Tomorrow With You: Episode 3

by gummimochi

We’re back to check in on our diligent hero and the woman who is inexplicably part of his future. For someone who says he isn’t interested in her, he seems to be fixating on her quite a lot, traveling constantly to the future to learn what he can, though these tidbits of information only reveal a small portion of their much bigger, bleaker, and puzzling future. The future can only teach him so much, but thankfully the more interesting part is what our time traveler does with those discoveries in the present.

 
EPISODE 3 RECAP

Upon learning that Ma-rin was the woman who inadvertently saved his life seven years ago, So-joon returns to the present to ask her about it in person. She isn’t interested in anything he has to say, but So-joon is determined to know—is she a survivor of the subway car explosion at Namyeong Station?

She wonders how he could’ve possibly known that since she’d divulged that information only a few hours ago, and the story hasn’t been published yet. He considers that a yes and keeps questioning her: “Did you originally intend on getting off at Namyeong or was it a coincidence?”

So-joon demands to know, so she barks back, “It was a coincidence!” She doesn’t understand why that’s so important to him when he won’t reveal how he found out about her past, but now that So-joon knows where their connection began, he decides that they’ll have to meet again a few more times.

While Ma-rin tries to keep So-joon off her mind, So-joon makes the connection that the fatal car accident in 2019 took place precisely ten years after they survived the subway car explosion in 2009, right down to the minute. He beats himself up for not figuring that out earlier, and then it occurs to him that his future self must’ve known everything and didn’t tell him about it.

So he travels to March 2019 to confront his future self at home, where they speak over the intercom: “You must’ve known it all! Why didn’t you say anything?” Future So-joon replies, “What would’ve changed if you had known?”

So-joon argues that his future self should’ve left a clue behind for him and refuses to believe that nothing can be done to change the future. He wonders if his future self is keeping something from him, but Future So-joon gravely tells him that his efforts are futile and ends the conversation to sit dejectedly in his dark and messy home.

Ma-rin’s interview is published by her next photo shoot, where the enthusiastic fashion designer asks if Ma-rin can’t miraculously get So-joon to stand in as a model again. But before she can give a proper excuse, the police arrive with a search and seizure warrant.

Nearly everyone associated with the online shopping mall brand is then questioned at the police station for trademark infringement—that is, everyone except for So-joon, who sends his lawyer and his best friend Ki-doong in his stead. Although Ma-rin admits to her wrongdoings, she explains that she was unaware that she’d committed a crime because she was adhering to the designer’s desired concepts.

Her camera is returned to her, but she crouches when she sees reporters trickle in. In her attempt to slip away, she accidentally bumps into Ki-doong and drops her camera. Before she can properly assess it for damage, she pulls Ki-doong aside and asks him not to tell So-joon that she was here.

So-joon shows up at fellow time traveler Doo-shik’s door unannounced, but when he’s barred entry, they crouch near the trash bins, where Doo-shik is filled in on the latest news. So-joon cries that this recent revelation about Ma-rin is giving him a headache, to which Doo-shik jumps to tell him that he can relate as a time traveler with his own existential crises and string of health issues because of all the mental stress.

Doo-shik whines that it’s no picnic being a time traveler, but he does offer up a possible solution: “Have a baby.” At So-joon’s wide-eyed response, Doo-shik explains that So-joon and Ma-rin’s deaths in 2019 could be Death belatedly coming after them for surviving the Namyeong Station incident, and they both know that the only things that are definitely out of a time traveler’s control are when a person is born and when that person dies.

Doo-shik argues that he’s seen this method work once before: He knew a young lady who was fated to die in a car accident, and no matter what he did, her future didn’t change. So he set her up with a man she never dreamed of, and they eventually had a child—a life born unexpectedly.

He claims that the couple went on to live happily ever after, bearing more children and living long lives. So-joon is reluctant to believe such an elaborate lie, and Doo-shik explains, “It was my daughter.”

This case study is the reason why Doo-shik believes in this theory, and So-joon takes a moment before asking, “So you’re saying if I want to live, I need to marry Song Ma-rin and have a baby?” Doo-shik repeats, “Have a baby. That’s how you completely shatter your predetermined fate.”

Tugging at his arm, So-joon whines that Doo-shik can’t speak so carelessly about other people’s lives and gets up in frustration. Doo-shik calls out, “Why did you bother saving her then?” He adds with a chuckle, “I assumed you had some feelings for her.”

Ma-rin holes up in a bathroom stall in the police station, deathly afraid to face the reporters. While an officer hounds her to come out, she leaves anonymous comments on her own interview, asking the public to lose interest in her no matter what may happen in the future.

So-joon is still frustrated when he arrives home, where Ki-doong immediately divulges that he saw Ma-rin at the police station. Given the recent attention So-joon has gained from his modeling stint, Ki-doong admits that he can’t help but wonder what his friend has been up to lately. And So-joon leaves again.

He ends up at the police station, only to turn on his heels when he sees Ma-rin exit with her mother. When Mom makes a fuss about how the public will be in an uproar over Bap-soon’s latest antics, Ma-rin says no one will know or care if Mom can simply keep her mouth shut.

Ma-rin heads home alone, only to find So-joon waiting for her outside her house. He makes light of the trademark infringement charges, teasing that something seemed off when she asked him to model for her. But Ma-rin is too exhausted to argue with him and apologizes for the inconvenience.

He asks if they can reconcile, which initially catches her off guard. While she appreciates the gesture, she doesn’t understand why it’s necessary—he may have toyed with her and left her embarrassed, but there was nothing going on between them: “What were we?”

So-joon honestly admits that he doesn’t know either, and he’s racked his brains trying to figure it out, but he at least wanted to try and make peace with her because he felt so restless about the situation.

She uses his own words to reestablish their original arrangement of ignoring one another. She’s saying it now to remind him that this was how he regarded her. “I know there wasn’t anything going on between us, but did you really think I was feeling okay this whole time?”

Ma-rin cries over her damaged camera lens once she’s inside, while So-joon thinks to himself why he saved Ma-rin from that oncoming truck in the first place. He’d seen how that accident would put her in a wheelchair, and he felt bad that she would die an even more tragic death.

So-joon gets a distress call from his friend Se-young to retrieve her tipsy father, whom he finds trying to collect donations for the non-profit construction company from other restaurant patrons. So-joon ushers him out, and inside the car, Se-young’s father mentions how proud So-joon’s parents would’ve been of their son and his success if they were still alive.

Despite being told that they would’ve praised him, it’s evident that talking about his deceased parents is So-joon’s least favorite subject. He’s told that enough time has passed for him to move on from their deaths, but So-joon says he doesn’t feel at ease and likely won’t until his dying day. Additionally, he doesn’t want to move on either, so they drop the subject.

Although So-joon’s words keep Ma-rin up that night, she tells herself not to be swayed. She gets up to browse the internet for a new camera, but they’re too expensive. She visits a storefront display window the next day and tells the cameras that they’ll belong to her one day.

Ma-rin gets a call from frenemy Gun-sook just then, who pretends that she’s having the time of her life on her honeymoon in Hawaii. Gun-sook hangs up when Ma-rin asks her for some money, then complains to her new husband for canceling their honeymoon the minute they got married.

Her husband Director Kim tells her that these meetings he’s lined up will only help them secure a better future. He has a gift to mollify her — an unlimited credit card — and he can tell that she likes it. He adds that he’ll make sure people call her the CEO’s wife someday, and that puts a smile on her face.

Doo-shik’s suggestion of having a baby echoes in So-joon’s ears at home. He snaps out of it and heads to the kitchen for some water, only to do a spit-take when Bap-soon — Ma-rin as a child actress — appears next to him, repeating her catchphrase.

But the hallucinations don’t end there, as the future Ma-rin in a bathrobe approaches him with open arms. Thinking that he’s actually lost it, So-joon escapes into the courtyard to stew in frustration.

Ma-rin’s friend So-ri helps her out with a bit of cash, and So-ri wonders if “Realtor” is in love with Ma-rin because he’s come to see her twice already. But while he might be rich, Ma-rin believes that a crazy guy like him has no reason to like her.

So-ri thinks there’s nothing wrong with a guy being crazy as long as he’s rich, to which Ma-rin points out that she sounded like their spoiled friend Gun-sook just now. Having tasted fame and fortune at a young age, Ma-rin believes that people only need to live off their own earnings, and those who are solely focused on superficial and fleeting goals like that lead meaningless lives.

She steps outside when So-joon calls in an effort to ignore the phone, so So-ri sneaks the phone and answers to inform him where they are, adding that she’s excited to see him before quickly hanging up.

So-joon arrives at the piano academy in time to see Ma-rin being accosted by a group of children calling her “ajumma.” He laughs when she tells the children to call her “unni” or “noona” instead… but they stick to calling her “ajumma.”

He tries to press the thought of having a baby with Ma-rin out of his mind, but then a boy runs toward him calling out “Daddy!” so So-joon opens up his arms… and the child runs around him to hug his actual father. AHAHAHA.

Ma-rin has noticed him by now, but isn’t the least bit happy to see him, especially when she hears that So-ri invited him over. She instructs him to follow her, and So-ri realizes that So-joon is the CEO they saw at Gun-sook’s wedding.

Ma-rin and So-joon go out to eat, though she catches him staring at a family sitting at a nearby table. She wonders if his extreme mood swings and odd behavior can be explained by bipolar disorder, and he says they could go to the doctor together so she can get checked out too.

Her next theory is that he’s a rebelling chaebol heir, caught up in some power battle and struggling to keep his place on top, like so many chaebols do in the dramas. He plays that sympathy card, telling her that’s exactly what he’s going through. That spurs her to ask more questions, and just when she’s about to ask if he has a crazy family to boot, she backs away from that subject.

But So-joon says he’s fine talking about it and matter-of-factly states, “It’s just that ambition is stronger than blood.” When she asks if he’s been through the other drama tropes like his mom throwing a glass of water at an ex-girlfriend’s face, he feigns heartbreak and says he’d prefer not to talk about that. Lol.

He can hardly keep a straight face when she pities him, and she says it’s good that he’s trying to stay positive. She adds that he doesn’t seem as corrupt as other rich people commonly are, and then tells him to buy lunch because she’s no longer curious about him.

She get up to leave, and when So-joon chases after her, she offers him a word of encouragement. He says he isn’t finished talking and tugs at her bag strap, which then slides off of her shoulder and topples to the ground, spilling her portrait photos onto the sidewalk.

He bends down to help her pick them up, and Ma-rin tells him to pick up every single one because she doesn’t like the idea of her face roaming wild on the street. Seeing so many photos, he wonders if she’s job-hunting, then waits for an opportune moment to mention that he saw Ma-rin’s interview about surviving the subway crash.

He asks if she remembers the guy she got off the subway with, but Ma-rin says she doesn’t, and hopes that he’s faring well. So-joon says he probably is if he has any idea how lucky he was to survive, but Ma-rin says that’s easier said than done and hopes he doesn’t have survivor’s guilt.

While most people tend to think that surviving a major accident would be miraculous, they don’t understand the guilt that also comes with it, Ma-rin explains. She thinks it’d be nice if she and that mystery man had a chance to comfort one another, and when So-joon asks exactly what she’d say to him, she fires back that she plans on telling him in person.

She notices him staring at her photo and remembers to ask how he found out about her past even before the article came out. So-joon says one of his secretaries told him about her, pretending again to be a chaebol heir whose family does background checks, and Ma-rin looks around furtively to check if anyone is watching them.

He hands the stack of photos back to her, but then keeps one for himself. She tries to reach for it and they play keep-away with her photo for a minute before So-joon says he wants to keep it to look at her face, which he thinks is sort of cute. Aw.

So-joon meets up with his friends for drinks, though Se-young scolds the boys for being so engrossed with their phones. Ki-doong sets it aside so they can talk, and So-joon reads his friends’ faces as he slowly asks how they’d feel if he got married.

Se-young readily says she’d feel bad for the girl because So-joon only cares about himself. As he drinks, So-joon replies, “Don’t think that’s true.” But Se-young thinks they can talk once there’s an actual girl to consider in this picture. Plus, it’s not like he’ll die or anything if he doesn’t get married.

So-joon grows silent at that, then turns to Ki-doong to ask for the professional camera he’s bought for Ma-rin. He bolts out of there with the shopping bag in his arms, which makes Se-young wonder if he’s actually seeing someone.

Ma-rin stops by the subway crash street memorial like she does every night and apologizes to the victims for being praised on surviving the accident to this day.

Ma-rin finds the new camera tucked under a table outside her place, much to her shock. The sender nowhere in sight, she wonders if it’s a gift from heaven, then finds the note inside the bag, which says, “Present from the rebelling chaebol heir.”

At the office, So-joon is too busy doodling to worry about important business decisions. He gets a text from Ma-rin thanking him for the new camera, but wanting to return it because she considers it too burdensome. With a small smile, he replies back with the message to accept the gift.

He then decides that he’s done enough work today and grabs his things to leave, but not before assuring Ki-doong that he has been paying attention to his work.

Determined to return the camera, Ma-rin arrives at So-joon’s workplace and catches him just as he’s leaving. He tells her to keep it since he knows that her old camera lens broke, and jokes that she’d better get going because there are plenty of eyes and ears here; if she’s really unlucky, she might even run into his godawful mother.

Turns out he isn’t wrong about the prying eyes, as we see Director Kim look on from the entryway. Ma-rin takes those teasing threats at face value and declares that she isn’t the least bit scared. Throwing a bag in his car, she tells him to take back his gift and runs off. Perplexed, So-joon asks, “Why did she leave her own handbag behind?” Hahaha.

It takes a few seconds before Ma-rin realizes that she threw her purse instead of the camera bag, but it’s too late because So-joon zips away in his car. She hails a cab to follow him, and Director Kim wonders what his wife’s friend is doing here talking to his boss.

She follows him to his destination and continues chasing him on foot into Namyeong Station, wondering why he would forsake his car to take the subway. She climbs into the next subway car and tracks him down. So-joon adorably can’t stop smiling at the thought of her.

He turns his head to see Ma-rin approach him, but then their surroundings spur the puzzle pieces in her head to fall into place. She realizes that So-joon was the stranger she’d argued with seven years ago, and he stares back at her in wide-eyed surprise. Is she going to see him jump to the future?

Just then, the lights grow dim and Ma-rin turns away from him. The camera pans around… and when she looks back, So-joon is gone.

Gun-sook calls her husband’s right-hand man, Secretary Hwang, over to the house to fix her broken kitchen sink. This time she calls So-ri to brag about her pretend trip to Hawaii, though the latter asks why she’s calling everyone during her so-called honeymoon. Is what I’m sayin’.

She’s surprised to hear that Ma-rin is seeing someone, and when So-ri doesn’t reveal his occupation right away, she asks if the guy’s married. She laughs in disbelief when she hears that Ma-rin is dating that young and handsome CEO who was at her wedding. However, Secretary Hwang confirms that it’s true because he saw them together at the office.

Ma-rin sits at Seoul Station, wondering to herself why she didn’t recognize So-joon earlier: “It was you?” Meanwhile in the future, So-joon discovers that he’s traveled to March 25, 2019, the very day he and Ma-rin are meant to die together.

So-joon calls his future self and berates him for being on the road when they both know what will happen tonight. Future So-joon flatly tells him to return to the present since So-joon will be in danger if he stays too long in the future following his death.

Future So-joon doesn’t want to spend his last moments arguing with himself, and explains that he’s on his way to Namyeong Station for the last time. So-joon repeats, “Last?” and hollers that there’s no way he’ll become as lifeless and deadened as his future self in a few years’ time.

Future So-joon says nothing as he pulls up to a busy intersection. He sees Future Ma-rin waiting to cross on the other side of the street, and with tears in his eyes, he tells himself, “How about… you try to make things work with her?”

Just then, a car sounds its horn and a man in a hat bumps into Ma-rin, pushing her into oncoming traffic. Future So-joon looks away, unable to watch as the car slams into her. Other cars swerve to avoid her body, only to crash into one another in all directions.

Then a car rams into the pile-up, flies through the air and lands on top of Future So-joon’s car. Oh no.

So-joon runs to the scene of the accident and sees his future self being hauled away on a gurney. The news reports on a grand fireworks show, and So-joon rushes to Ma-rin’s side as she grabs his arm and ekes out: “I’m scared. Don’t leave.”

“You might not know this, but I saved you from being physically disabled,” he says. He tells her not to worry before the paramedics take her away, and vows, “I’ll… I’ll save you.”

Back in the present, Ma-rin musters up the courage to text So-joon and tells him that she remembers the night they first met in 2009. She asks him if he wants to meet up, and that she’ll be waiting for him in Namyeong Station.

We see So-joon hurry back to Seoul Station, as Ma-rin’s voice narrates the rest of her message: “I’m in a good mood. Just because… just because no matter who you are, I’m just happy that you’re alive.”

But in the future, So-joon arrives at the platform mere seconds after the doors close. Remembering Doo-shik’s warning that his future self will die at 9:15 PM this night, he checks the current time: 9:14 PM.

Seconds later, the time changes to 9:15 PM, and So-joon disappears into thin air. Ahhhh, no!

As Ma-rin happily waits for the subway to arrive, her voiceover continues, “I was always thankful that you were also alive. I’m so happy that I wasn’t the only survivor… and that we met each other again.”

 
COMMENTS

But the question is, when and where is So-joon now? Doo-shik claims not to know what might happen if the time traveling So-joon stuck around after his future self’s death, but I know that our hero can’t possibly be gone for long when we’ve only just started this series. Furthermore, we can safely assume that he lived another three years to 2019.

Speaking of, it’s only this episode where we learned that present-day So-joon and Future So-joon have kept in touch, both trying to find ways to avoid a supposed inevitable death. Seeing So-joon’s future self sound so deflated and exhausted is hard to swallow, especially since he suggests that he exhausted all of his known methods, but none of them changed the course of their future. And if our current story is on a causal loop, I wonder if Doo-shik has told Future So-joon about the idea of creating an unexpected life with Ma-rin, and if Future So-joon has acted upon it.

However, it is interesting that So-joon blames his future self for withholding information from him, even more than Doo-shik, especially since it seems like Doo-shik is keeping more secrets close to the vest. He definitely knows more than he’s letting on, and I have to question whether that story he told is really about his own daughter, or perhaps about Ma-rin herself. We also have to question his true identity, since So-joon always addresses him as “ajusshi,” and he’s been assigned as “Doo-shik” in these recaps because that’s the name written in the official character description. So far, So-joon is the only person we see Doo-shik actively interact with, which makes me even question his actual existence. Because if on the off chance Doo-shik isn’t real, then is our hero actually as odd and crazy as Ma-rin believes him to be?

I did appreciate that So-joon tried to make amends with Ma-rin, though it would’ve been better had he apologized for ignoring her instead of making light of a stressful situation. His heart might’ve been in the right place when he gave her that camera, but his approach—however amusing to him—was all wrong with his running joke that he hails from a chaebol family complete with tense family politics straight out of a drama. A part of me wishes that her joy to be reunited with a fellow survivor wouldn’t have outweighed her unease to be given such an expensive gift so quickly, but I can understand that she’d be eager to find the stranger who also survived after the constant years of public ridicule and survivor’s guilt that she’s endured.

Still, it’s sweet to see So-joon slowly falling for Ma-rin, who still tries to draw boundaries in their relationship. Budding love is always exciting to watch, and these two make my heart flutter, no matter what point in time they may meet.

 
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