Boy, do I love a good time travel story. A Time Called You, Twinkling Watermelon, The King: Eternal Monarch – are all some of my favorite Kdramas featuring time travel or time slipping as it is often referred to. That’s why I waited anxiously for Lovely Runner, the latest entry into the time travel/romance genre.  In the drama, promising, young film director, Im Sol (Kim Hy-yoon of Extraordinary You) has lost the use of her legs and is ready to give up on life. Then, a chance, on-air phone call with rising singer Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok) gives her the will to live.

Fifteen years later, Sol is now pop sensation Sun-jae’s biggest fan. But on the day she meets her idol for the first time, she learns of his tragic death.   Moments later, Sol finds herself back in high school and – able to walk.    Best of all, 19-year-old Sun-jae is attending the all-boy’s high school next to her own school.   Has fate given her the chance to change both their destiny’s? 

• Series Title: Lovely Runner (Korean: 선재 업고 튀어)
• Starring:  Byeon Woo-seok, Kim Hye-yoon, Song Geon-hee and Lee Seung-hyub
• Written by: Lee Shi-eun
• Directed by:  Yoon Jong-ho and Kim Tae-yeop
• Network:  tvN
• Where to watch in the US: Viki
• Year Released: 2024
• # of episodes: 16
• KafeNook Rating: 5.0 sips

!!Spoilers Ahead!!

Lovely Runner – – Questions and Initial Thoughts

There are so many things I’m curious about concerning Lovely Runner. For instance, how the title fits in with the theme of the drama. Assuming Im Sol is the lovely runner, does it refer to Sol running against time to change her and Seon-jae’s fates? The Korean version of the title (per Google) translates to something like Jump on Sun-jae’s Back. Maybe this is a way of saying she will stick with Sun-jae and protect him from his fate.  Only time (and the end of the series) will tell. 

As with any story utilizing time travel, I also wonder what type of time travel logic the show will follow:

1. Closed loop – a person travels back in time and impacts events but does not change the future. Those events were always a part of the single timeline.
2. Timeline branching – a person travels back in time and impacts events which creates one or more new timelines.  The multiple branches exist forever, never merging back into a single timeline.
3. Branch and merge – a person travels back in time, impacts events which creates a second timeline until the original timeline is erased and replaced by the new one.

Given a few hints in the first two of episodes of Lovely Runner, my guess is the show follows time travel logic number 3 – branch and merge.  After all, in the closed loop method, Im Sol, for all her efforts would fail to change her and Sun-jae’s fates.  Boo.  That’s not why we’re watching this drama.  Timeline branching is possible, but that means in at least one timeline, Sol and Sun-jae’s fates never change even though the final one shown in the drama may be changed.  Still Boo.  Sol’s efforts need to matter.  That leaves door number 3 – branch and merge!  How Sol gets there is the fun part.

Lovely Runner Episodes 1 and 2 – Recap and Review

Episode 1 of Lovely Runner starts in a dark place with Im Sol in the hospital shortly after an accident which has left her legs paralyzed.  There she receives a phone call from an on-air radio program hosting the new idol group, Eclipse.  Ryu Sun-jae, lead singer of Eclipse is on the other end of the call.  After Sol blasts Sun-jae and the people in the studio for calling her at this low point in her life, it’s Sun-jae’s words that give her the will to live.

Jump forward fifteen years.  Sol is Sun-jae’s number one fan and has the chance to see her favorite idol performing live with Eclipse.  Decked out in all her fan glory, she looks adorable as she waits outside for the concert to start.  Things look even brighter when she gets a call to interview for an internship she applied for.  Except the interview is now.  This is where things goes south.  Sol leaves the concert venue and attends the interview, but the two-story building has no elevator.  (Isn’t there a building code for that kind thing?)  No surprise – she doesn’t get the job. 

When Sol returns to the concert venue, the doors are closed and – she lost her concert ticket on the bus.  Not to be daunted, she happily listens to the concert from outside.  Afterward, her motorized wheelchair breaks down on her way to the bus stop.  Now Sol is stuck on a bridge in cold, snowy weather.

On his way back from the concert, Sun-jae sees Sol on the bridge and pulls over. Holding a black umbrella over her head, he offers to help her.   Sol can’t believe her idol is standing in front of her let alone offering her a ride.  Then her friend, Lee Hyun-joo (Seo Hye-won of Alchemy of Souls) shows up in time to pick her up – rats.   Before leaving Sun-jae, Sol gives him a jar filled with wrapped candies because she knows they are his favorite.

Later that night, Sun-jae, who is burned out from performing and wants to retire, looks forlornly out from the balcony of his hotel room when the doorbell rings.  A short time later, hotel staff see him fall into the hotel pool.  Learning of his apparent suicide, Sol gathers up the old, digital watch of Sun-jae’s that she purchased and frantically heads to the hospital.  On the way, the watch falls into a stream.  As Sol crawls into the stream to retrieve it, she sees the news of Sun-jae’s death.  Holding the watch (enter time travel mechanism), she prays it’s not true – and magically finds herself transported to a high school classroom. 

Twas Just a Dream

Thinking it must be a dream, Sol runs to Sun-jae’s school where he is participating in a swim meet.  Sun-jae is taken aback by the giant hug Sol gives him and even more so at her words about him suffering alone.  Not to mention the fact she tells him she loves him!  It takes a while for Sol to realize she is not dreaming and – that she has an opportunity to save Sun-jae.  But most of her efforts to get close to him result in awkward encounters between them that take her further away. (He reminds her of her fictional water-loving dog “Otter”?!)

Slowly, Sol reconnects with her high school life, her friends and family.  Not to mention, Kim Tae-sung (Song Geon-hee), the popular boy she apparently confessed her feelings to the previous day.   It’s not easy for 30-something Sol to be back in high school – especially when called to the board to do math problems!  (My reoccurring nightmare.)  Even harder is keeping Sun-jae from competing in his upcoming swimming match – the one that will end his budding swimming career and send him down the Kpop idol path.  He rejects her online friend request, discovers she is the old, fortune teller who warns him away from water, and blames her for trying to steal his swim trunks.  What is a girl to do?

The Big Twist

Sun-jae is surprisingly understanding through all her strange antics and even shows a little jealousy when he learns of her crush on Tae-sung.   But wholly guacamole, I did not see the big twist coming!  Sun-jae has had a crush on teenage Sol ever since he showed up at her door with a package mistakenly delivered to his house.  (Oh yeah – turns out they are neighbors!)  A beaming Sol runs to him, yellow umbrella in hand and shields him from the rain.  Thanking him for the delivery, she gives him two candies.  (The same type in the candy jar she gave him in the future – wink wink.)  Since then, he’s had his eye on her. Is he dreaming, he wonders, when she runs up to hug him after his swim meet? 

With such a big twist, I re-watched the first two episodes – just to see what I might have missed.  Viewing the episodes again with this knowledge provides a whole new level of understanding to Sun-jae’s actions.  Was the call-in during the radio show random?  Or did Sun-jae plan to call Sol because he knew of her accident, and it is his way of reaching out to her?  While others in the studio react to Sol’s outburst, Sun-jae sits quietly – as though he knows exactly who is on the other end and what he wants to say to her.  Fifteen years later, when he sees Sol on the bridge, does he recognize her?  Is that why he seems so sad on the hotel balcony?

When Sol tries to tell anyone from the past about the future, time conveniently stops for everyone but her. Despite this, her efforts do instigate a small change to the future.  By the end of episode 2, a picture of her and Sun-jae appears on the table in Sun-jae’s hotel room, right next to the jar of candies.  Intriguing.   If the rest of the show is anything like the first two episode, this will be one exciting ride!  In the meantime, I’m off to study the color code for umbrellas.

Episodes 3 and 4 – Recap and Review

Remember that big twist at the end of episode 2?  I did a little happy dance seeing episode 3 pick up from Sun-jae’s point of view as he tries to get closer to Sol.  But feeling out her feelings is tough.  Is she simply his top swim fan or could she be more than that?  Harder than understanding her feelings, however, is confessing his own.  (But watching him try is a whole lot of fun.)  Poor guy can’t catch a break.  His plan to confess to her at a nice restaurant is thwarted by Sol herself.  That darn photo booth spoils his next attempt.  Finally, his chance comes in front of her house until Sol, who is so afraid he’s going to push her away, blurts out the relationship killer:  “Let’s be friends.”  Ugh.  If only the two of them could read each other’s minds. 

Quelling Sol’s fear about the shoulder injury that ended future Sun-jae’s budding swim career, Sun-jae wins gold at his swim meet – shoulder intact.  Things are looking great for his swimming future until the fated shoulder accident happens at a subsequent swim practice.  With surgery, Sun-jae will be lucky to recover 80% of his shoulder mobility.  Swimming is no longer an option.   Unbeknownst to Sun-jae, his dad, Ryu Geun-deok (Kim Won-hae of While You Were Sleeping), has made big plans for his swim star son’s future.   So when Sun-jae tells his dad he plans to quit swimming, Geun-deok is less than understanding.  Then Geun-deok learns the real reason for Sun-jae’s change of heart and quickly moves into caring dad mode.  “Get that surgery, son, so you won’t be in pain any longer!”   

Sol’s Crush   

Meanwhile, Sol has a run-in with former crush, Tae-sung, who is even more intrigued by her when she takes back her confession.  After getting a bloody nose from a soccer ball to the face, Sol realizes it’s the day of the house fire that burned her mom, Park Bok-soon (A Good Day to Be a Dog’s Jung Young-joo).  When Tae-sung appears before her on his motorcycle, Sol is only too happy to hitch a ride with him if it means getting home in time to stop the fire.  Oblivious to the growing fire in the kitchen, Sol’s brother Im Geum (Song Ji-ho) and best friend, Hyun-joo, stop their bickering when Hyun-joo smells the smoke and faints.  Geum carries Hyun-joo to the roof as Sol and Tae-sun arrive in time to put out the fire.  And (change to the future alert!) prevent mom’s burn from occurring.

Confessions

Sun-jae spends his time in the hospital after surgery, hoping to get a glimpse of Sol.  But Sol, who drops off goodies as any “sfan” would, avoids Sun-jae, afraid of making things worse for him.  Once Sun-jae returns home, Sol drops off boiled chicken soup for him and receives a large jar of Dad’s “refreshing” drink in return.  But why does she feel so hot after drinking most of it herself?  And where is Sun-jae going late at night?  Sun-jae is not too surprised to find Sol hiding at the pool where he has gone to reflect.  But he is surprised to find she’s drunk.  The two listen to one of Sol’s favorite songs on her MP3 player and Sol promises to always stay by Sun-jae’s side.  Realizing his moment has finally arrived, Sun-jae confesses his feelings and seals it with a kiss.   Woo-hoo!  

Sun-jae is a happy camper the next day and looks forward to seeing Sol.  Unfortunately, she can’t remember exactly what happened the night before, but as she listens to her MP3 player, their conversation from the previous night begins to play.  Things look hopeful for Sun-jae and Sol as the recording gets closer to Sun-jae’s confession and he starts to catch up with her.  But – it is only episode 3 after all – monkey wrench Tae-sung appears in front of Sol and asks her to be his girlfriend.  “Clock sounds” happen and suddenly, Sol is back in the future – still stuck in the stream and unable to move her legs.  Back in the past, high schooler Sol can’t believe her crush is asking her out, and to Sun-jae’s shock, tells Tae-sung she will be his girlfriend.

Revelations

The beginning of episode 4 is filled with revelations.  Sun-jae is the person who saved teenage Sol after her accident, but given her crippled state, she is angry he rescued her.   Fast forward to the present where Sun-jae sees Sol on the cold, snowy bridge and realizes she doesn’t remember him.   This must be a double-edged sword for him – realizing the person who railed at him for saving her is now one of his biggest fans. At the same time, he’s grateful she is alive.  He follows her home to make sure she gets there safely, then returns to his hotel where the regret in his eyes is clearly about Sol.  That pesky doorbell rings multiple times before he turns toward the door – further bringing into question the notion of his death being a suicide vs something else.

Sol finds herself back in the present and in the hospital after her ordeal in the stream.  Realizing she has returned to 2023, she locates Sun-jae’s father and friends who grieve over his death.  There is good news though.  The police detectives who seek her out present to her one of the photobooth pictures her and Sun-jae took in the past.  Sol realizes this means she has the ability to change the future.  If only she can get back to the past. (Timeline alert: the original timeline has now branched or been written over due to her first journey to the past.)

In her belongings, Sol finds the other two pictures from the photobooth, reaffirming the fact she changed the past, but also making her wonder why her future self she didn’t remember Sun-jae. Then, Baek In-hyuk (Lee Seung-hyub) Sun-jae’s friend and lead guitarist of Eclipse, calls Sol out of the blue to tell her Sun-jae always wanted to apologize to her.  Before telling her why, he ends the call. When the watch lights up, Sol realizes the key to returning to the past involves it lighting up exactly at midnight.

A Tale of Two Sols

Back in the past, Sol has missed ten days of her teenage life.  In that time, her teenage self became Tae-sung’s girlfriend and asked for an exorcism because she couldn’t remember chunks of her life.  Even worse for adult Sol, teenage Sol cruelly pushed Sun-jae away.  The road to getting close to him again will be a long one.  “Boyfriend” Tae-sung complicates matters but, interestingly, is the only person who recognizes the difference between teenage Sol and “grandma” Sol.  The girl he has known for the last ten days doesn’t hold any interest for him.  Who can blame him after all those lovely dovely texts and heart eyes?  “Grandma” Sol, on the other hand is a different story.

Breaking up with Tae-sung turns out to be challenging, as Sol finds out – especially given the surprise birthday celebration teenage Sol prepared for him.  Her Kpop-like video where she sings about all the Kdrama actors she doesn’t like is pretty cute though. There is something about the relationship of Sol and Tae-sung that is refreshing.  Sol seems determined to mentor him toward a better future and he has similarities to Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp) in True Beauty – a boy with a bad reputation but a good heart.

A Surprise Visitor

Sol returns to her mission to help Sun-jae by visiting In-hyuk, warning him to keep Sun-jae away from music producers.  Unfortunately, Eclipse’s future music producer, Representative Kim (Ahn Sang-woo), gives Sun-jae his card.  Sol’s only recourse is to sneak into Sun-jae’s room and destroy the card.  For his part, Sun-jae is wounded by Sol’s treatment of him and afraid of getting hurt again. That doesn’t stop him being flustered when he unexpectedly finds Sol asleep in his room.

Queue adorably awkward scenes of Sun-jae gazing lovingly at Sol and comparing their hand sizes as she sleeps.  Once she wakes up, Sun-jae is relieved to learn Sol doesn’t remember what happened by the pool that night.  Her desire to get close to him is a hard pill to swallow, however, since she doesn’t know how he feels about her.  Sneaking her out of his house wrapped in his comforter seems like a good idea.  After another conversation where they express their frustrations but not actually how they feel about each other (can we get a Vulcan mind meld here please?) they are further apart than ever.

Sol’s Memory Returns

After discovering Sun-jae may have met with the music producer, Sol runs to stop him, only to learn from In-hyuk that Sun-jae already left.  When Sun-jae hears from In-hyuk that Sol injured herself falling down the stairs, he tries to catch up with the bus she’s riding.  Sol misses her stop and ends up near a reservoir that seems strangely familiar.  Running from a vagrant, Sol scuffles with him on the bridge, but it’s the sight of Sun-jae running toward that triggers a memory from her past.  Sol falls into the reservoir with Sun-jae plunging after her. Another memory of him rescuing her in water surfaces along with the thought – “Was it my memory that I lost, or was it you?”  How will she live with the knowledge that Sun-jae is the person who saved her not once but twice?

Whew- so much has been revealed this week. As I surmised, future Sun-jae did purposefully call Sol when she was in the hospital after her accident.  Now knowing what he went through after saving her, it’s all the more heartbreaking when he realizes during the phone call that she doesn’t recognize who he is. With only two chances to be back in the past, exactly how will Sol be able to change her and Sun-jae’s future for the better?

Episodes 5 and 6 – Recap and Review

Following her rescue by Sun-jae at the reservoir, episode 5 starts with Sol questioning if Sun-jae has seen her before.  She has no memory of her younger self running into “delivery man” Sun-jae and wonders how many connections she has missed in the past.  Still unable to tell Sun-jae about the future, Sol gives him a time capsule with instructions to open it in January 2023. (Cannot wait to see how this will be used in a future episode!)   He is curious about the date but otherwise goes along with her as the two bury it in his garden.

As Sol and Sun-jae rekindle their relationship, things heat up between her rivals for affection when Sun-jae lends Sol the tie from his uniform.  His “out of uniform” punishment laps come with unwanted running buddy, Tae-sung.  Spurring each other on, it’s Tae-sung who doesn’t have a chance against Sun-jae’s longer stride.  But Tae-sung has the upper hand – or at least the best line – after Sun-jae shows up in a matching jacket.  People might now think they are now a couple!  (It’s hard not to like him!)

South Korean Gold

With the 2008 Summer Olympics in full swing, Sol invites Sun-jae to the movies to keep him from seeing swim competitor (and real-life gold medalist Park Tae-hwan who plays himself) in the Men’s 400 m freestyle competition.  Sun-jae’s delightful turn-away smile reveals his excitement at spending time with Sol.  Despite her efforts, Sun-jae ends up seeing the gold medal race – and cheers on Park Tae-hwan for his big win.  Sun-jae understands Sol is worried about him but assures her he has moved on from swimming. He is ready to consider a different future.  Thanks to her future fangirling, Sol experiences a delightful mind-photo montage of Sun-jae dressed for different occupations and is only too happy to advise him on alternative careers.

A Mystery Begins

The mystery behind Sol’s car accident kicks off when she visits the police station to pick up the wallet she dropped at the reservoir.  With her phone still missing, she calls her number and tells the silent person on the other end to give back her phone.  Returning to the reservoir, she learns the police have found a buried body.  The scene triggers memories for Sol of being in a car before her accident.   A nefarious character lurks nearby clutching Sol’s phone as he gets into the driver’s seat of a taxi.  Sol’s “accident” has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning.

Think About Yourself

A new phone is in the cards for Sol, however. At the request of his friend, In-huk, Sun-jae performs as the lead singer for In-hyuk’s band in a competition.  Superfan Sol is overjoyed to see Sun-jae in his first performance with Eclipse. However, she worries this will lead to his singing career with the band, especially after seeing him talking with Manager Kim.  Then Sun-jae gives Sol the new phone he recieved as a result of Eclipse winning the competition, revealing the reason why he agreed to perform.  Instead of being grateful for the phone, Sol is livid that he thought of someone else instead of himself.  Naturally, Sun-jae is confused and upset by her reaction.

The next time they see each other, Sun-jae saves Sol from walking into traffic. With MP3 earphones in place, Sol is too focused on listening to her drunken conversation with Sun-jae to notice her surroundings.   “You told me to only think about myself”, he says.  “If that’s the case, break up with Tae-sung.”  His words are bold, but not as shocking as Sol hearing his voice on the recording confessing his feelings to her.

Sun-jae’s First Love

After the bombshell at the end of episode 5, episode 6 starts in the year 2013 with Sol listening to Sun-jae giving an interview on the radio.  The interviewer asks Sun-jae if the song he wrote before his debut, Rain Shower, is really about his first love.  When Sun-jae describes seeing his first love as she ran to him holding a yellow umbrella, Sol wonders who the lucky girl could be.

Returning to 2008, the episode picks up shortly before Sol hears Sun-jae’s recorded confession with Sol warning Tae-sung not to break her younger self’s heart.  Then she officially ends their relationship.  The episode jumps to Sun-jae asking Sol to break up with Tae-sung, unaware she already has.  When Sun-jae sees Tae-sung, he plans to beat his rival up after learning Tae-sung has been using Sol.  But when he overhears how Tae-sung has been dumped, he is suddenly ready to be best buds.

What Sun-jae doesn’t like is seeing Sol cry over the break-up – not realizing she is shedding tears due to cutting onions.  Seeing Sol cry in front of Sun-jae, her brother Geum mistakenly thinks Sun-jae is the reason. He takes on Sun-jae with a kick to the face.  Alcohol spills into Sun-jae’s mouth and he is suddenly out for the count.  What is a girl to do with an unconscious boy? Put him in her brother’s bed to sleep it off.  Sol sneaks into the room to check on sleeping Sun-jae and ends up on the floor with him when Geum opens the door. Sun-jae does the only thing he can think of and covers Sol with the blanket.  It’s close quarters for the two of them – full of missed kissing opportunities – as they wait for Geum to fall asleep. 

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

Sol confides to Hyun-joo about Sun-jae’s confession shortly before the three of them end up at the library to study.  Hoping Sol will go with him to cheer on the Korean Olympic baseball team, Sun-jae promises to memorize an entire English vocabulary book in a day. (Wow – I can barely memorize one Korean word a day!) If only they could see the longing glances each one gives the other while sleeping.  Sun-jae makes good on his promise and the two meet amongst the gathered crowd. Who knew cold drinks would be the perfect thing to cool down warm cheeks? On the way home, Sun-jae confesses he never liked the rain.  But in one day, after seeing her as she ran to him holding the yellow umbrella, not only does he like rain now but he also likes her.  Before she can respond, Sun-jae gets a call from Tae-sung. 

In the hospital with a broken arm following a motorcycle accident, Tae-sung sees Sol’s mom as a patient.  Instead of going to Jeju Island as Sol thought, her mom is there to have a medical procedure.  Learning the news from Tae-sung, Sun-jae takes Sol to the hospital to be with her mom during the surgery.  Afterward, Sol breaks Sun-jae’s heart (and her own) when she tells him she can’t accept his feelings.  It’s clear she wants to do the opposite. Sadly, she knows her younger self will just reject Sun-jae once Sol goes back to the future.

The Mystery Deepens

Back to the mysterious taxi driver, grandma answered the phone when he called Sol’s house and gave him their address.  Ugh.  Sol also stopped by the police station to tell them something may or may not happen on September 1st. It doesn’t take much for her to heed their warning not to go to the reservoir.

On the day of her accident, Sol tries to avoid going outside.  However, when Sun-jae asks her to meet him at the playground, she decides to take him an umbrella when it starts to rain. Seeing her yellow umbrella brings back the memory of running into Sun-jae when she was younger. Sol is stunned to realize she was his first love.  Heading to the playground she is blocked by an evil looking taxi.  (Can taxi’s look evil?)  A short time later Sun-jae passes the taxi as he returns home.  Noticing Sol’s umbrella on the ground, suspicion crosses his face as he turns to look at the disappearing taxi.

Week 3 of Lovely Runner has been one emotional ride.  If the scenes for the next episode are any indication, things will only become more complicated for this adorable duo.

Lovely Runner Episodes 7 and 8 – Recap and Review

It’s been another week of exciting revelations and time-wimey shenanigans. Episode 7 starts with the story of Sol’s original accident.  Asleep on the bus, teenage Sol misses her bus stop. Sitting near her is Sun-jae who tries to wake her up.  When they get to the stop near the reservoir, Sun-jae misses Sol exiting the bus.  In the meantime, Sol has second thoughts about the taxi that shows up in front of her. That rope and box cutter look awfully suspicious. She may be somewhat naïve, but her instincts prove to be accurate when the taxi driver drugs her and ties her up in his cab.

Using the box cutter, Sol escapes and runs for the bridge, the taxi in pursuit.  Seeing a desperate Sun-jae sprinting toward her to help, Sol thinks she’s in the clear. Instead, evil taxi driver runs her down, sending her flying into the reservoir.  Not even worrying about his recovering shoulder, Sun-jae jumps into the water to rescue her.  They reach dry land, but the taxi driver hits Sun-jae over the head.  In the ensuing scuffle, Sun-jae’s watch flies from his wrist. The police arrive and arrest the driver.  Sol is taken to the hospital where Sun-jae waits outside her room.

Sol Changes Her Fate

Back to the timeline now altered by adult Sol, it’s the day of the accident. Sun-jae learns from Sol’s brother how she has refused to go outside all day, worried about an accident occurring.  Having seen the lonely, yellow umbrella turned upside down in the street, Sun-jae is concerned something has happened to her.  After searching for her, he goes to the police station to report her disappearance. There he overhears the police officer say a girl recently told them something might happen on that date.  Sol wakes up in the taxi and, remembering the events of the first timeline, takes the taxicab keys when she escapes.  But wait!  The cab driver has a second vehicle.

Just when Sol is ready to give into her fate, another car driven by Tae-sun’s detective dad shows up and (change to the future alert!) she is saved from being hit by the taxi driver. However, the fact the taxi driver gets a good look at Sun-jae does not bode well. Sol’s watch changes from 2 and 1- and her time in the past is up.  With adult Sol gone, teenage Sol thanks Sun-jae for saving her but doesn’t want to see him again because he reminds her of the kidnapping.  Poor Sun-jae!

Back to the Future

Adult Sol finds herself standing with a row of servant girls dressed in Joseon era clothing and believes she has travelled even further back in time.  (Who wouldn’t given everything she’s been through?)  In reality, she is an extra in an historical drama.  The year is 2022 and Sol is happy to learn that Sun-jae is still alive.  Realizing it’s the day she told him to meet her on the Han River Bridge, she hurries to where the time capsule is buried. But the tree it was buried under is gone. By the time Sol arrives at the bridge, Sun-jae is nowhere to be seen.

When Sol returns to her room, her Sun-jae/Eclipse fangirling items from the original timeline are gone.  She now works for a film company – in the same building where she previously failed to get an internship.  The date is also a little further into the future than when she originally left. Looking into past events, Sol discovers her kidnapper went to jail – so why does her ominous dream unsettle her?

Sun-jae’s Stalker

Sun-jae is dealing with his own issues in the present.  For one – best friend In-hyuk likes to sneak into Sun-jae’s place and use his tub. (Not to mention having prizes – like one cardboard cut-out of a buxom game avatar – delivered there in episode 8!) Plus – his white puffer jacket stalker, keeps getting into his building. This complicates Sol’s life when she shows up there to see if Sun-jae is okay and is mistaken for his stalker.  To make matters worse, she turns out to be the person who delivered a movie script for Sun-jae which he subsequently turned down. (Aliens, mermaids, and zombies – oh my!)

Sol’s boss sets up a meeting for her to apologize to Sun-jae but things take an unexpected turn when best friend, Hyun-joo calls to say she is in labor.  Hyun-joo’s life has undergone a dramatic change in the new timeline. She is now married to Sol’s brother, Geum, and expecting their second child! Rushing out of the building to go to her friend, Sol is pushed into Sun-jae who falls into a fountain.  (Boy, does he look good soaking wet – says the women eyeing him.)  Sun-jae is ready to forgive the bill for replacing his clothes until Sol’s text message questions if the clothes are really ruined. Surely pictures of the damp clothes – expensive underwear and all – will convince her!

An Indecent Proposal?

Hoping for another chance to see Sun-jae, Sol attempts to get into the Eclipse concert. When that fails, she sends in a basket of flowers with her business card tucked into it.  Standing outside the venue, she hears Sun-jae singing, Rain Shower, the song he wrote for his first love. Tears flow from her eyes as she realizes the song is about her.

On her way to the bridge to try to see Sun-jae, someone bumps into Sol, and, as in the first timeline, she drops her phone.  A short time later, Sol stands on the bridge, yellow umbrella in hand when she receives a call from Sun-jae. Surprisingly, his voice comes from behind her. Relieved to see him and happy that he remembers her, Sol is also worried that he’s there. The Eclipse concert afterparty awaits Sun-jae but afraid that something will happen to him that night, Sol suggests he spend the night with her instead. 

The Time Capsule Emerges

Episode 8 starts with Sun-jae digging up the time capsule before the tree is torn down.  Six months after that, he waits for Sol on the Han River bridge – disappointed when she doesn’t show up.  Back at his place, he opens the time capsule which contains a note from Sol thanking him for being alive, and a travel alarm clock.

Jumping ahead to events after the concert, the person who knocks Sol’s phone out of her hand turns out to be the evil taxi driver! Sun-jae notices the flowers from Sol and is shocked to see her name on the card.   When he catches up to her on the bridge, the way he looks at Sol makes it clear he still harbors feeling for her.   After party?  Forget that when his first love wants to spend the night with him.

A Sexy Night?

When Sun-jae takes Sol to his favorite hotel, she clarifies that a “sexy night” is not what she had in mind.  Sun-jae assures her he didn’t either and escorts her to the hotel bar where they can talk.   Worried about what the other might think, they each lie about going to the bridge to open the time capsule.   Sun-jae finds out that several social media posts have already emerged of him entering the hotel with an unknown woman. To protect Sol, he tries to leave ahead of her. Instead, Sol manages to sneak them out under the cover of an umbrella.  Then and now, she is still like a bulldozer!

Ending up at Sun-jae’s place, Sol receives a call from her mom about broken pipes at their home.  That’s okay, she tells mom.  She won’t be coming home tonight.  Overhearing Sol’s phone conversation, Sun-jae toggles between shock and joy at the prospect of her spending the night. He settles for looking nonchalant while reading a magazine – even if it is turned upside-down! Stalling for time, Sol asks for a tour of his place followed by a request for ramen. (No need to read into that, Sun-jae!).   Finally, Sol comes clean – questing Sun-jae about his medications before admitting she’s afraid to leave him alone in case something happens to him. Sun-jae remembers the dream Sol told him concerning his swimming injury but assures her he doesn’t have any mental health issues.

Sun-jae’s Secret Revealed

After spilling ramen on her shirt, Sol uses Sun-jae’s bedroom to change.  But alas – Sun-jae forgot about In-hyuk’s cardboard cutout that he hurriedly placed in the bed.   Not to mention the time capsule sitting on his nightstand.  His attempt to cover the time-capsule with his bed cover reveals the cutout figure.   Eyes wide, Sol admits to being surprised that he’s into that kind of thing. His claims of “it’s not what it looks like”, only digs his grave deeper.  The two end up on the bed when they hear a drunk, In-hyuk arrive.  Sol is thrust into Sun-jae’s closet – the perfect spot to overhear In-hyuk grill Sun-jae on why he is still hung up on her.  (Kpop idol Sun-jae hasn’t dated anyone in fifteen years?!)  When In-hyuk leaves, Sol finds the time capsule – prompting Sun-jae to admit that he went to the bridge for their rendezvous after all.

Sun-jae drops Sol off at her building where Sol takes the opportunity to spill her own confession. She went to the bridge that night as well.  Not only that, but she always wanted to tell him she liked him too and is sorry she couldn’t say it at the time. Following Sol up to her door, Sun-jae asks if she still misses him. Before answering, Sol pulls him into her home to avoid the neighbors.  It’s close quarters in that entryway.  And the perfect place for not one, not two, but three (and almost a half) kisses! (I need some air.) Later, when Sun-jae drives away, evil taxi driver lurks nearby.  Speaking of which, what was Tae-sung doing in Sol’s parking lot earlier? 

Evil Taxi Driver Returns

The next day, Sun-jae asks Sol over the phone why she included the wind-up clock in the time capsule.  Her heartfelt response?  “So his time will never run out.”  That’s funny to him because he felt like time had stopped but now that he’s seen her – it’s finally going again.  These two are so precious!

When Sol picks up her car at Sun-jae’s, a suspicious car blocks her. It turns out to be a false alarm as the owner of the car stopped due to Sun-jae’s stalker girl jumping out in front of him.  Sol is surprised to see the 14-year stalker who, in the original timeline, she met as a fan outside of the Eclipse concert. Cut to a scene eerily reminiscent of that from episode 1 of Sun-jae standing on the balcony when his manager calls. Sun-jae turns as that fateful doorbell rings. Back to Sol, she sees the news on TV that Sun-jae has been attacked by evil taxi driver. Could the driver be the doorbell ringer from the first episode – proving Sun-jae’s death was not a suicide?

Whew! Sun-jae and Sol finally admitting their feeling to each other has made these last two episodes shine. Halfway through Lovely Runner and I’m even more invested than ever to see where the show is going. I have less of an idea of how it will all end than I did when the show started. But the fact that it’s hard to predict what will happen next is what makes the drama so interesting. Looking forward to the upcoming college years!

Episodes 9 and 10 – Recap and Review

Picking up right where episode 8 ended, episode 9 starts with Sol at the hospital checking on Sun-jae after his attack.  Unsure if he will pull through or not, she is determined to find Sun-jae’s old watch.  With it, she has one last chance to travel back in time and stop evil taxi driver from hurting Sun-jae.  When she is unable to find the watch in Sun-jae’s belongings, a despondent Sol goes to the police station.  There she learns how, in this new timeline, she survived a second kidnapping by the taxi driver.  During the incident, teenage Sol was rescued by Sun-jae who fought off the assailant. (No wonder the taxi driver went after Sun-jae!) Sol finds a photo of evidence from the attack showing Sun-jae’s watch in the belongings that (surprise!) were returned to her.

Back to 2009

Sol’s search of her house for the watch comes up empty handed until Grandma Mal-ja (Seong Byeong-sook), struts in with it on her wrist.  Grandma says she has been keeping it for Sol.  (Hmm – maybe her snagging it in the first episode was not a coincidence.)  This is not the first clue that Sol’s Grandma retains some memories of the previous timelines.  Using the watch, Sol finds herself in 2009 where her younger self is starting her freshman year of college.  Unfortunately, said self is drunk and sitting on top of a giant statue.  When she falls off – Sun-jae’s broad arms are there to catch her.

It’s hard not to be proud of Sun-jae whose study efforts paid off and landed him as a PE major at the same university as Sol! But not everyone seems happy about Sun-jae going to college.  His dad is unwilling to let go of Sun-jae’s swimming career. He wants to send his son off to the States for rehab on his shoulder. At the same time, In-hyuk, who is impressed with Sun-jae’s first song writing attempt – Sudden Shower (the song formerly known as Rain Shower), signs Eclipse up for a contest. All he needs to do is to convince Sun-jae to join them.

Returning to the police station, Sol tells the police about her first kidnapping.  Having experienced the event, older Sol is able to recount the details teenage Sol couldn’t remember.  Plus – she hands over the taxicab keys as evidence which – somehow young Sol still had?  Sadly, the taxi driver gets wind of the police on his trail and sets fire to his place – putting the ability to collect evidence into question. Not to worry – by episode 10 they find enough evidence to pin the reservoir murder on him. Phew!

Since Tae-sung hasn’t been seen for a while it’s time for him to reappear.  His exchange with Sol turns into another mentoring moment as Sol first scolds him for robbing a kid (he’s actually returning the money) then congratulating him for graduating high school.  Intuitive Tae-sung immediately recognizes that elder Sol is back. Tae-sung is not the only one who can sense a difference in Sol, however.  Sun-jae appears to be adept at reading the emotion of her back because the Sol running away from him feels different than the one who has been avoiding him.  Hm… 

The Legend of the Retreat Kiss

Much to Sol’s chagrin, she ends up on the same train as Sun-jae on the way to the school retreat. Legend has it – if you kiss someone on the retreat, you will end up marrying them!  (Hoping that’s true!) Sol may never live down her awkward dancing or being capture upside-down in trap – and rescued yet again by Sun-jae. But it’s the accidental kiss a drunk Sol plants on Sun-jae that may seal the legend for them.  (Oops – getting ahead of myself again.)

Before the kiss, Sol asks Sun-jae why he continues to like her when she is so mean to him.  Not to mention the terrible things that happen to him because of her. (Interesting how the time-travel rules allow her to say that.)  Meanwhile – getting caught in traps must be an Im family thing because brother Geum also finds himself hanging upside down in one.  A knit cap covering his face, he pines for the girl who just dumped him. It’s the perfect moment for Sol’s friend Hyun-joo to make her spider-man kiss move. Looks like that legend works out for these two!

After Sol and Sun-jae’s accidental kiss, he gives her a piggyback ride and is shocked to hear her singing the words to the song he just wrote.  As far as he knows, In-hyuk is the only other person to have heard.  When he asks Sol about it, she tells him she has to go back to her time – the future.  (Ok time travel rules – what is going on here?)

Sol the Time Traveler 

Thankfully, episode 10 picks right up with a conversation between Sun-jae and Sol about her time traveling.  She can tell him how she has traveled back in time and only has one chance left.  What she can’t tell him is the reason for her time traveling.  (Pesky time travel rules!)  No, she is not a terminator.  Yes – his watch is the time travel device.  Holy cow – she spent how much on it in the future?  Sol is happy to learn Sun-jae will be heading for the States soon.  Then, she won’t have to worry about or run from him anymore.  Sun-jae’s dad is also happy about his son’s decision which could re-start his swimming career.  In-jae is the only one not happy about Sun-jae leaving Korea.  He needs his friend to front Eclipse at the Superstar K contest.  

Back at the university, Sol spies Sun-jae in her class and next to a girl practicing flirting 101. The same girl makes her move on Sun-jae at the restaurant where Sol eats with Hyun-joo.  Chasing after her fallen coins, Sol finds herself under Sun-jae’s table and with a perfect view of him as flirting girl leans in for a kiss. It’s the last thing Sol wants to see. Will he see her if she puts a trash can over her head and runs away? Of course he will, silly Sol!

Catching up with Sol in front of her house, Sun-jae asks if at any time in the past or future she ever really liked him.  To him, it doesn’t matter where (or when) she is from.  She is always just Sol.  (I think my heart is melting.)  Thinking she doesn’t deserve him, she breaks his heart by saying she has never liked him.  At this point, Sol, Sun-jae and I are all upset.

Sun-jae and Tae-sun Rivals or Best Buds?

Tae-sung shows up at Sol’s school, flowers in hand, to give her back the packages they accidently switched.  While Sun-jae imagines Tae-sung and Sol having a romantic reunion, the truth is far from it. Hearing from his dad about Sol’s kidnapping, Tae-sung is worried about her. Sol is surprised learn Tae-sung is the son of the detective who took her to the hospital after her kidnapping. But, she has a message for him to give to his father.  “In 2023, tell your dad to not worry about protecting me and protect Sun-jae instead.”  When Tae-sung asks if this has something to do with the reservoir murder, Sol marvels at his perception. Then, she plants the seed of him becoming a detective.  (Could that be why he appears in front of Sol’s house in the future?) Figuring Sun-jae already knows her secret, she drops her time traveler bomb on Tae-sung.

Tae-sung walks Sol home where a broken pipe emergency is in progress.  Helping Mom and Grandma is Sun-jae who holds a bowl under the streaming water.  Jumping in to help, Tae-sung enters the “show off your biceps” context with Sun-jae before the two descend into a fist fight over Sol.  Water and sparks fly everywhere.  Thankfully, Sol’s cool head prevails as she shuts off the power just seconds before Tae-sung would be electrocuted.  Not wanting Tae-sung to sleep over at Sol’s, Sun-jae says the other boy can stay at his place for the night.  Over at Sun-jae’s house, Tae-sung marvels at how clueless Sun-jae is.   How could he not know how Sol feels for him?  Otherwise, why did she ask Tae-sung to watch out for Sun-jae instead of herself?

Timeline Three Begins

Though Sun-jae agreed to do the Superstar K contest, he is nowhere to be seen as the rest of Eclipse stands in line.  (The “cameo” of the 2009 Superstar K context winner Seo In-guk is priceless!) Instead, Sun-jae is at the airport ready to get on a flight to the States.  Watching his flight take off, Sol is happy. The only thing worse than losing her heart is losing him forever.  On her way home, Sol spies a suspicious truck.  Darting from it, she lands smack dab into Sun-jae.  No rehab in the States for him!

Sun-jae knows why Sol keeps pushing him away.  The travel alarm clock in his hand means one thing – he dug up the time capsule.  After reading her note, he has figured out she is there to save him from dying in 2023.  “If that’s the reason,” Sun-jae tells her.  “Stop running away from me.  You can just like me. If I die saving you, it’s okay. I don’t care.”

Flash to the future where the news of the attack on Sun-jae changes.  Now, the headline is the release of Eclipse’s 5^th album.  Only this time – Sun-jae is not in the group picture. Back in the past – Eclipse used Sun-jae’s song and (timeline change alert!) made it into the Superstar K context without him! 

Conflicted Thoughts

I find myself conflicted about this week.  A part of me is happy Sun-jae knows about Sol’s time traveling and has figured out why she is there.  This means the two of them can be together (at least for a while).  But – Eclipse without Sun-jae?!  Sun-jae is meant to be on the stage, singing with the group.  What does this mean for his future?  In terms of timeline math, Sol and Sun-jae have triggered the start of a third timeline.  A part of me wonders (and dreads) if the original timeline will come back.  Or – will the two of them continue to alter timelines until they finally reach one where they are healthy, safe and together?

Lovely Runner Episodes 11 and 12 – Recap and Review

Episode 11 kicks off timeline 3 with Sol’s mom spying Sun-jae kissing a girl outside of his house.  Little does she realize it’s her darling daughter, Sol, who Sun-jae engulfs in his coat to hide her.  Sol is amazed Sun-jae is more worried about the two of them being seen by her mom than his own demise in the future.  (Has she not yet realized how crazy he is about her?!)  Learning they only have a month together before adult Sol returns to the future, Sun-jae tells her he will run to her wherever she is in 2023. 

Sun-jae’s dad is just as clueless about his own child who he thinks is on a plane to the States.  Are Business Class tickets refundable?  When the electricity goes out in his house, it’s no wonder he is shocked by “masked” intruder, Sun-jae.  Hey – the guy has to do what he can to look good for Sol in 15 years!  And it’s not Sun-jae’s fault his phone charger is in his checked bags, resulting in the power outage. (Oh yeah – back in 2009 you couldn’t charge your phones on the airplane, so this is plausible.)  In a long-needed heart to heart between father and son, Sun-jae confesses he has moved on from swimming.  Dad (and the rest of the Lovely Runner nation) wonder what Sun-jae will do next. 

Speed Dating

Walking hand-in-hand to school with Sun-jae, Sol wonders if it’s ok for others to know they are dating.  When she “disappears”, college freshman Sol won’t want anything to do with him.  Not surprisingly, Sun-jae doesn’t care.  He wants to spend every minute he can with her.  But when Sol learns how Eclipse made it into the auditions for Superstar K without Sun-jae, she realizes this timeline change may take away his singing career.  As his super-fan, she knows how much Sun-jae loves to sing.  The last thing she wants is to rob him of his happiness.

Sun-jae surprises Sol with couple gifts – adorable key chains in pink (hers) and blue (his) – to attach to their phones.  This boy is going all in!  Sol instigates her own couple moment while trying to catch a falling cherry blossom.  You know the old saying, she tells him – catch a cherry blossom and make a wish. Then your wish will come true.  Arms surrounding Sol, Sun-jae spares no effort to help her as beautiful blossoms fall around them.  Cherry blossom firmly in Sol’s palm, the two make secret, yet identical wishes – to be happy together.

Romeo-jae and Sol-iet

After a spending the day together, Sun-jae and Sol give off True Beauty vibes when they end up at the video store watching movies on the couch.  Going to the beach is a must before Sol returns to the future.  Sol falling asleep on Sun-jae is not in the plans, however. Nor is her giant drool mark on his shirt.  It’s too bad Sol accidently rips his shirt trying to dry it off.  (Or is it?)  Naturally, Sol’s mom and brother, Geum, walk in at that moment, followed shortly by Sun-jae’s dad.   Dad protests Sun-jae’s innocence – he is the one who watched Basic Instinct. His son is as pure as oxygen.   And those 100 little packets that accidently made their way into Sun-jae’s gym bag are Dad’s as well.  Queue theme to Romeo and Juliet as Sol and Sun-jae are pulled apart by their respective families.

Determined to clear his name, Sun-jae performs a focused rewind to determine how the little packets ended up in his bag.  Then calls an Im / Ryu family face to face where he proves neither he nor his dad could have watched the VHS tape of Basic Instinct. Being ahead of their time, they only have a DVD player.  Sol admits to accidently ripping Sun-jae’s shirt and the embarrassing reason why.  Then Sun-jae’s friend arrives in the nick of time to collect the “packets” he purchased for his brother’s honeymoon – thus clearing Sun-jae of the final charge.  Whew.

In Geom and Hyun-joo dating news – Geom’s jealousy is apparent when he sees her on a blind date. But it’s Hyun-joo who consoles him when he loses out on his “cheating man” acting role.  Then a scary (sounding) dog chases them to a dead end where they wind up in a tight space together.

Getting the Band Back Together

Tae-sung learns from his dad that the police will catch evil taxi driver soon based on the tip Sol gave them.  After telling Sol the news, he finds himself at dinner with “friend” Sun-jae who is quick to bring up his dating status with Sol.  But Sun-jae wants to know what secret Sol told Tae-sung.  The only info Tae-sung will spill is the evil taxi driver’s name.  One too many drinks later and best buds Sun-jae and Tae-sun are off picking up pinecones, singing at karaoke, and crashing at In-hyuk’s place. Sun-jae learns about Eclipse’s dumpster fire of an audition that was broadcast for the Superstar K. After their final performance later that evening, In-hyuk plans to quit the band for good.

Great guy that he is, Tae-sung invites his legion of admirers to show up at Eclipse’s performance.  There, In-hyuk announces guest vocalist, Sun-jae, will be singing his original song.  And by the way, that music producer happens to be in the crowd.  Thanking the fangirl heaven gods, Sol finally gets to watch Sun-jae sing the song he wrote about her.  Even better, with the news that evil taxi driver is in custody, Sol feels she can finally breath again.  Sun-jae will live! What she doesn’t know yet is that after the police car transporting him got into accident, evil taxi driver has escaped. And – he overheard Tae-sung’s dad saying that Sol is the one who tipped off the police.  (It is only episode 11.)

Timeline Three Still in Effect

Timeline three is still in effect at the start of episode 12.  But – there is hope Sun-jae will end up with Eclipse now that he has performed with them.  (Doing my happy dance!)  He reveals to Sol how he enjoyed singing on stage and – that the record producer wants to sign the band.  All music to her ears.

Learning of his dad’s car accident, Tae-sung rushes to the hospital.  He fears the worst when he sees blood everywhere.  Fortunately, Dad is ok.  What is forty stitches or so to a hardened detective?  Dad is touched by the tears Tae-sun shed for him – even if Tae-sung won’t admit to shedding them.  The bad news is – evil taxi driver got away.  Later, when Sol meets up with Tae-sung’s dad near the site of her future abduction, she asks him to be there on that day. He’s concerned about her plan to be the bait.  But he is not as worried as Sun-jae, who overhears the conversation.  Checking out the abandoned building, Sun-jae wonders why Sol is trying to handle this all herself.  He will never turn a blind eye to her.  (How has Sol not figured this out yet?)

At Sol’s house, Sun-jae uses the excuse to see her room so that he can test the doors and windows.  She is a little suspicious when he asks her to lock her window at night and carry around the taser the police gave her.  But that goes out the window when they hear a sound coming from the other room.  After surviving a dunking to avoid being seen together by Sol, Geum and Hyun-joo are hiding out.  The cat and mouse chase between the two couples results in Sol accidently tasing her own brother.  (Which, let’s be honest, he kind of deserves.)  Sun-jae helpfully fans Sol’s face to cool down her ire. In the end, Sol realizes that if Geun and don’t get together, those adorable little babies will never be born.

Quality Time at the Beach

Unable to get ahold of In-hyuk, Sun-jae and Sol visit his place but find Tae-sung squatting there instead.  After seeing Eclipse’s failed audition on TV, In-hyuk is ready to give up music and has moved back home.  (Nagging timeline question:  In this timeline, the Eclipse shown in the future is a three-member band.  How did they become so big if they failed this audition?  Hm…)  Eclipse Fangirl Sol just happens to know exactly where In-hyuk’s parents live – right down to the color of their roof.  And Tae-sung just happens to have a sweet little VW Bug convertible, aka Sunny, that is perfect for a road trip.  (Why can’t I stop laughing at the image of tall Sun-jae sitting in the back seat?)

On their way to In-hyuk’s family home, they spy him at the beach where he slowly walks into the water.   Thinking the worst, Sun-jae and Tae-sung rush out to stop In-hyuk from going any further.  In reality, he is after his favorite floaty.   Meanwhile, Sol notices Sunny wanted a beach day too.  Since Tae-sung forgot to put his car in park, Sunny is now partially submerged in the water. 

While Tae-sung mourns his car, Sun-jae has a heart to heart with In-hyuk.  He may not know when he is going to die (though he has a clue), but Sun-jae would like to share the brightest moment of his youth with his friend. Taking a moment for his own heartfelt conversation, Tae-sung admits to Sol that what he felt for her was real.  He didn’t realize he missed the bus until it was too late.  (Poor guy never really had a chance with her.)  Buddy beach frolicking ensues.  If only their happiness will last.

Shades of Evil Taxi Driver

Back in Seoul, evil taxi driver loiters in the family video store.  There he overhears Sol’s mom talking with her on the phone and finds out where Sol is.  In the meantime, Sun-jae’s dad, having ignored his son’s warning about the bathroom doorknob, is stuck in the bathroom.   Not realizing that Sun-jae is at the beach, he decides to wait out his son.   When Sun-jae fails to come home, Dad uses his last resort – a flying toilet paper roll message.  Sol’s mom happens to be on the receiving end.  All that exercising pays off as she knocks down the bathroom door likes its putty and rescues Dad.

Sol realizes she lost her phone when the gang of four were searching for In-hyuk’s family goat.  As she and Sun-jae set out to locate it, Sol has a vision of herself sitting alone at the market they pass.  This is followed by premonitions of the evil taxi driver stalking her on the hillside.  After Sun-jae recovers Sol’s phone, he finds her alone on the hilltop where she is clearly upset.  Sun-jae knows Sol is lying when she says nothing is bothering her.   It’s her way of trying to protect him.

Confessions of (Like &) Love

Back at In-hyuk’s home, Sun-jae can’t help smiling at Sol’s terrible puns. His smile turns to a pout when Sol tells him she gets the guest room. He can take the tent.  But he’s a guest too, he declares!  Making up scary ghost sounds are his ticket into the guest room. And the pillow divider will surely appease Sol.  But guess who is the first one to cross it?  Taking his cue from Sol’s hand on his face, Sun-jae throws the pillows to the wind and wraps her in his arms. All snuggled together, he admits he doesn’t want Sol to go back to her time.  Can he just be stuck in this time with her forever? Then Sun-jae ups the ante of Sol’s “I like you a lot” with an “I love you” instead.  What better way to seal their words than a kiss.  Or two.  Or four. . .

On the train home, Sun-jae wakes a sleeping Sol who wonders why she is there with him.  (The heartbreak on his face as he realizes teenage Sol is back breaks my heart.)  After telling Sun-jae she’s not comfortable being around him, she gets off the train and watches him leave.  Though he promised not to cry when she went back to the future, Sun-jae breaks that promise.

Plot twist — teenage Sol didn’t return after all!  Adult Sol only pretended to be gone.  (Great acting adult Sol!)  Her premonition on the hillside showed Sun-jae coming to her rescue.   To protect Sun-jae, she wants to prevent that at all costs.  Then evil taxi driver gets off the inbound train.

Raising the Stakes

This week brought the delightful dating years (condensed into days) of Sol and Sun-jae.  It’s clear they are meant to be together for all time.  Plus – Sun-jae is closer to getting back into Eclipse!  All is not rosy, however.  The intrigue of evil taxi driver ramped up significantly, raising the stakes of Sol and Sun-jae’s future.  Every time Sol believes she has taken steps to protect Sun-jae, something else happens to put him in jeopardy.  Would the two of them working together solve this problem?  It’s hard to believe there are only four episodes left!  

Episodes 13 and 14 – Recap and Review

Sol wanders the coastal area near Busan at the start of episode 13 experiencing visions of things to come.  Once again, the future has changed creating another timeline change. (For those keeping track – this is timeline 4.)   Instead of being abducted in Seoul, Sol’s new visions reveal it will occur in the area around In-hyuk’s family home.  A quick rewind shows our quad of friends boarding the train for Seoul, then Sol putting her plan to leave Sun-jae into motion. Even knowing what’s coming, it is just as painful to watch the second time.

An Amusing Amusement Park Date

Flashing further back to a time before Sol, Sun-jae, and Tae-sung went to look for In-hyuk, Sol leaves winning lottery numbers with her brother, Geum.  Will he remember them in the future?  Then, she and Sun-jae go to an amusement park to celebrate her birthday – because what romance Kdrama would be complete without an amusement park date?  Hearing it’s the place Sol’s dad used to take her on her birthday, Sun-jae says they should meet there again in the future.  (With a big hint like that – it’s easy to see they will indeed meet there again but under what circumstances?)

Once again showing he wants to do all the couple things, Sun-jae surprises Sol with a cake during their Ferris wheel ride.  Then he gives her a necklace with the letter “S” engraved on it – which is perfect since the letter can stand for either – or both – their names.   Sun-jae tells Sol, “Thank you for being born and for crossing through a lot of time to come to me.  Thank you for letting me hold on to you.”  (Oh, my heart.)  Sol shares that Sun-jae is the person who saved her and made her want to live again.  Which is interesting because the time travel rules seem to let her say that but not exactly how it all happened.  After all those sweet words, sweet kisses are inevitable.  Plus, the Ferris wheel operator already got the wrong impression and gave them another turn.  Why not make it true?

Sol Acts as Bait

Back to the present, Sol receives a frantic call from her mom telling her to come home.  Tae-sung’s dad, Detective Kim, told her of Sol’s kidnapping the previous year and Mom is worried.  Sol tells her mom she is with Sun-jae, but when Sun-jae shows up at Sol’s home, both he and Mom realize Sol has lied to them.  Worried about Sol, Sun-jae hurries to the site where her second abduction is supposed to occur.   Then, smart guy that he is, Sun-jae figures out that maybe the future has changed, and Sol stayed back in Busan to protect him from something else she saw.

While the police discover evil taxi driver has fled Seoul for Busan, Sol has flashbacks of being chased in an alley.  Her texts from Sun-jae tell her he knows she lied but figuring he is safe in Seoul, she presses forward with her plan to be the bait.  Besides, Tae-sung’s dad is on his way to help catch the taxi driver.  What could go wrong? 

In a word:  Sun-jae.  Instead of being attacked by taxi driver in the alley, Sol is stopped by a police officer who Sun-jae sent to look after her.   Seeing the police hanging around, taxi driver flees the scene.  Sun-jae, who has arrived there by taxi, recognizes evil taxi driver and chases after him.  Fearing the worst, Sol heads up the hillside.  As she reaches the top, she stops in her tracks at the sight of the knife taxi driver has plunged into Sun-jae’s side.  Sol’s efforts to protect him have failed again.

For Sun-jae, sometimes you know the outcome but make the same choice again because you want to.  (Darn this man!)   Then Sol watches in horror as Sun-jae falls off the cliff.  Just to rub salt in this now gaping wound, Sol flashes back to the day before, with her and Sun-jae all snuggled together at In-hyuk’s family home.   Sun-jae refuses to open his eyes because that way this moment between the two of them will last forever.   If only. . .

A Future Without Sun-jae?

Jumping to the future, it is now several seasons later than when Sol last left.  Geum and Hyun-joo’s children are a little older.  In-hyuk has a fan meeting coming up.  As in timeline 2, Sol works at the production company.   Her order of business for the day – convince the actor of the company’s upcoming movie to do a kissing scene.  In an entertaining cameo, True Beauty star Kim Min-gi, who played the younger brother of Moon Ga-young’s character, is the actor.  A little more grown up in appearance, he still conveys the epidemy of immaturity.  It’s his girlfriend who has nixed the kissing scene in a movie where kissing is literally in the title.  After the tipsy actor gets into a car with said girlfriend, Sol’s efforts to stop him earn her a trip to the police station. 

Tae-sung also happens to be at the police station – in a cell.  When Sol asks him why he is behind bars, because, you know, he is a police officer and could let himself out, he says he likes the temperature and humidity there better than the lounge.  (High five, Tae-sung, for going into law enforcement!)  The two go out to dinner where Sol sees an ad featuring In-hyuk and notes it used to be Sun-jae’s add.  (I refuse to believe Sun-jae is gone but the script keeps throwing out stuff like this.)  Still obviously smitten with Sol, Tae-sung gives her a piggyback ride, putting her down as the snow begins to fall.  A drunken Sol replays memories of all her confessions and kisses with Sun-jae.  (More salt!)

Back at work, Sol’s boss has learned about the actor’s drinking and driving and apologizes to Sol.  And by the way – bring in the pitch she made last time about a young, time travel romance.  It might be good enough to turn into a movie script.  The budget proposal Sol hands over to her boss includes a red envelope which the boss thinks is a thank you note. Only later does Sol realize the envelope contains the resignation letter she wrote the night before in her drunken stupor.  She needs to retrieve that letter at all costs.

Sol follows her boss to the film festival she’s attending and, engaging in clever antics, manages to retrieve the letter.  But – her escape is not clean.  Running up the stairs she literally runs into Sun-jae!  (Of course, Sun-jae is not dead. It is only episode 13. But I still did not see this coming.)

Maybe it Would Be Better if We Never Met

Hopping back to the time shortly after Sun-jae fell from the cliff, Sol notices the watch on his lifeless body and remembers his question: “Why did my watch suddenly become a time machine?”   Racing to his watch, she has the thought everyone is dreading: “Maybe it would be better if we never met.”  With a press of the button, Sol is back in young Sol’s body holding the yellow umbrella and looking at Sun-jae as he delivers the package to her house.   (Wonky time travel rules now let her travel at a time other than midnight!)  Her smile at seeing him quickly turns to sad determination as she walks the other way.  By effectively erasing the previous timelines, Sol changes both their fates.  The tears she sheds at the enormity of what she has just done mingle with the raindrops.

With the start of dreaded episode 14 (You know – dreaded because something significant – and painful – always happens in episode 14), it’s revealed Sol’s trip to the past did not start with her sight of Sun-jae but back in the classroom.  After preventing their first meeting, Sol avoids Sun-jae until her family moves out of the neighborhood.  Sun-jae, in his post-surgery shoulder brace, watches the moving truck drive away. Timeline 5 is now in effect.

A Tale of Two Red Envelopes

Back at the film festival in present day, Sun-jae is handed a red envelope containing the winning movie title to announce.  (Pausing for breath at the visual of Sun-jae in his tux.)  Catching sight of Sol, he is amused by her efforts to collect her own red envelope but when he sees her take her bosses purse, he is off in pursuit of the “thief”. After crashing together on the stairs, Sol reacts with shock at seeing him.  In an echo of the original timeline, she begins to cry and Sun-jae repeats his lines:  “Why are you crying?  I didn’t make you cry, did I?”  The red envelops get switched and Sun-jae reads the first lines of Sol’s resignation letter instead of the movie title.  He doesn’t find anything funny about being a laughingstock by the public and his friends. 

Time Walk Through Memories

Hyun-joo, who also works with Sol, recommends Sun-jae as the replacement actor for their film but accidently sends Sol’s story premise – Time Walk Through Memories – to him instead.  Since Sun-jae lost his memories from all the previous timelines, what better way for him to learn all he missed than to read the story for himself? And yes, Sun-jae, those are big fat tears dripping down your face.  Sol’s boss takes her to a surprise meeting with Sun-jae who is interested in this new script. However, the moment Sun-jae sees Sol, the person who caused his embarrassment, he is ready to back out. Instead – he is stunned to hear that she doesn’t want to work with him – ever.

Sun-jae’s manager thinks it is good Sun-jae won’t be working on this movie since he’s not very good at romance.  (Little does the man know.)  As we have learned, telling Sun-jae he can’t do something always has the opposite effect.  After tracking down Sol, Sun-jae bribes her with her resignation letter.   The two end up back at the hotel bar from episode 2 where Sol apologizes for the great envelope mix-up.  She proceeds to tell him all the (lame) reasons she never considered him as the lead. Even though he is truly the only person she could ever imagine in that role. Not to mention the fact that Heavenly Granny is against it.  And besides, she not doing anything fate doesn’t want her to do.

Maybe it’s a side effect of reading the script, or due to seeing Sol again, but Sun-jae has a dream of rescuing her in water. Are his memories coming back? At the same time, white hoodie stalker girl from timeline 2 is back, but as she flees from the security guard, she runs into none other than evil taxi driver.  Which brings up the question – did Sol help the police track taxi driver down after her reset of the timeline and he is only now out of jail?  Or did he escape capture completely?   What is clear is that in this timeline, neither Sol or Sun-jae are free from his threat.  Fortunately, stalker girl is able to give a good description of him.

The Disappearing Granny Act

Sol’s grandma pulls the disappearing granny act and winds up at a restaurant owned by Sun-jae’s dad.  The two former neighbors are in the process of reconnecting when Sun-jae stops by.  He sees Grandma’s “In the case of emergency contact…” picture which includes a beaming grandma with granddaughter, Sol.  Learning that her missing grandma has been found, Sol is dropped off at her house by Tae-sung who was helping her search.  There, she is surprised to see Sun-jae and even more shocked to realize he is the one who brought Grandma home.  Sun-jae wonders if Tae-sung is Sol’s boyfriend.  Given the care and concern Tae-sung shows Sol, Sun-jae’s question has merit.  (And can I just mention how adult Tae-sung is even more attractive than teenage Tae-sung?)

Forced to take Sun-jae out for “thank you” tea, Sol apologizes (yet again) for any misunderstanding.   Sun-jae uses the opportunity to promote himself. If she lets him go, it’s her loss.  (Really, Sun-jae – you don’t need to tell poor Sol that.)  When the potential fan girls turn out to be just teenagers hoping Sun-jae will purchase cigarettes for them, it’s the first time this iteration of Sun-jae sees Sol laugh. And that’s pretty much all it takes for him to fall for her again. He tells Sol they used to be neighbors so maybe that is why she seems familiar to him.  Has she ever seen him?  Maybe they are fated to meet.  (Little does he realize.)  As Sun-jae watches Sol walk to the door of her home, he has a flashback of doing the same thing in the past (aka timeline 1).

And maybe Sol’s grandma is Heavenly Granny, or at least Earthly Granny, in disguise.  When Sol tells her not to go to the restaurant again, Grandma’s response is – “but I did good didn’t I?  You missed him.”  Yep.  The more Sol sees Sun-jae, the more she misses him.  (And the more I will miss them both after Episode 16.)  This makes it even harder when her boss won’t budge on having Sun-jae in the movie.  It’s the last thing Sol wants to hear, especially given she will now have to quit the job she loves in order to avoid him.

The Future Visit to the Amusement Park Comes True

Sol vistis the amusement park to reminisce about her and Sun-jae’s date and remembers how Sun-jae said they could meet there in the future.  His prophetic words come true when the commercial he is filming there halts for the day and he sees Sol waiting for the Ferris wheel.   He relieves the memory of running to meet her at that very same Ferris wheel. When he joins her in the car, Sol doesn’t try to hide how upset she is at seeing him.  A hurt Sun-jae asks if she really hates him that much.

Bringing up her story treatment, Sun-jae asks if that’s really how it ends – with the man forgetting everything about the woman.  If so, he thinks it’s a sad ending.  From her perspective, Sol believes it’s a happy ending. The woman saved the man’s life and is able to watch his bright life from afar.  Sun-jae is not satisfied with her answer.  The woman lost her love, so the ending is sad for her. (Leave it to Sun-jae to be worried how the woman feels.) Sun-jae admits to feeling weird after reading her story, telling how he teared up and has been having weird dreams. Their next exchange is heart breaking.

Sol: “If I tell you, you might die because you do this project, will you still do it?”

Sun-jae:  “In order to be close to you, do I have to be ready to die?”

Sol:  “What if I say, yes?”

The Ferris wheel takes that moment to force them together and Sol sees that Sun-jae is wearing the necklace with the “S” on it that he gave her in the last timeline. Her thought (and mine) is their “fates are like the Ferris wheel going round and round”.

Implications of Timeline 5

So many implications in this timeline.  Given that adult Sol hung around in young Sol’s body until after Sun-jae’s swimming accident, she must have taken a few steps to help the future along.  Things like steering Tae-sung to graduate and a profession in law enforcement, preventing the fire at her family home, supporting Geum and Hyun-joo’s relationship, and preventing the kidnapping that originally cost her the use of her legs.  It’s not clear if Sun-jae is part of Eclipse in the episode but is certainly implied.  Not only that, he is now an actor as hinted in timeline 2.

The bottom line is that Sun-jae will find Sol no matter what timeline they are in and no matter how much she pushes him away.  Loving Sol is what he is built for.  As for me – I’m not ready for the final two episodes. Who knows what more twists and turns are in store? 

Lovely Runner Episodes 15 and 16 – Recap and Review

Picking up where episode 14 left off, episode 15 starts with Sun-jae and Sol trapped on the Ferris wheel due to technical difficulties.   Sun-jae jokingly remarks that maybe they will die there together.  (Not funny, Sun-jae – you two still need your happily ever after!)  Realizing Sol has a fever, he valiantly carries her off the Ferris wheel when their car reaches the bottom.  Who cares if people take pictures of him with Sol in his arms?  Seeing how his place is closer and less crowded than the hospital, he takes her there.  After calling in a doctor and getting the meds she needs, Sun-jae tucks her into his bed.  But he is taken aback when a delirious Sol calls out for him as she grabs his hand in her sleep.  And why is she crying – again?

Sol’s True Dream

Waking up in Sun-jae’s bed, a shocked Sol tries – and fails – to sneak out of his place.  Sun-jae wants to know how she is going to pay him back for taking care of her – and an apology won’t cut it.  Tricking her into having breakfast with him, he experiences another episode of déjà vu.  The more time he spends with Sol, the faster his memories seem to be returning.  Sun-jae asks Sol not to quit her job.  If she dreams of making a movie, why give up on that dream?  But Sol has another, more important dream.   She wants the person she loves to live a long and happy life.  And sorry, Sun-jae, but the identify of that person is a secret.

On the way out of Sun-jae’s building, he and Sol run into Tae-sung who is questioning the security guards concerning the sketch of evil taxi driver.  Sol does some double talking to get out of the potentially compromising situation and is thankful for Tae-sung’s offer to take her home.  Sun-jae wonders if Tae-sung is the person Sol wants to live that long, happy life, but if so – why did she hold his hand and call for him so heart wrenchingly?

A Girl Needs Her Meds

Realizing Sol left without taking her meds, Dr. Sun-jae explains to his manager all the practical reasons he should take them to her himself.  (Is he auditioning for a medical drama?)  After practicing in his car what he will say to her, Sun-jae sees Sol out strolling with a child toward the park and is relieved to realize the child is her nephew.  But why is he relieved he asks himself?  And why did he hide when she looks his way?  Then his phone rings and his attempt to silence it causes it to fall down the slide.  Sol discovers the phone and, seeing In-hyuk’s name flashing on the screen, answers it.   With In-hyuk yelling his name over the phone, Sun-jae has no choice but to go down the slide of shame and face Sol.

After giving Sol her medicine, Sun-jae’s attempt to show her how to calm a baby backfires when the little tyke throws up all over him.  It’s a good thing Sol bought that new bottle of shampoo Sun-jae can use as a body wash.  But will the empty bottle covering her eyes keep her from unseeing a shirtless Sun-jae?  (I think not. The image is burned into the collective brains of all viewers.)  Afraid her family will see him, Sol hides Sun-jae in her room.  There, he finds the travel alarm clock Sol put into the time capsule, and after accidently breaking it – offers to fix it.  As he leaves her house, the memory of kissing her in the doorway leaves him confused.   Later, when In-hyuk finds Sun-jae searching the internet for reasons why he is fantasizing about kissing a girl, his friend tells him the only possible reason:  Sun-jae is smitten.

Tracking Down Evil Taxi Driver

Tae-sung’s quest to track down evil taxi driver leads him to meet with Sun-jae to ask him for the black box from his car. After Tae-sung comments how Sun-jae is going to be starring in “his girl’s” movie, a baffled In-hyuk wonders at the animosity between his two friends.  And why don’t they find that tea to be as scalding hot as he does? (Just ignore the sweat running down their brows.)  Later, when Sun-jae sees evil taxi driver on the footage from his car’s black box, he has vision of the taxi driver from the past.  

Isn’t a Romantic Ending Better?

At a meeting about the movie, Sun-jae asks if the ending can be changed because he finds it sad.  He wants a romantic ending where the man meets and falls in love with the woman again.  Sol believes the ending works out best for their protagonists.  If the man dies again after meeting the woman and she saves him only to have him die again – it is exhausting.  Sol wants the man to have a long life.  Sun-jae counters that it is better to be happy with the one you love.  The thing is, Sol went through so much to untangle their fates.  If they fall in love again and he dies – all her sacrifice will be for nothing.

Following Sol after the meeting, Sun-jae reveals he may be smitten with her.  He keeps thinking about and is worried for her.  Then Sol drops the bomb – she is in love with someone already (and no it’s not Tae-sung).  That’s why she can’t be with Sun-jae and why he needs to stop pursuing her.  Since he keeps being rejected by her, Sun-jae agrees he won’t cross the line again.  (I think I’ve lost count of how many times has Sol rejected Sun-jae across timelines.)

Holding Onto Memories

When Tae-sung gives Sol a ride home, he admits to feeling something more for her lately.   He is worried about making any moves because he doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. It looks like Sun-jae is not the only one who is having some previous timeline memory issues. Sol reminds Tae-sung there is someone she hasn’t gotten over, though she has never told Tae-sung who that person is.

After arriving home, Sol is thrilled when her grandma recognizes her.  Beautiful Earthly Grandma then tells Sol – “Why do you think I would forget you?  Memory stays with you and becomes part of you.  Your head might forget them, but your soul never does.  It holds onto all of them.” Nicely explaining why both Sun-jae and Tae-sung are remembering things from past timelines. 

Sol’s ex-boss sends her a recording made by Sun-jae who has put music to the lyrics from Sol’s story treatment.  Sol is happy to once again hear Sun-jae singing Rain/Sudden Shower, the song that, in this timeline, has only existed in her memory until now.

Taxi Driver Sets Sun-jae in his Sights 

Hot on the trail of evil taxi driver, Tae-sung learns it was his dad who arrested the taxi driver back in 2008 for attempted murder.   Tae-sung and his partner narrowly miss arresting taxi driver and end up in a car chase.  In the meantime, Sun-jae learns Sol has quit her job so he can’t return the fixed travel alarm clock to her.  While waiting for his manager to pick him up, Sun-jae winds the clock and memories of the previous timelines fill his mind.  With pain wracking his head, he walks into the street, unaware of the car chase heading his way.  Evil taxi driver bears down on Sun-jae, intent to run over the person in his way when Tae-sung sends his car crashing into the taxi driver’s car. 

Unscathed, Sun-jae collapses on the street and relives all the memories he has had with Sol from the previous timelines.  No matter how many times things are reset, he will always fall in love with her.

The Final Timeline

Episode 16 starts here with taxi driver running from Tae-sung and straight into oncoming traffic.  The man meets his end, falling into the water after being struck by a truck.  (Good riddance!)  Later, Tae-sung’s father tells him not to worry about the scum who just died.  Because taxi driver died, someone else will be able to live.  Sol hears the news on the radio and realizes that with the death of taxi driver, the threat to Sun-jae’s life is gone. This timeline will stick! But – Sun-jae is in the hospital after being in a car accident.

Sol races to Sun-jae.  At the same time, Sun-jae leaves the hospital and runs to her.  When they meet, she denies coming to the hospital to see him but Sun-jae knows differently.  He wants to know if she cried all the time like that when she was alone – thinking about the guy who had forgotten her.  Does she still want a sad ending? Because he thinks the ending has already changed.  To Sol’s shock, Sun-jae confirms that he remembers everything and says, “Why did you erase you from me?  Did you think that I could live without you?”  (Silly Sol.)  Snow falling around them, Sun-jae’s apology for forgetting her is sealed with a kiss.

Back at Sun-jae’s place, the two cozy up and Sun-jae gives Sol his necklace.  Now it is back in the right place.  With her.  Oh – and is Sol jealous that Sun-jae can now put necklaces on woman with ease?  You bet.  Then, for the first time in the entire series, they exchange “I love you’s”.

The Dating Years (really months) Part two

A month later, Sol is revising her script for her class.  Missing her, Sun-jae pops up at the café where she works – driving all the patrons crazy at the sight of him.  When that backfires, he follows her to the library where his childish antics remind him of their college days.  Finally, he takes Sol to his place so she can work in quiet and leaves her alone, much to her dismay.  Now she is the one ready to play.

After completing her work, Sol is disappointed when Sun-jae volunteers to take her home.   But when he asks her to stay the night instead, she is all in until she realizes he was really talking to In-hyuk over the phone.  Sun-jae is only too happy to capitalize on her mistake.  Yes, they can eat something yummy, watch a movie, catch up on variety shows and “talk”.  But first – it’s time for some kissing.  Lots of kissing.  (Hey – its 15 years’ worth to catch up on!)

The next morning, cuddles in bed are a must.  With Sol snuggled next to him, Sun-jae feels like he is dreaming.  He worries Sol will leave him for another timeline and that he will forget her again.  (A valid concern given their history.)  Sol assures him she is there to stay.  As the two wonder where Sun-jae’s old watch is, it’s revealed that somehow, Grandma has it. Not sure how she got it, but her work done, she happily throws it into the stream where Sol dropped it in the first timeline. Sol and Sun-jae smile through their morning routine – and, oh by the way, Sun-jae asks Sol – would you like company in the shower?  She declines but his heart races later when she asks if they look like newlyweds. 

Sun-jae Dates a Beauty

News gets out that celebrity Sun-jae is dating a mystery girl.  He must be really smitten with her, thinks Sun-jae’s dad.  He can feel her beauty penetrating through the screen.  Sol’s mom, on the other hand believes the girl is not beautiful – not like her Sol!  Sun-jae has no problem with people knowing he is dating someone – so maybe his manager should get on that.  But he has even more than dating on his mind.  It’s time for ring shopping with his manager and In-hyuk posing as hand models.  Will he heed In-hyuk’s warning and keep the proposal a secret?

Tae-sung is the one who is upset to learn from the news about Sol and Sun-jae dating vs from Sol herself. When the three sit down for a meal, Sun-jae gets his timelines mixed up (who wouldn’t at this point?) and calls Tae-sung Sol’s ex-boyfriend.   A confused Tae-sung says he and Sol never dated, which, of course, only happened in a previous timeline.  This makes Sun-jae deliriously happy.  Tae-sung figures out that Sun-jae is the person Sol said she would never forget until she died.  Calling out his name every so desperately whenever she is drunk was a big clue.   A drunk Sun-jae thanks Tae-sung for taking care of evil taxi driver and ending his and Sol’s twisted, ugly fate.

Family Meeting Time

Hoping to meet Sol’s family properly, Sun-jae turns up at her nephew’s birthday party – surprising everyone.  (Except Grandma, of course.) It takes Dad a while to warm up to Sol and her family but seeing Sun-jae happy makes him happy.  And who wouldn’t be happy when Eclipse shows up to perform a birthday gig for the one-year-old.   Not to mention that nice check “uncle” Sun-jae gifts the baby.  Geum and Hyun-joo may have “won” the lottery but a little more money doesn’t hurt.  Geum, fresh off his coma acting in the show “My Husband Sleeps”, warns Sun-jae not to treat Sol badly.   Then Sun-jae says he hopes they will work together in the future.  (Can we get Sun-jae and Geum in a drama now?)

A Proposal or a Proposal?

What romance Kdrama would be complete without a proposal on a cruise chip?  Sailing down the Han river with the beautiful Seoul skyline in view, Sun-jae is ready to propose when Sol spoils his plan.  First – noting what every Kdrama fan is thinking – “Doesn’t everyone propose like this?”.  Then telling Sun-jae she wants to try to direct her own film.  Realizing the timing is not right (he really tries, doesn’t he?) Sun-jae frantically signals his friends to cancel the cake and flower pedals.  Surely hiding Sol in his coat will keep her from hearing the fireworks overhead.  And seeing that “Will you Marry Me?” sign.

Sol jumps into her directing role, using her own story concept – their story – for the script.  Supportive boyfriend that he is, Sun-jae sends a coffee truck – complete with his face all over it.  Once Sol submits her movie, the two go on a proper date.   They both look stunning strolling down the cherry blossom lined avenue holding hands.  Sun-jae suggests Sol make a wish, and just like in the previous timeline, he helps her catch some blossoms.  When Sol asks Sun-jae what he wished for, he looks pointedly at her palm.  As the cherry blossoms blow away, the ring he picked out for her is revealed. (How did he do that?)  Sun-jae wants Sol to be with him all the time.  Sol wants that too.

As the two kiss – the scene switches to their wedding.  Sun-jae, hair slicked backed and decked out in a white tux, beams at a stunningly, beautiful Sol.   But- switching back to Sol and Sun-jae kissing under the cherry blossoms – they look at each other in surprise.  Did they just glimpse the future?                

Lovely Runner Final Thoughts

It is rare for me to give a drama 5.0 sips.  Until now, Crash Landing on You has been my only 5.0 drama.  While Crash Landing on You is not a perfect show, to me, it has all the elements that make it almost perfect.  Queen of Tears came close (and I love Queen of Tears).  But there are three reasons why I consider Lovely Runner the better show.

First, Lovely Runner doesn’t take up much time with uninteresting side stories.  The side stories in Lovely Runner are few and far between – just enough to break up some of the heavier scenes but not too much to make them annoying.  Second – for all its use of troupes, Lovely Runner manages to be unpredictable right up to the final episode.  Every time I thought I had the plot figured out, the show threw a curveball, and all my theories went out the window.  Finally, the final episode showcases Sol and Sun-jae’s hard fought relationship.  With kisses, snuggles and newlywed-like bliss – the last episode also features one of the most beautiful and meaningful proposals to ever grace a drama.  Plus – a glimpse at Sol and Sun-jae’s future wedding.  It’s hard to imagine a better ending.

In terms of time travel logic, as I predicted, Lovely Runner follows the branch and merge method. What I didn’t imagine (but secretly hoped for) is how the show took this one step further, allowing both Sol and Sun-jae to remember the events from all the previous timelines. One of my most favorite time-travel shows, Twelve Monkeys, did this as well – providing a final timeline where the main characters remember the events from all the timelines that went before it. The time travel logic in Lovely Runner gets a little wonky at times, but given how it ends, I don’t mind that it doesn’t always make sense.

As for the cast, Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon as Ryu Sun-jae and Im Sol respectively, give impressive, heartfelt performances that will stay in my memory for a long time. (And will hopefully be rewarded with lots of awards!)  Song Geon-hee is the perfect second male lead. As Kim Tae-sung, he doesn’t try to sabotage the main couple (much) and instead, is instrumental in their happily ever after. (Not unlike a certain Han Seo-jun from True Beauty.) Hats off to writer Lee Shi-eun and directors Yoon Jong-ho and Kim Tae-yeop who present a compelling and beautiful story full of twists and turns, lovely symmetry, and heart fluttering moments.

Need further proof of how good Lovely Runner is? Check out this article from Time Magazine – Lovely Runner’s Finale Makes It the Year’s Best K-Drama | TIME

Lovely Runner Soundtrack

The Lovely Runner music team, full of talented writers, musicians and performers brought the soul of the show to life with an incredible soundtrack.  All of the songs by Eclipse, including Sudden/Rain Shower, Spring Snow (sung by 10CM), N. Flying singing Star, Minnie from (G)I-DLE’s Like A Dream, Monologue by Jae Yeon are some of my favorites.  Can we get a real tour for Eclipse please?

My rating:  5.0 sips