It’s only week two of “Lovely Runner” but so much is happening already in this incredible new K-drama that you barely keep up the pace to Im Sol (Kim Hye Yoon) and Ryu Sun Jae (Byeon Woo Seok) on the race of time and fate. As Im Sol is on an almost impossible feat to change the future and save the person she loves, there’s little she wouldn’t do to achieve her goal. Here are four of the most important moments where she tries to potentially make a change in her life and Ryu Sun Jae’s.
Warning: spoilers for episodes 3-4 below!
1. Warning Ryu Sun Jae to not compete in his swimming match
This week’s episode starts with Ryu Sun Jae (Byeon Woo Seok) and Im Sol (Kim Hye Yoon) discussing her more than suspicious actions towards him. It’s a conversation that ends up with her half-way confessing her fears of him being injured during the competition, which in the future will hinder his possibilities as a swimmer. What she doesn’t know, and what we find out later in this episode, is the depth of his feelings for her, which started without her even knowing. As he is dead set on winning a medal to later on declare his feelings, he assures her that everything will be alright. And Sol decides to trust him, both of them oblivious to the consequences of this.
But he really wins a medal and asks Sol out on a sweet date, in which he tries multiple times to confess his feelings, making everybody’s hearts flutter in the process, everyone’s except Sol’s at least. But despite trying his best, even having help from his best friend, Sun Jae fails to convey his feelings, and Sol instead offers to be friends. Sadly, this cheerful tone changes once they discover that Sun Jae injured his shoulder and that he will never be a professional swimmer again. This further fuels Sol’s worst fears that she can’t do anything to change the past – and in consequence – prevent Sun Jae’s death.
2. Supporting him as a devoted fan but accidentally missing Sun Jae’s confession
Despite the terrible news, Sol doesn’t give up that easily and starts to do what any devoted fan would do: take care of her bias. From giving away cupcakes, to feeding him nutritious food, she makes sure that Sun Jae has proper support in a difficult moment in his life, hoping that this will make him remember their times together and bring him comfort. This is also after she prevents a fire at her house, giving her some hope of actually being able to change the past despite being unable to tell anybody about it.
To anyone who sees her, she is the perfect and most successful fan in the world, but to Sun Jae this only adds to his frustration as he isn’t able to see her or thank her personally. However, as a gesture of kindness, his father gives her a jar of liquor that she mistakes as fruit tea, and Sol ends up getting drunk. Though the drunken scene is rather cliché, it serves its purpose, giving the main leads the chance to confess their feelings and share their first kiss. But as unfair as it seems, fate once again plays its dirty tricks, and the moment she is about to hear his confession (because of course she can’t remember what happened), she is tossed back to the future, where Sol painfully realizes that nothing has changed.
3. Trying to get closer to Sun Jae one more time after going back to the past
In the present time, full of desperation and grief, Sol tries to go back to the past immediately, only to realize that it is impossible. She receives a call from Baek In Hyuk (Lee Seung Hyub), who confesses that Sun Jae always felt apologetic towards her, which confuses her even more than before. By the time midnight arrives, Sol’s watch (the one she got from Sun Jae and that transported her to the past) glints and sends her back to the past. Noticing that she probably only has two more chances to go back, she decides to make the most out of each opportunity and runs towards Sun Jae.
However, she is welcomed by Sun Jae’s cold rejection. She can’t really blame him once she remembers that she became the girlfriend of Kim Tae Sung (Song Geon Hee). Unaware of Sun Jae’s feelings towards her, she doesn’t know that by going out with someone else, she is breaking Sun Jae’s heart. Especially since he had already confessed and even remembers sharing their first kiss, which makes her scenes with the second male lead all the more intolerable. Although she hates her past self for her silly infatuation, this doesn’t stop her from approaching Sun Jae once again, only thinking about saving his life. It’s something that makes it harder on Sun Jae, who is still in love with her.
4. Remembering who saved her from her accident
Despite feeling disappointed and probably a little resentful towards Sol, Sun Jae can’t help but worry about her. At the beginning of episode four, we see that he actually never forgot about her, and that the first and last encounter they had in the present time wasn’t actually their first time meeting. Though Sol seems to not recognize him at all. To him, it is obvious she is his first and last love, someone who remained engraved in his memories, even before she went back to the past and started to interfere in his life. That is why, when he sees her missing her bus stop, he doesn’t hesitate and goes after her.
By the time Sol wakes up in the bus, she notices that she is lost after missing her stop. She hurries to turn back, but is startled by where she is, as it is vaguely familiar to her. Alone there, she is scared by a drunken man, and in her attempts to run away from him, she trips and falls off a bridge, only to be rescued by Sun Jae, who arrives at that moment. This triggers Sol’s memories from the accident that left her bedridden. She realizes that it was Sun Jae who saved her life at the time, which shows even more how deep their connection is. And that’s where we’ll pick up next week. There’s still so much more to expect from this amazing K-drama, so brace yourself as we wait for new episodes of “Lovely Runner”!
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Andy zar is an avid drama watcher, from K-dramas to C-dramas, she believes any weekend is a good weekend to enjoy 12 hours of binge-watching dramas. She loves romance, web comics, and K-pop. Her favorite groups are EXO, TWICE, and BOL4.
Currently watching: “Lovely Runner”
Plans to watch: “Best Choice Ever“