Surely Tomorrow Episode 5 Ending: The Clues You Missed and Why Ji-woo’s Ex Is More Dangerous Than Ever

Episode 5 of Surely Tomorrow doesn’t just keep the fire burning — it pours gasoline on it. Ji-woo’s ex, Jo Jin-eon, refuses to fade into the background, while the show slips in a surprisingly tender backstory that actually explains why Ji-woo and Kyeong-do can’t quite quit each other.

Jin-eon is not done, not even close

We pick up right where Episode 4 left off: a tense, quiet showdown between Kyeong-do and Jin-eon at Ji-woo’s place. Kyeong-do tells him to leave. Jin-eon plants himself as if he owns the room. So Kyeong-do flips it — if Jin-eon insists on talking to Ji-woo, it’s going to happen in public where he can’t play games.

Then Jin-eon clocks Kyeong-do’s suitcase. That sets him off. He accuses Kyeong-do of leaking his affair and openly threatens him. Not empty bluster, either — later, Jin-eon calls his lawyer and tells him to overturn his divorce. He’s not just hanging around for drama; he’s gearing up for a legal mess.

The JARIM problem, the London problem, and the bet

Quick rewind to the setup that’s been brewing: Ji-woo’s older sister, Ji-yeon, privately reached out to Kyeong-do and asked him to stop Ji-woo from running off to London. Ji-yeon has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is already losing memories, which means she can’t run their company, JARIM. On top of that, her own husband is trying to sell the company out from under her. So she asks Kyeong-do to convince Ji-woo to come in and take over as CEO.

Kyeong-do doesn’t just talk — he shows up. He moves in to help Ji-woo quit drinking because he recognizes where she’s headed. She pushes him away, but he gets her out of the house with one very specific challenge. Before they head to the amusement park, he makes a bet: if he can rent out the entire place just for the two of them, Ji-woo will start working.

By the end of the episode, he pulls it off. Empty park, no lines, no excuses. Ji-woo keeps her word. Translation: yes, he gets her to step toward JARIM.

2017: the night they stopped lying to themselves

The episode’s gut punch is a flashback that actually earns its keep. In 2017, years after their first breakup, Ji-woo flies in from the US for a friend’s wedding and runs into Kyeong-do. It’s awkward-nice at first — polite smiles and all the things they don’t say. That night, Kyeong-do drinks, calls her, and they meet for real.

Ji-woo finally says what neither of them could handle back then: they loved each other, but she couldn’t bridge the gap between their worlds — her privilege and his more modest life. It crushed them both, and he owns his part in it, admitting he was too young to understand how much that difference was eating at her.

"I was just a clueless 20-year-old."

They both break. She misses her flight back to the US and shows up at his workplace. He doesn’t need an explanation. He takes her home, and they start living together. The show doesn’t spell everything out, but the implication is clear: their second try wasn’t a fling; it was a choice.

Where this leaves everyone

Jin-eon is now an active threat, not just an irritating shadow. Ji-woo is stepping into JARIM right as Ji-yeon’s illness and a potential sell-off make everything fragile. And Kyeong-do? He’s all in, even if it means renting a whole theme park to get her to take one step forward.

Surely Tomorrow drops new episodes every Saturday and Sunday on Prime Video.