The Complete Breakdown of 'A Time Called You': Timeline & Conclusion Deciphered

"A Time Called You on Netflix comprises a narrative centered on time travel. With the series out now and available for streaming, we’ve broken down the timeline and ending.

The K-drama story centers on Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-bin) in our present time unable to move on from the death of her boyfriend, Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyeo-seop) a year prior. Sooner rather than later, she starts to receive flowers and a photo of three teens. One of which looks exactly like her deceased love, but in the year 1998. The girl in the photo also oddly looks like her but isn’t."

"A Time Called You, available for streaming on Netflix, revolves around time travel. In this K-drama series, Jun-hee (played by Jeon Yeo-bin) is unable to move on from the death of her boyfriend, Yeon-jun (played by Ahn Hyeo-seop), which occurred a year ago. Soon, she begins receiving flowers and a photo featuring three teenagers—one of them bearing a striking resemblance to her deceased love, but in the year 1998. Interestingly, the girl in the photo also bears a resemblance to Jun-hee, although they are not the same person."

When she receives a tape recorder playing a specific song, she falls asleep on the bus and wakes up in the year 1998. However, she is not in her own body as Jun-hee, but instead inhabits the body of a girl named Min-ju. Soon, she meets Si-heon (Ahn) and his best friend In-gyu (Kang Hoon), and discovers that the man she believed to be her deceased boyfriend is not him at all.

But the K-drama series, A Time Called You on Netflix, is much more intricate than it appears. Jun-hee unknowingly influences Min-ju's life, setting off a complex web of intertwined timelines and time travel as they strive to save Min-ju's life. Prepare yourself for a detailed and somewhat bewildering analysis of the events in this K-drama and how everything is connected.

A Time Called You has Jun-hee trying to find Min-ju’s killer

Jun-hee’s real timeline occurs in 2023 but is transported to the year 1998 with the help of a tape recorder from that time and becomes Min-ju.

Starting with the fragment

Audiences should understand that when Jun-hee is transported back to 1998, she is mistaken for Min-ju by everyone. After being hit on the head, Jun-hee wakes up in a hospital bed. Soon, it becomes apparent that something has changed. The once timid Min-ju has transformed into a bold and fearless individual, as Jun-hee takes control while Min-ju observes events from a room or subconsciously.

Additionally, A Time Called You provides some background information on Min-ju's solitary nature during her school days. However, In-hyu has long harbored feelings for her and, with the help of Si-heon, manages to strike up a conversation with her at her uncle's record shop. The three of them eventually establish a friendship, but Min-ju finds herself developing romantic feelings for Si-heon instead. This dynamic helps to explain why they were featured together in the photograph.

In 1998, Jun-hee is determined to convince everyone that she is not Min-ju. After some time, she suddenly finds herself back at the bus terminal in 2023. With the help of her coworker, she meets the person from the photograph - the current owner of a cafe who used to own a record shop. Through this encounter, Jun-hee discovers that Min-ju was actually murdered in October 1998. As Min-ju's uncle, the cafe owner shares how Min-ju inexplicably mentioned Jun-hee and the year 2023 before her death. He convinces Jun-hee that their destinies are intertwined and they are meant to save Min-ju.

Filled with a desire to see Yeon-jun again and save Min-ju, Jun-hee travels back in time to uncover the identity of the killer. It dawns on Jun-hee that the person who attacked her must be the murderer. The difficulty lies in persuading Si-heon and In-gyu to believe her, but their skepticism fades when another female student is killed, proving that someone within the school is targeting Min-ju.

A Time Called You revealed Si-heon also time-traveled

The Netflix K-drama gets even more complicated when it’s revealed that Si-heon also time-traveled and started the chain reaction of events from the get-go.

A Time Called You suggested the possibility that Yeon-jun may not have died in the plane crash between Korea and New York as initially believed. However, the sequence of events is not as they appear. While Jun-hee, under the guise of Min-ju, uncovers the truth in 1998, Si-heon finds himself falling in love with her. This attraction stems solely from Jun-hee's personality.

Fast forward to a later time, it is revealed that Si-heon is leaving to study in America. Years later, in 2002, he returns to Korea and becomes involved in a bus accident. Upon awakening in 2007, he realizes that he is not in his own body. The timeline in A Time Called You unveils that Si-heon has time-traveled into the body of Yeon-jun, who had been in a coma following a car accident with his friend. Yeon-jun's timeline is occurring simultaneously with Jun-hee's real-life experiences.

Si-heon, having extensive knowledge about Jun-hee's time travel and her love story with Yeon-jun, makes the decision to recreate their epic love tale. He seeks out Min-ju's uncle, who surprisingly believes in his endeavor. A Time Called You introduces a major twist in the timeline when it becomes clear that Jun-hee had actually fallen in love with Si-heon since 1998 right from the beginning. Interestingly, the actual Yeon-jun was rumored to be gay before the car accident occurred.

However, the complexity of the timelines become even more intertwined. On the fateful day that Yeon-jun was believed to have died, Si-heon encounters a man who resembles him, but with a noticeable limp and scar. It is eventually revealed that this man is the real Si-heon, who had experienced his own timeline as it was originally intended. He had suffered a leg injury from a bus accident and In-gyu, in a shocking twist, admitted to the murder of Min-ju. The real Si-heon possesses a profound understanding of Jun-hee and time travel, and his knowledge serves a specific purpose.

He convinces himself that a plane crash will be the cause of his death and attempts to switch to a different flight. However, Si-heon, who is pretending to be Yeon-jun, realizes that his purpose was to meet his death. Without his demise, the chain reaction of time travel would not have been initiated. The authentic Si-heon discloses that upon his death, he will awaken in his actual body in the year 2002, which is the scarred Si-heon that fans witness. Si-heon has journeyed through time to the future, lived as Yeon-jun alongside Jun-hee, died, and then awakened while retaining all his memories as his true self in order to deliver the recorder to Jun-hee.

A Time Called You has a complex timeline for the real killer

There are two versions of Min-ju's death in A Time Called You, depending on the time traveler involved.

Adding to the complexity of the plot, the K-drama unravels the mystery surrounding Min-ju's murder. The actual Si-heon revealed himself to Jun-hee in 2023 and disclosed the truth to her. In their quest to save Min-ju, they join forces to find clues about the killer. Si-heon pays a visit to his former teacher, who remembers a student taking sick leave after Min-ju's death. Later, he discovers that the student was not actually ill, but had instead been admitted to a mental hospital.

Si-heon is shocked to discover that Chan-hui (Min Jin-woong), a fellow student from a different class, is the one who had a crush on her. However, things become even more complicated when Si-heon realizes that she has a younger brother who happens to be friends with Jun-hee and works at Si-heon's old wood workshop as a carpenter.

Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Chan-yeong (Min) becomes obsessed with Min-ju after seeing pictures of her taken by his brother. In 2023, Chan-yeong is at Jun-hee's apartment and witnesses her researching Min-ju's murder. Trusting him, Jun-hee reveals the truth about time travel and the events in 1998. Upon realizing the truth, Chan-yeong uses a recorder to travel back in time, and the audience discovers that he was the one who initially killed Min-ju, but as his older brother.

Jun-hee makes a sacrifice in A Time Called You

However, his limited time is abruptly interrupted by Jun-hee waking him from his slumber. In response, he incapacitates her just as Si-heon enters the scene, leading to a violent altercation and ultimately resulting in Si-heon's demise. Seeking refuge in a motel, our character utilizes the recorder once again, but this time he delves much further back into the past, a time when Jun-hee has already assumed the identity of Min-ju for a considerable duration. Inevitably, he finds himself becoming a relentless pursuer of her every move.

Jun-hee realizes the need to save Mi-jun and In-gyu at all costs, even if it means losing Si-heon, as a result of a series of chain reactions.

It is important for viewers to recall that in Si-heon's actual timeline after the events of 1998 and Min-ju's demise, In-gyu takes responsibility for the murder and is discovered with the body. Following his time in prison, he continues to be burdened by guilt and ultimately takes his own life. Si-heon shares this information with Jun-hee, but she refuses to believe it. She travels back in time once again, but encounters an issue - she no longer has control and is trapped within Min-ju's unconscious mind.

Min-ju observed and learned how to assert herself through observation. Si-heon eventually notices that Min-ju is behaving like her former self, not Jun-hee. Si-heon confronts In-gyu, who admits that he never truly believed Min-ju and was merely pretending.

Later, Jun-hee confronts Min-ju and urges her to reveal the truth about the murderer and his death in 2023. However, Min-ju lies and claims that the story of time travel and her connection to Jun-hee was fabricated to get close to them. Eventually, Min-ju realizes that people prefer Jun-hee over her. Feeling defeated, she confides in Jun-hee that she desires to be remembered and decides to take her own life.

In-gyu happens to spot her and reads her lips, immediately rushing to warn Si-heon. Meanwhile, Min-ju discovers that Chan-hui is actually Chan-yeong and seeks his assistance in eliminating her. They meet at an abandoned building, where Chan-yeong is apprehended by the police in 2023, allowing his brother to take control. In a tragic turn of events, Min-ju takes her own life, leaving In-gyu to discover her lifeless body. Overwhelmed by guilt, he confesses, believing he is partly responsible for her death.

In 2023, Jun-hee comes to realize that Min-ju and In-gyu were both victims of Si-heon's actions. It is because of Si-heon that Chan-yeong murdered Mu-jin and drove Min-ju to suicide. Determined to make things right, Jun-hee travels back in time one last time and gives In-gyu a tape recorder, instructing him to destroy it. She spends her final day with Si-heon, urging him to find her again in any timeline. With the recorder destroyed, the time travel events never occur, causing Si-heon's memories of Jun-hee to vanish along with hers.

A Time Called You ending gives some hope

The final scene of A Time Called You shows Si-heon meeting Jun-hee and feeling an inexplicable connection.

Jun-hee's actions prevent Si-heon from meeting her, falling in love, or experiencing time travel. After surviving a car crash, Mi-jun wakes up and confesses her feelings for In-gyu in a scene set in 1998. Meanwhile, Si-heon returns to Korea and becomes the CEO of a webtoon company. One night on the bus ride home, he hears a familiar song being sung by a woman. Intrigued, he calls her Mi-jun, but she denies it. She exits the bus and Si-heon follows, leading to a moment of connection and shared emotion between them.

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