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Imagine Sun-Jae witnessing Sol in all her fangirling glory <3

Sun-Jae returns home to see Sol hunched over her phone. She is too engrossed by its contents to sense his presence. He smiles, noting her flushed cheeks.

Before he can announce himself, she wistfully mumbles, "The camera cannot capture his beauty... he looks SO much better in person!" She sighs dreamily.

Sun-Jae freezes. Wait, what? Who is she looking at? Who is making Sol blush like that?

She continues to swipe on her phone, before letting out a squeal, "Oh, this is just crazy! Crazy!" She fans herself, muttering "I'm not a sinner, your collarbone is!"

Having heard enough, Sun-Jae loudly clears his throat. Sol jumps up and clutches her phone to her chest. "Sun-Jae-ah! I didn't hear you come in!"

She smiles radiantly, as if he had not just caught her ogling. Sun-Jae takes a deep breath, "Whose photos were you looking at?"

Sol's smile falters and she hides her phone behind her back. "Oh, um..."

Sun-Jae scoffs, placing his hands on his waist. "Who is this great looking person, huh?"

Sol looks away, her blush deepening, "Oh God, you heard that, huh?"

Sun-Jae sits down on the sofa heavily. Sol goes to take a seat next to him, and he pointedly looks away. She chuckles, peering up at his pouting face, “What, don’t tell me you are jealous?”

He forces himself to bark out a laugh, “HA! Me, jealous? HA!”

 Sol giggles and leans into him, “Yah, you have nothing to worry about…”

She only gets a huff in response. She chuckles at the sight of him sulking and says, “Alright, I’ll show you. But… don’t laugh, okay?”

He looks at her out of the corner of his eye, “Do I look like I’m in the mood to laugh?”

Sighing, she hands over her phone and says, “See for yourself, then…go on…”

Sun-Jae hesitantly takes her phone. He takes a deep breath to brace himself, before peeking at the photo she’d been looking at.

Wait, it’s a picture of me.

He frowns, confused. He swipes through the other photos. All of him, in various outfits, performing at his latest concert.

As realization dawns on him, his lips slowly stretch into a smile.

He turns to look at her, only to see her hunched over, her hands covering her face.

She peeks at him through her fingers and mumbles, “This is SO embarrassing…”

Straightening up, she continues, “Back when Eclipse was formed, I became your biggest fan. I was even the head of the fan club…a member just shared never-seen-before photos of your latest performance, so I was just curious....” she drops her head, a sheepish look on her face.

Sun-Jae is grinning wide at this point, “So…” he states, leaning towards her, “The camera cannot capture my beauty, huh?”

She looks away, her ears red. He inches closer and continues, “You think my collarbones are sinful?”

“Stop!” she cries out, playfully pushing him away and getting off the sofa. He hops up gleefully and engulfs her in a bear hug.

“Yah, I told you not to laugh!” she pretends to resist for a moment, before wrapping her arms around his neck.

He peppers her face with kisses, “I love you, Sol-ah. So much.”

She beams at him, going up on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek, “I love you too, Sun-Jae-ah.”

He gently sets her back down on the sofa, “Come here, I have to show my number one fan just how much I appreciate her.”

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene #2 from Episode 06

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene #1 from Episode 06

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene #2 from Episode 05

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene #1 from Episode 05

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene from Episode 04

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Lovely Runner Deleted Scene from Episode 03

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Someone compared Sun-Jae & Sol's bond to that between Jane & Rochester (two of my FAVOURITE COUPLES) and now I cannot unsee it:

"All my heart is yours: it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever."

“I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."

[k-kay4]

The appeal of Ryu 'Down Bad' Sun-Jae

As much as we chuckle at Sun-Jae for being a lovesick fool and affectionally call him the 'biggest loser in love'.... he genuinely is "pure like oxygen"

He looked up suitable restaurants for going on a date. He earnestly listened to In-Hyuk about the importance of 'timing' and tried to confess multiple times, to no avail. He fretted over Sol's injured knee and worried about the possibility of her being bullied.

He memorized an entire vocabulary book just to get Sol to hang out with him. He studied hard to get into the same University as her, even though he had never focused on academics before.

He helped her learn how to cycle and bury her time capsule. When she requests him to meet her 15 years later, he immediately starts memorizing the details needed to show up for their reunion.

He saves every little token she'd ever given him. The white candy jar. Their photo-booth picture. Her time capsule. Everything that reminds him of her is precious in his eyes.

He can barely keep himself from kissing her, yet wordlessly waits for her consent. He quietly relishes the sound of her voice and without a trace of self-consciousness, offers to blow off his work to spend time with her.

Once Sol accepts his confession, he does the sweetest, cheesiest things. Like buying matching couple keychains. Bombarding her contact with hearts and saving her number on speed dial. Attending college on his day off, just to spend time with her.

Using every opportunity to hold her hand. Letting her sleep on his shoulder all night long. Carrying her books. Sweetly stealing cuddles and kisses.

Seeing as how the present-timeline version of him had looked up 'What does it mean to imagine kissing a girl?', I 100% believe that college-era Sun-Jae would have researched 'How to be the perfect boyfriend'

I'd mentioned in my last post about how Sol had not one selfish or unkind bone in her body. Sun-Jae is the same; he is honest, guileless and innocent. He does not know how to be anything other than his pure, earnest self.

He is just so gosh-darn sincere and transparent when it comes to his feelings for Sol. And it is an insanely attractive look on him <3

[k-kay4]

Im Sol is a treasure and must be protected at all costs

Finding genuinely likable and appealing FLs in dramas has always been a struggle for me. Most of the times, I easily fall for the ML and learn to tolerate the FL, because they make the ML happy.

There are a handful of cases where I loved both the leads individually and as a couple; dramas like 'Oh My Venus!', 'Shopaholic Louis', 'King the Land' and 'My Sweet Mobster' And the newest addition to this list is the magical, enchanting 'Lovely Runner'

I was surprised to see that many viewers found Sol 'childish', and 'annoying', saying things like 'no 30 year-old acts like that'

I am almost 34 and I can tell you I most definitely am childish, wacky and juvenile at times. Age is not synonymous with maturity. At no point was I ever annoyed with Sol, because I always understood her reasons for making certain tough choices.

Sol won my heart right away, always sporting a sunny smile, no matter the numerous adversities she faced. Suddenly called for an impromptu interview? She reports to the office right away. Turned down due to her disability? Cheers herself up. Lost her ticket? Enjoys the concert out in the cold, holding a one-man-party by herself.

There is not a selfish, unkind bone in her body. She is fiercely protective of her loved ones, truly appreciates life and is genuinely grateful for a second chance. Whether that is crying tears of joy over her functioning legs, getting to wear pretty shoes, driving a car or getting recognized by a grandmother who is still lucid.

There is a reason Kim Tae-Sung turned his life around, finished his schooling, reconciled with his dad and became a respectable cop. There is a reason Ryu Sun-Jae turns into an adorably lovesick fool around her. Because she is truly special.

Sol is a precious cinnamon roll, an adorable small bean and the human equivalent of sunshine. How can anyone NOT love her? She deserves the world and more.

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Is it just me or has there been a shift in the way romantic male leads are now portrayed in Kdramas?

Earlier, the male leads were poker-faced cool guys who insulted the girl, pretended not to care, rarely communicated how they honestly felt and often engaged in questionable actions; like wrist-grabbing, forceful pulling, throwing jealous fits or suddenly planting a kiss on the unsuspecting girl's lips. And then skulking off without any explanation. Which is just... bleh.

Meanwhile, the typical second male lead was kind, polite, respectful and sweetly considerate of the girl; often left quietly pining for her in an unrequited love. Always the best friend, never the endgame.

But in recent years, there seems to have been a marked difference; male leads nowadays are more emotionally attuned and expressive; even if they do initially seem immature or try to appear unaffected, they are more open about how vulnerable their burgeoning feelings make them feel.

They spiral and overthink, goof up and fret over it & fangirl over how adorable they find the heroine. And most importantly: they seek consent before doing anything. Which is sexy as all heck.

In short, the male leads I see nowadays seem to possess personalities that earlier were reserved only for the second leads.

The dramas I am referring to are: Lovely Runner, King the Land, and My Sweet Mobster.

All 3 of which have male leads who stole my heart with their unbearably cute, green-flag personalities. In other words, adorkable lovesick losers. And I mean that as a compliment of the highest order.

I would like to see more such characters, please and thank you. 

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It would be funny if this wasn't painfully true.

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Imagine if 'Lovely Runner' had a special episode 17

Sol is now a up-and-coming director, so Sun-Jae suggests that she shoot their story; the one she'd written when she was a PD, the one he'd been hell bent on starring in. Her ex-boss happily agrees; Sol is quite excited to direct such a big project. Sun-Jae, naturally, is over the moon.

Their engagement is still a secret at this point, so no one knows that they are a couple. They begin shooting for the movie, and the crew start to notice something odd.

Ryu Sun-Jae, the so-called 'expert of romance', struggles to shoot love scenes with the FL; while saying his swoon-worthy lines, his eyes appear slightly unfocused, like he isn't really looking at her at all. His gaze keeps straying to Sol. The FL is amused to see him acting so starstruck around the director. He apologizes every time he flubs his lines; he cannot seem to get comfortable enough to act naturally.

The crew assume this would annoy the director, but they are surprised to see how understanding Sol is; she seems almost pleased by his ineptitude. She goes over and demonstrates how she wants the scene to unfold, role-playing as the heroine. "Alright, pretend I'm the FL. Now lean in and hold my face like this, with both palms, yes…"

The crew is astonished to see the sudden change in Sun-Jae. He is now utterly at ease performing the scene, gazing deeply into Sol's eyes while saying his lines. When the scene ends, he engulfs her in a hug; one that she enthusiastically returns before remembering where they are and pulling away, her cheeks flushed.

When Sun-Jae finally nails the romantic scene, the director seems satisfied… but also miffed? What's even stranger, is that her irritation makes Sun-Jae grin; his eyes twinkle playfully.

Sun-Jae is so committed to the project, he shows up even on days when he is not required. After they finish shooting for the day, the rest of the cast and crew leave while Sun-Jae waits back, awkwardly shuffling around and giving feeble excuses for why he is still there. He escorts Sol home, carrying her bags; while she protests and sweetly nags him to go and get some rest.

During the premiere, the entire cast, crew and family members watch the movie together. Sun-Jae had roped in Sol's brother to play the FL's sibling; a role that came naturally to him, like he was born for it.

In-Hyuk relates quite strongly with the ML's best friend; he scoffs over how much the BFF has to suffer thanks to the lovesick ML. Tae-sung tears up when 'Sunny' rolls off into the ocean; he wonders why the demise of a vehicle has such a strong impact on him.

Sol's mother and Sun-Jae's father both have a strange sense of déjà vu during the comic scenes… involving an R-rated movie tape, a torn shirt and flying contraceptives. They glance uneasily at each other before looking away. Grandma watches the entire film with a knowing smile on her face.

When 'Sonaki' plays in a particularly emotional scene, Sol's eyes water. She needs a moment to compose herself; Sun-Jae rubs her back comfortingly. And whispers something in her ear that makes her chuckle.

After the movie ends, Sol leans over to Sun-Jae and quietly says, "You were right. A happy ending is much better than a sad one."

When news of their engagement comes out, none of the crew members are surprised in the least.

[k-kay4]

While re-watching LR (as usual), I noticed something; Sun-Jae seems to be wearing the same grey turtleneck sweater in two starkly different scenes:

When he came across a stranded Sol on the bridge after his concert.

When he reunited with Sol after recovering all his memories.

The contrast between these two scenes is a sight to behold; in the first, his eyes are filled with such raw longing, regret and pain. All he can do is watch from afar and make sure Sol reaches home safely, unaware of just how much she means to him.

The sweet girl who'd smiled at him and shown him kindness, the one he'd never forgotten. She'd forgotten him. But she would never know. He would never tell her. How could he? How dare he, after he'd failed to save her?

In the second, his eyes twinkle playfully; his gaze is one of wonder, joy, affection. All for that same sweet girl. The one who loved him, who'd jumped through time and space to save him. Who'd erased herself from his life to protect him. The one he'd never truly forgotten, never stopped loving.

Although he might still remember the pain of the first, darkest timeline, those wounds do not hurt as much now; he has newer, happier memories to ease the sting of the old ones. Intimate, precious memories of being with Sol. She was here, she was safe. They'd never be apart again. They could finally be happy. Together.

Any story that leaves its viewers reflecting about its themes, characters and parallels long after it has concluded is truly special. And 'Lovely Runner' is a genuinely lovely, precious, life-changing one.

I just have a lot of feelings about this show, alright? <3

[k-kay4]

'Lovely Runner' continues to live rent-free in my head <3

She showed him kindness.

Shielded him from the rain, thanked him for delivering her parcel, apologized for the trouble. Gave him her umbrella. Pressed candy into his palm. Her presence a bright, warm ray of sunshine amidst the rain he so loathed.

One small act of kindness. That forever changed him.

He saved her life.

Risked everything for her. Loved her with every fiber of his being. A love so pure. Selfless. Enduring.

……………………………………………….....................

He showed her kindness.

Reached out to her through the radio, through her blinding pain. Gently encouraged her to take one day at a time, one moment at a time. Reminded her about all those who loved her, cared for her. Helped her cope with the cruel hand life had dealt her. His words a soothing balm for her soul.

One small act of kindness. That forever changed her.

She saved his life.

Risked everything for him. Loved him with every fiber of her being. A love so pure. Selfless. Enduring.

What else could destiny do, but change itself in the face of such an extraordinary love?

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Lovely Runner continues to have a chokehold on me <3

Okay, this is ridiculous. I was brushing my teeth and decided to listen to Jong Ho's 'A Day' (yes, that heartbreaking track that makes you feel like someone plunged a knife in your chest.)

I listened to that melancholic tune and looked up the lyrics (which expresses how he has longed for her all day, how he wishes he could reverse time, how he will always remember her, because her name has seeped into his heart)

And within seconds, SECONDS I TELL YOU, my nose is red and tears are streaming down my cheeks. While. I. Was. Brushing. My. Teeth.

All I could picture was Sol screaming Sun-Jae's name in utter desperation and horror.

I have developed a deeply visceral, Pavlovian response to this drama, including its songs; it goes beyond merely liking or enjoying a show. Something about this drama reached deep down into my core, into my very essence, and left a lasting mark.

This exquisite drama has seeped into my heart, been smeared into my soul and will continue to be my happy place for a long, long time.

Thank you for existing, Lovely Runner <3