Lovely Runner: Episodes 11-12

219 May 15, 2024May 15, 2024

by Dramaddictally

We’re way past liking and headed into the realm of true love now that our campus couple is officially dating. But there’s a time bomb ticking every step of the way as our desperate-for-each-other leads face the fact that their moments together have a deadline. As they fight to keep close, their parents, the serial killer, and even our heroine’s so-called selflessness strain to pull them from each other’s grasp.

EPISODES 11-12

We left off last week with Sun-jae’s agonizing plea for Sol to stop running away from him and pursue her feelings. He’ll deal with the consequences — he just doesn’t want to waste their precious time together. From the outset, I feel like this has been the major discrepancy in dispositions between our leads. Sol is willing to sacrifice the now to achieve the outcome she wants. And Sun-jae is all about the process of getting there. (I can’t help but remember the photo booth scene where he just wanted to be in that booth with her, and all she wanted was the picture.)

And there’s no better way to put the pressure on and test our leads’ core values than to have a literal clock counting down the seconds until they’re ripped from each other’s arms. Now that Sun-jae knows about the time travel, the show can keep that clock in eyesight for the entirety of these episodes, upping the stakes and lowering the inhibitions. Which means: if feelings were sky-high before, they’re bursting out the universal seams by now.

Once they’re done kissing under the streetlight (with Mom accidentally seeing — but not knowing her daughter is the lucky lady), our OTP moves on to multiple encounters where handholding is totally requisite. There’s the café, where Sun-jae takes Sol’s hand and tells her not to worry, he’ll be waiting for her in 2023. And then there’s the next morning when Sun-jae walks Sol to campus, clasping hands the entire trek — only to hold her hand under the desk in the lecture all. As it turns out, he doesn’t even have class that day! Haha. He just can’t get enough of her company.

On one of their dates, cherry blossom petals fall all around them and Sol says that if you catch one, your wish will come true. Sun-jae takes her hands in his and together they catch a petal and then close their eyes and make their wishes. We’ll come to learn that they both wished for the same thing (for each other’s happiness together), but in the moment, Sun-jae just says he already got his wish and then kisses her cheek — before a bunch more kissy face occurs.

With nowhere else to go after their date, they watch a video of the sea at Sol’s family’s video rental shop and promise to go to the ocean together before Sol transports back. They both understand that when Young Sol returns, these two minds will have to wait fifteen years to see each other again. By now, the bond that’s forming between them is obvious (and they’re ready for kisses at all times).

When they fall asleep on the couch of the shop, a morning mishap leads Sol to accidentally tear Sun-jae’s shirt — leaving him half bare-chested when Mom and Geum come in. The laugh-out-loud antics that ensue end with both their parents forbidding them to see each other, as they’re dragged in opposite directions. Luckily, after a series of explanations, their parents change their minds and decide that maybe their kids aren’t a couple of pervs after all. So, yay! Back to dating.

In a change of role, our second male lead is still hanging around, but now he’s mostly there to model clothes and act as Sol’s eyes and ears at the police department while his dad stays hot on the killer’s trail. But, in a very welcome turn, Tae-sung is also slowly becoming friends with Sun-jae.

Sun-jae is feeling left out of the loop when he overhears part of the conversation between Sol and Tae-sung, and so, he takes Tae-sung for drinks to get the goods out of him. At first, Tae-sung is all, “Ask your girlfriend” – which may sound obstinate but it’s also him being a true friend to Sol, who wants to keep the killer a secret from Sun-jae. But, in the drunkenness that follows, Tae-sung lets the killer’s name slip and Sun-jae later figures out the scoop on his own.

Before that though, Sun-jae and Tae-sung wake from their drunken debauchery to find themselves in the same bed, all cuddled up together. Sun-jae is grossed out — leaping out of the bed — and Tae-sung just looks up at him all smiles, “Good morning.” LOL. This is so in character for both of them. And God I love them both so much. Tae-sung continues, “We’re best friends now.” (I’m dying.)

In the interim, the police catch the crazy cabbie and give Sol a holler to let her know that things are fine. She can relax now. But of course, the guy escapes from the backseat of the cruiser, leaving all three cops, including Tae-sung’s dad, in the hospital. As luck would have it, Tae-sung’s dad will be fine, but it means the killer is still on the loose — and Sol thinks everything is on the up and up.

To circle back on the Eclipse story from last week. When Sol learns that In-hyuk and the guys did well at the audition without Sun-jae, she’s upset and tries to drag Sun-jae to the next audition. She knows he’s happy singing, and she’s worried that if she changed the future so he’s not in the group, she may have stolen his joy.

In the end, when Eclipse gives what might be their final performance, Sun-jae is on stage with them, singing the song that he wrote for Sol. She’s in the audience teary with happiness because everything is coming together now. After the show, Sun-jae gets a business card from an agency exec that wants to sign Eclipse and it seems he’s back on the idol track like he should be.

Now that Sun-jae knows about the killer (even though he’s not supposed to and he’s hiding it from Sol that he does), he becomes preoccupied with protecting her. This is of course antithetical to Sol’s preoccupation, which is to have Sun-jae stop protecting her. She still believes that if he doesn’t save her at the construction site, the killer won’t hold a grudge, and then Sun-jae will be alive in 2023.

But there’s something brewing underneath. Sol and Sun-jae have a conversation about unavoidable fates, where this line appears: “There are choices you make, even though you know the consequences, because you like it.” At the time, they’re talking about Sol’s friend’s choice to date Geum, even though Sol tried to dissuade her. She had a chance to change her fate, but she chose not to.

I can’t help but think, though, that this is really about Sun-jae. Now that he knows the outcome, he can choose to keep his fate by saving Sol no matter what. In an ironic twist, everything Sol is doing to get him out of his fate is actually leading him there.

When Sol, Sun-jae, and Tae-sung go to find In-hyuk in his countryside hometown, this becomes even more apparent. They see the ocean as planned (when Tae-sung’s car rolls into it, leaving them stranded in the sticks), and wind up alone in the woods while looking for Sol’s lost phone. The whole time they wander the woods, Sol is having flashbacks to things that never happened in the timeline she knows. She realizes that the future has changed and the killer will now come for her in this town, and in these very woods. To make matters worse, in her visions, Sun-jae is still there to save her when it happens.

Now the two are head to head in trying to out-protect each other. That night, when they’re left alone in In-hyuk’s house, Sun-jae makes up every excuse he can to sleep in the same room with Sol so that he can protect her from any murderous cab drivers that might appear (I mean, I’m sure there’s a double motive). Sol thinks it’s cute that he’s trying to stay with her and asks why he doesn’t just say he wants to be together — although, she’ll say no to him anyway. But he won’t take no for an answer and builds a divider on the floor with pillows. He tells her to stay on her half of the room because “what’s on my side of the line is mine” (me-ow).

Later, when she thinks he’s sleeping, her arm crosses the pillows to touch his face. He’s not sleeping — and now her arm belongs to him. It’s a little problematic to just keep one arm, though, so he tosses the dividers away and pulls Sol into him: “All of you should be mine.” (*covers mouth with both hands*)

They’re lying all hugged up and happy when Sol tells him not to be sad if today turns out to be her last day. She kisses him and says she likes him — and she wanted to make sure he knows that before she transports back to her own time. He kisses her again and responds that he loves her. And the way he rolls himself over her for the next kiss tells me they might be sealing their love with more than a lip lock.

On the train home the next day, Sol suddenly doesn’t know why she’s with Sun-jae and it appears that Young Sol has made her grand reappearance. She runs away from him and off the train and he’s left crying alone. But when we see her on the platform, it’s clear that Adult Sol is still in effect, she’s just made the choice to lose Sun-jae in order to “protect” him. (This is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s crazy in love, they just slept together, and now she’s disappearing on him.)

We end with the killer arriving to the town on the hunt for Sol. The thing is, in the flashback/premonition we see of the killer coming into the woods to attack her, Sun-jae is running over to save her — and he’s got on the same clothes he’s wearing on the train. So, something tells me he’s getting off that train to follow her. He’s not stupid. And we know he won’t back down — he’ll choose the same fated path.

Hmm, I’m a little worried about Sol’s growth or lack thereof so far. We have another four episodes, so maybe I’m jumping the gun, but I can see how this story could go downhill from here, just as clearly as I can see how it could be a K-drama classic. Sun-jae still feels like an authentic character emotionally, but Sol is feeling more and more scripted in order to ramp up the melodrama.

My favorite part of this tale has always been their very human and relatable miscommunications (their flaws, essentially) and Sol is starting to show signs of a stereotypical savior (a little too perfect in her intentions). Are we supposed to root for that? For her to save the day on her own? Or should we root for her character growth — which would be for her to do just what Sun-jae asked of her: to stop running away from him. We’ve seen how much he’s blossomed and changed, and I hope that the drama will use the sincere buildup of their relationship to leave our heroine with the same kind of sendoff. At this point, I still trust that it will.

No matter what, this drama continues to wow me each week and I love the deep themes it’s never afraid to tackle. These episodes are all about endings. Wanting to enjoy the limited time you have with someone. And taking each moment for what it is: maybe the last. It’s a good reminder for all of us to do the same, especially if we’re not lucky enough to travel through time to get it right.

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51 darwi

July 3, 2024 at 4:30 AM

Sol is not acting as a 30something. And Sun Jae is also not acting like a 20something in love (too much resteint). There is a difference in maturity that is the opposite as what the characters are supposed to be.
These two episodes contain way too much unnecessary scenes with unfunny and uncute characters. I'm starting to feel that watching only the cute extracts would have been sufficient and more satisfactory.