The first two episodes of the K-drama Way Back Love establish a friendship between the leads, Kim Ram-Woo and Jung Hee-Wan. What starts as an April Fool's prank to confuse the teacher becomes almost permanent until something happens that we don't discover until the end of the first episode. In Way Back Love, Hee-Wan is a free-spirited and optimistic girl at school, and Ram-Woo is the new kid in town. They become friends when, as a result of an April Fool's prank, they exchange names to confuse the teacher. I bet this series is going to take us on a roller coaster after delivering two episodes of absolute fun. What is it with sentimental K-dramas in April? Someone stop them! Anyway, with that said, let's jump straight to episodes 1 and 2.
When Ram-Woo and Hee-Wan exchange names on April Fool's Day. Hee-Wan decides to put her name to the test and tell everyone at school that she is Ram-Woo. Not only the students and teachers at her own school, but even when she goes to buy tteokbokki and when she confronts a bully from another school on the street, it's Ram-Woo's name tag that falls off her uniform and leaves an indelible mark. Of course, Ram-Woo and Hee-Wan have their own best friends, Hong-Suk and Tae-Kyung, respectively. Until that day, Ram-Woo hadn't interacted with anyone in his class, but thanks to this activity he was forced to participate in, he became an established figure at school.
Stars: Minha Kim, Gong Myoung, Ko Chang-seok
When it comes time to stand up to the bullies, it's Hee-Wan who isn't afraid at all, but Ram-Woo has to go along with it because it's his name tag, and he feels compelled to join her and Tae-Kyung. The trio even draw animals on their arms to make them look like tattoos, giving the impression of gangsters. They are saved when a teacher shows up and asks if they're the same kids who smoke outside of school every day. The bullies flee, leaving Hee-Wan feeling accomplished and Ram-Woo struggling to erase the permanent marker from his arm when he gets home.
But the truth is, Hee-Wan believes Ram-Woo's name is a good-luck charm. He decides to keep it and asks him to change their names forever. At first, he strongly opposes it, but when people start calling them by their adopted names and everyone gives in because Hee-Wan is a very jealous girl, he readily agrees. Hee-Wan and Ram-Woo also realize they're neighbors and start seeing each other more. Over time, they become friends after saving an old woman together, and the woman donates all her money to the school. Ram-Woo receives a scholarship, and Hee-Wan also receives praise. It seems they were both raised by single parents: Ram-Woo by his mother and Hee-Wan by his father. Hee-Wan's father runs a restaurant in the neighborhood, and the day they're called to school to be notified of their achievements, Hee-Wan's father prepares a delicious meal for Ram-Woo's family. I suppose from this moment on, Ram-Woo begins to see Hee-Wan as a good friend. Then, one day, suddenly, when Ram-Woo reads a poem at school, Hee-Wan realizes she cares deeply for him, but will this become real?
At the end of episode 1, we find ourselves in the future and discover that Ram-Woo has been dead for four years, and Hee-Wan is a completely different person. The enthusiastic girl disappeared long ago, and is now a college student living in a dark house, without electricity and with no will to live. The first episode begins with Ram-Woo meeting Hee-Wan in this future, four years after his own death. But he's not a ghost; he's the Grim Reaper, and he's there to tell Hee-Wan that she'll die in seven days. We don't know how Ram-Woo died, but what we do know is that she was blamed four years ago, specifically for the name change.
In episode two, Hee-Wan initially thinks Ram-Woo is a figment of her imagination, but after trying everything to get rid of him, she fails and realizes he won't let her go. Apparently, it's like a free pass for Hee-Wan that Ram-Woo tells her when she's going to die, but this is because he wants her to live for real, to do what she once said she wanted to do.
In the school timeline, Hee-Wan doesn't confess to Ram-Woo because she thinks it's a bad idea, and it makes sense to stay friends instead of becoming a couple and breaking up because, let's be honest, how many high school romances last? Meanwhile, a junior named Ji-Soo asks Hee-Wan to write a letter to Ram-Woo on her behalf; she has excellent handwriting and charges people to write nice letters for them. Hee-Wan doesn't write the letter for weeks, breaks her ankle, and everyone assumes she tried to kill herself, but eventually Ji-Soo finds her, and Hee-Wan has to write the letter.
Ram-Woo then tells Hee-Wan that he wants him to do the things on his bucket list with her. Ironically, he's already dead, but he wants Hee-Wan to experience them for him. Hee-Wan rides a tandem bike alone, drinks a beer under the night sky, eats ramen while watching a video of polar bears in the Arctic (because she can't just end up there), and finally goes paragliding, all so Ram-Woo will disappear from her sight. But when she finishes and can't find him anywhere, she starts to panic.
At the end of Episode 2 of Way Back Love, we learn that Hee-Wan had said she wanted to do all these things with her partner when she was little. It was never Ram-Woo's bucket list, but simply a list of things she wrote down that she wanted to do so they could eventually do them together. However, I guess this isn't how they expected to do it. But it seems they both liked each other and regret not telling each other. I wonder how he died and why they had to blame Hee-Wan, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.
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