He fell.
That’s the image burned into everyone's brain. Lee Cheong-san, the heart of Hyosan High, plummeting into a fiery construction pit while clutching his nemesis Gwi-nam. It was brutal. It felt final. But if you’ve spent any time in the All of Us Are Dead fandom, you know that "final" is a relative term when you’re dealing with the Jonas Virus.
All of Us Are Dead Cheong-san isn't just a character; he's the emotional anchor of the entire first season. Without him, the stakes just don't feel the same. Honestly, the way he sacrificed himself was peak tragic hero energy. He spent the whole season pining for On-jo, fighting off hordes of his former classmates, and dealing with the absolute nightmare of a "hambie" (half-zombie) stalker. Then, just as rescue seems possible, he takes the plunge.
But here’s the thing. We never actually saw a corpse. In the world of K-dramas and horror tropes, no body usually means no certain death.
The Science of the Hambie and the Cheong-san Survival Theory
Let’s talk about the biology of the show for a second. We saw Nam-ra survive a bite. We saw Gwi-nam survive multiple falls that should have turned his bones into powder. The Jonas Virus, as explained by the slightly unhinged science teacher Lee Byeong-chan, mutates based on the host's willpower or fear. Gwi-nam lived because his malice was stronger than the virus. Nam-ra lived because she had a reason to stay human.
Why wouldn't All of Us Are Dead Cheong-san have that same resilience?
He was bitten by Gwi-nam right before the bombing. At that moment, his transformation began. If he shifted into a "hambie" state—the hybrid version—his durability would have skyrocketed. When the missiles hit Hyosan, we saw Cheong-san using Gwi-nam as a human shield. Literally. He pulled the bully in front of him as the flames engulfed them.
Think about the physical evidence. When On-jo returns to the ruins later, she finds Cheong-san’s name tag. It’s covered in ash, but it’s there. If he were completely vaporized, would a plastic-coated name tag survive? Or was it left there as a breadcrumb? Director Lee Jue-qoo has dropped some pretty heavy hints in interviews with South Korean outlets like Sports Today, suggesting that if Season 1 was about human survival, Season 2 would be about the survival of the immortals. That’s a huge "if" that basically confirms Cheong-san is part of the plan.
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Why his "death" was necessary for the plot
From a writing perspective, Cheong-san had to go. At least for a while.
His arc in the first twelve episodes was about growth from a shy, somewhat stagnant kid into a leader who puts others first. By "dying," he forced On-jo to grow up. He forced the rest of the group to realize that no one is safe. If he had just walked out of the school with them, the emotional weight of the finale would have been halved.
Also, it sets up a massive conflict for the next installment. Imagine the drama. On-jo has spent months mourning him. She’s finally starting to move on, or at least process the trauma. Then, a mutated, perhaps slightly less "human" Cheong-san reappears. Does he remember her? Is he still the boy who liked fried chicken and hated studying? Or has the virus eaten away at his personality?
The Gwi-nam Connection: A Shared Fate?
You can't talk about All of Us Are Dead Cheong-san without mentioning Gwi-nam. They are two sides of the same coin. Gwi-nam is the pure, unfiltered id—violence without purpose. Cheong-san is the ego—protection and structure.
Their final embrace in the fire wasn't just a cool action shot. It was symbolic. They are tethered. If Cheong-san survived, there is a very high probability that Gwi-nam survived too. That’s the scary part. If the hero comes back, the monster usually follows.
The showrunners have a history of playing with our expectations. Remember when we thought the military was actually coming to save them early on? Nope. They left them to rot. The show thrives on subverting the "everything will be okay" trope. Keeping Cheong-san alive but making him something "other" fits perfectly with the dark, cynical tone of the series.
What the fans are missing about the name tag
There's a lot of debate about that name tag On-jo found. Some say it's proof he's dead—a memento left behind. I disagree.
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In K-drama visual shorthand, a character leaving a personal item behind is often a sign of a new beginning or a shed skin. By leaving the name tag, "Student Cheong-san" is dead. But "Hambie Cheong-san" is just getting started. He can't go back to his old life. He can't go to a refugee camp. He’s a monster in the eyes of the government. Leaving the tag was his way of saying goodbye to the life he knew before he vanished into the shadows of the ruined city.
Production Delays and Season 2 Reality
We’ve been waiting. And waiting. Netflix officially greenlit Season 2 back in 2022, but the production cycle has been a mess of scheduling conflicts and the massive scale of the project.
Chan-young Yoon, the actor who plays Cheong-san, has been spotted in promotional materials and "grid" announcements for the second season. Netflix Korea doesn't usually put dead characters front and center in Season 2 hype unless they are pulling a Stranger Things or there's a flashback heavy plot. But let's be real: fans don't want flashbacks. They want a reunion.
The production value for the upcoming season is rumored to be even higher, focusing on the "zombie politics" in Seoul. If Cheong-san is alive, he’s likely living in the abandoned ruins of Hyosan, perhaps acting as a protector for other hybrids or hiding from the military teams sent in to "clean up" the remaining infected.
The Problem With a Miracle Return
While everyone wants him back, there’s a risk. If he just walks back in like "Hey guys, I'm fine," it cheapens the sacrifice of the first season. The writers have to make it hurt.
Maybe he’s lost his memory.
Maybe he’s becoming more feral.
Maybe he blames the survivors for leaving him.
The best version of All of Us Are Dead Cheong-san in Season 2 is a complicated one. We need to see the cost of survival. Being a hambie isn't a superpower; it's a curse. Nam-ra showed us that she had to eat raw meat to stay sane. Imagine Cheong-san, the golden boy, dealing with that level of hunger. It’s a goldmine for character development.
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Survival Tactics: How He Could Have Made It
If we're being technical about the explosion, there are a few ways he could have survived the blast radius:
- The Elevator Shaft: We saw them falling near the shaft area. These structures are often reinforced.
- The Human Shield: As mentioned, Gwi-nam took the brunt of the initial thermal wave.
- The Jonas Mutation: Rapid cellular regeneration is a hallmark of the hambies in this universe. If the virus was already in his bloodstream, his body could have been repairing itself even as it was being burned.
It sounds far-fetched, sure. But this is a show about a high school being overrun by zombies because a dad tried to make his son more "alpha" with a lab-grown virus. We passed "realistic" ten miles ago.
Moving Forward: What To Watch For
If you’re tracking the return of All of Us Are Dead Cheong-san, keep your eyes on the official Netflix TUDUM updates. The key indicators for his survival won't be in the trailers—they’ll be in the casting calls for "new hybrids."
The most compelling theory suggests that Nam-ra has already found him. Remember the end of Season 1 when she jumps off the roof? She says "they're back" or "there are more like me." She wasn't just talking about random students. She was likely talking about the group she's been leading in the ruins. Cheong-san is almost certainly the "General" or the right-hand man in that shadow society.
Actionable Insights for Fans
To stay ahead of the curve on the Cheong-san mystery, focus on these specific steps:
- Monitor the Director’s Interviews: Lee Jue-qoo often discusses the "immortal vs. mortal" theme. Any mention of the "immortal" side of the story is a direct nod to Cheong-san’s state.
- Re-watch Episode 12 with Subtitles Off: Pay attention to the background noise during the explosion. There is a distinct sound of shifting rubble after the fire settles.
- Analyze the Webtoon: The show deviates significantly from the original Naver webtoon (Now at Our School), but the core essence of the characters remains. In the webtoon, Cheong-san's fate is slightly more ambiguous, giving the showrunners plenty of room to play.
- Check the Casting for Season 2: If Lomon (Su-hyeok) and Cho Yi-hyun (Nam-ra) are filming scenes in Hyosan specifically, it’s a high-probability sign that they are searching for—or have found—Cheong-san.
The wait for the next chapter is long, but the evidence points toward a major comeback. Whether he returns as a hero or a tragic villain remains to be seen, but the story of Hyosan is far from over for Lee Cheong-san.