“Lovely Runner” Actor Steals The Show Despite Little Screen Time
Spoiler Alert
TvN‘s Lovely Runner (also known as Run Away With Sun-Jae On Piggyback) concluded with its finale this week. This romantic-comedy time-slip show is adapted from the webcomic Tomorrow’s Best by True Beauty screenwriter Lee Si Eun. Actors Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon star as Ryu Sun Jae (also romanized as Ryu Seon Jae) and Im Sol, respectively.
Ryu Seon-Jae (Byeon Woo-Seok) is a top star who has been in the spotlight since his debut. His life seems perfect, but being in the entertainment industry has completely worn him out. Meanwhile, Lim Sol (Kim Hye-Yoon) loves Ryu Seon-Jae as an adoring fan. When she was little, she had an accident. Due to that, she gave up on her dream, but listening to Ryu Seon-Jae’s song on the radio gave her comfort and she became his fan since then. One day, Lim Sol hears breaking news that Ryu Seon-Jae has ended his own life. She feels deep sadness over the tragic news. Miraculously, Lim Sol somehow travels back in time to 15 years in the past. There, she faces Ryu Seon-Jae, who is a 19 year old high school student. She struggles to prevent his tragic future.
— AsianWiki
Fans of the show fell in love with the leads in their portrayal of the destined couple, Im Sol and Ryu Sun Jae. Kim Hye Yoon and Byeon Woo Seok’s chemistry was infectious.
the way taesung smiles right after seeing soljae together, sol’s happiness truly matters the most for him 🥹🫶🏼🫶🏼#LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp16 pic.twitter.com/YhjDGCb3VU
— aya (@suzyvrse) May 28, 2024
another soljae parallel i absolutely adored🫶🏼 pic.twitter.com/itFzMf4a5P
— ♪ (@damibeen) May 28, 2024
SOLJAE WEDDING! LOVELY RUNNER HAPPY ENDING! WE WON GUYS!!#LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp16 pic.twitter.com/yrYZBhRZ3d
— Aya 🌷 (@soljaeluvr) May 28, 2024
Yet, one supporting actor especially stole the show with the portrayal of his character…
…and that is N.Flying‘s Seunghyub (also known as Lee Seung Hyub and J.Don) as he portrayed ECLIPSE‘s Baek In Hyuk, the best friend of Ryu Sun Jae.
Seunghyub has previously appeared in several K-Dramas, including Nevertheless and Sh**ting Stars, but Lovely Runner has been one of the most popular yet. From the start, he caught Lovely Runner fans’ attention with his handsome visuals but also his character’s comedic personality.
inhyuk witnessing sunjae sending infinity amount of flying kisses to sol after walking her home and to hide the embarrassment he started doing the same to him his disgusted face im crying #LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp3
— 𐦍 (@ljscentric) April 15, 2024
inhyuk working hard with the petals setting a nice romantic mood so his bestie can confess just for sol to ask him to be friends intead this will never not be funny #LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp3 pic.twitter.com/LmIOH4HDor
— ً (@kdramamiss) April 15, 2024
"don't look at it" A FRIEND LIKE BAEK INHYUK PLIZZZZZZ 🤣🤣🤣#LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp4 pic.twitter.com/TYSNOu4cW3
— liy 🏃🏻♀️ (@chaedaely) April 16, 2024
In the finale, viewers were treated to even more hilariously iconic scenes featuring the bromance between besties Sun Jae and In Hyuk. In Hyuk truly proved to be the most supportive friend, helping Sun Jae pick out an engagement ring for Im Sol.
sunje passing the phone inhyuk to cover up for him right after almost revealing about the ring & inhyuk immediately sang star, this unserious duo 😭😭#LovelyRunnerEp16 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/8NVxIJEMsS
— aya (@suzyvrse) May 28, 2024
if we're talking about who actually matches each other's freak, it would be sunjae and inhyuk.#LovelyRunnerEp16 #LovelyRunner pic.twitter.com/ACOS7xgAoe
— mavie (@leexoxee) May 28, 2024
It didn’t end there. He and their manager also assisted Sun Jae in his marriage proposal, although it was postponed! This made for one of the funniest scenes.
i love inhyuk so much indeed sunjae's best man 😭💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/INdzx7Qyh2
— 🎀 (@lilymelodies) May 28, 2024
the parallels from bag of fake snow to basket of rose pedals !!!!! INHYUK BEST MAN pic.twitter.com/VQWjPueV0w
— iz (@hyoonvrse) May 28, 2024
remembering how ppl suspected him of killing sunjae when he's literally the biggest sunjae supporter ever 😭#LovelyRunner #LovelyRunnerEp16 pic.twitter.com/PPy8EwkgtQ
— Aya 🌷 (@soljaeluvr) May 28, 2024
Now that the show has come to an end, viewers are reflecting. In Hyuk proved time and time again just what a great and supportive best friend he was to Sun Jae.
baek inhyuk appreciation post because behind every successful relationship is a supportive bestfriend 😭 pic.twitter.com/c0TlL96ElJ
— ᴊ ᴏ ᴏ ɴ ☔️ (@jooonyiie) May 22, 2024
kicked out of sunjae’s apartment way too many times, got abandoned by sunjae to see sol, got his head shaved to show his devotion to sunjae, had to take drunk sunjae back home each time, always at the crime scene seeing sunjae be a loser for sol… and he still shows up that’s bff pic.twitter.com/seAASHuvmO
— 𝜗𝜚 soljae’s wedding planner (@ibyeonic) May 28, 2024
Still, In Hyuk wouldn’t be In Hyuk without Seunghyub. He truly brought such a lovable character to life. Despite his lack of screen time, he gave us some of the most memorable and iconic moments.
you know an actor is super talented when the impact he creates with his 5 min screen time is massive pic.twitter.com/D2NVjljek6
— ᴊ ᴏ ᴏ ɴ ☔️ (@jooonyiie) May 27, 2024
he just wants to go home and play for his silly little band 😭#LovelyRunner#LovelyRunnerEp15 pic.twitter.com/Cm3uJm52az
— rishi ☾ (@lee_dohyuns) May 27, 2024
no matter in which timeline, baek inhyuk is always at the crime scene whenever sunjae being loser to sol lmaooo he is truly the best friend sunjae could ask for😭 pic.twitter.com/nQuO5a6kkx
— 𝙣𝙞𝙠𝙪 𝙪𝙙𝙤𝙣 ᵕ̈ (@notsoautumn) May 26, 2024
Previously, Lovely Runner viewers were shocked to discover Seunghyub’s multi-talented background. Read more below.
“Lovely Runner” Viewers Shocked To Find Out Supporting Actor’s Background