How does Im Sol’s time travel work in tvN’s Lovely Runner? Details explored as Kim Hye-yoon's character is set to make final journey back in time

The time-travel and romance drama Lovely Runner premiered on April 8, 2024, and eight episodes have been released. It features Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok chronicling the characters of Im Sol and Ryu Sun-jae, respectively. So far, Im Sol has traveled back in time twice to save Ryu Sun-jae from his tragic fate.

However, Im Sol will be making her final journey back to 2009 when she was a college freshman and trying her best to protect Sun-jae from his untimely death in the future. Her final time travel will be featured in episode 9 of the series, scheduled for release on May 6, 2024.

Meanwhile, Im Sol has only three chances to time-travel, and she can return to the past using Ryu Sun-jae's watch.

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Im Sol does not have any power over Ryu Sun-jae's watch in Lovely Runner

Featuring Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon (Image via X/ @tvn_drama)

In the first episode of Lovely Runner, Im Sol is depicted as an ardent fan of Ryu Sun-jae after he comforts her during her worst time. At present, she purchased his watch from an auction, which was in good condition. Subsequently, she was hit by the unfortunate news that Ryu Sun-jae committed s*icide.

Im Sol went out of the house using her wheelchair and fell into a lake. As she was lying helplessly in the pond due to her paralyzed condition, Ryu Sun-jae's watch started glitching and marked three as the hour. She then pressed the buttons of the timepiece.

This caused her to time-travel back to fifteen years ago when she was in high school. The event summarized that the watch activated itself when Sun-jae was declared dead, and Im Sol got an opportunity to change the past.

However, she returned to the present in episode 3 when Taesung asks her to be his girlfriend, and 19-year-old Im Sol took her place. The watch marked two at that hour, leaving her with only two chances to save Ryu Sun-jae from dying. She returned to the present time at midnight in Lovely Runner.

Meanwhile, Ryu Sun-jae's watch glowed again at midnight, allowing Im Sol to travel back and change fate, and this time, she was able to prevent the incident, which paralyzed her. As she was able to change the course of past events, she successfully changed her future in Lovely Runner.

Im Sol saved herself from the unfortunate abduction incident and returned to the present time, where she fell in love with Sun-jae, and they had a passionate kiss. She was also able to walk on her own.

However, trouble arose again when her culprit, who made her paralyzed/abducted in the past, was released from prison. He went to kill Ryu Sun-jae while Im Sol was occupied chasing his obsessed fan. At the restaurant, Im Sol was informed of the news of Sun-jae's murder, which caused her to break down, as the female lead was unable to change fate again.

In the preview of episode 9, it was shown that Im Sol will travel back to 2009, the time when she and Ryu Sun-jae were university freshmen and clock marked at one hour. It will be her last chance to travel back in time and change the future of the male lead, which holds a terrible fate for him in Lovely Runner.

In conclusion, Im Sol was able to time-travel in Lovely Runner with Ryu Sun-jae's watch, which worked on its own when the latter was dead in the first episode. Every time she traveled back in time, the watch marked the different times in descending order, such as 03:00, 02:00, and 01:00, hinting at the number of chances she has had to change the course of events. It should also be noted that she always returned to the past at 12:00 AM.

However, not many details about how the watch works have been revealed yet, and many theories are circulating on social media that Ryu Sun-jae might be a time traveler too, and that he is the reason behind all the events that have happened so far in Lovely Runner.

Meanwhile, Im Sol is left with only one chance, which will unfold how she will change the course of events and save Ryu Sun-jae from his tragic fate.

Lovely Runner was helmed by directors Yoon Jong-ho and Kim Tae-yeop and penned by screenwriter Lee Shi-eun.

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Lovely Runner airs every Monday and Tuesday and is available to stream on TVING and Rakuten Viki.