I'm Sorry, I Love You

Synopsis

Cha Moo-hyuk is a small-time scam artist working the streets of Australia. He was abandoned by his parents as a child and he was adopted by a couple in Australia. Unfortunately, he was mistreated by his foster parents and thus roams the streets, cheating tourists out of their money when they are lost. It is through one of these scams that he bumps into Song Eun-chae.

Song Eun-chae is the fashion coordinator and childhood friend of a famous Korean singer, Choi Yoon. She sees Yoon as her life's focal point and does everything she can to please him. Yoon visits Melbourne, Australia to do a photoshoot with another famous Korean actress, Kang Min-joo, who also happens to be good friends with Eun-chae. Yoon asks Eun-chae to get him close to Min-joo, as he is interested in her. It breaks Eun-chae's heart but she does so accordingly. One day, Eun-chae's luggage and money are stolen by the same band of vagrant criminals as Moo-hyuk.

Left alone by Yoon, tired, hungry and helpless, she wanders the streets aimlessly until she bumps into Moo-hyuk who, moved by her plight, helps her in a heroic action scene. When some gangsters threaten her, she is forced to spend a night with him outside on the docks. The next morning, she awakens to find her luggage and money right in front of her. Moo-hyuk managed to find the stuff stolen by his gang and return it all to Eun-chae, and with her stuff, she's happily on a plane back to Korea, when she bumps into Min-joo and Yoon, who are now a couple.

Several weeks later, Moo-hyuk receives an invitation to his ex-girlfriend's wedding. At the wedding, Moo-hyuk is accidentally shot twice in the head when someone attempts an assassination on his ex-girlfriend's husband. The doctor saves him but can only remove one bullet. The remaining bullet is lodged too deeply within his head such that it cannot be surgically removed. It's killing him, and he has no longer than a year to live. Moo-hyuk is a dying gangster whose girlfriend is now married; in short, his life is an utter mess.

Guilt-stricken, his ex-girlfriend gives him a huge stash of cash and tells him to go back to his native country Korea to find his birth parents. He does so, and finds out that his mother is none other than the famous Korean actress, Audrey. Her son is Choi Yoon and both mother and son are adored by the Korean people as they portray a loving relationship and are immensely popular.

Moo-hyuk is heartbroken when he manages to enter the house of Audrey, and sees the portrait of Yoon and his mother. He bumps into his birth mother for the very first time in his life, but can't help but feel so betrayed because she is doing so well in life, whilst he was suffering in Australia and now just living out the remainder of whatever little time he has left.

Full of rage, he vows revenge upon the mother and son. He starts by getting close to Yoon, eventually becoming his road manager. Bit by bit, he plots to bring Yoon and his mother down, but never expected himself to fall slowly in love with Song Eun-chae, the girl he helped in Australia. Until one day, Yoon becomes seriously injured in a car accident; he will die without a heart transplant. Moo-hyuk is suddenly faced with the decision of saving his brother, or letting him die as revenge.

Eventually Moo-hyuk finds out the truth that his mother actually did not abandon him. His mother had had an affair with a married man, and Audrey's parents had instructed Eun-chae's father (who was then Audrey's chauffeur) to give away Moo-hyuk and his twin sister as soon as they were born. Audrey was not even cognizant of the fact that she had given birth to twins, and was simply told that her child had died. Eun-chae's father did this because thought he was "saving" Audrey's reputation because if Korean society was to find out about her affair then she would be disgraced. Audrey had adopted Choi Yoon in memory of her son, still believing Moo-hyuk was dead.

Once Moo-hyuk discovers this, Eun-chae's father admits to the truth, and tells him that he is willing to accept any punishment. Moo-hyuk shouts at him, restraining himself from strangling him. He tell Eun-chae's father that one day he will receive one.

Moo-hyuk kills himself in a dramatic motorcycle accident so that his heart could be transplanted into Yoon. Before his death, he calls Eun-chae and tells her, "I'm sorry. I love you." His heart is given to Yoon, who makes a full recovery. One year later, a heartbroken Eun-chae goes to Melbourne, Australia, and then wanders through the same neighborhoods where she and Moo-hyuk first met, and finally arriving at his grave, lies down on the ground next to his plot and appears to sleep peacefully, despite her crying. She dies there next to a small red bottle, leading the viewer to believe she committed suicide by drinking poison. This is the apparent punishment that Eun-chae's father receives - the death of his own daughter.

Main characters

Supporting characters

Episode ratings

Source: TNSMK Media Korea

Music

The original soundtrack of the series was released as two parts by BMG (KR). The first part was released on November 15, 2004 and the second one on December 24, 2004.

International broadcast

Animation

G&G Entertainment released a 35-minute animated version of the drama, titled Between of One Year, consisting of highlights from the drama and new scenes dealing with the year following Moo-hyuk's death and before Eun-chae commits suicide. The script was supervised by the writer of the original live-action drama, Lee Kyung-hee. It was released on DVD on February 6, 2008.

Remake

Bir Aşk Hikayesi (lit. "A Love Story") is a Turkish remake that aired on Fox TV beginning March 26, 2013.

In Thailand remake under the title ขอโทษที่รักเธอ (lit. "Sorry, I Love You") began airing in March 2, 2016 on ONE HD, from Wednesday to Thursday at 8:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.