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In general
- Catharsis Factor: Minhwan and Sumin are both absolutely awful people in both timelines, doing their best to make everyone around them miserable and focusing solely upon their own comforts and happiness. Thus, it's extremely easy for the reader to cheer when they undergo a shared Humiliation Conga in the new timeline.
The drama
- Alternative Character Interpretation: BoA as Yu-ra received intensive and widespread criticism on social media for her "wooden acting", especially standing out next to the nuanced, considerably more powerfully emotive performances of Ha-yoon Song as Su-min and Yi-kyung Kim as Min-hwan. However, Yu-ra's static expression and tone of caustic snootiness may have a reason: she's rich, powerful, and disaffected (enough to be bored by murder), seeing herself as superior to everything and everyone else, if not always unflappable and capable of making every problem go away one way or another. She becomes more emotive in her final scene, having a Villainous Breakdown as she speeds to the airport - fleeing from the fallout of her schemes - that culminates in her death.
- Angst? What Angst?: Thoroughly averted with Ji-won and Ji-hyuk, who are shown having traumatic flashbacks and nightmares about their past lives. This trauma and the emotions surrounding them partially drive their motivation to Set Right What Once Went Wrong.
- Genius Bonus: BTS fans who know the release dates of Dynamite (2020) and Spring Day (2017) may catch on to Ji-won and Ji-hyuk's slip-up seconds before both characters realize the other was talking about songs from the future. BTS debuted in 2013, the year that the two traveled back to. "No More Dream" (which Ji-won was listening to) was on their debut album, and logically is the only mentioned BTS song that can be purchased from a digital music store in 2013.
- Values Dissonance: Ji-hyuk telling Ji-won that he's a good guy and she should believe him comes across as earnest in Korean and smarmy/a turnoff in English, owing to the behavior of "nice guys" who claim they're good yet are anything but. It's especially egregious because Min-hwan, his narrative foil, is a walking example of the "nice guy" concept in English.
