Dear X episodes 1-4 recap: Ah-jin’s manipulation pulls Jun-seo & Jae-oh into revenge plot, setting off her father’s death

The streaming service TVING launched the initial quartet of episodes of Dear X on November 6, 2025. The series focuses on the turbulent life of Baek Ah-jin (Kim Yoo-jung). She is a celebrated actress with a troubled background. Ah-jin’s childhood was marked by relentless domestic abuse, compelling her to master the art of emotional suppression and survival through manipulating others.

Publicly, the actress appears generous. Internally, a ruthless calculus dictates her choices. Her closest ally is Yoon Jun-seo (Kim Young-dae), her long-standing confidant. This steadfast supporter, paradoxically, is also the source of her future ruin. Furthermore, Kim Jae-oh (Kim Do-hoon) is also connected to her painful history of mistreatment.

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Dear X episodes 1, 2, 3, & 4 recap

Dear X opens with Ah-jin’s father pushing her mother down a staircase while she was intoxicated. The narrative then shifts to the present, where Ah-jin retaliates by exposing intimate photos of a teacher, Mrs. Kwak, during her birthday event in school. Sim Sung-hee, a classmate and academic rival, is introduced as openly resentful of Ah-jin’s top marks.

Jun-seo gets an opportunity to participate in a debate competition. However, he steps aside so that Ah-jin can take part. Later, Sung-hee teams with Ah-jin, preparing for the topic of the pros and cons of the death penalty. Jealousy brews as Sung-hee spreads rumors about Ah-jin’s background.

In response, Ah-jin retaliates by accusing Sung-hee’s family of bribing judges, causing the school to face a temporary ban from the presidential debate. Tensions escalate when Sung-hee pours water on Ah-jin. Jun-seo escorts Ah-jin to the nurse. Jae-oh is introduced as a figure tied to Ah-jin through a shared traumatic past.

He and Ah-jin later become involved in a loan-sharking scheme. As the episode closes, Jun-seo moves to protect Ah-jin by pretending to date Sung-hee. Later, the trio (Jun-seo, Jae-oh, and Ah-jin) begins collecting evidence to discredit Sung-hee. The school’s opinion of Sung-hee sharply deteriorates. Dear X episode two opens with a flashback: after killing Ah-jin’s mother, her father moves in with his partner, who is also Jun-seo’s mother.

Ah-jin overhears plans to place her in an orphanage. Back in the present, her father causes a disturbance at school after Sung-hee brings him in. Soon, Jun-seo intervenes and takes him out. Entertainment scout Seo Mi-ri of Longstar Entertainment notices Ah-jin and offers an acting opportunity. However, she declines.

Meanwhile, Jae-oh returns home to find his younger brother Jae-hun being beaten. He kills their father with a knife and is later sentenced to three to five years in prison. A few days later, Ah-jin secures admission to Hankook University’s law department; Jun-seo enrolls at Anam University. Jun-seo requests scholarship money from his grandfather, agreeing to act as a grandson to secure funds for Ah-jin.

When the cash reaches Ah-jin’s home, her father seizes and beats her. Childhood flashbacks detail Ah-jin and Jun-seo bonding over shared trauma. A younger Jun-seo witnesses an attempt to drown Ah-jin by his mother. In the present, Ah-jin’s enrollment lapses after she fails to register. The episode ends with Ah-jin making eye contact with Choi Jeong-ho.

Ah-jin begins working at Jeong-ho’s Xanadu Coffee in Dear X episode 3. Jun-seo moves nearby to keep watch. A photograph taken at the café circulates online and attracts Longstar Entertainment. Jeong-ho receives an anonymous call asking about Ah-jin and grows concerned.

Jun-seo confronts and assaults Ah-jin’s father over his abuse. When Jun-seo is briefly arrested, Ah-jin fabricates a story that her father, not Jun-seo, has been stalking her. She manipulates Jun-seo into believing he must not act. Meanwhile, Jeong-ho regularly checks on Ah-jin and sometimes walks her home.

By Dear X episode 3 end, Ah-jin has engineered a setup: her father is mistaken for the stalker. Jeong-ho confronts him, being hit by a bat. But the confrontation ends with the father dead. Behind the scenes, Ah-jin is revealed to have orchestrated the killing through manipulation. Police frame the death as self-defence linked to long-term abuse, following a media strategy aimed at attention.

Investigators recover evidence (including beanie threads flushed in the toilet). Ah-jin inadvertently reveals details after overhearing officials’ media plans. Jun-seo publicly claims responsibility for the killing. During a confrontation, Jun-seo reveals that after Jeong-ho struck Ah-jin’s father with a bat, Jun-seo later delivered a fatal blow. In reality, Ah-jin had struck the final blow, and Jun-seo attempted to erase incriminating traces.

Authorities doubt Jun-seo’s confession, but Mi-ri intervenes, clearing Ah-jin’s name in the public eye. She also helps secure her entry into the entertainment industry. The episode closes with Ah-jin severing ties with Jun-seo. She tells him his kindness weakens her and vows to advance alone. The Dear X episode 4 final scene shows her stepping toward a new career in show business.

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Episodes 5 and 6 of Dear X will be released on November 13 on TVING at 6:00 pm KST!

Edited by Shreya Jha