Always Meet Again (Korean Series)

The most unsettling part of this eight-part Korean drama is that love cannot necessarily defeat the event it is trying to prevent. Even after Hye Seong returns to the present and discovers that Woo Jin has died in an accident, his effort to rewrite that loss may not change the outcome at all. The story ends with Woo Jin still involved in the accident, while Hye Seong continues to feel that he remains somehow close by. It is an intentionally ambiguous conclusion, though one likely to frustrate many viewers, myself included.

Hye Seong is already a successful painter when an old sketchbook takes him somewhere he never expected to go. While preparing for a guest lecture at his former school, he is transported ten years into the past, arriving on the day he transferred to a new school. He finds himself trapped in the art room inside his teenage body, with no obvious route back to the present. Woo Jin, a handsome student who is essentially a stranger to him, is the person who helps him escape.

For Woo Jin, this is the beginning of a new relationship. For Hye Seong, it is a reunion with someone whose future he already knows. Their mutual attraction gradually becomes closeness, and eventually they acknowledge what they feel for each other. Woo Jin also senses that Hye Seong is concealing something. When Hye Seong is eventually pulled back into the present, the reason for that secrecy becomes clear: Woo Jin died in an accident.

Determined to use another trip to the past if he gets the chance, Hye Seong decides to prevent the death. With help from another close friend, he and Woo Jin devise a plan designed to ensure that Woo Jin is never left alone, hoping that the accident can thereby be avoided. The attempt gives the drama its central tension: if changing fate might save the person you love, is the risk of trying worth taking when there is no promise of a better result?

That question gives the series its emotional foundation, alongside regret, second chances and the hope that love might survive time itself. The romance is carried by two leads whose scenes together have genuine warmth and tension. Their charged glances and obvious restraint create a compelling connection, even when the script does not give the relationship enough space to develop fully. The polished visuals also work in the show’s favor, capturing both the nostalgic atmosphere of high school and the sadness beneath the story.

The time-travel premise, however, never receives the commitment it needs. As with many stories built around changing the past, the logic contains plenty of gaps, and the direction seems to reach for something poetic and layered without quite achieving it. Much of the drama remains focused on grief and regret after the fact, while the vague ending may leave viewers dissatisfied. Each episode runs for roughly 30 minutes, and the leads’ charm makes the uneven storytelling watchable, but the series is unlikely to stay with you for long after it ends. (5.5/10)