The day before the release, Yang Hyun-suk was quoted stating the single brought his wife to tears when she first heard it.

Jeff Benjamin of Billboard praised the song's musical styles—where he wrote, "While slow and tender at its core, the experimental track incorporates unexpected electronic flourishes and alien-like harmonies before its soaring guitar line brilliantly evolves into a pounding piano chords for the ladies to belt over.

[4] "Missing You" was an commercial success, topping all South Korean daily charts and achieved an all-kill soon after release.

[5] In its opening week, the song landed at the top position on the Gaon Digital Chart and became the group's eighth number one single.

"[4][15] Promotions for the single debuted with 2NE1's performance at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong, which followed a remix of the group's 2011 track "Lonely".