See You in My 19th Life (2023) K Drama Episode 1

See You in My 19th Life episode 1 starts with an introduction to our protagonist, Ban Ji-Eum, who narrates how she typically remembers her past lives. She is a woman who has reincarnated 19 times and has memories from all her past lives.

She is now in her 19th life and at a mere 9 years old, memories of her past life cripple in on a stormy night. She starts to remember a young boy named Seo-ha and worries if he is still alive. However,  a new worry overcomes her as she realizes her 19th life won’t be easy. Her dad is a gambling addict and her mom is exhausted by the situation so she abandons them.

For a while now, her parents have been using her to make money by having her make appearances in different shows as a genius kid with multiple talents. Unfortunately, her father uses the money to gamble and Ji-Eum comes to her last straw of patience when he takes her savings as well.

She opts to find her niece, Ae-Gyeong, from her 17th life and convinces her of being her dead uncle. She explains that things have been hard in her 19th life but her main concern is getting to learn the fate of Seo-ha.  Ae-Gyeong agrees to loan her some money and be her guardian.

Ji-Eum uses that money to visit Seo-ha’s house and is relieved to see that he is alive. Through a flashback, we learn that in her 18th life, Ji-Eum (then known as Ju-won) had made a promise to stay by Seo-ha’s side. They first met when Seo-ha accidentally bumped into her drawing and failed to apologize. Through their parents, the two met later for a play date and Ji-Eum tried to get the rich spoilt kid to be more mindful.

Seo-ha was intrigued by the fact that she was not scared of him, and Ju-won was taken by Seo-ha’s mischievous yet soft nature. At the time, Seo-ha was going through a lot; his mom was dying and Ju-won was the only person who understood and consoled him through it. Ju-won always mentioned her belief in past lives and Seo-ha was convinced she must be a witch or cursed by one. Ironically, Seo-ha also believed that in his past life he was a turtle.

Even though they started as enemies, the two gradually became close and before dying, Seo-ha’s mom asked Ju-won to look after Seo-ha. Unfortunately, fate had a different card laid out for Ju-won. At the age of 12, she and Seo-ha got into an accident and she passed away unable to keep her promise.  This is why as soon as she got her memories back in her 19th life, she rushed to find Seo-ha.

Using the money she got from Ae-Gyeong, she visits Seo-ha and keeps tabs on him while she stays with Ae-Gyeong. Seo-ha is now a teenager and angry with the world, specifically with his dad, who has taken up a new lover. He is frustrated and this saddens Ji-Eum who watches him from a distance not knowing what the problem is.

Sadly, a few months after Ji-Eum found Seo-ha, he leaves the country. Ji-Eum continues with her life but she tries her best to find Seo-ha again. She graduates joins Seo-ha’s family’s company in hopes of seeing him again. She knows that Seo-ha moved to Germany and is plotting a way to get to him.

Fortunately, this time fate decides to smile at her and Seo-ha opts to return to Korea. Upon hearing this, Ji-Eum doesn’t waste the opportunity to get close to him. She quickly applies for a job at MI hotels and even turns down a lucrative offer by Daehwan Motors. Her sight is set upon reconnecting with Seo-ha and nothing will get in her way.

Seo-ha decided to return to Korea because he wishes to restore his mom’s hotel to its former glory. His dad has been letting the hotel business slip and as expected, the old geezer is not pleased by Seo-ha’s decision. They don’t have a great relationship and Seo-ha’s hearing loss after the accident only makes the situation worse. The father seems to take Seo’ha’s loss as a liability to the business which is a bit weird. In simple terms, Seo-ha’s dad is a real piece of work!

With his mission set, Seo-ha starts interviewing people for job opportunities at the MI Grand Hotel. At first, Ji-Eum’s impressive resumé seems to be too good to be true but his friend convinces him to still give her an interview. During the interview, Seo-ha keeps questioning how Ji-Eum had the time to accomplish and sharpen so many skills at the mere age of 24.

On the other hand, Ji-Eum tries her best to convince him that they share the same goal – to restore the hotel to its former glory. Seo-ha still feels something is off about Ji-Eum so he tries to let her down gently. However, our Ji-Eum is not a woman who backs down so she challenges him to take a rather interesting approach. She asks him to date her if he is still unsure if she is the right fit for the job.

The episode ends with her shooting her shot and asking if he would be willing to date her again.

The Episode Review

As expected, both Shin Hye-Sun and Ahn Bo-Hyun are doing a great job reeling us in to their potential romance and we are loving it. However, the real star of this episode was Park So-Yi who plays the young Ji-Eum in her 19th life. Lastly, we have Cha Chung-Hwa who cracks us up in most of her shows. Hopefully we will see more of her in the coming episodes.

This is only the first chapter but so far the introduction to most of the characters has been smooth and hopefully this will continue throughout the show. There is still much ground to be covered but it looks promising and we can’t wait to see if the two leads will exude more chemistry as we move along.