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Hee-wan continues her journey of doing what she couldn’t do four years ago. It takes a lot of courage to let go and be honest but it brings her the comfort and closure that she needed. Now that the journey is almost done, she’s left pondering what’s going to happen next. Where she does she go from here?

Way Back Love: Episode 5 Recap

Ram-woo wakes up at the hospital to find himself greeted by a grim reaper repeating his name three times (cameo by Krystal Jung). The grim reaper shares with Ram-woo that he’s now dead which Ram-woo sadly accepts. When asked if there’s anything he regrets not doing in his life, his mind automatically flashes back to the last interaction he had with Hee-wan at the meteor shower festival and it’s clear he regrets not telling her that he liked her. As Ram-woo trails behind the grim reaper, he learns from her how she was able to get the position given that she’s been dead for centuries. How exactly can he become a grim reaper?

In the present, Ram-woo and Hee-wan link up in an attempt to find his mother. She’s disappeared and there’s no traces of where she could have gone. No one seems to know where she went. But there is someone who Ram-woo thinks might have a clue and it’s his stepmom. So Hee-wan and Ram-woo stop by his stepmom’s art gallery. At first, Hee-wan lies that she’s a reporter but she ends up getting some one-on-one time with Stepmom when she hands over her student ID. Stepmom recognizes the name Hee-wan since that was the name that Ram-woo went by once during one of their interactions. Hee-wan confesses that she needs Stepmom’s help to find Ram-woo’s mom. At first Stepmom declines the request. She’s not so sure if Ram-woo’s mom is willing to see Hee-wan. But it isn’t until Hee-wan brings up Ram-woo’s death and how she wants to apologize to Ram-woo’s mom that Stepmom finally gives in. She’s reminded of the time when she congratulated Ram-woo’s mom on opening her art studio. Although the two ladies originally weren’t on good terms since Ram-woo’s mom had Ram-woo out of wedlock, Ram-woo’s stepmom later shares with Ram-woo’s mom that she had divorced Ram-woo’s dad.

Hee-wan and Ram-woo argue with each other just as Hee-wan’s about to leave on a bus to find Ram-woo’s mom. He doesn’t understand why she needs to go. Can’t she just let it go and move forward with her life? Maybe his mom’s also moved forward with her life and is doing her own thing now. It was neither Hee-wan or his mom’s fault that he died so they both can let it go. Hee-wan doesn’t need to apologize to his mom. But Hee-wan defends herself. His mom is important to her too and she ran away instead of apologizing to his mom before she disappeared. This is what she needs to do. Plus, she’s going to die in two days so this is the last thing she wants to do. In response, Ram-woo grows frustrated. Ever since he appeared in Hee-wan’s life as the grim reaper, Hee-wan never once begged Ram-woo to spare her life. She never seemed sad over the fact that she was going to die. Why is that? Hee-wan doesn’t say anything but they both know the reason as to why she never seemed scared to die. Perhaps it was because she too was waiting for this day to come (wow, this scene was so heavy and emotional! I could see where both sides were coming from and I understood both of their perspectives.. Great scene!).

Yeong-hyun hangs out in a meeting room on her college campus, waiting for some kind of text from Hee-wan. When her group of friends join her in the room, they’re confused as to why she keeps asking them for Hee-wan’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, we return to the time when Ram-woo was barely starting out as a grim reaper. He gets some tips and advice from his grim reaper sunbae (Krystal) on what the hardest thing about being a grim reaper was. And it doesn’t take long for Ram-woo himself to receive the answer to his very own question. From being splashed in the face with water to chasing down the deceased, it’s not so easy to announce to people that they’re unfortunately dead. But there is something that Ram-woo gets out of one particular situation: he coincidentally discovered where Hee-wan lived. And from there, he watched after her secretly to take care of her. He also noticed that his high school classmates moved forward with their lives and went on to become residents at a hospital. But it was only Hee-wan who seemed to still be living in the past. She gets angry at the sight of posters promoting a meteor shower festival and she also cries in the rain at night while walking home from campus. She seems to be stuck in time; she hasn’t forgotten about Ram-woo.

Hee-wan and Ram-woo take the bus together to Ram-woo’s mom’s art museum that’s all the way in the countryside. Things are still a little awkward and tense between them since their fight. However, when they get off the bus, Ram-woo grabs Hee-wan’s hand and the two make up with each other. They can consider this their fun little trip and they head out together to see his mom. Once they get there, Ram-woo gets a little nervous but he also respects Hee-wan’s time with his mom. He gives her the space she needs to talk privately with his mom so Hee-wan enters the art museum alone. It doesn’t take long for Ram-woo’s mom to notice Hee-wan and she’s relieved to see her. Later on that night, they go on a walk together and catch up. Ram-woo’s mom blames herself for running away without getting the chance to say bye to Hee-wan but it’s Hee-wan who apologizes. It was her fault that Ram-woo died. She should have been the one who went to the observatory but she sent Ram-woo instead. And instead of apologizing back then, Hee-wan ran away. Ram-woo’s mom must have been in a lot of pain. But Ram-woo’s mom understands and she wraps her arms around Hee-wan to give her a hug. She’s relieved to finally hear Hee-wan open up to her about her feelings towards Ram-woo’s death. Hee-wan went through so much and it must have been hard on her but it wasn’t her fault. She shouldn’t apologize nor think those sad thoughts anymore. Hee-wan and Ram-woo’s mom shed tears together and share a hug. They finally got to know each other’s honest thoughts and feelings about the one incident that forever changed their lives.

Ram-woo’s Mom and Hee-wan sit inside the art museum to finish catching up with each other. Mom admits that she hated herself so much that she forgot to mourn her son. She was so focused on resenting and blaming herself that she forgot about Ram-woo. She was missing out on life. She didn’t want to do anything or talk to anyone. So she had to learn to forgive herself. She finally started to open up to the world again. Now she no longer blames herself or anyone else for what happened to Ram-woo. And she hopes this is something that Hee-wan can do as well. She hopes that Hee-wan can learn to eventually forgive herself. At that moment, Hee-wan runs out of the room to grab Ram-woo who’s hanging outside looking at some electrical outlets. He gets pulled inside to the same room as his mom and is left alone with her. Upon seeing his mom, Ram-woo’s eyes start to tear up and he’s close to crying. He watches as his mom digs deep into her closet to find the coat that she bought him back when he was in high school. She tries it on in front of the mirror for a few seconds and she notes how warm the coat feels. But really, it’s Ram-woo who’s providing that warmth as he wraps his arms around his mom from behind. He says goodbye to her and breaks down into tears upon watching her leave the room with his coat in her arms.

We then return to the time when Ram-woo learned about what happens to a grim reaper when they break some rules and escape to go see someone. Such was the case when a former Grim Reaper, Mr. Park, escaped to see his daughter who was sick. And because he broke the rules of seeing his daughter, he disappeared forever. He never got to see his daughter or anyone else again. Back in the present, Ram-woo’s mom reunites with Hee-wan outside and hands her Ram-woo’s coat. Shortly afterwards, Hee-wan and Ram-woo’s Mom grow fascinated when the lights turn on in the front yard. It was all thanks to Ram-woo who was playing around with the lights earlier. Hee-wan is relieved to finally receive closure with Ram-woo’s mom but then she grows paranoid when she remembers that she’s fulfilled all 10 items on Ram-woo’s bucket list. This means that he’ll disappear like how he had promised her so Hee-wan begins to panic. She abruptly bids farewell to Ram-woo’s mom and runs up the hill, shouting Ram-woo’s name.

Thankfully, Ram-woo hasn’t disappeared and Hee-wan runs into his arms for a hug and also leans in for a kiss. Afterwards, she expresses her honest thoughts to Ram-woo on how her life has been like since they’ve reunited,

“I lived a messy life after you left like that. It felt like only I was stuck in time. I couldn’t move backward or forward. Everyone was moving forward but only I was stuck. And no one understood me. That was so hard. I was hoping I could just die easily and quietly.

But after spending a week with you, I feel like time is finally flowing for me again. While I’m with you for the first time, I don’t want the day to end. But we only have a day left now, right? Is that true? Will all of this end tomorrow? Are you really here to take me?”

Ram-woo pulls Hee-wan in for another hug as he comforts her. He stays silent and doesn’t answer her question but he knows the answer deep down. He’s reminded of the time when he asked his Grim Reaper Sunbae (Krystal) if she had ever visited anyone. She mentioned that she did visit someone once but that was the one and only time. It hurts to see someone who you care about not doing well because there’s nothing you can do about it as a Grim Reaper so sometimes it’s better to just not know after that one visit. With that, Ram-woo is also reminded of when he discovered Hee-wan as one of the people on his list of clients. Her cause of death? Suicide.

Hee-wan is seen walking up the stairs to the rooftop of her apartment building after leaving a suicide note on her desk. When she arrives, she climbs up on the edge of the rooftop as fireworks explode in the night sky. Meanwhile, Yeong-hyun suffers a nightmare and she wakes up shouting Hee-wan’s name. She has a feeling that something bad is about to happen.