See You in My 19th Life is riding the rating wave with good reason. It is strangely addictive, and we are living for Seo Ha and Ji Eum’s chemistry. It wasn’t evident to us right away, but now that we see it, we like the slow-burn nature of it. This is in contrast to its immediate competitor, King The Land, which gives us a different fantasy with the guy already in love with the girl. We got hints in this episode of how the coming narrative is going to get complicated, and this is the recap of Episode 5 of See You in My 19th Life.
Spoilers Alert
Why Does Seo Ha Reject Ji Eum’s Confession?
Seo Ha, drunk and passed out in his bed, cannot let go of Ji Eum’s hand as the memories that are running through his head make him think that she is Ju Won. Ji Eum is tearful at the effect that her absence has had on him and at the fact that the person she loves has grieved for her so much. Meanwhile, Cho Won breaks down in tears, looking at Seo Ha. All her life, she had underestimated the effect that accident had on him. When Ju Won had died, Cho Won had yelled at him that he was the reason for her death since he was with her. Years later, while she had gotten over that feeling, she just couldn’t understand why he never wanted to be friends with her. Cho Won compared their traumas and felt that he was being unreasonable since his grief couldn’t have been more than hers. However, it was in episode 4 that she came to know for the first time that his trauma was deep enough that it affected his daily habits. He couldn’t sit in the backseat of a car, and neither could he drive, all because of the memory of that day. As Cho Won remembers it all, she sees the insensitivity of her actions and is extremely sorry for Seo Ha. Later, when they talk, Seo Ha tells her that she is very similar to Ju Won, and that is why he avoided her, because she reminds him of her. We suppose that with this, we can consider this matter between the star-crossed brother and sister-in-law, settled.
But Seo Ha’s troubles never seem to end. He has heard Ji Eum say his name enough times to understand that this is how Ju Won used to say it as well. He dreams of Ji Eum visiting him, and he is happy about it, but instead of her, it is Ju Won walking towards him. The eerie similarities are spooking him, and though his feelings for Ji Eum are growing, he is not able to acknowledge them. There is also the case of him wondering whether he “deserves” this. Maybe it was Chu Won’s words as a child that have taken root in his heart, and he thinks he does not deserve to be loved. If only he knew how touched Ji Eum was when she saw the box she had given him on his birthday, still preserved so carefully, he would have felt differently.
Like Seo Ha has an endurance for spending long periods of time underwater, Subway has a way of coming back to Kdramas. Just like in the last episode, Subway made another appearance in this one, and we could tell that the inconsequential scene between Cho Won and Do Yun existed only for this brand placement. It is a little reminiscent of the 2016 era of Kdramas and is apt for a series about past lives. From Subway, Do Yun, Cho Won, Ji Eum, and Seo Ha go to the beach, and honestly, if living through 19 lives means that one gets to experience such romantic moments, maybe it is not such a bad idea since it seems that one life is too short to meet a man like Seo Ha or have a story like them in See You in My 19th Life.
Ji Eum probably feels the same way, and therefore, when Seo Ha tells her that she feels very familiar to him, she delivers her first confession. She still has two more to go, so her expectations are probably managed, yet she tells Seo Ha to take his time before answering her, right before she proceeds to dance with him near the sea. We feel nothing but jealousy. The four of them move to Cho Won’s childhood home, which is where Ju Won grew up, and she has plenty of memories attached to this place. When she is exploring the house in the middle of the night, she finds a toy that she had hidden for Cho Won to find and also finds the markings where they measured Cho Won’s height as a child. When Cho Won sees Ji Eum finding all this, she is disturbed, as only Ju Won knew about these things. When she confronts Ji Eum about it, she deflects, saying that she was just looking for her hair tie. Seo Ha witnesses all this, and when Ji Eum follows him, he rejects her confession, definitely because of her resemblance to Ju Won.
Back in Seoul, Ju Won is tightening his hold on the hotel’s administration, and he questions Ms. Jang about her use of the budget, making her furious. But she is placated by someone who we think may be having an affair with her. He is certainly in a position of authority, as he promises to get Chan Hyeok (Ms. Jang’s son) some work at the Headquarters, and that makes her happy. Meanwhile, even Ji Eum’s family is stirring up trouble. Her brother, Dong Woo, is in a lot of debt, and he tells the loan sharks that they should use Ji Eum’s boyfriend to coerce the money out of her. But the plan fails miserably when Seo Ha is effortlessly able to fight off the goons. However, this problem is far from over since they have come to know that he is MI Group’s Chairman’s son. Regardless, Ji Eum reaches there in time and drives away the loan sharks, rescuing Seo Ha and Do Jin.
Does Ji Eum Reveal The Truth To Cho Won?
Do Jin misunderstands Ji Eum to be Seo Ha’s girlfriend because of what the goons say. Even when it is clarified, he continues with the gig. The three of them go out for dinner, and when Seo Ha and Ji Eum are getting some fresh air, she asks him what he liked most about Ju Won. Could there be a more banal answer than “her eyes”? But what else is someone going to remember about the first love that they had as a child? Ji Eum straight up asks him what he thinks of her eyes. Honestly, Seo Ha thinks that they are exactly like Ju Won’s, but he cannot say that. Maybe he rejected her because he wanted to date someone without looking for Ju Won in them. While they are at dinner, Ji Eum gets a call from a drunk Chu Won, and she rushes towards her. Chu Won had earlier spoken with Do Yun, who had recalled Ji Eum’s words of having some ulterior motive. While that may have been said in jest or to deflect a topic, Chu Won interprets it differently. Ji Eum’s similarities with Ju Won could not be coincidental, so she believes that they are deliberate, a ruse to court Seo Ha. Cho Won is furious, and she accuses Ji Eum of manipulating other people’s feelings. At the end of episode 5 of See You in My 19th Life , looking at a crying Chu Won, Ji Eum is not able to stop herself and confesses that she is indeed Ju Won, and she remembers her past lives.
Final Thoughts
We were introduced to two new characters in episode 5 of See You in My 19th Life, and we believe that they are both going to bring trouble. The woman who Ji Eum ran into, Han Na, also seems to be someone who remembers her past lives. Maybe she and Ji Eum have met before. It is plausible that Ji Eum is not the only one of her kind. Seeing that the woman was in the hotel and was pointedly looking at the pictures, we think that she might have been Seo Ha’s mother in her past life. That is probably how Ji-Eum knows her. We knew that there was a bit of Ju Won and Seo Ha’s childhood that still needed to be explored, so this revelation could be a part of it. As for the other man, Kang Min Gi, we suspect that he might be the grim reaper. For souls that keep reincarnating, there might be a system of checks and balances, and who better to enforce that than a grim reaper? His bells are also his giveaway, but we might be wrong. He seemed concerned about the fact that Ji Eum had told Cho Won about her past lives. Maybe they will have a price to pay for this information? We will know in the coming narrative.
