A Time Called You 2023 Episode 12

Episode 12 of A Time Called You begins with everyone, including her brother, saying Min-ju is going back to her old self and they prefer the new one. She steels herself and says she anyway hated the old Min-ju as well.

Why does Min-ju want to die?

She later cries and she wishes people would accept her for who she is. She doesn’t want to act like Jun-hee and the real Jun-hee looks sad. Min-ju tries to approach Si-heon but he avoids her.

She heads to the school roof as she wants to die and the date is October 13. She would be forgotten if she committed suicide. But if she is murdered people will remember her forever. Jun-hee suddenly realises why Chan-yeong said Min-ju died because of her. She tries to stop her but Min-ju simply thanks her for letting her be the loved and popular kid for a while. She then approaches Chan-yeong and he smiles.

Why does In-gyu pretend to kill Min-ju?

In-gyu who observed the whole thing and read her lips, goes and tells Si-heon. They remember Jun-hee saying Min-ju would die on this date and search for her. At separate points, they both recall the location of the first attack.

Meanwhile, Jun-hee tells Min-ju to run but Chan-yeong tells her he will help everyone remember the most beautiful version of her. But before he can inject her, the cops wake him in 2023.

Chan-hui gets his body back and runs off as Min-ju begs him to kill her. In-gyu reaches and is shocked to find her with shattered glass in her hand and standing at the edge of the building. Jun-hee begs her to stop but she says she hates herself. 

In-gyu too tries to talk her out of it but she just asks him to kill her. Jun-hee tells her it’ll get better and to hang on but this triggers her. She feels jealous at how easy Jun-hee has it and how Si-heon fell for her immediately. On hearing Min-ju rant at Jun-hee, In-gyu confesses and says he always liked her for who she was before Jun-hee. It doesn’t help as Min-ju says he only likes her because she is quiet like him. That’s sympathy.

He tries to make her understand but she jumps. Jun-hee wakes up in 2023 and the tape stops working. Si-heon reaches and sees In-gyu with Min-ju’s body. He says he killed her and Si-heon doesn’t believe it. In-gyu then says at least now she will always be remembered. He is arrested and Jun-hee wonders if this is how their story ends. 

Is Jun-hee able to save Min-ju?

She gets the tape wound back but it doesn’t play. She begs Si-heon to help send her back in time one last time. She falls asleep and the tape plays.

Jun-hee goes back to the time when Min-ju is just about to jump. She gives her hand and In-gyu pulls her back in. She thanks him for saving Min-ju and he realises she is Jun-hee. Si-heon reaches at that moment and she calls out to him. He too recognises her and hugs her. He says he can tell she is Jun-hee just by the look in her eyes. 

What is Jun-hee’s plan to fix the timeline?

They regroup at the park and she tells them everything. She promises Min-ju will be back soon. But Si-heon is sad that in this new future, he will never meet her in 2008 as Yeon-jun.

She takes the player and goes home. Min-ju is crying in the mental cave. Jun-hee apologises for everything and promises not to interfere in her life anymore. But she gives a parting word of advice – Min-ju may be able to overcome her pain if she doesn’t have high expectations that society isn’t able to reach. She says she finally understands Min-ju now and is glad to have known her.

The next day, Jun-hee is about to shout at Do-hun to wake up but doesn’t. Instead, she tells him to be nice to Min-ju as she knows he cares. She also tucks in her mom and smiles wistfully. She bids farewell to Chi-won and tells him he will have a better business with a cafe and tells him that he better listen to her to which he is amused.

Finally, she tells In-gyu to destroy the tape. Si-heon and all of them will forget her but it’s for the best. They can’t risk Chan-yeong coming back or her coming back to meddle in Min-ju’s life. Then she and Si-heon go to the beach. He is happy but looks sad the whole time as they enjoy their day together. 

In-gyu goes to the abandoned location and at that moment the couple looks at the sunset. Si-heon says he knows it is their last time together and he won’t remember her anymore. He says he guessed her plan because he knows her well. She says it may not be the end and maybe he’ll find her again one day. They tear up as they hug.

At the last minute, he suddenly promises that he will find her and that he loves her. They kiss just as In-gyu burns the tape. Both of them start vanishing and Jun-hee wakes up in 2023. All of her photos and things with him disappear. 

Si-heon too sees the trio photo disappear as well as his drawing of her and he tears up. His memories of her completely disappear and he wonders why he was crying. Similarly, Jun-hee’s engagement ring is the final thing to disappear along with her memories of him.

What is the timeline like before Jun-hee and Si-heon meddled with time travel?

It cuts to 1998 and Min-ju wakes up from an accident. In-gyu says she was hit by a car after her birthday party.

Later, Si-heon and In-gyu are passing by the record shop and ‘Gather My Tears’ plays. Si-heon feels odd and says the song makes him feel as if he has forgotten something important. Meanwhile, In-gyu is busy worrying about Min-ju and Si-heon playfully tells him to ask her out already.

Min-ju returns to school and tells In-gyu she had a vivid dream while in the hospital. She says it was good as a girl told her that she is struggling because she has unrealistic expectations.

Min-ju says she lost sight of herself and the good things she does have in her life. She was being hard on everyone and herself for being unlikeable. But she can now clearly see that In-gyu is beside her and supports her for who she is and she feels better. He says he’ll be by her side no matter what and she thanks him.

Do Si-heon and Jun-hee reunite?

It is 2011 and Si-heon has founded a comic book publishing house. He is on a bus listening to ‘Gather My Tears’ when the girl beside him starts singing it. It turns out to be Jun-hee. He asks if she is Min-ju and that’s their only interaction. But he suddenly decides to get down at her stop. He runs after her and she turns. It cuts to their last moment in 1998 of him promising to find her. Back to the present, he walks towards her.

The Episode Review

Okay, but poor Min-ju, imagine everyone says to your face that we don’t like you but we liked you better when the extrovert and bubbly girl possessed you. She has all the right to feel miserable but her priorities are…a tad bit wonky. Oh and after 12 episodes of A Time Called You, we can’t help but give a shoutout to Min-ju’s mother. The only job Parasite Mommy had was to sleep on set and get paid and we’re here for it.

And not gonna lie, the finale of the K-drama is giving very Abyss, you know, the really weird Ahn Hyo-seop body-changing show. Don’t get us wrong, A Time Called You’s ending feels fitting but somehow also not enough. Like that’s it? Why don’t they bring up Si-heon rejecting Min-ju on her birthday and In-gyu eavesdropping? And everything else is erased but Si-heon and Jun-hee find each other in the end? Very convenient…

As for the final moments of the show, it is an open ending so they do allow us to interpret it any way we want. By showing the flashback to the sunset scene, it can be considered that Jun-hee and Si-heon get their memories back and are in for a tearful reunion.

The alternate choice is that they don’t get their memories back but there is still a pull between them. And they start afresh. The sunset scene can be considered as just a reminder to viewers about Si-heon’s promise. You can pick your ending depending on if you’re a realist or idealist (just like our Jun-hee and Si-heon).