Lovely Runner – K-drama Episode 15 Recap & Review

The Memories Smeared on Our Souls 

Episode 15 of Lovely Runner picks up where we left off with Sun-jae and Im Sol stranded in the jammed Ferris Wheel. Suddenly, Im Sol starts drifting asleep, and Sun-jae realises she has a fever and is sick. Once they get off the ride, Sun-jae carries Im Sol out and takes her to his house. While there, he gives her medicine and watches her sleep. He notices that she is crying while silently calling out his name.

In-hyuk and his bandmates drop by Sun-jae’s house and start teasing him after learning he has a lady over. Sun-jae’s manager quickly kicks them out. 

Meanwhile, Tae-sung and his fellow detective continue working on the case. They get a lead from the traffic cams and realise that Sun-jae’s dashcam might have caught Young-soo’s number plate. In this timeline, Young-soo is still a cab driver keeping tabs on Im Sol. 

The next morning, Im Sol is surprised to find herself in Sun-jae’s house. She tries to hurriedly leave,but he tricks her into having breakfast before she does. Sun-jae uses this time to try and convince her not to quit her job. He offers to drive her home, but at the reception, they run into Tae-sung.

The detective is there to check if the guards have seen Young-soo around. He is shocked to see Im Sol is with Sun-jae. He finds some comfort after Im Sol explains she only dropped by to talk to Sun-jae about a movie her company is working on. Even though Im Sol is hell-bent on quitting, she has to go back now that she has told people she is working with Sun-jae.

After Im Sol leaves with Tae-sung, Sun-jae is more jealous of the detective. He returns to his house and discovers Im Sol forgot her medicine. He spends a chunk of his time contemplating whether to take the medicine to her. His manager offers to do it, but Sun-jae stops him. He visits Im Sol and sees her taking her nephew to the nearest park. He watches her from a distance and hides when she looks his way. In the end, his phone betrays him when In-hyuk calls.

Im Sol catches him red-handed, hiding in the slides. Of course, he initially denies he was there to see her but comes clean and gives her the medicine. He also tries to help her soothe her nephew, and the adorable baby vomits all over his shirt. 

Given the messy situation, Im Sol takes Sun-jae home and allows him to take a shower at her place. Lucky for them, no one is at home. Im Geum and Hyun-joo are out; they are celebrating their lottery win but have yet to tell the family. On the other hand,  Grandma, Bok-soon and Hyun-joo’s firstborn are at the bathhouse. While there, they run into Gyeon-deok, and they strike up a conversation about Sun-jae.

In a surprising twist, Bok-soon suggests hooking Sun-jae up with Im Sol, and Gyeon-deok vehemently opposes. In his own words, Sun-jae would have to lose his mind to like a woman like Im Sol. If he only knew his son is currently shirtless in Im Sol’s house!

Im Sol and Sun-jae are nearly caught in a compromising situation as they bicker about what happened the previous night. A shirtless Sun-jae insists that Im Sol refused to let go of his hands, and she denies this. Luckily, Im Sol quickly hides Sun-jae in her room and waits for her family to sleep before sneaking him out. While they wait, Sun-jae sees and picks up the brown vintage watch (the one Im Sol put in the time capsule.) She tries to grab it, but it falls and breaks.

Sun-jae insists on fixing it and carries it with him. He then proceeds to flirt with her effortlessly; on his way out, he recalls kissing her by the door and is shocked. He goes home and starts googling what it means to have vivid images of kissing a girl. In-hyuk sees his phone and starts teasing him again. Sun-jae explains, and In-hyuk says that his friend has a crush. He also tells Sun-jae that Tae-sung has requested a meeting with him. 

At the meeting, Tae-sung asks Sun-jae to relinquish his dashcam footage. The movie star is happy to cooperate with the investigation. However, the topic quickly switches to Im Sol and Sun-jae is peeved when Tae-sung keeps referring to her as, “My Sol.’ Once again, In-hyuk is caught in the middle as the jealous men compete against each other. 

Im Sol, after much contemplation, returns to work and humbly apologises to her boss. Her boss, understanding her situation, is happy to have her back on the project, a sign of their faith in her abilities. A meeting is set with Sun-jae, and he, showing his forgiving nature, is more than willing to accept Im Sol’s apology and move forward with the project. He expresses his concern about the sad ending, but Im Sol insists it is for the best. She argues that the female lead sacrificed a lot to save the man, and it will be in vain if their lives get entangled again.

After the meeting, Sun-jae follows her out and confesses his feelings. She tells him that she is deeply in love with someone else and asks him to keep his distance. Sun-jae is hurt but promises to respect her decision. She officially says her goodbyes and leaves. Later, Tae-sung picks her up and drives her home. During the ride, he confesses his feelings saying he has been feeling confused about their relationship. Im Sol asks him not to get carried away by his feelings as they are just good friends. She adds that she is still thinking about the mysterious man in her past. 

At home, she finds her Grandma waiting for her. Thankfully, this time Grandma is lucid and talks about how she is simply travelling through different times in her memory. She argues that past memories don’t get erased but smeared on the soul. Im Sol thinks back to what Sun-jae and Tae-sung confessed about feeling weird of late.

The next day, Sun-jae is surprised to learn that Im Sol quit her job. On his way out, he switches the vintage watch and slowly starts to experience flashbacks of different memories. At the same time, Im Sol goes drinking and listens to Sudden Shower. How exactly does she still have a copy since, technically, that song doesn’t exist?

Elsewhere, Tae-sung and his partner track Young-soo down. They wait for him to finish his shift, but Young-soo spots the cuffs when they ask him to alight the car. He decides to make a run for it and steps on the pedal, leading to an intense car chase. 

In the meantime, Sun-jae is done for the day and waiting for his driver to bring the car around. The memory flashes start getting intense, and he gets a massive headache, causing him to get disoriented. He steps onto the oncoming traffic and is nearly hit by Young-soo’s car. Thankfully, Tae-sung uses his car to prevent the accident. Sun-jae drops to his knees as the memory flash gets overwhelming, and faints. He starts crying as every memory of his life with Im Sol flashes before his eyes. On the other hand, it is like Im Sol telepathically feels Sun-jae calling out to her. However, she ignores the feeling and walks home. 

The episode ends with Sun-jae lying on the ground as it snows. As for Tae-sung, his partner and Young-soo, we can only hope they are okay. Who are we kidding, Young-soo can die for all that we care!

The Episode Review

Im Geum and Hyun-joo are so happy after winning the lottery that they have no clue what is going on with Im Sol. She is conflicted like never before. She is trying so hard to stay away from Sun-jae, but he keeps coming back to her. It is simultaneously romantic and sad. Watching Sun-jae get hurt by the numerous rejections in every timeline is hard. Each time he confesses, Im Sol is always turning him down.

At times, it feels like Im Sol is wasting time pushing him away. Won’t it be better if they strategized together how to change their fate? If they only get a slight chance of happiness, shouldn’t she take the opportunity? If it will only end in premium tears, can’t the ride-along be fun?

That aside, Sun-jae has finally gotten all his memories back. He knows he is the man that Im Sol loves. As overwhelming as it was to get the memories, it is a positive thing in their love story. They are finally in the right timeline and there is a chance Young-soo will go away for good. It feels like things are finally set up to give us a happy ending, but who knows what the writers have in store for us?