Ahn Bo Hyun as Mun Seo Ha was really a superior casting choice, and we cannot believe that we haven’t said this before, but Shin Hye Sun’s makeup artist deserves a raise for being able to bring that ethereal quality to her look in See You In My 19th Life. Episode 9 was as expected, and there were no major surprises, but it was certainly sweet, so here is the recap of it.
Spoilers Alert
How Does Ji Eum Make Seo Ha Believe In Her?
Seo Ha is understandably shocked when he hears Ji Eum play the tune that Ju Won used to and say the same things as her. Initially, he brushes it off and thinks that Ji Eum is just trying to comfort him, but she tells him the location of the key to the box that she gave him in the car all those years ago. It is in one of Ju Won’s favorite books. She tells him to read the note only after he has opened the box. It just proves that revealing the truth to Seo Ha was not a snap decision but something Ji Eum had been preparing for a long time.
The following day, when Ji Eum pays a visit to Cho Won, she tells her about Seo Ha. In all of her lives, Ji Eum has lost countless people, which has made her numb to most relationships. Ji Eum never had anyone to talk to, which means that all the traumas and heartbreaks she faced, she had to deal with alone. The reason she was able to maintain her sanity was because of the time she had. If she had not had all 18 lives at her disposal, she might never have had the space to process what had happened to her. That is what sets her 19th life apart from the rest: regardless of the time, she has people she can talk to. Even if Seo Ha doesn’t come around, she still has Ae Gyeong and Cho Won, who would be there for her. Sure, Ji Eeum has spent the better part of her 19th life looking for Seo Ha and falling in love with him. But it is one of her many lives, and she may not love anybody again, but she will be able to get over it. On that note, we doubt he really is her first love. She has said that he is, but Ji Eum also keeps mentioning a lover from a past life, probably around the time when she worked as a cart puller. Those who have read the manga may know better about it.
As for Seo Ha, he takes his time processing the information he has received. True to Ji Eum’s words, he finds the key in the book she mentioned. Before he can open it, he runs into his uncle and father, and that gets delayed.
The next day, he comes back, and he finally opens the box and reads the book inside, written in Ju Won’s handwriting, which perfectly matches Ji Eum’s. Ju Won had recounted her entire past lives, and her birthday gift to Seo Ha was the truth about who she was and what she felt about him. Frankly, this seems more like a gift for an adult than what you should tell a child. Maybe the weight of 18 lives had made Ju Won a little cuckoo. But Seo Ha has the proof he needs, and the note tells him that Ji Eum is waiting at the place where they were going to go before disaster struck Ju Won. Seo Ha understands that she is talking about the amusement park. Ji Eum is waiting there for him, as she has been for the past few days, and Seo Ha finally finds her. This was the ultimate proof that Ji Eum could give Seo Ha. Everything else could have been explained away through some conspiracy of research or manipulation, but the fact that she was waiting at the amusement park would not have been possible if Ji Eum was not Ju Won. Seo Ha is in tears at the love of this woman who has found him through different lives. We know that See You In My 19th Life and King The Land are currently ruling the roost, and it is a nicely balanced act that in the latter, it is the guy pursuing the girl which is the exact opposite of the former.
How Is Lee Sang Hyuck Guilty Of The Accident?
When Seo Ha runs into his uncle and father at the library, he wants to talk to his father. All of them know that Seo Ha has been investigating things and that he must have discovered a few truths. When Seo Ha meets his uncle again the next day, he asks him why he orchestrated the accident, and Lee Sang Hyuck admits that he did not want to harm Seo Ha but believed that the Chairman would be using that car that day. Lee Sang Hyuck was furious at the way his sister had been neglected by the Chairman and how he had continued his affair with Ms. Jang Yeon Ok, who had stuck by him even when she knew the kind of man he was. It looks like Lee Sang Hyuck is in love with Jang Yeon Ok despite knowing her true nature, and he claims that it is the impossibility of the situation that drove him to take such an extreme step. It feels ridiculous because he keeps claiming that he did not want anyone to die, not even the Chairman. Does that mean that he just intended grievous injuries? Regardless, Seo Ha asks him to confess to all his crimes, and that is what Lee Sang Hyuck does. However, we believe that he has been manipulated. At the beginning of the episode, Yeon Ok speaks to the Chairman about taking care of him, so we believe that the conspiracy is a lot more complex here.
What Did Ji Eum Remember From Her First Life?
It looks like the price of revealing your past lives to people is their death. Min Gi has appeared as a concerned authority figure and a bystander this whole time, but he has suddenly started hinting at a sinister turn. He leaves the bells in Ji Eum’s room, and she returns them, saying that her first life has nothing to do with her now. Yet she tells him about a vision she had of a pond with fireworks, and Min Gi sends her a picture of it later on.
In the meantime, we know that Ae Gyeong and Cho Won are in some sort of constant danger that they are yet to be aware of. Hanna asks Ji Eum to carry out a task for her, that of scaring Yeon Ok a little bit by acting as Sang A. Ji Eum does that and delivers some taunts, saying that Yeon Ok was not able to utilize her opportunities well. This scene was a little odd because we don’t understand why Hanna had to use Ji Eum. She tells her that she hopes she is able to cross over to the other side, meaning that Ji Eum is likely facing the end of her days and her lives. That is probably why Hanna did not contact Seo Ha herself, because she knew the consequences. However, Hanna and Min Gi don’t yet know that Seo Ha is already aware of the truth about Ji Eum.
Ji Eum goes on a date with Seo Ha, and she hints that they knew each other from a previous life. At the end of Episode 9 of See You In My 19th Life, as she watches Seo Ha come towards her, she remembers how they parted in her first life. It was when Ji Eum stabbed Seo Ha, and she then died in his arms when someone shot an arrow at her. As the episode closes, Ji Eum passes out in shock, landing in Seo Ha’s arms once again.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, with just three more episodes to go in the series, we need to solve these two mysteries: that of Ju Won’s accident and that of her first life. The precap tells us that something is going to happen to Ae Gyeong, and Ji Eum will finally come to know the truth about her condition. Additionally, her and Seo Ha’s relationship is going to move forward, and we will hopefully get to see some of the sweetness of the initial episodes. We are looking forward to seeing Ahn Bo Hyun’s face in all of its glory in the coming episodes.
