My Demon - Ending Explained

The central plot of "My Demon" is built on a series of interconnected revelations. The initial conflict revolves around Do Do-hee inheriting the Mirae Group, but only if she marries within a year, which leads to her contract marriage with the demon Jeong Gu-won, who needs to stay near her to access his powers after his tattoo transfers to her wrist.

The first major twist is the revelation of their past lives. Gu-won was a nobleman's son named Seo Yi-sun in the Joseon era, and Do-hee was a courtesan named Wolsim. They fell deeply in love, but after Yi-sun introduced Wolsim to Catholicism, she was murdered by religious zealots. In a fit of grief and rage, Yi-sun killed them and renounced God, which is how he became a demon, cursed to immortality but with no memory of his human life. Their current romance is a tragic echo of this past, with the constant threat that his love will once again lead to her death.

The main antagonist is revealed to be Noh Suk-min, Do-hee's adoptive brother. He is the one who murdered his own mother, Joo Cheon-sook, to accelerate his inheritance and has been orchestrating the attempts on Do-hee's life. His motive is pure greed. The mystery of Do-hee's parents' death is also resolved: her father made a deal with Gu-won 10 years prior to save his pregnant wife and unborn child (Do-hee) after a car accident. The terms of the deal were that they would die ten years later, a fact they were aware of.

The climax in Episode 15 sees Suk-min stab Do-hee. Gu-won, breaking the ultimate demonic rule, uses his powers to bring her back to life. This act of sacrifice causes him to spontaneously combust, turning into ash and ceasing to exist. The finale in Episode 16 resolves this tragedy. Do-hee makes a Christmas wish to have him back. The deity (the homeless woman) fulfills this wish, revealing Gu-won had won a previous bet with her where the prize was having a wish granted. His sacrifice and her wish fulfilled the terms of that deal, allowing him to be resurrected and return to her side, still a demon, for their happy ending.

One alternative interpretation focuses on the character of God, represented as the homeless woman. Instead of a benevolent, omnipotent being, she can be seen as a bored, manipulative entity who views human and demonic lives as a form of entertainment. She makes bets with Gu-won and brings him back not out of pure compassion, but because he 'won' a previous wager. This reading suggests the universe of "My Demon" is not governed by morality but by whimsy and cosmic games, and the happy ending is less a reward for love and more a fortunate coincidence in a chaotic system.

Another interpretation centers on the idea of salvation. While the narrative presents Gu-won's salvation as finding love with Do-hee, it could also be interpreted as his escape from the meaningless cycle of his demonic duty. His love for Do-hee provides an anchor and a purpose beyond his transactional existence. In this view, Do-hee doesn't just save him from extinction; she saves him from his own personal hell of immortal, purposeless repetition, making his eventual return to a 'job' as a demon a bit ironic, though now tempered with human emotion.