Lovely Runner – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Time Passes Again!

Episode 8 of Lovely Runner takes us back to a few months before January 1st, 2023. Sun-jae was running out of patience and decided to unearth the time capsule six months before the agreed date. He then cutely practised how he would act nonchalantly cute in front of Im Sol once they met. Man is still whipped! Later, Sun-jae reads the letter in the time capsule and is touched that Im Sol thanked him. She also gave him a watch.

As we know, Im Sol ended up running late, and the two missed each other. We return to the night of the concert. After Sun-jae discovers that Im Sol is his supposed stalker who left him flowers, he dashes off to meet her. This time, they meet at the bridge, and Im Sol asks him to spend the night with her. 

Unsurprisingly, Sun-jae asks his manager to inform his group members that he won’t be attending the after-party. He gets in Im Sol’s car, and they drive to a hotel. On the way, Im Sol inquires how he has been, and he says he has been well. She is glad that he is alive and doing better. 

They head to a hotel, and Im Sol mistakenly thinks Sun-jae wants to have a passionate night with her. She feels embarrassed when she realises he is taking her to the hotel’s lounge bar, where they can talk without prying eyes.

At the lounge bar, they both pretend that they didn’t try to find the time capsule. They each say they are doing well, and Im Sol is silently grateful that Sun-jae is alive. Elsewhere, In-hyuk posts a picture of the group at the after-party and Sun-jae is noticeably missing.

There are online rumours that he missed the party to go to a hotel with a woman. In-hyuk calls Sun-jae to warn him that the paparazzi are already at the hotel. Sun-jae asks Im Sol to wait till he leaves and promises to call her later.

However, our girl is on a mission to spend the night with Sun-jae and save him from dying. She grabs an umbrella and uses it to cover their faces as they run away. Once again, Sun-jae’s manager is surprised by Sun-jae and Im Sol’s actions. He goes to the after-party and talks to In-hyuk about Sun-jae.

The manager says that Sun-jae probably took Im Sol to his house to spend the night. Im-hyuk suddenly recalls he left a provocative stand of a female anime character at Sun-jae’s house. He is also not happy to hear that Sun-jae is with Im Sol.

Back to our reunited couple, Im Sol insists she needs to use the toilet, so Sun-jae agrees to invite her to his place. He is shocked to see the stand In-hyuk left at his house, and he quickly hides it under a blanket on his bed. Meanwhile, Im Sol is in the toilet and gets a call from her mom.

The pipes at their house are busted, so they are leaving for Im-geum’s house. She asks Im Sol to join them there, and Im Sol says she is with a man and won’t be coming home that night. Sun-jae overhears this conversation, and he gets nervous and excited at the same time.

To buy time, Im Sol asks for a house tour, and she marvels at everything in the house. She even asks about the medicine on his kitchen counter and he explains they are supplements. She then says she is hungry and wants some ramyeon. We all know what that means, so we don’t blame Sun-jae for misunderstanding either.

Anyway, he cooks her ramyeon and eggs. After eating, Im Sol pretends to fall asleep. Sun-jae finally confronts her about what she said on the phone to her mom. With no option, Im Sol reveals that she had a vivid dream of Sun-jae dying that night. Sun-jae is not shocked as he is used to Im Sol “having dreams.” He assures her that he is fine and doesn’t plan to off himself.

Meanwhile, we see a man standing outside Im Sol’s apartment. Surprisingly, it turns out to be Tae-sung. What has he been up to? 

After Im Sol comes clean, Sun-jae insists he is not depressed. He tells her those are baseless media rumours and wonders why she is concerned for him after all these years. Im Sol promises to leave after cleaning the dishes. Unfortunately, she spills the soup on her blouse when he grabs her hand, asking her to stay. He takes her to his room and gives her a shirt to change into. He then remembers that he left the time capsule egg on his table and rushes to kick her out of the room when she is done. 

He tries to hide the capsule and mistakenly pulle the blanket on his bed. Im Sol returns for her clothes and sees the stand on his bed. Sun-jae is embarrassed and tries to explain while covering it up again. At the same time, Im Sol wants to get a good look, and she grabs the blanket.

A tug of war ensues, and Sun-jae pulls so hard that Im Sol falls on his bed, and he falls on top of her. They freeze in this position, and it looks like Sun-jae is about to kiss her when, in storms, a drunk In-hyuk. Talk about bad timing!

Sun-jae does the only reasonable thing he can. He hides Im Sol in his closet and tells In-hyuk that he is drunk and hallucinating stuff. In-hyuk insists on taking a bath in Sun-jae’s bathroom and takes off his shirt. He comes back quickly after seeing an old picture of Sun-jae and Im Sol. He confronts Sun-jae, talking about how Im Sol broke his heart.

He reveals that every time Sun-jae got drunk, he returned to Im Sol’s old house and cried for her. He even went to the time capsule place and called out for her. Once again, Sun-jae is embarrassed that Im Sol heard that. He carries In-hyuk and throws him in the tub.

He returns to find Im Sol looking at the time capsule. In a flashback, we learn that Im Sol asked Sun-jae to stay away after the kidnapping incident. She said seeing his face reminded her of the ordeal. Currently, Sun-jae drives Im Sol home and admits to unearthing the time capsule. Upon getting to Im Sol’s place, she thanks him and confesses that she also had feelings for him and that she missed him. She apologises for hurting him and rushes inside as se doesn’t want anyone to spot Sun-jae.

It takes a few seconds for Im Sol’s words to register in Sun-jae’s mind. Once he realises that she has confessed her feelings, he runs after her. She is about to lock her door when he grabs it and asks if she still has feelings for him. Im Sol nods and before she can say anything, a neighbor opens their door. She quickly grabs Sun-jae and pulls him inside.

After closing the door, Sun-jae moves to kiss her, and she momentarily pulls back before leaning in, and they passionately kiss. Unfortunately, they are interrupted by the mechanics who stop by to fix the pipes; Im Sol covers Sun-jae’s face and sends him on his way, pretending he is her brother. On his way out, Sun-jae fails to see the can driver. How is he out of prison already?

The two are so happy thinking about the kiss that they can’t help but smile to themselves throughout the day. However, Im Sol’s happiness is short-lived. She gets a call from her mom asking her to talk to Hyun-joo. Apparently, Im-geum lost all their savings after investing in a friend’s business.

Hyun-joo is so angry she kicks Im-geum out of the house and threatens to divorce him. Im Sol talks to her, and Hyun-joo admits she is angry but won’t leave Im-geum. She says even if she had a chance to go back and change her fate, she would still choose this life as no one knows how life happens.

Later, she gets a call from Sun-jae, who asks why she gave him the watch. Im Sol explains that she wanted time to keep flowing for him. Sun-jae flirts back and says time is flowing now that she is back in his life. They make plans to meet in the evening. For the rest of the day, they keep missing each other’s calls.

After work, Im Sol remembers se left her car at Sun-jae’s place. She calls Sun-jae, but he is in the shower and misses her call. Im Sol decides to pick up her car and sees a man looking like the cab driver.

It turns out to be someone else, and Im Sol gets out of the car. He calls her back, but this time, Im Sol misses his call as she chases after his stalker. She manages to catch the stalker and is surprised to learn the girl is only 14 years old. She takes the girl to a local restaurant and tries to talk to her about the consequences of her actions.

Simultaneously, we see Sun-jae receiving a call from a close friend who asks for his room number. There is a knock on the door, and Sun-jae wonders why the friend is asking if he already knew. On the phone, the friend is confused and says he is not there yet. 

We circle back to Im Sol, who is still at the restaurant with the stalker. She is shocked when she hears the breaking news that Sun-jae was attacked by the cab driver who recently got out of jail. According to the reporter, Sun-jae is fighting for his life on the surgery table. Im Sol is too shocked and falls on her knees wondering how and why all these happened.

The Episode Review

The rom-com bit was hitting the spot when it suddenly pivoted to a crime thriller. Every time Sun-jae and Im Sol find a little happiness, fate sweeps in and grabs it from them. We are now confident that Sun-jae didn’t commit suicide the first time. He was killed. It is possible that Im Sol is unable to change their fate because she didn’t know this.

She focused on changing Sun-jae’s fate and making sure he was happy. Unfortunately, the real threat was not Sun-jae but the obsessed cab driver who won’t leave them alone.

We will have to wait until next week to find out Sun-jae’s fate. If he dies, Im Sol has only one chance to save him. What will happen when she changes their fate again? Most importantly, will she find the time-travelling watch?

We also have questions about Tae-sung. Where is our second lead, and what has he been up to?