In the recently released Netflix Korean horror series All of Us Are Dead, a zombie apocalypse breaks out in South Korea’s Hyosan district, with the local high school being ground zero. A group of students manages to thwart the zombies and somehow survive, but by the time they make it to safety, many of them unfortunately end up joining the undead.
One of the characters, Lee Na Yeon (Lee Yoo Mi) leaves the group long before the final episode, leaving fans to wonder what happens to her and whether or not she makes it out alive.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for All of Us Are Dead. Please proceed with caution if you have yet to watch the show.
The character of Na Yeon is introduced as an extremely selfish and mean high schooler who deems herself to be better than others, especially those like Gyeong Su, who doesn’t come from an affluent background like her. From the very beginning, when the zombie virus ⏤ labeled as the Jonas Virus ⏤ first starts spreading in the school, Na Yeon is seen selfishly prioritizing her own well-being before others’. While everyone is scared out of their wits because of the apocalypse, Na Yeon takes out the anger at her helplessness by frequently insulting Gyeong Su (Ham Sung Min) and even using the derogatory term “welfie” (someone who survives on welfare) to address him.
The group soon manages to find their English teacher, Park Sun Hwa (Lee Sang Hee) and manages to make it to her. But they barely get to breathe a sigh of relief before a zombie attacks them.
In the chaos, Gyeong Su gets scratched by the zombie and is accidentally hit in the nose by Su Hyeok. In the face of Na Yeon’s continuous exclamations that he is infected, Gyeong Su decides to barricade himself in the adjoining broadcasting room for an hour to prove that he won’t become a zombie. But Na Yeon, who is dead-set on proving herself right and exacting revenge on Gyeong Su for hitting her earlier, purposely rubs a handkerchief stained with a zombie on his wound on the pretext of helping him.
This does end up infecting Gyeong Su, who turns into a zombie, though the survivors manage to fend off his attack and drive him out of the room. As Nam Ra had seen Na Yeon staining her handkerchief with the zombie blood, the truth is revealed and everyone condemns her for being a murderer. Horrified by her own actions and saddened by her classmates turning on her, Na Yeon leaves the room.
What happened to Na Yeon?
While Na Yeon roams the corridors lost in her misery, Ms. Park follows her and tries her best to lead her to safety. The undead Gyeong Su, who didn’t die when he fell from the window, follows the duo and ends up biting Ms. Park, but she manages to lead Na Yeon to an empty classroom and tells her to forgive herself as she understands that whatever horrifying actions she took were because she is terrified like everyone else. Before the virus takes over, the teacher implores Na Yeon to join her friends eventually and help them in reaching safety.
While Ms. Park turns and joins the horde of zombies, Na Yeon hides in the storage room connected to the room. She bides her time while being sustained by the stacks of food and drinks in the room. She even locks the door of the storage room when her classmates come to hide from the zombies in the adjoining room and talk about how they are starving. But this time, it’s not because she is being selfish with her ample resources ⏤ she is simply afraid of being further ostracized by her classmates.
But soon after the group leaves, Na Yeon has a change of heart as she remembers Ms. Park’s sacrifice and is stricken with guilt over killing Gyeong Su. As she had heard them planning to go to the rooftop, she decides to take some food for her classmates and leaves the safety of the storage room only to encounter Gwi Nam (Yoo In Soo), a hambie (part human, part zombie), who bites her.
Na Yeon meets her end
While we previously saw Nam Ra (Cho Yi Hyun) becoming a hambie herself upon being bitten by Gwi Nam, Na-Yeon turns into a zombie after being bitten by the bully. She is not seen again until episode 11, when the military uses high-frequency emitting drones to collect the zombies in four locations. One of the locations is the Hyosan high school playground, where the zombie Na Yeon is seen along with the rest of the undead. She is attracted by the loud sound emitted by the drones just before the military bombs the area, effectively killing Na Yeon and the others like her.
While the future of All of Us Are Dead is currently unclear, if the much-anticipated second season does get the green light, it’s certain that Na Yeon is not going to be one of the characters we’ll be seeing again.