See You in My 19th Life – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Am I The Butterfly Or Is The Butterfly Me?

See You in My 19th Life episode 5 starts with a flashback to the day of the accident that led to Ju-won’s death.  In real-time, Seo-ha is having a nightmare about that day and is begging Ji-Eum not to leave while calling Ju-won’s name.

Ji-Eum sends Cho-won home and remains behind to take care of Seo-ha. She watches him sleep and discovers that he still has the gift Ju-won gave him. She is touched and starts crying.

After Seo-ha goes back to sleep, Ji-Eum heads home.  She has a nightmare about being shot by an arrow and wakes up. Ae-Gyeong is worried about Ji-Eum’s recurring nightmare but we can’t help but wonder if it is tied to Min-ki’s presence.

Cho-won feels guilty for accusing Seo-ha of being a bad omen during her sister’s memorial service. She realizes now that Seo-ha has been carrying a lot of pain and trauma following that accident.

The next morning, Seo-ha wakes up from a nightmare. He starts experiencing a severe painful ringing in his ear. He trashes his house and accidentally hurts his hand. Do-yun is worried after finding him in this state and immediately calls Cho-won to ask what went down the previous night. Cho-won informs him that Seo-ha spent the night drinking with Ji-Eum.

Do-yun doesn’t push Seo-ha to talk about it and Seo-ha decides to take the day off. Ji-Eum visits him but he doesn’t let her in. On her way back, Ji-Eum runs into Han-Na who refers to her as Ju-won but Ji-Eum is not sure who she is.

Seo-ha refuses to pick up calls which makes Cho-won worry so she pays him a visit. She finds him lying face-down in the swimming pool and for a moment, she is concerned that he may be dead. Do-yun soon arrives after the incident and calms Cho-won down with some tea. Seo-ha then confesses to Do-yun that he is confused because he likes Ji-Eum.

According to Seo-ha, she reminds him of Ju-won and he wonders if he is allowed to feel love or if his feelings for Ji-Eum can be termed as love.  Do-yun thinks it is great that Seo-ha likes Ji-Eum and asks him to just go with the flow.

The following day, Do-yun accidentally runs into Cho-won at a Subway store. He excuses himself but later sends her a message inviting her to a drive along with Seo-ha. As a good wing woman, Cho-won invites Ji-Eum to come along.

They end up going to the beach and Ji-Eum takes one of her three chances to ask Seo-ha on a date. She tells him to take his time and asks him to dance. They start dancing and Seo-ha seems to be having fun. Do-yun and Cho-won watch them from a distance and she admits that she would love it if Seo-ha dated Ji-Eum.

As they talk, it begins to rain so Seo-ha and Ji-Eum head back in. Cho-won suggest they go to her family vacation house as it is nearby. Once they arrive, Ji-Eum takes a shower and heads to bed because she got sick from the rain. Cho-won takes care of her and she can’t help but be reminded of Ju-won.

A worried Seo-ha asks about Ji-Eum and Cho-won tells him that she is sleeping. They finally have a talk about why Seo-ha has been avoiding Cho-won. Seo-ha has been avoiding her because she reminded him too much of Ju-won. They were sisters after all so it is understandable that Seo-ha felt that way. Cho-won understands where he is coming from and Do-yun is happy to see them try to patch things up.

Meanwhile, Ae-Gyeong is cleaning at her restaurant and Min-ki stops by to as for a part-time job. As they talk, Ae-Gyeong faints from chest pain and he rushes her to the hospital. He ends up staying with her the whole night as he was unable to get a hold of her phone and call her guardian.

After waking up, Ae-Gyeong asks him not to tell anyone she is sick. We learn that she has been sick for a while and has been hiding it from Ji-Eum. To make matters worse, the doctors are having trouble diagnosing her illness.

Back at the family vacation house, Ji-Eum wakes up and starts rummaging around remembering her time with Cho-won in that house when she was Ju-won. Cho-won secretly watches her and is surprised when she sees Ji-Eum find a toy Ju-won hid and the hidden wall markings.

She confronts Ji-Eum about how she knew about these things but Ji-Eum lies that she just came upon the toy and the markings. Unbeknownst to them, Seo-ha was also watching Ji-Eum and he finds her behaviour strange. He decides to go for a walk even though it is pouring with raining outside.

After lying through her teeth and trying to convince Cho-won that she didn’t mean to rummage, Ji-Eum follows Seo-ha outside. He tells her that he finds her strange and turns down her offer to date. He tells her that his first love didn’t end well and since he is her first love, he doubts hers will end well.

The next day, the four of them return home but Cho-won is still thinking about the incident at the house. She asks Do-yun if he knows how Seo-ha and Ji-Eum met and he tells her they met through work but they had a brief encounter as kids. She spends the next few days wondering how Ji-Eum feels like her dead sister Ju-won.

In the meantime, Ji-Eum goes home and is surprised to see Min-ki working as a part-time waiter at Ae-Gyeong’s shop.  She is too concerned about Ae-Gyeong’s health since she has been complaining of body aches so she doesn’t pay Min-ki too much attention.

After the trip, Seo-ha returns to work and threatens Ms Jang to watch her lane or he will out her for misappropriation of funds. As expected, Ms Jang doesn’t whimper in fright but retaliates by asking him to find more to threaten her with. She even tries to hit him but Ji-Eum steps in and takes the hit on Seo-ha’s behalf.

Lee Sang-Hyuk intervenes and takes Ms Jang aside to calm her down. He offers to help get her son a position at the headquarters if she stops coming for Seo-ha. Later Han-na visits the hotel and runs into Lee Sang-Hyuk but doesn’t approach him.

On the other side of town, Dong-U takes a turn for the worse when he is visited by loansharks demanding their money. After roughing im up a bit, he suggests they threaten Seo-ha who he thinks is Ji-Eum’s rich boyfriend to get the money. Of course, the idiots fall for this stupid plan and try to kidnap Seo-ha.

Thankfully, Seo-ha holds his own and he is helped by Do-jin to handle the thugs. By the time, Ji-Eum arrives with a fake police siren, the thugs are long gone.  She apologizes on her brother’s behalf and promises to handle the matter.

Do-jin invites Ji-Eum to dinner and the three of them have some grilled meat. Seo-ha notices that Ji-Eum is choking on the smoke so he suggests they get some fresh air. As they spend some time outside, Ji-Eum asks him what he likes about Ju-won.

Seo-ha confesses that he loves Ju-won’s understanding eyes. She asks him to describe her eyes but he doesn’t. He asks her to be more careful as she seems to have no fear. She tells him that she is scared of him and he tells her that he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt because of him.

Concurrently, Do-yun reveals to Cho-won that Ji-Eum once admitted to having an ulterior motive for approaching Seo-ha. Cho-won jumps to her own conclusion and goes out to drink. She later calls Ji-Eum and accuses her of using her to learn more about Ju-won and get close to Seo-ha. She thinks Ji-Eum is playing with their emotions and asks her to stop acting and pretending to be Ju-won.

Seeing Cho-won so hurt and confused leads Ji-Eum to tell her that she is indeed Ju-won.

The Episode Review

What an intensely painful ending scene that was! It can’t be easy to be Ji-Eum and if you really think about it, it is a blessing we don’t remember our past lives. Ji-Eum is witnessing first-hand how her death affected her loved ones but she can’t tell them who she really is. How painful must it be to have the people you love so close but so far away? They are mourning her but she is alive.

This episode also deepens our curiosity about Min-ki and Han-na. Are they allies or foes? The fate of Ji-Eum will change greatly depending on the answer to this question. So far, Min-ki comes off as a good soul but it is too early to tell. Thankfully, we have 7 more episodes to find out.