* This review contains spoilers for Episode 11 of A Time Called You
In the last episode, we finally learned the identity of the killer, who turned out to be yet another time traveler named Chan-Yeong. We also witnessed Jun-Hee’s gut-wrenching grief after Si-Heon tragically died by Chan-Yeong’s hand. The tape was damaged during the process, leaving Jun-Hee with no means of returning to 1998. Will she find a way to change the past?
READ | A Time Called You Episode 10 Recap
Police detectives hand the broken cassette player back to Jun-Hee, and she searches for a shop that can repair it. She succeeds, playing the tape and returning to 1998 once again. She finds herself back in Si-Heon’s room at the moment she finds the sketch he drew of her. When he steps into the room, she embraces him and begs him to stay with her.
Later, Si-Heon sends her back to Min-Ju’s house, and just as she is about to enter, he calls her “Jun-Hee”. He asks why she was crying earlier, but she is unable to tell him the truth. Instead, she tells him she came back to 1998 because she missed him. He offers to accompany her to school every day, as the killer is still on the loose. We then discover that Min-Ju has regained control of her body, with Jun-Hee now trapped inside her head.
Pertending to be Jun-Hee
We see that Min-Ju is trying to be more assertive so that she can pass as Jun-Hee. She enjoys her newly-close relationship with Si-Heon, but he has noticed that she is behaving differently from before. At school, detectives question her about Da-Hyeon’s murder and the missing photographs. She denies knowing anything, but her uneasy attitude alerts one of the detectives, who calls her out on it.
Later, she talks with Jun-Hee, revealing that she knows Jun-Hee is watching. She tells her of her plans to be a better ‘Jun-Hee’ as revenge for the days she spent trapped inside her head. Jun-Hee begs her to reconsider, telling her about Chan-Yeong and how he will kill her and Si-Heon in the future. Min-Ju ignores her.
Both Si-Heon and In-Gyu offer to be Min-Ju’s ‘bodyguards’ until the killer is apprehended, although Min-Ju seems happier to be with Si-Heon. She suddenly spots ‘Chan-Hui’, and he appears to notice her real identity.
Later that night, Si-Heon gives Min-Ju a pager, and she gives him a kiss in gratitude. However, Si-Heon is happy because he thinks she is Jun-Hee. Min-Ju later writes in her diary, expressing her happiness at being with Si-Heon and daring to hope for a future with him. Jun-Hee notices that she never saw that page before. Min-Ju then tears it out, and writes: “That boy is Koo Yeon-Jun”. Jun-Hee realizes that Min-Ju intentionally wrote that in order to make her return to 1998 after she saw it.
Min-Ju reveals that she wanted Si-Heon to fall in love with Jun-Hee while she was in Min-Ju’s body. She tells a horrified Jun-Hee that she would willingly pretend to be ‘Jun-Hee’ for the rest of her life, as long as Si-Heon took care of her. Jun-Hee tries to talk her out of it, begging her to stop Chan-Yeong and protect Si-heon and In-Gyu. But Min-Ju tells Jun-Hee that her time is over, and that it is her turn.
Si-Heon realizes the deception
The next day, Min-Ju asks the boys to follow her to Seoul, and they spend the day at an amusement park. For a few hours, they are able to forget their troubles and have fun, taking photos of each other during their trip. Later, Min-Ju and Si-Heon enjoy the view of the Han River, and she talks about his planned trip to America. However, Si-Heon tells her that he has decided not to go, as he wants to stay in Noksan with In-Gyu and ‘Jun-Hee’.
Later, Min-Ju and Si-Heon develop the photographs they took, and it begins to rain. As Min-Ju runs ahead of Si-Heon, he remembers that day in the park with ‘Jun-Hee’, and suddenly realizes that the girl he is with is actually Min-Ju. He avoids her the next day at school, and tells In-Gyu that he can sense that her personality has reverted to the Min-Ju they knew before the attack.
Si-Heon tells In-Gyu that he plans on confronting her, and In-Gyu tells him it would be better to continue pretending that she is still ‘Jun-Hee’, to maintain their current friendship. Si-Heon insists that ‘Jun-Hee’ was a completely different girl, based on how she made him feel. Min-Ju, who was eavesdropping on their conversation, realizes she can never successfully imitate Jun-Hee and walks away in tears. ‘Chan-Hui’ watches her, noting to himself that “she’s back for now”.
A devastating lie
‘Chan-Hui’ later visits Min-Ju at the record store, and tells her that he knows it is really her. He tells her he has been “waiting for the chance to finish what he started”, before leaving the store. He later follows Min-Ju home, terrifying her. Fortunately, she runs into Si-Heon, who walks her home.
Along the way, he asks Min-Ju if she is keeping a secret from him, but she denies it. He then accuses her of not being ‘Jun-Hee’, while the real Jun-Hee pleads with Min-Ju to tell him the truth “before it’s too late”. Min-Ju insists that she is ‘Jun-Hee’, but Si-Heon proves that her handwriting is different from that of the real Jun-Hee.
Min-Ju eventually breaks down, and asks Si-Heon that if it turned out that Jun-Hee was gone forever, would he still like Min-Ju? Si-Heon asks her if he would ever see Jun-Hee again. Min-Ju lies and tells him her story was fake. She claims that she made up the “confident and charming Han Jun-Hee from 2023” in order to get him to fall in love with her, insisting that Jun-Hee she was a made-up character.
A heartbroken Si-Heon begins to believe that Jun-Hee was never real, and that he will never see her again. Min-Ju walks away, leaving him in tears as the scene ends.
Our opinion
This episode broke our hearts in so many ways. The sudden twist revealing a vindictive Min-Ju certainly throws a new factor into the equation, especially during such a crucial time. And with Jun-Hee now trapped, it seems nothing short of a miracle will be able to change the future. Are Jun-hee and Si-Heon really doomed to only be with each other within the time paradox?
Join us as we explore the final episode of A Time Called You!
READ | A Time Called You Episode 12 Recap
Join Our Social Pages to keep up to date with the K-dramas. FACEBOOK | TWITTER (X) | INSTAGRAM