“Villains are Destined to Die” in Seoul

My husband is a huge fan of webtoons. Partly because he loves all things comics, but also partly because he works for webtoon companies here in Korea.

And while Korea might be the home of webtoons, there aren’t nearly as many events as you might expect. That’s why we were so excited to hear that the “Villains are Destined to Die” pop-up was being held for a month this summer in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

The webtoon officially ended back in 2024, but there are still lots of fans of the series and D&C Media, the studio behind the webtoon, still regularly holds fan pop-ups and releases merch at events like these about once a year.

Sipping Coffee Like a Villain

Like all cafe pop-up events, the food and drinks are all themed. Each item comes with a different photocard and coaster, so hardcore fans of the series will undoubtedly order one of each. You might think that’s a bit much, but we literally saw someone buy one of each menu item and then extra merch on top.

The first floor has limited seating along with the merch shop. But the second floor has a photozone, large banner posters of the male leads and an area where you can leave messages for the author of the series. We were the first ones to arrive for the day, so not only did we get a receipt bearing the order number “000”, we also got choice seats next to Penelope Eckhart’s banner, facing the elegant table setting.

Goods for the Fans

Speaking of merch, there were acrylic stands, keychains, and photocards all of which featured the beautifully drawn art from the series. It was a bit pricey considering, but it’s hard to argue when the quality looked so good.

We were pretty happy with our photocards, so we didn’t indulge… but we did take a run at the stamp rally. There are six missions ranging from cafe reviews on Twitter and Naver to ordering the Afternoon Tea set. For non-hardcore fans, it’s easy enough to complete three missions to receive another photocard while completing all six gets you a mini-poster.

Overall, it was definitely one of the nicer pop-ups we’ve been to. It’s an official pop-up, so all merch sales go to the studio and creatives behind the webtoon and all of the merch were of top-notch quality. But, it is a really popular series in Korea so the prices were higher than I’ve seen for other similar pop-ups.

But, if you’re a fan of “Villains are Destined to Die” or the romance fantasy genre in general, I’d highly recommend making the trip.

Where is the “Villains are Destined” to Die cafe pop-up?

The pop-up is located at the Fantazit cafe in Mapo-gu. The closest subway stations are Hapjeong and Hongdae Station on the Green Line (no. 2). I’d recommend taking a bus to reduce your walking time in this heat.

The pop-up started on June 20th and will go until July 20th.