“The two of them must have met”- Friendly Rivalry viewers react to viral theory behind Lee Hye-ri’s skateboard board finale scene

The finale episode of Friendly Rivalry aired on March 6, and with its open ending, it has the internet debating. The 16-episode drama, starring Lee Hye-ri and Chung Soo-bin revolves around Yoo Jae-i and Woo Seul-gi. As Seul-gi transfers to Chaehwa High to find out more about her father's death, she comes across Jae-i who becomes obsessively friendly towards her.

The finale of Friendly Rivalry sees Jae-i jumping into the water along with Je-na after acing her entrance exams. While everyone keeps looking for her, she is nowhere to be found. After six months, Seul-gi receives a gift box with the keychain that she had given to Jae-i and a picture of a bridge.

The final scene shows Seul-gi skateboarding on the bridge and smiling at the camera. Fans have come up with their own theories regarding the show's ending.

"The two skateboards are different, the feet they use are different, and the background when looking at the postcard is also different, so the two of them must have met!!!" theorized one fan.

"I feel like this is not an open ending but rather an alternative ending In Kdramas,bridges symbolize the path to the afterlife.If you look at Jaeyi riding a skateboard again,it's as if that's what she loves the most A smile says "goodbye," commented another.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT streets are saying the one riding the skateboard is seulgi?? because she rides regular and jaeyi only rides goofy and seulgi's board has a pink flower on it while jaeyi's blue," another fan said.

Fans believe that Jae-i and Seul-gi met in the finale of Friendly Rivalry.

"Writers are sick as f*ck but also i love your clever brain juices wdym that's seulgi skateboarding to jaeyi cause that's 2 diff hair styles, shirts, board designs and apparently jaeyi does goofy stance while in here it's regular (seulgi)," observed another.

"I fw the Jaeseulgi skateboard gfs ending bcs according to their current location, they're just 3-4 hours away from each other (+Hyeri's caption: 'Jaeyi, I hope you and Seulgi find happiness.') I wouldn't be shocked if they did meet," responded another fan.

"Jaeyi and Seulgi met in the end, right?! !!!! The skateboard patterns are different—one is red, and the other is blue. And the pushing foot on the skateboard has changed too!!!" mentioned another.

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What happens in Friendly Rivalry episode 16?

In Friendly Rivalry's finale, a flashback reveals Seul-gi once threatened to jump into a pool, despite not knowing how to swim, to force Jae-i to speak. When Jae-i remained silent, Seul-gi jumped but was saved by her. This strengthened her trust in Jae-i. Seul-gi then devised a plan to expose Tae-jun, using Jae-i to lure him into obtaining stolen exam questions.

In the present, Jae-i, standing on a springboard, tells Seul-gi to follow “Plan B,” suspecting her father’s involvement. The next day, Jae-i assures Seul-gi she will handle the situation and reveals that the drugs she had given her were just vitamins. Meanwhile, Seul-gi convinces Byeong-jin to sell leaked exam questions.

The stolen questions are hidden in pills and smuggled into Tae-jun’s pocket. When Tae-jun is taken to a remote location by Byeong-jin and Seul-gi, Jae-i intervenes. Seul-gi swallows the pills to prevent them from being handed over, forcing Jae-i to operate on her.

Jae-i later tops the exam while Seul-gi drops out. In a shocking turn, Jae-i livestreams herself jumping into the water, and while Je-na is found, Jae-i goes missing. Six months later, Seul-gi finds a mysterious package, hinting that Jae-i may still be alive.

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Friendly Rivalry is available to stream on Viki.