My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1), Episode 11: Recap & Ending, Explained

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1), Episode 11: Towards the beginning of the episode, it provides us with redemption by changing an important aspect of the past.  But towards its end, it brings in more chaos.  We get a glimpse into Mi Sook’s life, her family, and their toxicity.  A deeper and more vulnerable side to Hae Joon is shown.  As he starts to find certain things and situations quite fishy, Yeon Woo will change the course of things with the passing of time. 

This article contains spoilers.

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1), Episode 11 Recap:

“Women who read are dangerous.”

The episode begins with Hae Joon staring at Mi Sook.  A couple bumps into Hae Joon, spilling their drink and food.  The man glares at Hae Joon like it was his fault.  Hae Joon’s mother’s younger self confronts the man, telling him that his girlfriend needs to apologize as Hae Joon is standing there.  Yeon Woo knew this couple and asked them to apologize to his girlfriend and Hae Joon. Mi Sook takes leave. Yeon Woo and his girlfriend are conversing while having steamed buns.  His girlfriend tells Yeon Woo that she feels odd looking at Hae Joon, feeling a sense of sadness.  Yeon Woo tells her that he feels the same but is strangely attached to him.  He reminds her of the letters she had sent when he was in the US, stating that they would name their child Hae Joon.

As Hae Joon walks home, he recalls how he hated his mother’s younger self (Bong Bong Teahouse worker).  He remembers the first time he interacted with her at the teahouse.  She forced him to drink tea in a particular way but ended up dropping the egg yolk on his shirt.  He had warned her to never interact with him again as he would be a frequent visitor in the future.  Teary-eyed, Hae Joon mutters that she was someone who did whatever she desired and hence abandoned her child.  He tells himself that she is nobody to him.

The next morning, at the police station, all the officers are being yelled at for not catching the culprit or finding a suspect.  The head officer gives them one week to find a suspect in the murder cases. Hae Joon walked in just as Yoon Young woke up from a nightmare .  Hae Joon asks her what nightmare she had been having every night for a week, but she does not tell him.  Instead, she repeatedly asks him where he had been the previous night.  He tells her that he visited Yu Seop to get to know something. 

Yu Seop and Hae Joon are having tea at the Bong Bong Teahouse.  Hae Joon asks Yu Seop what he knows about the victims while assuring him that he does not suspect him of having committed the murders.  Hae Joon tells Yoon Young that Ju Young had returned to the village to take Yu Seop with her.  Yoon Young asks him why Yu Seop had not left with her.  Hae Joon explains that their parent’s death anniversary was a few days after the incident and so he wanted to stay with Hee Seop. Because there was a possibility that the police would be searching for them, they decided to hide in an abandoned house, the same house where Kyung Ae was found dead.

Yu Seop tells Hae Joon that after saving Kyung Ae from the thugs, she had followed Yu Seop to the abandoned house, and after hearing about Yu Seop and Ju Young’s story Kyung Ae wanted to help them in any way she could.  The night she was murdered, Yu Seop left for Seoul and regretted leaving because if he had stayed, he could have protected them both.  Hae Joon tells Yoon Young that he could not understand the mystery of the phrase left by the culprit at the murder scenes.  Yoon Young recalls seeing a book in Ju Young’s bag.  Kyung Ae was bringing books to Ju Young and Yu Seop. Yoon Young asks him where the books are, speculating that the culprit might have taken them. 

There is a loud knock on the door, and it turns out to be Yeon Woo.  He urgently needs to use the washroom.  Hearing the knock, Yoon Young had started clearing all the papers related to the case.  Yoon Young asks Hae Joon why it was booked.  She tells him that this isn’t a coincidence as she was an editor, her mother wanted to be a writer, and Mi-Sook was an author.  

As Soon Ae sees the stash of money, she recalls her happy times with Kyung Ae.  She remembers her sister’s words; Kyung Ae had asked Soon Ae to mention her name in a book if she ever became a writer as she wanted to be remembered forever.  She tells her that she will become popular and leave traces of her everywhere.  Soon Ae is looking for something on her bookshelf but does not find it.

At school, everyone talks about and is surprised that Mi Sook has become a novelist.  Yoon Young realizes she has missed her chance to change this aspect of the past.  The drill master informs the Principal that the newspapers want to interview Mi Sook.  Everyone is reading Mi Sook’s book “Small Door” in the classroom.  Soon Ae sees the book and realizes that it was stolen from her.  During the newspaper interview, Mi Sook tells the interviewers that she was fulfilling her mother’s dream and that she shared the same dream too.  The interviewers tell them the book is selling well in Seoul and could soon be a best seller.

Soon Ae walks in and calls Mi Sook out to have a conversation. Soon Ae confronts Mi Sook about the stolen notebook but Mi Sook denies the accusation.  Soon Ae tells her that it wasn’t fair, and she will tell everyone about what she did and everything Soon Ae had done for her.  Mi Sook pushes her and threatens her by saying that what happened to her sister should not happen to her. Soon Ae is asked asked if she has any proof of the novel being hers.  Mi Sook walks off and finds Yoon Young.  Mi Sook tells her she wondered why people who read act smart and special, and it annoyed her, but after she wrote a novel, she’s enjoying this snobbery.

Yoon Young tries to convince Soon Ae not to give up without a fight.  Soon Ae tells her that if Mi Sook says that she did not steal the novel, everyone will believe her, and the only person who saw her write the novel was Kyung Ae.  Soon Ae wants to let this go because if her parents find out, they will be unhappy.  Yoon Young asks her to pretend she has more members in her family, and one of them wants her name on the book and nobody else’s and wants her to live her life the way she wants.

Yoon Young takes Soon Ae to the hospital to meet Hee Seop. Hee Seop tells Soon Ae that it was her novel and she had to protect it at all costs, and he will cheer her on.  Soon Ae’s mother hits her and tells her that she regretted not encouraging her sister when she wanted to be Miss Korea.  She tells Soon Ae that she would be proud of her if she became a novelist and should not be intimidated by these people.  Yoon Young takes Soon Ae to the publishing house where she will go on to work for 30 years. 

In the publishing house, Mi Sook tries to intimidate Soon Ae, asking if she wants her parents to suffer more and if she will be responsible if it becomes a scandal.  Mi Sook asks her if she has proof that she had stolen the novel.  Yoon Young tells her that criminals ask for proof because stealing a notebook is insufficient to complete a novel.  Soon Ae gives her all the drafts before she finishes her novel, and Mi Sook tells the publisher that Soon Ae has fabricated it after her novel was released.  Soon Ae tells the publisher that she can answer any question related to the novel, but Mi Sook can’t.  The publisher takes the draft to read, and Mi Sook’s mother asks him what he is doing, and he tells her that he needs to see this and ask Soon Ae questions.  Her mother gets angry and leaves the room, followed by Mi Sook. 

The publisher asks for all the books to be retrieved from the shelves, and all the interviews with the novelist to be canceled.  He also mentions that the book’s plot will remain the same, and the name of the writer and the novel cover will change.  Soon Ae also dedicated her book to her sister and parents.  Yoon Young asks Soon Ae who Y is, in the novel and she tells her that it is the initial of her future daughter.  Soon Ae thanks Yoon Young for bringing her novel back to her.

At Mi Sook’s house, her mother is furious with Mi Sook.  She tells Mi Sook that having a daughter like her, lacking in everything, is humiliating.  Mi Sook cries and begs her mother to forgive her.  Mi Sook walks and sees her poster being taken down and her books boxed.  Yoon Young wakes up from a nightmare again, but the Bong Bong Teahouse matchbox that had fallen before is missing.  She goes to the garage and asks Hae Joon if she could sit next to him as she is scared.  He agrees, and after sitting next to him, she feels better.

She tries to open up about her nightmare to Hae Joon.  She tells him that she dreamt about how happy her parents were.  Hae Joon tells her that he had gone to watch a movie and saw his mother, and it felt weird to see her after she had abandoned him.  He tells her that he never once looked for her as it was her choice to leave, but this car had brought him to 1987.  He asks Yoon Young if this is an excuse.  She tells him that he wants to see his mother just once in his life.  He tells her that he is done with her now that he has seen her. He does not want to interfere in lives that need not be interfered with. As Yoon Young is about to tell Hae Joon about her dream, Yeon Woo interrupts, asking to talk to Hae Joon.

Mi Sook asks Min Soo if he remembers the time when she was 13 and he physically abused her. Luckily, her mother had witnessed it, but she paid no heed to this, and after that, such occurrences kept happening.  She also tells him that her husband was physically abusive towards her mother.  She tells him she wanted to be visible in her mother’s eyes as she always felt invisible in that household.

Yeon Woo tells Hae Joon that whenever he looks inside the car, he is weirded out by a feeling that it should not be there. Mi Sook goes to the police station and tells Dong Sik to keep what she says a secret and tells him that her brother was the culprit behind the murders that took place.

The episode ends with Yeon Woo asking Hae Joon about the murders and the matchbox from his girlfriend’s teahouse, while showing him the matchbox and asking if it was that one. He tells him that he picked it up when he visited the washroom and was wondering why he had it. Hae Joon is frustrated and seeing his expression, Yeon Woo gets teary-eyed and asks him who in the world he is.

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1), Episode 11 Ending, Explained:

An interesting turn of events is about to happen with an ending like that.  Hae Joon and Yoon Young are almost caught because of a careless mistake.  Will Hae Joon reveal the truth to Yeon Woo or face the consequences of Yeon Woo’s wild imagination?  If Yeon Woo does not know the truth, he will probably assume Hae Joon is the murderer, causing a major problem among the variables.  At the same time, Mi Sook informs the police that her brother is the murderer.  The next episode is set to be chaotic. 

This episode did give us a win, with Soon Ae being recognized for her work and her dream of becoming a writer coming true.  How will this change affect the future?  Will Mi Sook still be able to be the great novelist she is, as she has a scandal under her name already?  If Min Soo is arrested, then will there be no 4th victim? 

As the episodes continue, it becomes apparent that Mi Sook has a high chance of being the killer.  We get to see the most vulnerable and horrific back story of why Mi Sook is how she is.  Yoon Young’s nightmare is another aspect to be observed.  In her nightmare, she does not exist but has happy parents.  Will her nightmare become a reality?

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My Perfect Stranger AKA Run Into You (Season 1) Episode 11 Links – IMDb
My Perfect Stranger AKA Run Into You (Season 1) Episode 11 Cast – Dong-wook Kim, Ki-joo Jin, Lee Ji-hyun

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