I’m pretty confident Cheong-san will return in All of Us Are Dead season 2 without even one of them. However, that is not the only reason why I think Cheong-san is still alive.

The fact that Yoon Chan-young was one of the actors featured in a video shared by Netflix when All of Us Are Dead was renewed for season 2 also strongly suggests that Cheong-san will return. That said, Yoon reprising his role as Cheong-san does not necessarily mean that the character is alive, as it could be for flashbacks or dream sequences. Still, there is one major clue in All of Us Are Dead episode 11 that all but confirms Cheong-san’s story is not over yet.

Cheong-san Was Bitten By Gwi-nam In All Of Us Are Dead Episode 11

Cheong-san May Have Turned Into A Hambie Before The Explosion

Given everything that happened during Cheong-san and Gwi-nam’s final fight at the construction site and the explosion that followed it, it can be easy to forget that Gwi-nam bit Cheong-san’s arm. While we still don’t know much about how the Jonas virus works and why some people become asymptomatic zombies, All of Us Are Dead's hambie rules establish that hambies can turn other people into hambies by biting or scratching them. For example, Gwi-nam was the one who turned Nam-ra into a hambie earlier in season 1.

Hambies are also known as halfbies and half-zombies.

In other words, Cheong-san may also have been turned into a hambie right at the start of the fight. It is unclear how long it would take for Cheong-san to develop the usual hambie powers, but regardless, this could easily explain how he survived both the fall and the explosion. Gwi-nam survived quite a few deadly situations after he turned into a hambie, so the same could have happened to Cheong-san. Granted, escaping from an explosion that big would not have been easy, but we don’t know the full extent of a hambie’s abilities.

All Of Us Are Dead Wouldn’t Have Teased Cheong-san Becoming A Hambie Just To Kill Him Off

It Doesn’t Look Like Cheon-san’s Story Is Over

Gwi-nam biting Cheong-san’s arm is too significant of a moment not to mean something for All of Us Are Dead season 2. Granted, you could argue that Cheong-san being bitten is what caused him to stay behind since he would no longer be able to return to his regular life anyway. However, I don’t believe Cheong-san would need a selfish reason to stay behind and fight Gwi-nam while his friends were escaping. Cheong-san would have fought and risked his life even if he had not been bitten, just like he did multiple times during season 1.

If Cheong-san is indeed alive, being a hambie would explain why he doesn’t want to reconnect with On-jo and the others.

Therefore, there must be another reason for that scene. Making Cheong-san a hambie would not only be the perfect way to explain how he survived but would also explain why he hasn’t reunited with his friends yet. There was a four-month time jump between episodes 11 and 12, meaning Cheong-san had more than enough time to find his friends and let them know he was alive. If Cheong-san is indeed alive, being a hambie would explain why he doesn’t want to reconnect with On-jo and the others – he could now be a threat to them.

What Cheong-san Being A Hambie Would Mean For All Of Us Are Dead Season 2

Cheong-san’s Eventual Return Might Be Very Bittersweet

I predict that All of Us Are Dead season 2 will be all about hambies based on how season 1 ended. Between Nam-ra announcing she has found other people like her and Cheong-san potentially being a hambie, All of Us Are Dead will most likely explore what these half-zombies are doing to survive as the military hunts them down. All of Us Are Dead season 2 could flip the entire premise of the show, with the zombie K-drama now being about zombies protecting themselves from humans.

Having both Nam-ra and Cheong-san as hambies would mean that our main characters would be on the side of the zombies, at least the asymptomatic ones. This would also make All of Us Are Dead’s romance stories a lot more complicated now that two of the four lead characters would be asymptomatic zombies who cannot live in the military encampment alongside everyone else. While bringing Cheong-san back does risk reducing the impact of his sacrifice, making the character a hambie would be a clever decision that would set the tone for season 2.