Life (2019)

Title: Her Private Life
Hangul: 그녀의 사생활
Writer: Kim Hye-young
Director: Hong Jong-chan
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16

Her Private Life Cast and Characters

Park Min-young as Sung Deok-mi
Kim Jae-wook as Ryan Gold
Ahn Bo-hyun as Nam Eun-gi
One as Cha Shi-an
Kim Bo-ra as Cindy (Kim Hyo-jin)
Park Jin-joo as Lee Sun-joo

Her Private Life Ending Explained

Does Her Private Life Have a Happy Ending?

Her Private Life ends on a happy note for all characters. Deok-mi and Ryan are happily engaged. Deok-mi is the new director of the gallery and Ryan has made a full comeback as an artist. Eun-gi has moved on from his unrequited love of Deok-mi and is now dating Cindy.

What Happened to Deok-mi?

Deok-mi finds out she had a younger brother named Deok-soo who died in a car accident when they were children. Deok-mi was also in the car but she has repressed memories of the tragedy and her brother.

After the exhibition, Deok-mi receives a job offer from the Mono Art Gallery in New York to curate an exhibition for Mr. Ahn. Deok-mi accepts and convinces Ryan to come with her.

Her Private Life ends with Deok-mi returning to South Korea as the new director of the gallery one year later.

What Happened to Ryan?

Where to begin? Her Private Life became the Ryan show in the latter half of the drama delving deep into his childhood backstory and trauma.

Her Private Life reveals that Ryan’s birth name is Yoon-jae and for a brief time, he was taken in by Deok-mi’s parents. Deok-mi’s mother took Ryan home after his birth mother didn’t pick him up from the playground.

Ryan stayed with Deok-mi’s family for about a month. But after the car accident and Yoon-jae’s death, Deok-mi’s mother is overwhelmed by grief and leaves Ryan at an orphanage.

When she later returned to the orphanage for Ryan, he had already been adopted and gone abroad. Ryan’s recurring nightmare about being abandoned at an orphanage by his mother was actually a memory of Deok-mi’s mother leaving him at the orphanage!

Ryan finds out his birth mother didn’t abandon him but was seriously injured in an accident on her way back to him. By the time she recovered, he was gone and she was unable to find him.

Now with everyone in the know about Ryan’s past, both Deok-mi and her mother apologize to Ryan. But he does not hold the past against either of them.

Ryan thanks Deok-mi’s mother for taking him in and loving him during that short time. He forgives both Deok-mi’s mother and his mother for what happened in the past.

After receiving closure about his past and attending the exhibition with Lee Sol’s bubble paintings on display, Ryan regains his ability to paint and his first painting is of Deok-mi.

Ryan goes to New York with Deok-mi for her new job and returns to being a full-time artist.

Do Deok-mi and Ryan End Up Together?

Yes! Deok-mi and Ryan are a steady couple with no silly breakups.

Before they leave for New York, Ryan proposes to Deok-mi on the rooftop.

Her Private Life ends with the two still engaged one year later.

What Happened to Eun-gi?

Eun-gi moves on from his unrequited feelings for Deok-mi.

After visiting Deok-soo’s burial site, Eun-gi suggests to his mother that they live together until he gets married.

One year later, Eun-gi is still working as a judo instructor.

Who does Eun-gi End Up With?

Surprise! Eun-gi ends up with Cindy and the two film judo videos together.

Does Shi-an find out about Deok Mi being his fan?

No! Shi-an does not find out about Deok-mi being his fangirl. Deok-mi’s private life as a Shi-an stan remains private till the very end.

Or at least Shi-an never admits out loud that he does.

Her Private Life Ending Review

Ryan’s backstory

Her Private Life lost a lot of steam in the second half of the drama because of the focus on Ryan’s past as a lost child. I didn’t enjoy this storyline at all and found Ryan’s entire backstory quite silly.

I wish the drama had explored Ryan’s relationship with his adoptive family instead. Ryan grew up to be such a kind and well-adjusted person and seems to have a good relationship with his adoptive parents…I wish we got to meet them!

It’s a shame that they never made an appearance. No phone calls, texts, or video chats!

The Shi-an Non-Reveal

I have mixed feelings about Shi-an not finding out about Deok-mi being “Shi-an is my Life”.

On one hand, I was relieved he didn’t find out because it’s so cringy and embarrassing to think about Deok-mi being exposed as her future brother-in-law’s fangirl.

But at the same time, I was a bit disappointed that Shi-an never found out because it would’ve been hilarious to watch.

Shi-an was smart enough to figure out Ryan was his brother so perhaps he does know about Deok-mi. That’s my theory anyway.

That Damn Childhood Connection

The childhood connection between Deok-mi and Ryan is especially annoying because the story didn’t need it. Park Min-young and Kim Jae-wook’s chemistry combined with Deok-mi and Ryan’s interesting dynamic was more than enough to make a compelling romance. The childhood backstory felt unnecessary and forced.

I understand the need for the childhood love connection to justify some drama couples that shall rename unnamed. Ryan and Deok-mi aren’t one of them and their love story and Her Private Life would be better off without the childhood connection.

What did you think of Her Private Life?