Lovely Runner

Carry Sun Jae and Run • The Lovely Runner, Carry Sun Jae and Run, Run Away with Sun Jae on Piggyback, Time Walking on Memory, The Best of Tomorrow, Tomorrow’s Best, Seonjae Eobgo Twieo

Completed 16 episodes 2024

Genre : Comedy · Drama · Fantasy · Music · Romance
Broadcast : April 8, 2024
Diffuser : TvN, TVING, Viki, Netflix
Director : Yoon Jong-ho, Kim Tae-yub
Screenwriter : Lee Si-eun
Casting : Byeon Woo-seok, Kim Hye-yoon, Song Geon-hee, Lee Seung-hyub, Jung Young-joo, Seong Byeong-suk, Song Ji-ho, Seo Hye-won, Kim Won-hae, Ahn Sang-woo, Lee Il-jun, Park Yoon-hee, Kim Hwi-gyu, Moon Yong-suk, Yang Hyuk, Lee Chul-woo, Kim Hyun-kyu, Jung Kang-hee, Oh Se-young, Heo Hyeong-gyu, Ko Tae-jin, Park Tae-hwan, Kwon Yu-ri, Han Seung-yeon, Lee Soo-ji, Kim Min-gi

The Story

Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) is a young woman whose dreams were shattered by a serious accident that occurred during her teenage years. She then found comfort in the music of Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), a former swimmer who became the lead singer of the famous band Eclipse and later an actor. When she suddenly learns of her idol’s tragic death, Sol is devastated.

But a mysterious watch transports her 15 years ago, in 2008, when she and Sun-jae were 19. Aware of what lies ahead for Sun-jae, she decides to do everything in her power to change his fate and prevent his death. However, she discovers that changing the past leads to unexpected consequences and that her own fate is much more closely tied to Sun-jae’s than she ever imagined.

Throughout his journeys through time, Sol also grows closer to Kim Tae-seong (Song Geon-hee), his former high school sweetheart, while Baek In-hyuk (Lee Seung-hyub), Sun-jae’s best friend and future member of Eclipse, plays an important role in their story. Adapted from the web novel Tomorrow’s Best by Kim Bbang, later adapted into a webtoon, Lovely Runner combines romance, comedy, and time travel, centered on one central question: How far can we go to change the past to save the person we love?

Impact and Success

Despite initially modest television ratings, Lovely Runner has become one of the most memorable K-dramas of 2024, driven in large part by the buzz surrounding the Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok couple.

The series has gone from 3,073 % in national viewership for its first episode to 5,762 % for the finale, setting a record of 7,208 % in the Seoul area. Its success played a major role in the surge in Byeon Woo-seok’s popularity and further boosted Kim Hye-yoon’s recognition; ; Time It also named it one of the best K-dramas of 2024. The phenomenon also spread to the music scene: Eclipse’s «Sudden Shower» reached No. 4 on the Circle Digital Chart and entered the Billboard Global 200.

Announcements

At the 2024 APAN Star Awards, Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok won the Best Couple Award, while Sudden Shower won the award for Best Original Soundtrack; Byeon Woo-seok also received the Global Star Award and the Popularity Award, and Kim Hye-yoon received the Female Popularity Award.

The series went on to receive five major nominations at the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards, including Best Drama, Best Actor for Byeon Woo-seok, Best Actress for Kim Hye-yoon, and Best Screenplay for Lee Si-eun. Lovely Runner It has thus established itself as a true popular and cultural success, far beyond its television viewership alone.