See You in My 19th Life Episode 1 Recap: Memories of her past lives — and one true love — come back to Ji-eum. But reuniting with him proves trickier than expected.
The series opens with the protagonist, Ban Ji-eum (played by Shin Hye-sun), stepping forward to share her extraordinary tale. She possesses the ability to recall her past lives, spanning a total of eighteen lifetimes.
In her current incarnation, which marks the nineteenth life, Ji-eum is born as a woman. At the tender age of nine, she regains her memories from previous lives.
Ji-eum expresses her emotions, describing how recalling the past in one’s previous life can be tedious, akin to an elderly person who has lived for centuries. There seems to be no greater excitement, except for one particular encounter with a boy named ‘Seo-ha’ in her eighteenth incarnation.
During that time, Ji-eum was around eleven years old, while Seo-ha was younger, referring to her as elder. Sadly, Seo-ha’s mother passed away, and Ji-eum became the only person who understood and comforted him during this difficult period. With each passing day, their bond grew stronger until Seo-ha’s mother’s demise. Before her passing, she implored Ji-eum to take care of Seo-ha as well. Ji-eum made a promise to Seo-ha that she would always be by his side. However, fate played a cruel hand, and at the age of twelve, Ji-eum perished in an accident.
Consequently, in her current nineteenth life, Ji-eum has been determined to find Seo-ha in order to fulfill the promises made in their previous encounter.
Nevertheless, life in this nineteenth life has not been easy for Ji-eum. She is born into a poor family, and her father is plagued by gambling addiction. As a result, Ji-eum is taken to a TV show to earn money, but her father squanders all the earnings in casinos. Ji-eum’s patience wears thin, especially when her father steals her entire savings.
In Search of True Love
Ji-eum, a young girl who ran away from home, sought refuge with Ae-kyung, a groovy donut seller and her granddaughter in the 17th incarnation. Ae-kyung initially hesitated but eventually agreed to lend Ji-eum money after the girl accurately recounted stories only her deceased uncle would know. In return, Ji-eum would stay under Ae-kyung’s care.
Ji-eum later discovered Seo-ha’s house, the same grand residence. Peeking through a window, she witnessed Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun), now a teenager, confronting his father angrily for bringing a woman into their home.
For months, Ji-eum clandestinely followed Seo-ha, observing him from a distance. In the evenings, she would return to Ae-kyung’s place. However, she remained unaware of the reasons behind his suffering. Then, one day, Seo-ha vanished without a trace.
Over ten years passed, and Ji-eum graduated from school, joining Seo-ha’s family company in the hope of reuniting with him. It was during this time that she learned Seo-ha had moved to Germany.
Driven by her desire to find him, Ji-eum embarked on a journey to Germany. By a stroke of luck, she discovered that Seo-ha had decided to return to Korea. Ji-eum applied for a job at MI Hotel, where she heard that Seo-ha’s father had arranged for him to manage the establishment as part of his plan to revive his late mother’s hotel business.
In the Present Day…
Ji-eum arrives for a job interview at the MI Hotel, where Seo-Ha conducts the interview personally. She enters the room and greets him, but Seo-ha, still looking outside at the view, doesn’t turn around. Ji-eum repeats her greetings several times, but he remains unaware. Eventually, he turns around and is slightly startled to find Ji-eum standing there. He then picks up his hearing aid and inserts it into his right ear.
Seo-Ha had lost his hearing in a childhood car accident, and without his hearing aids, he struggled to hear anything.
Seo-Ha begins the interview with Ji-eum, who confidently states that she is fluent in four languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. Seo-Ha is puzzled by her knowledge of Arabic and questions how she acquired it. Ji-eum explains that she used to work in the Middle East, leaving Seo-Ha completely baffled. He wonders when she would have had the opportunity to work in that region, considering she had just graduated and only worked for a few years. These questions linger in Seo-Ha’s mind, and he starts to display a nervous expression.
However, Seo-Ha’s astonishment reaches new heights when Ji-eum unexpectedly asks, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
Watch See You in My 19th Life Episode 1 on Netflix: click here