“Lovely Runner” (선재 업고 튀어)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
May 31, 2024

☆☆☆☆
Ryu Sun-jae (played by Byeon Woo-seok)
Im Sol (played by Kim Hye-yoon)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

If the charming K-drama, “Lovely Runner,” had aired on mega streaming sites like Netflix or Hulu, rather than the more niche Viki, I’m convinced more viewers and critics would’ve paid attention to this clever time travel series, which tugs at viewers’ hearts until the very end.

“Lovely Runner” is the latest K-drama I watched this year that has held my interest. My review of this series ran on TODAY.com earlier this week. (I’ll add more in the Spoiler Alert below).

The sleeper hit of this year is “Lovely Runner,” which stars Kim Hye-yoon (“SKY Castle,” “Extraordinary You”) and Byeon Woo-seok (“Record of Youth,” “Strong Girl Nam-soon”) in his breakthrough starring role.

“Lovely Runner” is full of action and intrigue, but at its core, it’s a story of undying love and sacrifice. Sun-jae (played by Byeon) is an isolated superstar, and Im-sol (Kim) is an uber fan who would do anything to support him. Both are 34 and wishing their lives had played out differently. The plot reveals that the unlikely pair has a history together that is centered on doing whatever it takes to protect each other. This includes traveling through time, knowing they may not be able to return home, or even see each other again.

Unlike many K-pop idols who also act (IU, Bae Suzy, Rowoon, Yoona, Cha Eun-woo, D.O.), the male lead here is not a trained singer. But Byeon portrays the leader of the fictional boy band Eclipse well enough that “Sudden Shower,” the drama’s recurring OST song that he sings, charted on Billboard in real life. 

Like “Under the Queen’s Umbrella,” this series uses the 우산 to represent how our protagonists fight to protect themselves from countless obstacles — including a messy serial killer subplot that I found redundant and not particularly compelling.

Also, future Im-sol is disabled and in a wheelchair, until past Im-sol (and Sun-jae) are able to alter some events to leave her able bodied. Honestly though? If the writers weren’t going to follow through on her disability, it would’ve been better not to include it. Because that part just came across as a trope, rather than a meaningful part of her story.

Airdates: Sixteen hour-long episodes aired on tvN from April 8 to May 28, 2024. [ETA: I watched this on Viki. But it was announced in mid July that the series will be airing on Netflix as of August 1, 2024.]

Spoiler Alert: At the end of Episode 1, Im-sol time travels back to the past and is reunited with her mother and grandmother. She’s overcome with happiness and cries happy tears that her grandmother — who has Alzheimer’s Disease in the future — has her memory intact.

Im-sol and Sun-jae meet cute at the end of Episode 2, when she runs towards him to claim her package. She mistakes him for a deliveryman and refers to him as ajusshi, which is what a teen would call a middle-aged man. Maybe that’s what he looked like from far away. But I’m not clear why she didn’t correct herself when she was face-to-face with him and saw that he was clearly the same age as her. He’s just taller. Much, much taller.

Early on, this K-drama implies that she is the one who has been besotted with him for all these years as a dedicated fangirl of his band. She was particularly touched when he (as the adult Sun-jae) cast an umbrella over her head as it snowed. In reality, he fell for her on this rainy day (depicted above). As a teenager, she had no idea who he was or that she had caught his eye. Or that she was the one who had offered him shelter first under her umbrella.

It’s not spelled out in the series, but Im-sol’s grandmother may be a time traveler as well. In episode 14, we’re back to the future. Grandma, who has Alzheimer’s, has wandered off, but somehow finds her way to the BBQ restaurant that Sun-jae’s dad owns. When Im-sol finally tracks her down, Grandma tells her that she missed Sun-jae and wanted to see him again: “I did well, right? You missed him, too, didn’t you?” She knew, without knowing.

 

There is also a funny vignette when Im-sol travels back to the past. Knowing that her brother and his wife (who is also her childhood best friend) will suffer financially in the future, she tells him the winning numbers to a Lotto ticket. He eventually wins, but it’s only about $300,000, rather than the $15 million pot that Im-sol had remembered. It turned out that the brother was drunk on the day he bought the ticket and loudly shared the number with about 50 other people, who also won.

ETA: I included this K-drama in my best-of pick for Teen Vogue as well:

A time travel love story that spans two decades, Lovely Runner centers on Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), who is confined to a wheelchair, and Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), who feels trapped by his K-pop stardom. She lives in an ableist society that doesn’t concern itself with her disability. He has to navigate a life that no longer makes him happy. Through a time portal that doesn’t make sense if you think too much about it, Sol finds herself in the past as a high school student. And guess who else is a student, too? Knowing what she does in the future, Sol attempts to rectify some of the tragedies that seem inevitable (including a serial killer subplot that could’ve been omitted). But overall, Lovely Runner is compelling and tackles some tough subjects, like suicide, dementia, and the negative side of idol culture. (Viki)

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