We are just days away from the penultimate and final episodes of Hotel del Luna, one of the more popular K-dramas airing this season. We have seen many ups and downs, conflicts and resolutions, and a love form between Jang Man-Wol (IU) and Koo Chan-Seong (Yeo Jin-Goo).
However, one primary issue has been nagging in the back of viewers’ minds since the beginning of the series. Where is Jang Man-Wol’s “first love,” Go Chung-Myung (Lee Do-Hyun)?
After all this time, she finally finds him, and now she is faced with a dilemma. Who will she choose, Koo Chan-Seong or Go Chung-Myung?
Jang Man-Wol finds Go Chung-Myung
For those who don’t remember, Jang Man-Wol has continuously stayed at the Hotel del Luna in hopes of running into someone she loved from her past. Every night, she waits for Go Chung-Myung, and yet, he never shows up.
We learn in the latest episode that Go Chung-Myung forced Jang Man-Wol to kill him and in turn, was the first guest at Hotel del Luna.
We also learn that Chung-Myung doesn’t technically stay in the hotel. Instead, he stays with Hwang Moon-Sook. For those who don’t remember her, she’s the woman who gave Koo Chan-Sung the medication that removed the ability to see the dead.
Go Chung-Myung stayed with Hwang Moon-Sook as a firefly in a glass jar though he can always leave the glass jar since he is a ghost.
This home means that he is always around Jang Man-Wol’s tree. It is quite ironic that the one person Man-Wol has been longing for over these many years was nearby. He was the first guest to Hotel del Luna back when it was a simple inn.
One of the biggest reasons why Go Chung-Myung never revealed himself to Jang Man-Wol was because she never called him, not once, while she waited. With some help from God Mago (Seo Yi-Sook), the two finally reunited.
Sending Go Chung-Myung to the afterlife
God Mago lets Jang Man-Wol know that Go Chung-Myung is too weak to head to the afterlife on his own. This weakness probably is because he’s been a guest at Hotel del Luna for so long.
Nevertheless, God Mago says for Chung-Myung to make it to the afterlife, Man-Wol has to escort him there herself.
This revelation causes a bit of a dilemma. Right now, Jang Man-Wol has feelings for Koo Chan-Sung. If she escorts Go Chung-Myung to the afterlife, she risks forgetting everything from her life on Earth.
Throughout the series, any soul crossing the bridge of the afterlife will forget their lives on Earth. It is kind of like having a clean slate for an afterlife in Heaven.
For Jang Man-Wol, crossing the bridge would mean she has passed on. For everyone else at Hotel del Luna, they’ll know she has moved on (or passed on) through her tree.
When all the flowers on her tree are gone, she would have finally “died.” One month after Man-Wol escorted Go Chung-Myung to the afterlife, she has yet to return, and the staff believes she has passed on as her tree loses all its flowers.
A way back to Koo Chan-Sung
Near the end of episode 14, God Mago and the Grim Reaper are having a conversation about Jang Man-Wol near her tree. The latter believes Man-Wol has passed on as he sees no more flowers. God Mago reveals there is one flower left, and it is alive. It is thriving inside of Koo Chan-Sung.
This is also why Koo Chan-Sung was able to dream about Jang Man-Wol’s life before the Hotel del Luna. Her memories are within the flower that is now a part of him. So in some way, he is Man-Wol’s last flower.
There is a possibility that he may have become like Man-Wol, an immortal who is neither dead or living. Something in between where they can spend eternity at Hotel del Luna together.
The only thing is Jang Man-Wol has to come back to Hotel del Luna. She now has a choice. Will she continue to cross the Bridge of the Afterlife with Go Chung-Myung or will she turn around and head back to Koo Chan-Sung?
The penultimate and final episodes of Hotel del Luna will air this coming Saturday and Sunday, August 31, 2019, and September 1, 2019, at 11 p.m. KST on the Total Variety Network (tvN).
For international audiences who don’t have access to Korean networks specifically in the Americas, Hotel del Luna streams exclusively on Rakuten Viki for free.