Two women—one who witnessed abuse and one who lived through it—create a plan to end the cycle by killing an abuser. As You Stood By shows how courage begins within us, even when it pushes us to cross moral lines.
On November 7, 2025, Netflix released As You Stood By, a story built on friendship, survival, and heavy guilt. Directed by Lee Jeong-rim and written by Kim Hyo-jeong, the psychological thriller stars Jeon So-nee, Lee Yoo-mi, Jang Seung-go, and Lee Moo-saeng. The eight-episode drama is based on Hideo Okuda’s 2014 novel Naomi & Kanako and explores the emotional struggles of women who choose to fight back against abuse.
As You Stood By follows Eun-su (Jeon So-nee), a luxury store clerk haunted by childhood trauma. The series also centers on Hui-su (Lee Yoo-mi), once a promising children’s book author who is now trapped in a marriage with her abusive husband, Noh Jin-pyo (Jang Seung-jo).
When Eun-su discovers Hui-su’s suffering, she decides to intervene. She creates a plan to kill Jin-pyo with the help of So-baek (Lee Moo-saeng), a wealthy businessman with a dark, complicated past. Their decision sets off a chain of events that tests their loyalty, their morals, and the limits of their courage.
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Where Did Hui-su Go in As You Stood By?
In episode 7, Hui-su stays with Eun-su at So-baek’s place. However, after Hui-su says she’s going to the bathroom, she suddenly disappears. When Eun-su checks and finds the room empty, she panics and immediately tells So-baek after he arrives. She fears that either Jang Kang or Jin-young has taken her.
Elsewhere, Hui-su wakes up unconscious inside a car with Jin-young watching over her. A written confession sits beside her, claiming she murdered her husband. Jin-young plans to stage the scene so it looks like Hui-su killed herself out of guilt.
Meanwhile, Detective Gyeong-gu retrieves the CCTV footage from the day before the security guard died. He sees Jin-pyo with the guard and instantly suspects foul play. When he calls Jin-young to ask about the footage, she accuses him of suggesting she deleted it. Later, Gyeong-gu visits Jin-young’s mother, Jeong-suk, prompting her to call her daughter in fear—forcing a rattled Jin-young to abandon Hui-su in the car.
Did Eun-su and So-baek Find Hui-su?
While driving, So-baek and Eun-su spot Jin-young’s car coming from the opposite direction. Suspecting she took Hui-su, they follow the road she came from. Soon enough, they find Hui-su barely conscious and fighting for her life. After rushing her to the hospital, Jin-young immediately tries to track her down.
Later, Eun-su and Jin-young confront each other in a tense argument. Eun-su slaps Jin-young, and Jin-young retaliates. Jin-young insists Eun-su should have let Hui-su die to protect herself, even admitting she should have killed them both. Eun-su warns her to stay away from Hui-su, promising to destroy her career if she tries again.
Back at the hospital, Hui-su worries about Eun-su, but Eun-su assures her that, for the first time in a long while, she feels alive. She adds that she finally feels like she’s stepping out of the darkness. Meanwhile, Jin-young faces accusations of helping her brother escape the country, making her grow more anxious about her position in the police force.
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Who Killed Jang Kang in As You Stood By?
Jang Kang, Jin-pyo’s look-alike, is the man Eun-su hired to fly to China. However, when he secretly returns to Korea, new problems arise. He threatens to expose Eun-su and Hui-su unless they pay him. Jin-young also manages to capture him at one point.
With Eun-su’s help, Jang Kang briefly escapes, but as he flees again from Eun-su, Hui-su, and So-baek, he ends up back in Jin-young’s hands. While Jin-young is driving, she receives a call from her mother and realizes Jeong-suk found Jang Kang.
When Jin-young arrives, she discovers Jang Kang dead. Her mother killed him. A flashback shows Jeong-suk mistaking him for Jin-pyo at first, then realizing he’s someone else. When Jang Kang tells her that her son is dead, she hallucinates and attacks him.
Jin-young and her mother hide Jang Kang’s body in their car trunk, unaware of what comes next.
Did Eun-su and Hui-su End Up in Prison?
So-baek’s informant reports that Jin-young and her mother put something in their car trunk. He suspects it’s Jang Kang’s body. Initially, So-baek plans to follow them, but Eun-su tells him she started this and must be the one to end it. With intel guiding her, Eun-su rams their car, exposing Jang Kang’s corpse.
Meanwhile, Hui-su learns what Eun-su has done and immediately goes to the police to confess to killing her husband. Eun-su wakes up in the hospital and faces similar questioning from Detective Gyeong-gu.
In the end, both Eun-su and Hui-su receive prison sentences for their actions—just like Jin-young and her mother, who tried to cover up Jang Kang’s death. During their trial, the two women deliver emotional final statements.
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As You Stood By Ending Explained
As You Stood By ends with Eun-su and Hui-su finally free, thanks to So-baek’s help. Hui-su’s mother passes away, while Eun-su’s mother and brother leave her father and move to another place. The three—Eun-su, Hui-su, and So-baek—start anew in Vietnam.
It’s refreshing to see the two women living peacefully at last. Yes, their actions were criminal, but staying with their abusers would have been a slower kind of death. Abusers never stop unless someone fights back. The point of the story isn’t the killing—it’s the realization that ignoring abuse makes you complicit.
The ending reminds viewers that women are not weak or inferior. They are not punching bags. No one has the right to inflict harm simply because they’re stronger. All people deserve equal respect, regardless of gender.
As You Stood By stands as a bold statement about women’s worth and the power of fighting for yourself. Like So-baek said, everyone has a “crazy bitch” inside. If you don’t speak up for yourself, no one will.
All episodes of As You Stood By are now streaming on Netflix.
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Source: Netflix Korea, Netflix K-Content
