Warning: This article contains spoilers from Netflix's All of Us Are Dead. Read at your own risk!
When it comes to zombie-themed shows, the question all boils down to whether a certain character survived or not and given the "halfbie" situation, is Cheong-San still alive in All of Us Are Dead and if so, will he be returning in Season 2?
All of Us Are Dead Season 2: Is Cheong-san Still Alive?
All of Us Are Dead took the world by storm as it dominated Netflix's global charts. Released on January 28, the 12-episode South Korean coming-of-age drama follows students trapped in a high school as they fight to escape a virus outbreak that could turn them into flesh-eating zombies upon infection.
As expected from a zombie thriller like this, not every key character is expected to survive, and one of the show's biggest surprises is when fan-favorite character Lee Cheong-san (played by Yoon Chan-young) faced his tragic fate.
The heartthrob made a major sacrifice for his friends, and it's considered to be one of the most heartbreaking death scenes ever, but viewers are wondering if he actually died at the end of All of Us Are Dead.
Cheong-san managed to survive a lot of dangerous moments in the action-packed K-drama, but at the eleventh episode, he was bitten and ultimately infected by his former classmate/bully, Gwi-nam (Yoo In-soo).
In order to escape the construction site infested by zombies, Cheong-san sacrifices himself by luring the pack away from his friends.
Thanks to Cheong-san, his friends were able to escape to the mountains, but the South Korean military dropped a bomb on the school to prevent the infection from spreading further, and Cheong-san's body was seen among the dead zombies.
While it appears as though Cheong-san didn't survive the explosion, fan theories surfaced, questioning if he actually died.
When On-jo returns to high-school with Su-hyeok and Nam-ra, but Cheong-san is nowhere to be found. Nam-ra, with her special half-zombie senses, tells On-jo that she doesn't smell anyone in the school.
There are various theories you can find on social media, including a fan's TikTok video that claims that when Cheong-san fell down with Gwi-nam, he was safe because there was a pile of zombies on top of him, protecting him from the bomb's explosion.
It's likely that he also used Gwi-nam as a shield since his relentless nemesis was on top of him in their final scene together.
One fan suggests that Cheong-san got the ultimate revenge on Gwi-nam, and actually survived. "I saw that theory on tiktok omg what if cheong-san is alive, like i thought he saved gwi-nam from the fire but he made gwi-nam as his shield and remember what nam-ra said before she jump?? she said that there are hambie or half zombies there and ++."
In the finale, Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun), who appears to have controlled his half-zombie condition, tells his friends that there are other half zombies or "halfbies" left.
Could one of them be Cheong-san? Like Nam-ra, was bitten by Gwi-nam, a half zombie, but the show didn't reveal if Cheong-san actually turned to be a full zombie or half zombie.
On June 6, 2022, during the Geeked Week 2022 virtual event, Netflix Korea officially announced All of Us Are Dead Season 2 by sharing a poster with the caption “Can we survive again? Hyosan High School friends’ fierce zombie survival period begins. All of Us Are Dead Season 2, only on Netflix.”
Netflix also released the All of Us Are Dead Season 2 announcement video that includes Yoon Chan-young, suggesting that his character's story is not over yet. For now, it's safe to assume that Lee Cheong-san is still alive and will return in Season 2, but it's still unclear how he's able to survive the massive explosion
Watch the Season 2 announcement video below:
READ MORE: 7 Reasons Why All of Us are Dead is Bloody Awesome
Does Yoon Chan-young Know if Lee Cheong-San Will Return in All of Us Are Dead Season 2?
No, the actor admitted that he doesn't know about his character's fate after the finale of the zombie thriller. In a recent interview with Soompi, Yoon detailed how he was cast in All of Us Are Dead and his character's fate after the finale.
Fans were quick to speculate that his character, Cheong-san, somehow survived the bombing. Fans theorized that Cheong-san survived as he was not seen becoming a zombie before his supposed death.
“I was actually asked about whether Cheong-san died or not in another interview recently. To be honest, I don’t know. I haven’t heard about what happens next, and nothing has been decided yet. Personally, I’d like to live. I’d like to be able to say things that I didn’t get to say,” explained Yoon.
Netflix already renewed All of Us Are Dead for Season 2, and director Lee Jae-kyoo has an idea of what kind of story Season 2 will tell.
Speaking to The Korean Herald, Lee said, "Many directions, settings, and scenes were intentionally produced to expand the story into an additional season, including the introduction of the new races of zombies."
He continued, "If the first season can be seen as having presented humanity‘s survival, the next season can talk about the survival of zombies. I hope to present viewers with another season."
It looks like the writers intended to make the ending of Cheong-san's story ambiguous for his possible return in Season 2. It would be interesting to see him team-up with Nam-ra and his friends once again to fight a bigger threat.
Watch the first season of All of Us Are Dead, now streaming on Netflix.