Lovely Runner reveals surprise Seo In-guk cameo — but not how you’d think

K-dramas aren’t short of fun celebrity cameos, and Lovely Runner is no exception — but its shoutout to Seo In-guk isn’t what you’d expect.

In Lovely Runner Episode 10, Baek In-hyuk and his band Eclipse are auditioning for a televised competition called Superstar K. Hundreds of people come in to showcase their musical talents in the hopes that they will become Korea’s next big star.

As the auditions move forward before Eclipse’s turn, fans can see an excited young man holding the competition T-shirt over his face. The shirt is a sign that they’ve passed to join the competition stage. But the real kicker is the name on the contestant’s vest. It reads, “Seo In-guk.”

Seo never actually appears in Lovely Runner. The cameo appearance of the actor is more of a shoutout to his real life. Superstar K is a real Korean competition series that first aired in 2009. It has grown to become one of the biggest series on cable television.

So where does Seo fit in? Before becoming an actor in K-dramas like Doom at Your Service and Death’s Game, he was a singer. He became the first contestant to win Superstar K in 2009.

After the competition, he released his first EP titled ‘Calling’ and signed with Story J Company, formerly known as Jellyfish Entertainment. Seo went on to release a few more songs in his career before debuting as an actor in 2012. He gained recognition for his role in Reply 1997.

The big question is whether the Seo’s real-life history with Superstar K will take place within Lovely Runner. As fans know, Eclipse has become a famous band in Im Sol and Sun-jae’s current timeline.

It could be that the K-drama will flip the script and instead have Eclipse become the first winners. Especially with Sun-jae not traveling to America for rehab to restart his swimming career. With Eclipse having submitted their original audition tape with Sun-jae singing, the competition may spark his singing career.

Lovely Runner is available on Viki, and you can read about how Im Sol’s time travel works in the K-drama and other K-dramas to watch in 2024.