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Way Back Love is a six-episode Korean fantasy romance drama that premiered on TVING on April 3, 2025, with two new episodes dropping every Thursday.
The story centers on 24-year-old Jung Hee-wan (played by Kim Min-ha), who has become isolated from the world after losing her desire to live. Everything changes when her childhood friend and first love, Kim Ram-woo (Gong Myung), suddenly reappears, but as a grim reaper. He tells her she has only one week left to live, setting the stage for an emotional and life-altering journey.
Directed by Choi Ha-na and adapted from Seo Eun-chae's novel A Week Before I Die, the series also stars Jung Gun-joo as Lee Hong-seok and Oh Woo-ri as Yoon Tae-kyung. Before its official release, Way Back Love was featured in the 'On Screen' section at the Busan International Film Festival.
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In episodes 3-4 of Way Back Love, Ram-woo confesses his feelings towards Hee-wan, as the reason behind his death is also revealed.
Way Back Love episode 3 & 4 recap: How did Ram-woo die?
Episode 3 of Way Back Love begins with Ram-woo and his mother relocating to a new neighborhood. As he adjusts to his new school, Ram-woo faces difficulties filling out family details since he has an absent father.
It is also revealed that his mother was once a talented artist, and Hee-wan, impressed by her work, asks to be mentored by her. Though initially hesitant, Ram-woo’s mother eventually agrees. However, balancing art lessons with her job leaves Hee-wan exhausted during school.
Despite her tiredness, Hee-wan continues to be her playful self, and her bond with Ram-woo starts to deepen. One evening, as Ram-woo is helping Hee-wan paint, the two share a quiet moment on the balcony as Hee-wan spots a shooting star.
She calls it a perfect scene for romance, and Ram-woo agrees. This realisation makes them awkward, and Hee-wan rushes to leave. Later, she writes him a heartfelt letter, sealing it with a heart sticker.
Back in the present day, Hee-wan’s lonely college life takes a turn when she bumps into a student named Yeong-hyun, who invites her over for dinner. Later on, an accident with falling easels destroys their group posters, but Hee-wan steps in with her painting skills, impressing everyone. She soon gets multiple requests to make posters, and she consequently makes new acquaintances.
Yeong-hyun and Hee-wan later bond over dinner, where Hee-wan admits that she struggles with enjoying life. Sensing her pain, Yeong-hyun assures her that they can lean on each other for support. This new friendship mirrors the past, where Hee-wan and Ram-woo's connection continued to grow.
However, things get complicated when Hong-suk also develops feelings for Hee-wan. Ironically, Hong-suk and Ram-woo also grow closer over games and shared interests.
One day, Ram-woo and Hee-wan accidentally wear matching coats to school. Their classmates tease them about dating, but Ram-woo, not wanting to upset Hong-suk, denies anything romantic and removes the coat. Despite his denial, his friends at school know about his feelings and encourage him to be honest.
As he then rushes to confess, he finds Hee-wan at the pool with Hong-suk, who flirts and tries to hold her hand. Though she pulls away, she ends up wearing his jacket, believing Ram-woo doesn’t care for her. Feeling confused and hurt, she throws away the love letter she had written.
The story takes a heartbreaking turn when we see glimpses of the aftermath of Ram-woo’s death. Hee-wan still blames herself for it and struggles to move on, and she asks the grim reaper Ram-woo to use her real name. She is aware that doing so thrice would kill her. Ram-woo takes her name once and confesses his long-held feelings for her as episode 3 of Way Back Love comes to an end.
Episode 4 of Way Back Love picks up with Hee-wan visiting her father and learns that her sister Hee-joo plans to go free diving, which worries her. Her sister then lashes out at her for choosing not to live life. Following this, Ram-woo tries to cheer Hee-wan up.
In parallel scenes from the past, Hee-wan once comforted Ram-woo when he was at his lowest, encouraging him to express his emotions through painting. He opened up about his absentee father, who tried to ease guilt by sending money—something Ram-woo resented. Meanwhile, Hee-wan also shared her own loss: her mother died on the day she started school.
Their closeness grows as they paint together, nearly sharing a kiss, but Tae-kyung interrupts, upset that Hee-wan is neglecting their plans. After some time, Ram-woo decides to make things right and plans a special outing at the Winter Night Meteor Shower Festival—a nod to their shared love for stars.
As they wait for the meteor shower, Hee-wan receives a call that she won a prize to visit the observatory, and she decides to gift this opportunity to Ram-woo. Hee-wan also hands over her love letter, telling him to read it after.
However, tragedy strikes when explosions at the observatory trap Ram-woo inside, and when his death is confirmed, it devastates Hee-wan.
In the present, Hee-wan visits their old spots and then meets Hong-suk. Their reunion is awkward, but after Hee-wan suffers a panic attack triggered by sirens, Hong-suk comforts her. He reveals that he’s becoming a firefighter, driven by guilt and the desire to protect.
He admits that he avoided talking about Ram-woo to protect her feelings, and they both apologize for their past mistakes in this episode of Way Back Love.
Later, Ram-woo leaves a board game unfinished with Hong-suk, along with a picture of the shooting star. It’s a silent farewell, with wishes for a happy life. Meanwhile, Hee-wan resolves to fulfill their bucket list and meet Ram-woo’s mother, though we learn in flashbacks how deeply the mother was affected by his death. In her grief, she had initially mistaken Hee-wan for the one who died.
In the final moments of episode 4 of Way Back Love, Hee-wan speaks to Ram-woo’s spirit and promises to move forward.
The next episode of Way Back Love is scheduled to be released on April 17
