About Time (TV series)

About Time (Korean: 멈추고 싶은 순간: 어바웃타임) is a 2018 fantasy romance South Korean television series starring Lee Sang-yoon and Lee Sung-kyung. It aired on tvN from May 21 to July 10, 2018, every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 (KST).^[2][3]

About Time
Promotional poster
Hangul	멈추고 싶은 순간: 어바웃타임
Literal meaning	A Moment I Want to Stop: About Time
Revised Romanization	Meomchugo Sip-eun Sun-gan: Eobaut-taim
Genre	Fantasy Romance Melodrama
Created by	Studio Dragon
Written by	Chu Hye-mi
Directed by	Kim Hyung-sik Park Shin-woo
Starring	Lee Sang-yoon Lee Sung-kyung
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Lee Chan-ho Lee Eon-jung
Producers	Kim Na-kyung Park Eun-kyung Bae Sun-hae Lee Min-jin
Editor	Kim Yoo-mi
Running time	60 minutes[1]
Production company	Story TV
Original release
Network	tvN
Release	May 21 (2018-05-21) – July 10, 2018 (2018-07-10)

Synopsis

Choi Michaela (Lee Sung-kyung) is an aspiring musical actress who has the special ability to see people's life spans. One day, while she's heading off to an audition, she becomes involved in a minor car accident and meets Lee Do-ha (Lee Sang-yoon), a chaebol son and the president of cultural foundation MK Entertainment. After an unexpected discovery that her life clock stops whenever she's with him, she becomes determined to keep him close at all costs. Things take an interesting and painful turn as the two begin to fall in love.

Cast

Main

• Lee Sang-yoon as Lee Do-ha
  • Moon Woo-jin as young Lee Do-ha

A chaebol son and president of the cultural foundation MK Entertainment. He seems rude and belligerent upon first meeting Michaela, but eventually warms up to and develops feelings for her as they spend time together, revealing the gentle and tender-hearted side of him. He receives counselling on a regular basis from a psychiatrist and close friend, Park Sung-bin, since he suffers from anxiety disorders and frequent panic attacks. His relationship with Michaela causes problems in his business and with his family, as well as his fiancé Bae Soo-bong, due to their arranged marriage.^[4]

• Lee Sung-kyung as Choi Michaela / Mika

A young and aspiring musical actress with the unfortunate fate of seeing the life spans of other people, including those around her. After initially beginning to work for Do-ha as his personal driver in order to remain by his side to extend her life span, she falls in love with him. However, she often feels guilty and conflicted of using him for her own benefit, and faces constant harassment from Bae Soo-bong to end their relationship.^[4]

Supporting

Lee Do-ha's family

• Jung Dong-hwan as Lee Seon-moon

Chairman of MK Group. Lee Do-ha's cold-hearted father.^[5]

• Min Sung-wook [ko] as Lee Do-bin
  • Kim Ji-wan as young Do-bin

CEO of MK Group Hotel. Do-ha's older brother.^[6]

• Kim Sa-hee [ko] as Kim Hye-young

Do-bin's wife. An aloof and elegant rich woman who hides a secret.^[7]

• Jung Moon-sung as Yoon Do-san
  • Lee Min-sung as young Do-san

A travel writer. Do-ha and Do-bin's half-brother.^[6]

Choi Michaela's family

• Na Young-hee as Jin Ra-hee

Choi Michaela's spoilt mother.^[5]

• Rowoon as Choi Wee-jin

Choi Michaela's younger brother who falls in love with Sung-hee.^[8]

• Ryu Tae-ho [ko] as Choi Tae-pyung

Choi Michaela's father who is incarcerated.

People around Lee Do-ha

• Im Se-mi as Bae Soo-bong

The director of MJBC music magazine who is engaged to Do-ha and has had an unrequited love for him for several years. Do-ha's relationship with Michaela makes her jealous and insecure about her place within his life and family.^[9]

• Tae In-ho as Park Sung-bin

Do-ha's friend and psychiatrist, and Woo-jin's older brother.^[6]

• Kang Ki-doong as Park Woo-jin

Do-ha's secretary and Sung-bin's younger brother.^[6]

People around Choi Michaela

• Han Seung-yeon as Jeon Sung-hee

Choi Michaela's best friend who is currently working as an assistant director for Jo Jae-yoo and falls in love with Wee-jin.^[10]

• Kim Hae-sook as Oh So-nyeo

A reliable ally of Choi Michaela who secretly shares her same ability.

Others

• Kim Dong-jun as Jo Jae-yoo

A strict musical director from Broadway who is well known for his genius abilities. He is hired by Do-ha to work on the musical production "Yeon-hui's Time Flows Backwards", with hopes of expanding his entertainment group and theatre business into China. Initially, he is very critical of Michaela's talents, but offers encouragement and insight occasionally as the two become friends over time.^[11]

• Jang Gwang as Mr. Park, Oh So-nyeo's boyfriend^[12]
• Oh Ah-rin as Yoon Ah-in

Special appearances

• Baek Ji-won as a wife (Ep. 1)
• Lee Dae-yeon as a husband (Ep. 1)
• Kim Kyung-nam as a police officer (Ep. 2)
• Kim Gyu-ri as Kim Joon-ah (Ep. 5-10)

A Broadway actress and Do-ha's first love.^[13]

• Yu Xiaoguang as Zhang Qiang^[14]

Production

• The first script reading was held in February 2018.^[15]
• Actor Lee Seo-won, who was supposed to play the supporting role of Jo Jae-yoo, was pulled out of the production prior to airing due to criminal charges filed against him.^{[16][17][18][19]} He was replaced by Kim Dong-jun.^[20][21]

Original soundtrack

About Time OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean
Label	Stone Music Entertainment, CREAHUB

Part 1

Released on May 22, 2018 (2018-05-22)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Amazing Thing" (신기한 일)	Lee Sang-hoon	Lee Sang-hoon, Choi Hye-sung	Kim E-Z (GGot Jam Project [ko])	3:14
2.	"Amazing Thing" (Inst.)		Lee Sang-hoon, Choi Hye-sung		3:14
Total length:					6:28

Part 2

Released on May 29, 2018 (2018-05-29)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Yesterday"	Mathi, Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min	Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min	Park Bo-ram	4:16
2.	"Yesterday" (Inst.)		Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min		4:16
Total length:					8:32

Part 3

Released on June 12, 2018 (2018-06-12)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Maybe"	RUNY, Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min	Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min, RUNY	Hui (Pentagon)	4:21
2.	"Maybe" (Inst.)		Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min, RUNY		4:21
Total length:					8:42

Part 4

Released on June 19, 2018 (2018-06-19)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Tears Flow" (눈물이 나)	Mackelli	Mackelli	Mackelli	3:40
2.	"Tears Flow" (Inst.)		Mackelli		3:40
Total length:					7:20

Part 5

Released on June 26, 2018 (2018-06-26)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"My Room"	Mathi, Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min	Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min	Hong Dae-kwang	3:35
2.	"My Room" (Inst.)		Park Geun-chul, Jung Su-min		3:35
Total length:					7:10

Viewership

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	390	436	310	316	348	358	305	473	217	342	262	455	375	304	N/A	346

About Time : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[22]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[23]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	May 21, 2018	1.766%	2.249%
2	May 22, 2018	2.103%	2.842%
3	May 28, 2018	1.338%	1.327%
4	May 29, 2018	1.491%	1.766%
5	June 4, 2018	1.483%	1.595%
6	June 5, 2018	1.652%	2.098%
7	June 11, 2018	1.452%	1.493%
8	June 12, 2018	2.083%	2.344%
9	June 18, 2018	0.887%	1.206%
10	June 19, 2018	1.628%	1.562%
11	June 25, 2018	1.262%	1.380%
12	June 26, 2018	1.888%	1.952%
13	July 2, 2018	1.838%	1.828%
14	July 3, 2018	1.491%	1.739%
15	July 9, 2018	1.239%	1.574%
16	July 10, 2018	1.771%	1.985%
Average		1.586%	1.809%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).