A Time Called You: Who killed Min-ju in 1998?

Min-ju is the real female character in 1998 in A Time Called You and becomes the focal point of Jun-hee’s (Jeon Yeo-been) time travel storyline.

Jun-hee’s life is changed when she learns that a man in 1998 looks exactly like her deceased boyfriend. When she receives a tape recorder with a song, she travels back in time to 1998 and becomes a shy girl named Min-ju. While trying to convince everyone she is Jun-hee, she learns there’s more to the story than simple time travel.

Back in 2023, Min-ju’s uncle soon revealed that Min-ju was murdered in October of 1998. Knowing about Jun-hee’s time travel and becoming Min-ju, he believes she was meant to save his niece.

As A Time Called You progresses with multiple intersecting timelines, the truth behind Min-ju’s murder has two different scenarios and outcomes. Here’s a breakdown of what happens in the K-drama.

A Time Called You: Min-ju is first killed by another student

In 2023, Si-heon (Ahn Hyo-seop) learns a student named Chan-hui (Min Jin-woong) also liked Min-ju in 1998 but soon realizes that his younger brother Chan-yeong (Min) also time-traveled to murder Min-ju.

When Jun-hee first became Min-ju, she woke up in a hospital bed claiming she was in a car accident but was really struck from behind. Jun-hee soon deduces the person must have also killed Min-ju in October.

As she, Si-heon, and In-gyu (Kang Hoon) look for clues, fans see another student also somewhat obsessed with Min-ju. Later on, a class bully is murdered by the killer for trying to post inappropriate photos of Min-ju/Jun-hee in their classroom. As Jun-hee tries to make sense of the details in Min-ju’s memory, she does remember the person was wearing a school uniform.

In 2023, Si-heon visits his old teacher who claimed a student left shortly after Min-ju’s murder. He later learned he was admitted to a mental hospital. The records show the student was Chan-hui, but his younger brother was Chan-yeong. Chan-yeong went to college with Jun-hee and Yeon-jun and is still Jun-hee’s friend. He tries to warn Jun-hee, who is at her apartment with Chan-yeong.

Trusting him, she tells him everything about time travel and 1998. He uses the tape recorder to go back in time as his older brother and murders Min-ju. Chan-yeong realizes that what happened to his brother now makes sense. In reality, he became obsessed with Min-ju after seeing photos of her in his brother’s room.

Going back to 1998, he saved Min-ju from getting struck by a car and walked her home. In a field, he murders her before being awoken by Jun-hee in the present time. He is angered that Jun-hee is not actually Min-ju. The photos he obsessed over showed Min-ju’s real face, but they changed to Jun-hee’s due to time travel.

A Time Called You: Min-ju dies by suicide in another scenario

The K-drama becomes more complex when Jun-hee’s next time travel creates another scenario where Min-ju decides to end her life.

After the first murder scenario, Chan-yeong flees from the police after killing Si-heon in Jun-hee’s apartment. Using the tape recorder, he travels back in time again to the murder and plants In-gyu’s earpiece he found in his brother’s pocket. But further scenarios reveal Chan-yeong has been in Jun-hee’s time travel timeline much earlier before the murder.

The K-drama doesn’t make clear exactly how. When Jun-hee fixes the tape recorder Chan-yeong broke during his arrest, she goes back in time again to save Min-ju and Si-heon. But she finds herself trapped in Min-ju’s subconscious and Min-ju learned to take control.

Everyone notices something is different, even Si-heon. He asks In-gyu who revealed he never believed the time travel story from the start. Confronting Min-ju, she lies and tells him everything was made up to keep him and In-gyu close to her. Later, Min-ju realizes people never liked her, but Jun-hee.

Wanting to be memorable, she plans to get killed. But In-gyu saw her, read her lips, and told Si-heon. Knowing Min-ju lied, they go to find her. Meanwhile, Min-ju knows Chan-hui is really Chan-yeong and asks for his help to murder her. As he plans to inject her, Chan-yeong is woken up in 2023, allowing his brother to gain control again in 1998. He flees the scene.

In-gyu tries to stop her from hurting herself and confesses his true feelings for her. But Min-ju doesn’t believe him and falls to her death. In-gyu is implicated in the murder for having been at the scene.

You can read more K-drama news in our hub here, details about the killer in My Lovely Liar here, and theories about My Lovely Liar here.