This is the review + recap page for episode 1 & 2 of the 2024 kdrama Lovely Runner.
TRIGGER WARNING - this kdrama contains depictions of self harm and worse.
Lovely Runner
선재 업고 튀어
Air Dates: Apr 8 - May 28 2024 - [Mon/Tues]
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Idol/Music
Main Tropes: Time travel, emotional scars, injury, HE FALLS FIRST!!!
Synopsis: Im Sol (played by Kim Hye Yoon) was in an accident that left her paralyzed from the legs down. She didn't take it well. By chance, idol Ryu Seon Jae (played by Byeon Woo Seok) called her phone from a radio program. When he heard how desperate she was feeling, he told her to keep going. Fueled by his sudden kindness, she did. Years later, Ryu Seon Jae - now famous and performing sold out concerts - can't take the pressure and takes his own life. By some strange twist of fate, Im Sol finds herself transported to the past - before her accident. Armed with knowledge of the future, she quickly decides that she's got to change the outcome of everything.
Quick review: I put the trigger warning up top but I'm going to mention it again here, too. TRIGGER WARNING. Make sure that you are in a good headspace for episode 1. If you're someone who's gone through a major loss of function, or even a chronic illness, this opening scene will remind you of those first few moments of realising your new reality. BUT while it does have such serious topics, it's also a cute time travel romance kdrama. By the end of episode two, it's a little more light with lots of cute stuff.
Episode Recap
SPOILERS BELOW
Episode 01 Recap
Im Sol is in the hospital, and can't feel her legs. Her mother seems overwhelmed by the situation and in her rush to get a bandaid, she knocks over a glass vase. She leaves it there, and we see Im Sol reach down to claim a single shard. Her intention is clear.
But before she can act on anything, her phone rings. Pressured by the other patient, she answers it. It's a radio show who is live on air with the rookie boy band Eclipse. They offer her a prize for answering the phone - new running shoes - and she loses it on them before throwing the phone. Everyone is stunned, but Ryu Seon Jae does some quick thinking and realises the situation. He tells her not to give up, and to live because it's a beautiful day.
Time passes and she indeed kept going...thanks to the idol. Him and his group are now much bigger, and she's become a devoted fan. She still can't use her legs, but she uses Seon Jae's words to get through every tough moment.
On this particular day that the story jumps to, she's planning to attend Eclipse's concert with her friend! But once they arrive, she gets a phone call asking if she can be at an interview right away. She was excited, and took the chance to go while telling her friend to line up and wait. Sadly, the interview doesn't go forward. Their workplace does not have any accessibility, so they cannot hire her. Undeterred, she goes back to the concert.
But...her bus is late, and the lineup has finished entering. They don't want to let her in since it's against policy to let late comers enter, but she pulls the pity card and they agree if she can show them her ticket. Disaster! She lost it on the bus. So she sits there outside, alone, and listens to the music. The first snow starts right after the concert, creating a beautiful moment. The first snow has a lot of different deep meanings in South Korea.
After the concert, we see that trouble is brewing for the members of Eclipse. They find out that Seon Jae had wanted to retire (and we saw snippets that he was being pressured to do things that were harming his health), and they don't like this at all. The three other members leave, and Seon Jae goes home alone.
Along the way back, he sees Im Sol who's wheelchair has run out of battery. She's cold and shivering, and he gets his driver to stop. He offers her a hot pack, and his umbrella to block the snow. She gifts him something in return, and couldn't bring herself to explain that he saved her life years ago. Instead, she keeps it light and tells him that he means a lot to her like any other fan. He offers her a ride home, but her friend shows up at the same moment.
Not long after, Seon Jae takes his own life. Im Sol sees the news and rushes to the hospital, hoping against hope that the news is wrong and that she can say or do something. But on the way there, someone knocks into her and it sends her watch flying. This watch was some fan merch - it had belonged to Seon Jae before he debuted. It lands in a stream below
She couldn't let it go, and rolls herself down into the stream to get it. At the same time she celebrates getting it back, the news announces that Seon Jae has officially passed away. She begins to go into hysterics, and accidentally presses a button on the watch. It flashes, and suddenly she's back in time.
She's in her student uniform again, and she can use her legs. She sees Seon Jae's school, and runs to go find him. He's at a secret swim meeting, and she finds a back entrance into the building. Spotting him, she cries and runs over to him to hug him; he's dumbfounded. Security escorts her out.
Im Sol remembers a video she was editing about death and bridges, sees a bridge, and thinks she's dying. This leads to another strange encounter with Seon Jae...where he starts to wonder if she's a little bit crazy. He jumps into a taxi to leave, and she realises that it's not a dream and they're not dead. When she gets home, she sees that it's 2008. But it isn't until she wakes up the next day and still has the use of her legs that she accepts she's in the past.
Episode 02 Recap
Im Sol goes to school and sees Seon Jae. She starts crying as the rain starts, and he goes over to her to ask why she always cries when she sees him. Cue the cuteness when onlookers start to worry they're having a lovers spat, so he hurries her away to a private place. There, he asks for answers and she has to make stuff up on the spot. Im Sol tells him that he reminds her of a dog she had that liked to swim. He persists in seeking answers, and she persists in making up preposterous lies.
She realises how ridiculous it sounds and runs off in the rain (taking his umbrella with her) after receiving the watch back from him. When she enters her class, she goes full nostalgia mode and greets everyone as if she hasn't seen them in forever. They think it's bizarre, but class starts without any incident.
Meanwhile, we find out that Seon Jae's dad has rented an adult movie and it's overdue. Im Sol's mum runs the video lending store, so she gives him a call to remind him to return it. He insists he never rented something like that.
During class, Im Sol gets thinking about how the watch works. She remembered pressing the button before she was sent back in time, and decides to never do that again incase it reverses it before she can do anything. But - oops! She accidentally presses the button again, although nothing happens. The teacher calls her to the board and we have a relatable moment as she cannot remember anything about how to solve math problems. It's been too long since she was in high school. She fakes period cramps to get out of class.
Instead of going to the nurse, she goes to watch Seon Jae at the gym. There, she notices the smell of smoke and goes to tell off whoever it is. She sees some students fighting about it - 3 against 1 - and jumps down to help the 1 and tell the 3 troublemakers off. But then more troublemakers show up and chase them. The 1 guy grabs her and they run together. But we quickly find out that he's a troublemaker, too! And also the guy that young Im Sol had a huge crush on - Kim Tae Sung, another musician.
His teacher shows up while they're talking, so he hands her the cigarette box and runs. She gets caught and tries to explain her situation, but the teacher is having none of it and makes her sit with her arms in the air. Seon Jae sees it and misunderstands. Im Sol gets worried that the misunderstandings are putting too much distance between them, and she gets sad.
Cue a cute moment with her best friend from episode one, but now back in high school where she's glad to be spending time with her normally again. She asks the friend how to get closer to someone, and the friend tells her to send a digital friend invite. The friend gets suspicious and asks if it's a man, and when Im Sol says it is, the friend tells her that Im Sol had just confessed to Tae Sung the day before!
Im Sol tries sending the friend request to Seon Jae anyways, but he rejects it the same night. At the bus stop, they meet up. He gets off, but she's unable to. She panics at the door, and Seon Jae runs after the bus to get it to stop so that she can get off. He acts nonchalant about it and says he just wanted his umbrella back. Seon Jae's friend sees the cute moment, and tells him that Im Sol has a crush on Tae Sung.
Meanwhile, we learn about one of the important events that changed Seon Jae's life. He got an injury in a swim competition, and it prevented him from competing ever again. Im Sol sees a sign saying the competition is coming up soon, and so she tries to warn him. Whenever she says it outright, though, time stops and no one can hear what she says or types.
She takes some time to think, but concludes that she must stop him from competing no matter what so that he doesn't want to take his life in the future. She continues to follow him and try to convince him to stop competing, but he won't listen. So she takes advantage of his superstitious nature instead. She dresses up as a fortune teller and tells him not to go near water or else a water ghost will get him. He doesn't believe it until she correctly identifies some things about his body that she learned from the future (details he shared as an idol).
But - disaster! She runs into Tae Sung and is cheering him up, when Seon Jae runs into them both. He figures out her plot, and is no longer concerned about being near water. On the way home, she realises that they live right across the road from each other. And while thinking about the situation, she see's Seon Jae leave again at a strange time. She follows him to the swimming pool, and catches a rival swimmer trying to steal Seon Jae's lucky swimmers! She successfully scares them away but has to hide.
Seon Jae catches her, though, and misunderstands. He thinks that she was trying to sabotage him until his friend calls and says he saw the rival swimmer there, instead.
Meanwhile, Seon Jae's dad accidentally finds the adult video under his son's bed and solves the mystery. It was Seon Jae who rented the movie after all!
Im Sol is distraught over the turn of events - over being unable to help. She goes to cross the road, and cars scare the ever living life out of her. Her accident must have involved being hit by a car. She waits for it to be clear, and tries to cross, only for more cars to come by. Seon Jae saves her, and she collapses in his arms.
And this is where we find out that HE FELL FIRST and has been thinking her actions were insanely cute from the first moment he saw her. He rented the video by accident, while visiting the shop to see her. And his rejection of her friend request was also an accident because his dad surprised him.
In the final moment, we see that the future is changing: a picture of Seon Jae and Im Sol (as if they're best friends) appears on the table at the hotel where he took his life. Something she's doing is changing the future!
My TMI for this recap:
THIS IS THE SAME ACTRESS FROM EXTRAORDINARY YOU. And I really liked her acting in that, so it's cool to see her in another fantasy role like this.
So far...it seems like both the acting and the writing are on point. It's so easy to put yourself in Im Sol's shoes if you've been through something like this before. But I guess I already told you that in my quick review above, huh? Basically, it brought up the memory of when I nearly lost my eyesight, and when I developed my chronic symptoms. I do a lot to manage things so they're mostly in remission these days, but...the risk is always there. And I'll never forget those times; the fear and the sudden change. The regret. The "what do i do now."
The grief took me nearly a decade to find some peace with. And part of how I dealt with it was by finding kpop and kdramas. Stories are a great distraction (and kpop idols DO tell a story with their parasocial relationship stuff). Plus...it's a great comfort to see ideas about how others are living their lives. Even though kdramas themselves are fake, the writers are not; they based their writing on something. The themes of the shows are usually important lessons for life.
If you're also watching this drama, let me know what you think over on X (Twitter)!