Lovely Runner – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

I Will Gladly Die For You!

Episode 10 of Lovely Runner starts with Im Sol trying to explain to Sun-jae how she travelled through time just like in the Terminator movie. However, every time she talks about what happens in the future, time stops.

Sun-jae asks how his watch became a time-travel machine, and Im Sol says it might be because he saved her once. Even though it is hard to understand, Sun-jae gives her the benefit of the doubt. He asks her what she wants to change, and Im Sol denies saying that while drunk.

She apologises for confusing him in the past, and he says he is leaving for the US so she can stop worrying about his presence. Im Sol is stunned but Sun-jae leaves before she can say anything.

The next day, Sun-jae asks his friends if they believe in time-travelling, and they say it might be possible in the future. However, they think that is a flimsy excuse for a girl to use to reject a man. On the other hand, Im Sol thinks about Sun-jae’s decision to leave and believes it would be for the best.

Sadly, Sun-jae’s travel plans couldn’t have come at a worse time for In-hyuk and the Eclipse band. The reality competition show accepted the group’s submission, but they insisted that Sun-jae must audition too. Later that night, In-hyuk visits Sun-jae for dinner and to tell him about the auditions.

However, he changes his mind after hearing Gyeon-deok’s excitement. It turns out Im Sol personally approached  Gyeon-deok and insisted that he sends Sun-jae away as soon as possible. Sun-jae is hurt to hear this and In-hyuk argues that he is only leaving because of Im Sol. 

The following day, Im Sol meets with Tae-sung’s dad and goes through her statement again. The detective informs her that they managed to find evidence even after the house burned down. The police were able to collect DNA evidence that links Young-soo to the reservoir case.

Im Sol is happy and remembers more about the incident as the detective asks more questions. In this interview, she identifies the make of Young-soo’s truck. 

Later at school, Im Sol notices  Im Geum is avoiding Hyun-joo. Im Geum feels guilty about the kiss or maybe he is embarrassed. On the other hand, the new girl starts making moves on Sun-jae, and Im Sol pretends she is cool with it.

After class, she and Hyun-joo go out for drinks and  Sun-jae and a friend also show up at the venue. As expected, the new girl tags along but Im Sol doesn’t see them until much later. 

As the two groups drink, Hyun-joo vents to Im Sol about her brother and then passes out. Im Sol decides to pay for the drinks but the lights are dimmed to celebrate a random birthday, and she drops all the coins in her purse. She quickly gets on her knees and starts collecting them. She ends up under Sun-jae’s table and sees he is with the new girl.

The two are currently alone as the other friend excused himself to fetch another colleague outside. The new girl confesses her feelings and moves to kiss Sun-jae. From Im Sol’s angle, it looks like Sun-jae kisses the girl back. However, he didn’t. The other friends return to the table, and  Im Sol’s phone rings and they all realise there is someone under the table.

To avoid a confrontation, I’m Sol puts a garbage bin over her head and runs out of the bar. Hyun-joo sees her and loudly says her name while cheering Im Sol on. Sun-jae’s friend asks why he would kiss another girl when he knows Im Sol likes him. Of course, Sun-jae says he didn’t kiss the new girl and doubts Im Sol likes him enough to feel jealous. 

The scene cuts to a drunk Im Sol and Im Geum venting about their troubled love lives as they drink on the rooftop. Each says their own things, but it makes sense. Im Geum says he still likes his ex and didn’t want to kiss Hyun-jooo, but he didn’t mind the kiss. On the other hand, Im Sol is jealous and wants to know why Sun-jae didn’t push the girl away. She argues that, just like her brother, Sun-jae liked the kiss.

In a jealous fit, she throws her legs around, and her slipper flies right into Sun-jae’s hand as he is walking home. She looks down , sees him and quickly sobers up. She rushes downstairs and tries to deny that she saw him kissing the other girl. Sun-jae asks if she feels jealous, and she says she has no right to.

This hurts Sun-jae but he still has hopes. He asks if she has ever liked him in any era during her time-travelling adventures. She looks him straight in the eyes and says no! All these make Sun-jae frustrated, but Im Sol is scared that she will lose him if she confesses her undying love for him. 

Away from our lovebirds, we reunite with Tae-sung as he visits his dad at the police station. While there, he overhears about Im Sol’s past kidnapping and is obviously worried about her. 

Elsewhere, In-hyuk cuts his hair to prove his seriousness in his effort to convince Sun-jae to audition. In his head, he imagines a dramatic conversation in which they both tear up, but Sun-jae, simply agrees without any convincing. Our poor Cupid shaved his head for no reason; how will he go to the auditions? 

The following day, Tae-sung shows up at the college, carrying flowers and a gift bag. People assume he is there to see his girlfriend. Im Sol spots him and takes him aside for a talk. Sun-jae sees them, and his jealous imagination runs wild. He starts imagining them having a teary reunion while confessing his love.

Forget music; Sun-jae should be a soap opera writer. Actually, Tae-sung asks Im Sol to be careful and returns the uniform to her. She asks him to do her a favour and remind his dad in the year 2023 that he has to protect Sun-jae and not her.

She does her best to explain why Tae-sung and his dad need to protect Sun-jae in the future, but Tae-sung is confused. Nonetheless, he senses that this is important to her and agrees. 

He walks her home and before they say goodbye, Im Sol receives a call from her mom that something happened at the house. The two rush to find Sun-jae and Bok-soon holding a bucket towards the roof to prevent water from destroying the shop. It turns out that the upstairs water pipe burst, and the water is flooding downstairs.

Bok-soon is glad to see Tae-sung and warmly welcomes him. Im Sol tries to help Sun-jae so he can leave, but  Bok-soon insists that Sun-jae should stay. The two boys start helping, but it turns into a competition. It is clear that Grandma is on Sun-jae’s team and praises his muscles, while Bok-soon praises Tae-sung’s face and strength.

The ladies go to check the condition upstairs, and one thing leads to another. Tae-sung gets under Sun-jae’s skin when he says he truly liked Im Sol. Soon, the boys forget the buckets and start fighting. In the process, they nearly get electrocuted when a lose bulb nearly falls on them. Thankfully, Im Sol sees them fighting and senses the danger. She turns off the main electric circuit before the boys get fried!

By the time the pipe situation is handled, it is past midnight, and Tae-sung can’t get home. Bok-soon suggests he sleep over, but both Im Geum and Im Sol refuse. Im Geum is confident that something might happen between Im Sol and Tae-sung. He can still vividly recall what happened when Sun-jae slept at their place last year. Sun-jae is also vehemently against Tae-sung sleeping at  Im Sol’s place, so he offers his place instead. 

At Sun-jae’s place, Tae-sung quickly gets comfortable and agrees to sleep on the sofa. He sees Sun-jae’s airplane ticket and asks why he is leaving.

Earlier in the day, Gyeon-deok had received news that the rehab had an immediate opening after an athlete cancelled his treatment. He quickly secured Sun-jae’s spot, and our boy leaves in a few days. Tae-sung asks why Sun-jae feels threatened by him when it is clear that Im Sol likes him.

According to Tae-sung, Im Sol asked him to protect Sun-jae in the future because she cares for him. This is news to Sun-jae, but Tae-sung refuses to say more. He advises Sun-jae to ask Im Sol why she wants him protected, specifically in the year 2023. 

A few days later, In-hyuk and the band head for the audition, but Sun-jae is absent. It turns out he couldn’t make it as he is scheduled to leave that night. Im Sol overhears this when she drops by Im Geum’s faculty to pick up something her brother forgot. She heads to the airport and watches as his plane leaves.

Although she is sad, she is confident that this is the only way to save him. On the other hand, the band succeed in the audition and are grateful to Sun-jae for giving them his song. 

On her way home, Im Sol spots a truck eerily similar to Young-soo’s and starts running. She runs into Sun-jae and starts crying, asking why he is there. She nearly faints in his arms when the truck drives by, and she realises it is not Young-soo. Sun-jae hugs her closely and says he knows that she has feelings for him and shows her the watch she buried in the time capsule.

In another twist, we learn that he didn’t get on the plane and instead went to get the time capsule. After reading Im Sol’s letter and putting the pieces together, he figured he would die in 2023. 

He tells Im Sol that he knows she is there to save him and doesn’t care if he dies in 2023 protecting her. He asks her to stop running from him and use this time to give in to her feelings for him.

Im Sol pulls back and looks at him and her eyes can’t deny what is in her heart. He goes on to add that he is okay with dying for her in the future. He cups her face in his hands and kisses her so tenderly but passionately at the same time.

The episode ends with a scene from the future. Instead of announcing Sun-jae’s death, the news reporters announce Eclipse’s new album. However, Sun-jae is no longer a member; what happened?

The Episode Review

If that heart-fluttering scene when Sun-jae says he is willing to die for Im Sol and proceeds to kiss her didn’t make you want to start singing, “If this isn’t love, then tell me what is, “you need to go back and rewatch it. Out of all Sun-jae’s confessions, this has to be the best.  

As exciting as the kiss was, we have to worry about the future. Based on the last scene, we can only assume that Sun-jae didn’t become a singer. We can’t help but feel anxious about his future. Is he alive? What has he been up to?

We have six chapters left and so far, Lovely Runner has continued to deliver in every aspect. The script is refreshing, and the new twists engage the viewers as they dissect the theories and try to guess what happens next. Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon have done an exemplary job bringing their characters to life, which is largely why this show is a hit.

They have managed to hold their own as this is a challenging project. In each timeline, the characters drastically revolve, and it can’t be easy switching from a teenage to an adult role back and forth.

However, the two have made it easy for viewers to understand and relate to the characters in each timeline. We also have to talk about the supporting cast, such as Seo Hye-won, who shines in her role as Hyun-joo. We will have to tune in next week to see what happens, but in the meantime, what are your theories?