Dear X- Episodes 9-10
Episodes 9 and 10 mark a major turning point in Dear X, shifting the story into darker, more unpredictable territory while peeling back new layers of Ah-jin and the people who orbit her. What begins as a battle for survival quickly transforms into a psychological thriller where every alliance carries a shadow.
Episode 9: A Fresh Start
Ah-jin’s world collapses the moment Longstar casts her out. Mi-ri’s rage is as swift as it is cruel, blaming Ah-jin entirely for In-gang’s death. But Ah-jin doesn’t back down. Instead, she pushes the truth straight at Mi-ri’s face: she knew In-gang was spiraling for years and let him break as long as he made money. It’s the first moment all episode where Ah-jin allows herself to show her hurt.
Jun-seo cuts ties with Longstar, choosing Ah-jin without hesitation, while Ji-sun spirals deeper into desperation. Her sudden kidney confession forces Ah-jin to expose the truth to Jun-seo, that his mother’s apology had nothing to do with remorse.
It’s one of the rare scenes where Ah-jin, Jun-seo, and Jae-oh sit together, forming a quiet circle of loyalty and frustration. They agree that either Ah-jin or CEO Seo will fall. And as the police suddenly arrive at Longstar, it becomes clear which one the universe has chosen. Mi-ri is arrested, and the empire she built so ruthlessly finally begins to crumble.
But everything that happens next shifts the tone entirely.
A new figure steps into the spotlight: Do Moon-hyuk. Calm, wealthy, calculating. He’s the unseen force who cleared Ah-jin’s name and toppled Mi-ri. And he wants Ah-jin for himself. He speaks of saving her life like it’s a personal mission. He even admits to doing all of it because he “pities” how hard her life has been.
By the time he offers marriage, it becomes painfully clear he doesn’t just want to help her. He wants to claim her.
Meanwhile, something far more dangerous unfolds. Jae-oh discovers that Moon-hyuk’s men have been following him. The office is wired to explode. And as Jae-oh and Jun-seo narrowly escape the flames, the episode ends with Moon-hyuk slipping a ring on Ah-jin’s finger while she laughs blindly, unaware of how close her two closest allies came to dying.
It’s chilling. And it sets the stage perfectly for what comes next.
Episode 10: The Monster in the Mirror
If Episode 9 was about new beginnings, Episode 10 reveals the cost of them.
Ah-jin is now Mrs. Do Moon-hyuk, living in a mansion that looks like a dream but feels like a maze. Jun-seo loses his grandfather and learns the truth about his parentage, only to unravel even further when Ji-sun turns the funeral into a spectacle. Her confession about pretending to be his mother for financial security leaves him gutted. It’s the final crack in his relationship with Ah-jin, and it breaks him in a quiet, heavy way.
Meanwhile, Ah-jin’s life with Do-hyuk becomes unsettling almost immediately. A locked third-floor study. A housekeeper who speaks like a servant from a gothic novel. A mysterious ex-wife who supposedly went mad. A box of pads appearing out of nowhere. Even the clocks in the house seem timed to her trauma.
Do-hyuk is always gentle, always generous, always watching. And that’s what makes him terrifying.
Ah-jin, aware of the danger, quietly reaches out to Jae-oh. She asks him to look into Do-hyuk’s past. Unfortunately, Do-hyuk has already bugged her car and listens to every word. The surveillance feels suffocating. Every kindness doubles as a warning.
Then comes Sung-hee.
Now working inside the mansion, she tries to attack Ah-jin in the most twisted attempt at revenge. The fight is brutal, raw, and deeply personal. But Ah-jin turns the blade and slashes Sung-hee’s face, a symbolic reversal of all the years she’s been cornered.
The episode ends with Do-hyuk walking in on Ah-jin laughing, triumphant and unafraid, while Sung-hee screams behind her. It’s a moment that makes it impossible to tell whether Ah-jin is taking control of her life or slowly losing herself in the darkness that has followed her since childhood.
Episodes 9 and 10 show Dear X at its most gripping. Every character is pushed to their emotional limit, every choice carries weight, and every new ally comes with a price. The lines between rescue and possession, love and obsession, survival and transformation have never been blurrier.
And Ah-jin stands at the center, walking straight into the fire with her eyes wide open.
DramaZen's Opinion
Episodes 9 and 10 shift Dear X into its darkest and most gripping arc yet. Episode 9 pulls Ah-jin out of the chaos of Longstar only to drop her into something far more dangerous. Mi-ri finally falls, Jun-seo breaks away, and Ji-sun’s lies explode in the most dramatic way possible. But the real shock comes with Do Moon-hyuk, the mysterious benefactor whose “kindness” feels more like quiet possession. His proposal, his timing, and the chilling reveal of how closely he has been watching Ah-jin create a sense of dread that sticks to every scene.
Episode 10 doubles down on the psychological tension. The mansion is eerie, controlled, and full of secrets, from a locked study to the shadow of a missing ex-wife. Ah-jin tries to adapt, but the atmosphere grows more unsettling as Moon-hyuk’s true nature becomes harder to ignore. Jun-seo faces devastating family truths, and Ah-jin’s violent confrontation with Sung-hee marks a turning point in her descent into survival mode.
Together, these episodes feel like the beginning of a new chapter, one where the danger isn’t loud or chaotic, but quiet, calculated, and living under Ah-jin’s roof. The show has never been more intense, and Ah-jin has never been more compelling.
