‘Weak Class Hero 1’ Ending Explained: What Happens to Si-eun in the End?

Welcome to the Ending Explained for Weak Class Hero 1, a South Korean TV miniseries based on the popular webtoon, Weak Hero. The webtoon is illustrated by Kim Jin-seok and written by Seopass. The TV miniseries works as a prequel to the events of the webtoon and goes deep into the characters’ backstories and motivations. The miniseries runs for eight episodes of about 45 minutes each. The miniseries stars Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-Wook, Hong Kyung, and Lee Yeon. The series debuted at the Busan International Film Festival in 2022, and since then, it has gathered a healthy following.

Weak Class Hero 1 only runs for eight episodes, but that is time enough to create a solid backstory for Si-eun, our protagonist. The main series will see him go through many more challenges, but it is great to see that Si-eun is a fascinating character from the get-go.

All the actors are doing a great job. Yes, sometimes the story can descend into profound melodrama, but it never comes across as cringy. Instead, these moments of extreme emotion fit a narrative that is already an exaggeration in many regards. All the performances, events, and developments align with what we can expect of an anime series.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Weak Class Hero 1. Read at your own risk.

Why Does Si-eun Have A Hard Time Making Friends?

At the core of its premise, Weak Class Hero 1 deals very much with bullying as one of the most important things that should be dealt with in schools and outside of it. Kids everywhere feel threatened by their own classmates, and what should be an experience where learning and interacting with others should be the goal is not becoming more and more a thing of misery.

Why should school be so sad and unforgiven? The answer is not to stop sending kids to school but to improve the learning environment on every level.

Weak Class Hero 1 introduces us to our main character from the get-go. Si-eun is a fascinating character. He is a walking contradiction and a true definition of wasted potential. You see, Si-eun is quite smart, basically the best student at his school, and very good at math. His focus on academic subjects has made him weak physically, but his will is quite strong. Si-eun is a sad character, though.

He could have a promising future, but his parents have abandoned him, and he has no venue to release his frustrations other than being the best at school.

So, when the character of Yeong-bin decides to make Si-eun the target of his bullies’ antics, the sad bully doesn’t know he is about to wake up the beast that has been sleeping inside Si-eun. At first, Si-eun keeps to himself and ignores Yeong-bin’s antics as much as possible.

When ignoring his bully stops working, Si-eun faces him and shows no fear. However, instead of deterring the bully from stopping his terrible actions, Yeong-bin sees Si-eun’s defiance as a challenge. He makes it his mission to break Si-eun one way or another. Si-eun’s attitude makes him a difficult person to get close to, but his willpower catches the attention of a couple of students.

Among these students is Su-ho, the strongest fighter in the class. Su-ho is not much of a student, but he seems to be a genuinely nice person. To this one’s surprise, he starts getting closer and closer to Si-eun. A new student, Beom-seok, also becomes part of the group. Their friendship is ignited when Yeong-bin makes Beom-seok drug Si-eun, which makes him fail an exam. Si-eun’s explodes and destroys Yeong-bin with a powerful beating.

This gains Si-eun new friends but also makes Yeong-bin even more determined to destroy Si-eun’s for his own amusement.

What Happens To Si-eun In the End?

Nothing good is everlasting. Si-eun’s friendship with Su-ho and Beom-seok, expands with the addition of Yeong-i, a runaway girl who joins the group and helps them navigate the darkest places of Seoul’s nightlife. It all seems to be going well, but a flame burns inside Beom-seok.

A flame that will end up consuming everything around him. Beom-seok comes to the school to escape bullying and also his stepfather’s abuse. In an ironic turn of events, Beom-seok tries to sabotage himself and destroys his friendship with Si-eun and Su-ho, as he thinks he doesn’t deserve it.

And he doesn’t. In the end, he starts hanging out with the other school bullies and becomes a bully himself. He also starts falling in love with Yeong-i, who sees him only as a friend.

The mix is explosive as Beom-seok, believes that Su-ho, and Si-eun are only pitying him. Beom-seok hires a young mixed martial arts fighter named Woo-young, to beat Su-ho in revenge for looking down on him. Woo-young already has a chip on his shoulder when he was defeated some time ago in a fight against Su-ho. Su-ho is ambushed, and when defeated, Beom-seok keeps kicking him in the head even when he is already unconscious.

For a moment, Su-ho seems to be dead. He isn’t, but he has fallen into a coma. Si-eun and Yeong-i are worried because they haven’t heard about Su-ho for several hours, which never happens. When Si-eun finally gets the news about Su-ho’s condition, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

He goes on a rampage inside the school, kicking Yeong-bin’s ass in front of everyone. This then leads him to Woo-young. The two fight, and Si-eun ends up breaking Woo-young’s leg with a weight. It is very brutal. He then goes for Beom-seok, who seems to have accepted his faith. Si-eun hurts him but then leaves as he sees that Beom-seok is already dead inside for what he has done.

These massive displays of violence win Si-eun an expulsion from the school. He visits Su-ho in the hospital and imagines having a conversation with his friend, but Su-ho doesn’t seem to wake up. At least not for a while. Beom-seok is taken out of the country by his stepfather, and Si-eun is transferred to another school filled with all manner of young delinquents.

The series ends with Si-eun facing down these new bullies at his new school in the same way he faced Yeong-bi and the others. For Si-eun, the cycle of violence will never stop, and he will have to prove how dangerous he is to his new classmates.