Actor Ryu Jun-yeol not happy with 'Reply 1988' ending

Were you disappointed by the way "Reply 1988" ended?

Actor Ryu Jun-yeol, who played one of the male leads, Kim Jeong-hwan, in the tvN hit drama, is with you; the 30-year-old says he didn't expect the sudden twist, which "Reply 1988" fans accuse of being a cruel joke.

Spoiler alert: Ryu doesn't end up with Deokseon, the female protagonist and Kim's long-time crush. Deokseon, played by singer Hyeri, runs into the arms of his rival Choi Taek, who had been somewhat of a peripheral character at the beginning.

"If it were a real situation, I wouldn't have given up on Deokseon," Ryu said on tvN's "Taxi," where celebrities share behind-the-scenes stories with cab drivers, Tuesday.

"Even in the show, I didn't want to give up on her, but that wasn't within my control," he said. "I found out about the ending really towards the end. I hadn't expected it at all."

Ryu also said he could have played the role of Choi Taek, a "baduk" prodigy. "Baduk" is the Korean term for the board game Go.

"I told producer Shin Won-ho that I know how to play 'baduk,'" he said. "He was surprised, so I asked him if I should play Taek.

Shin said I should wait and eventually gave me the role of Kim Jeong-hwan."

The 20-part series, extended by two episodes due to popular demand, concluded on Jan. 16.

It has set an all-time cable viewership record of 18 percent. (Yonhap)