My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1 Finale), Episode 16: Recap & Ending, Explained

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1 Finale), Episode 16 Recap & Ending, Explained: The season ends, and you can be assured that it has a happy and cheerful ending. We do not get to see the futures of every character, but the main characters are living their desired life in 2021. The things that were meant to be changed have been changed.

The article contains spoilers.

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1 Finale), Episode 16: Recap & Ending, Explained

“My perfect stranger”

The season finale begins with the truck driver, glad at the car having been fixed. It was the same driver who Hae Joon and Yoon Young had met when they arrived in 1987. Yoon Young is worried they will be stuck in 1987, but Hae Joon convinces himself and her that he can fix the car. Yoon Young asks if Hae Joon had invented the time machine and he says that he stumbled upon it. They both laugh in frustration.

The principal visits Soon Ae’s house and begs her parents for forgiveness for Yeon Woo’s sins. He blames himself for not raising Yeon Woo right. Soon Ae’s father asks the principal if he can suffer for the rest of his life, and he says he will. He consoles the principal saying he knew it must have been hard for him to reveal his son’s crimes, and Soon Ae’s father is grateful that he did.

Yoon Young asks Hae Joon out for a drink. Hae Joon realizes Yeon Woo has not fixed the car properly and is upset. Yoon Young looks at the positives, but Hae Joon reminds her that they do not have any money. She asks him not to lie as she knows he has money. He admits to running low on cash as he had not intended to stay here for so long. Yoon Young brings up the mystery behind his finding the car. Hae Joon says he is puzzled about it as well. He explains to her how he had found it and tells her that the day he bumped into her, he had received a call from someone saying he was the only one who could resolve the situation from start to finish, but he had assumed it to be a random call. Yoon Young is drunk, and they have a romantic conversation while they walk home.

Hae Joon is trying to fix the car while Yoon Young is eagerly watching. Hae Joon reminds her of her words the previous day about her being okay with being stuck in 1987. She says it is nice to have modern conveniences. Hae Joon asks her to stay at home while he fixes the car.

Soon Ae looks at her face on the poster of her newly released book while her classmates walk out and ask for her autograph. They ask her if she did not attend school because of them, and she says it was not like that and she will attend school soon. They bid farewell to each other. Soon Ae expresses her joy after meeting her friends and they give her a present. Soon Ae gave Yoon Young a copy of her book – the first edition with her autograph – and she had written a note to her closest friend Yoon Young. Dong Sik visits Hae Joon and asks if he knows how to fix a car, and he says that he does not. Dong Sik indirectly asks Hae Joon to visit the principal as he is struggling.

Hae Joon visits the principal and asks him if he hates him as he is suffering because of him. The principal tells him he wanted to meet him one last time to clarify that he was doing okay and was happy not to repeat the same mistakes. The principal apologizes for everything. Hae Joon tells Yoon Young that they can go to 2021 in the blink of an eye, but there are people here who have to endure every minute of those 30 years. Yoon Young understands that he has met his grandfather and suggested that since they could not go to 2021 immediately, they should make memories together that they can cherish in 2021.

Hae Joon takes the principal fishing. He asks him to cut down on alcohol and not skip meals. He also asks him to get a yearly body check-up after exactly eight years. The principal asks him if he wants to do something for him, and Hae Joon asks him to introduce him to fishing at an early age as he loves it. We see a future from 1987 where the principal makes ramen for Hae Joon as they go fishing.

Hee Seop, Soon Ae and Yoon Young are sitting on bicycles. They decided to race, and the loser has to buy tteokbokki. Yoon Young admits to Hee Seop that she does not know how to ride a bicycle. He offers to teach her and promises he will not let her go, but he does, and Yoon Young falls. Soon Ae is upset with Hee Seop for letting Yoon Young fall. Yoon Young hopes for a future from 1987 to have such beautiful memories with her parents. We see a future from 1987 where Yoon Young is on a picnic with her parents, and she is enjoying it.

Soon Ae’s father finds someone lurking around near Hae Joon’s house. He asks Hae Joon to visit him before he leaves. Hae Joon comes home, and the man lurking around visits him. He was the same man who had spoken to Hae Joon the day he bumped into Yoon Young. That man was Hae Joon’s son from the future. He asks him if he has broken the time machine he had given him.

Yoon Young asks Hae Joon if he has fixed the car, and he says he has. She was slightly upset as she had promised Hee Seop and Soon Ae that she would meet them the next day. Hae Joon tells her they can leave the next day, but Yoon Young tells him that they do not belong in 1987 anymore and have to leave. Hae Joon meets his mother and asks if she will give her child up to the principal, and she says that is her plan. He consoles her by saying he understands where she is coming from and asks her not to feel guilty as her unborn child will be grateful for bringing him into the world and will not resent her.

Hae Joon reveals to Yoon Young that the man who had called him was the inventor of the time machine, and Hae Joon had a hidden future, and because of that, everything began in 1987. Yoon Young asks him who that man is, but he does not reveal it. They drive the car and reach 2021. Yoon Young is nervous to see if the future had changed. When they arrive in 2021, Hae Joon receives a call from his grandfather, and Yoon Young gets a call from her mother!

A lot of things have changed in 2021. Yoon Young’s house has changed as she lives in a bigger house. She realizes her mother has become an author now. Her father does not have a limp. They are a happy and a loving family in the present. Hae Joon’s grandfather had marked the date for Hae Joon’s return. Yoon Young is her mother’s editor. Her parents tease her to write her novel, which she implements by calling it “My Perfect Stranger.” Yu Seop is mentally stable.

Hae Joon asks Yoon Young if her parents are suspicious of them both. She tells him they are, and every time they watch the news, they think of their teacher from school. Her parents also remember her from the past, and she tells them that she looks like their friend because Soon Ae had thought of her during her pregnancy.

In 2021, Yoon Young runs into Mi Sook and recalls a conversation with her from 1987. Mi Sook had said she regretted her decisions and had no choice but to live her life wandering around other people. Yoon Young had convinced her that it was not too late and that she could change her future.

In 2021 Hae Joon brought flowers to Yoon Young while thinking about the conversation with his son in the past. His son had advised him to give her flowers as she liked them, and Hae Joon tells him that he did not want to reveal that he was their son as he wanted to keep the relationship fun. Yoon Young asks Hae Joon if they can use the time machine again, and he says they can and decide to go. Before they leave, Yoon Young asks what if something unexpected happens, and he says they were always meant to be together, and if something goes wrong, their future selves will save them. The season ends with both of them driving to the tunnel.

My Perfect Stranger, AKA Run Into You (Season 1), Episode 16 Ending, Explained:

The series has a happy ending as we see Hae Joon and Yoon Young get together and reveal that they will have a son in the future. We do not get to see all the character’s fates in 2021. We see Hae Joon and Yoon Young returning to a happy and loving family. We get a glimpse of Mi Sook, but they do not reveal her future. Overall, the show ends happily, as expected, with all the loose strings tied up.

Mi Sook was one of the show’s driving forces, so it would have been sensible to show a bit of her life. We also do not know if Min Soo has changed, as in the last few episodes, nothing was shown about him. After some characters played an important role in driving the story forward, they left some questions unanswered.

Overall, the show is quite predictable. There is nothing that will make you wreck your head. The acting of the main characters, Hae Joon and Yoon Young, fall flat. Their lack of expressions and reactions to different scenarios killed the show’s vibe a little bit. This is not necessarily a fast-paced, back-and-forth series, but the focus is more on the storyline. In terms of acting, the younger versions of Soon Ae and Mi Sook did a good job compared to the main characters. As a whole, the show is somewhat hit-or-miss!

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My Perfect Stranger AKA Run Into You (Season 1 Finale) Episode 16 Links – IMDb
My Perfect Stranger AKA Run Into You (Season 1 Finale) Episode 15 Cast – Dong-wook Kim, Ki-joo Jin, Lee Ji-hyun

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