Hyeri conflicted about 'Reply 1988' ending

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- Singer Hyeri, who played the very lovely Deokson on the tvN hit drama "Reply 1988," has spoken up about the show's controversial ending.

Spoiler alert: She turns down her childhood crush Kim Jeong-hwan to marry what had been a peripheral character, Choi Taek.

Just like "Reply 1988" fans, Hyeri says she was baffled by the unexpected turn of events.

"Well ... you know Deokseon's history. I didn't 'change' the course of the story per se, but I was really conflicted as to how I'd deliver that to viewers," she told Yonhap News Agency in an interview earlier this week.

The member of the girl group Girl's Day says she first learned about Deokseon's future husband when she read the script for the 16th episode "The Irony Called Life - Part 1," when Choi cancels a meeting with Deokseon at the last minute. Hyeri didn't understand why that upset Deokseon so much.

"When producer Shin Won-ho told me, 'It's cuz he's her future husband,' I got really concerned actually," she said. "Mr. Shin said it was natural for me to feel confused. He said Deokseon is, too."

Hyeri's explanation was that such ambivalence was to be expected from a 16-year-old.

"I guess Deokseon didn't know what she was feeling herself, and viewers got really immersed in the tumultuous emotions a girl experiences at that age," she said.

When asked who she would have chosen if she really were Deokseon, Hyeri, like Deokseon, was equivocal.

"I want a person who is half like Kim and half like Choi," she said, laughing. "Both are great people. They're such good friends. But they both have flaws, too. Jeong-hwan doesn't like to express his feelings, which would be annoying to a woman. But with Taek, I'd have to be very sensitive with everything. So I want someone who has a little bit of both."

sojungpark@yna.co.kr
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