With only one chance left to save her idol, our fan girl switches her technique this time. Rather than following her idol around, she pushes him away. If distancing herself from him can keep her idol safe, our girl will gladly bear the brunt.
Except, her beloved idol figures out everything, and comes running to her. No matter what the future has in store for them, he won’t ever let go of her hand.
Bunny S. watches Lovely Runner on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | Finale Episodes + Series Review |
Love Runner Episodes 9 and 10 Highlights
“Seon-jae died because of me.”
As we came to learn last week, holding a grudge against Seon-jae, Taxi Driver attacked Seon-jae in his hotel room and landed him in a critical condition. The details might be different and the timing might be a year later. But Sol got kidnapped once again like in the past.
No thanks to Sol returning to the present timeline, the case wasn’t reported. So, Taxi Driver was left to roam freely and plan another attack. Figuring that Seon-jae was attacked because of her, Sol gets crushed. But there is no time for lamenting and wailing. She has to find the watch quickly and start the third trial.
“By the way, what is Seon-jae doing here?”
Just as the clock ticks midnight, Sol sets off on her journey to save Seon-jae for one last time. Opening her eyes, Sol finds herself on the top of a statue. (She never fails to amaze me.) Losing her footing, she slips off. Is she now dying before getting a chance to save Seon-jae? But no need to worry. Seon-jae shows up in time and saves her once again. The sweet guy always comes and saves Sol whenever she gets in trouble.
Unlike before, Seon-jae hasn’t signed with the agency yet. He is currently majoring in PE at the same university Sol goes to. Instead of catching up and following him around like her usual self, Sol runs away without a thank you word.
“Did you write this while thinking about Im Sol?”
It seems during the time gap, Past Sol got acquainted with Seon-jae. I mean, at least she knew his name though she just ignored him when running into each other. But why does Seon-jae feel like the Sol he saved is different?
Despite getting dumped by her after confessing his feelings, Seon-jae has kept Sol in his heart, writing a song featuring their first encounter in the rain. It is the same song from his debut that he sang at the concert. Timelines may change, yet Seon-jae will always be madly in love with Sol.
“Are you doing this because you don’t even want to see me?”
Thrown together for a field trip, Sol tries her best to stay away from Seon-jae. But it all goes down the drain when she is forced to put on a show in front of PE students as a penalty for losing in a game. Embarrassed about Seon-jae seeing her like that, Sol leaves the room running. Worse, she ends up knocking Seon-jae unconscious, mistaking him for an attacker.
선재 앞에서 쩍벌 춤..
솔아.. 지켜주지 못해 미안해..😅화난 솔이는 박을 찢어🐰
[월화] 저녁 8:50 | tvN#선재업고튀어 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/MXobWr2G9a
— tvN drama (@CJnDrama) May 7, 2024
Luckily, Seon-jae opens his eyes shortly after but Sol gets caught in a trap. After saving her once again and giving us butterflies, Seon-jae confronts Sol about avoiding him and running away whenever they come across each other. Does she hate him this much? No, it isn’t because Sol hates him but because she wants to keep him alive. Yet alas, she can’t tell him the truth.
“Why do you keep coming? I was so mean to you.”
Drinking herself silly, Sol can no longer hold herself back. But instead of saying the right thing about liking Seon-jae as well, she calls him out for coming to her though she is mean to him. Why can’t he think only about himself? He should get over her already. Why did he let “such a thing” happen to him because of her? Can’t he leave her alone and not care no matter what happens to her?
무슨 말인지 하나도 모르겠지만
일단 솔이 우는 거밖에 안 보여서
자기가 미안하다고 사과하는 선재..🥺[월화] 저녁 8:50 | tvN#선재업고튀어 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/3kVnshR3Qk
— tvN drama (@CJnDrama) May 6, 2024
The weeping expression on Sol’s face and the worried tone of voice surely don’t match the mean words she is uttering. But more than Sol’s harsh words, Seon-jae is bemused at how she hums the rain song he wrote though he never told anyone but In-hyuk about it. Also, what is this about Sol returning to her time? Does Sol really come from the future?
선재와 인혁이만 알고 있는 소나기였는데☔
술김에 소나기를 부른 솔이,, 너 진짜 미래에서 왔어?[월화] 저녁 8:50 | tvN#선재업고튀어 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/0K9bxRoLYU
— tvN drama (@CJnDrama) May 6, 2024
“Do you think I’ll misunderstand your feelings and ask you out?”
Cornered, Sol admits to time-traveling to the past using Seon-jae’s watch. But I don’t know what Seon-jae finds more unbelievable, the fact that his old watch operates as a time machine or that Sol got it for 3000 dollars in an auction.
Seon-jae gets rather hurt when Sol tells him she will stay quiet until the time comes for her to go back. She won’t do anything that might confuse him or shake up his feelings anymore. Thus, as a retaliation, Seon-jae tells Sol not to worry about him asking her out anymore. Seon-jae is going to take a leave of absence and try rehab in the US. Also, even if they bump into each other, Seon-jae will pretend not to know her.
Seon-jae might have bluffed about the rehab. But Sol takes his words seriously. If Seon-jae travels far away, he won’t run into Taxi Driver again and will be safe this time, right? Seeing how Sol seems unaffected and is rather all supportive of the rehab idea, Seon-jae settles to go through with it.
“In all those times you have lived, was there any time that you liked me?”
Sol eats her words, though, after spotting another girl flirting with Seon-jae. Jealous, she gets drunk and makes a scene. How can Seon-jae date another girl after saying she is his first love whom he never forgot? How could he let that girl kiss him? He should have stopped her. Well. Seon-jae did push the girl away before she could do anything. But it is just that you didn’t see it, Sol. Funnily enough, Sol was loud enough for Seon-jae to hear everything she said.
Giving her one last chance to hold onto him before it is too late, Seon-jae asks if Sol has ever liked him in any of her timelines. He doesn’t care about the time travel. Whether Sol is from the past or the future to him, she is the same. Deeming herself undeserving to like Seon-jae, Sol lies that she never did. It is a pity because while we can see that Sol is holding back and crying, Seon-jae doesn’t know anything and takes her words as a refusal.
아니잖아..!!! 서로 좋아했잖아!!!!
솔이 대신 화면에 소리치는 티벤😢[월화] 저녁 8:50 | tvN#선재업고튀어 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/tRjesGCL9e
— tvN drama (@CJnDrama) May 7, 2024
“I don’t get why you feel threatened by me.”
As if things weren’t complicated enough, Tae-sung makes an appearance. (He turned over a new leaf and graduated successfully this time. But I don’t know why he still quit the band.) I have to admit that I missed Tae-sung, though. Watching the petty rivalry between Seon-jae and Tae-sung is far more amusing than having a psychopath targeting our leads. Not to mention, how Seon-jae’s imagination always runs wild when he spots Sol and Tae-sung together.
Things get a bit heated, though when Tae-sung mentions liking Sol for real. The two boys get into a hilarious fight that ends as dramatically as it started. The highlight of this sequence is Tae-sung telling Seon-jae that Sol’s heart lies with him. Tae-sung doesn’t even understand why Seon-jae is wasting his time feeling jealous of him when Tae-sung was never an option to Sol.
“Stop running away from me. Just pursue your feelings for me.”
After another athlete cancels their appointment, Seon-jae’s flight gets moved up. But instead of boarding the plane, Seon-jae turns around at the last minute to go dig out the time capsule. Putting the pieces together, Seon-jae figures out everything, the reason why Sol keeps pushing him away though she likes him too. Is she there to save him because he will end up dying while saving her?
If that is the reason why Sol is running away, then she should stop doing that. It doesn’t matter to Seon-jae even if he dies if it means he can be with Sol. I don’t know whether I should cry over the possibility of Seon-jae’s death or swoon over the tender kiss we get after this sweet confession. Writer-nim, please, give our leads a happy ending without anyone getting sacrificed.
Lovely Runner Episodes 9 and 10 Musings
What a ride! It was really hard watching Sol holding back and pushing Seon-jae away when she wanted to run into his arms and spend every little moment she has with him. While I don’t necessarily agree with her, I can understand Sol’s perspective. She watched the guy die three times already. The last of which hit the hardest, as Sol learned he didn’t commit suicide but was murdered because of her. But no one is at fault here. They are innocent people who got entangled with a psychopathic murder that needs to be thrown in jail for life.
Distancing herself from Seon-jae was never the right answer. Even when Sol didn’t know about Seon-jae’s existence, he jumped into the water to save her. So, how can Sol think Seon-jae will turn his back on her and just mind his business if she pretends not to like him?
That said, I am glad that arc didn’t drag out for longer. Seon-jae now is aware of everything. And he is ready to face anything as long as he can be with Sol. Hopefully, our leads teaming up together will serve as the variable needed to change the future and rewrite their happy ending.
Speaking of changes, I was a little surprised at how things unfolded differently regarding Eclipse. It is now a 3 member boy band with In-hyuk taking over the vocalist position after failing to convince Seon-jae to join them. Performing the rain song Seon-jae wrote, they passed an audition recruiting new stars. Which means they might be debuting soon. And if the altered news at the end is of any indication, Seon-jae won’t pursue the idol career this time around.
Instead, Seon-jae will likely get rehab and pursue swimming again. Which I totally support. But this doesn’t mean we are getting a last-minute breakup and timeslip, right? After going through all that to be together, maintaining a long-distance relationship won’t be this hard, will it?
That said, I hope the Taxi Driver’s arc gets wrapped up as quickly as possible. Using her future knowledge as leverage, Sol reported him to the police, turning in the car keys as evidence. And as it turns out, the murder Taxi Driver was incarcerated for happened back in 2008. (Did he approach Sol fearing she witnessed him commit the crime?) Which means, he is a repeat offender with two crimes on his rap sheet already.
Unfortunately, Taxi Driver got wind of it and burned the evidence away. Thankfully, not all evidence was gone, though. A blood stain left unburned matched the victim’s DNA, serving as conclusive proof that Taxi Driver murdered someone.
On a lighter note, though I am a little reserved because the kiss was unconsented, I was happy to see Hyun-joo being proactive and making a move on Geum. Last week, Sol was surprised to see them married and having their second baby already. And the way things are, I guess their future will unfold just the same.
Bask into an amusing romantic ride with Seon-jae and Seol in Lovely Runner! International fans can watch the series on Viu!
Photos and Videos: tvN Drama
