The two series are alike when it comes to the relationships between the family members. In both the girl has to suffer the bulling from her step-mother and step-sister. Also both girls seem to like the same man.
In both series the main couple meet accidentally many times. The girl even comes to his house invited by one of his family's member.
Star in My Heart (1997) and Lovely Runner (2024) share a striking narrative foundation that bridges two entirely different eras of Korean television by focusing on the intense, barrier-breaking romance between a superstar musician and an ordinary woman. At the center of both dramas is a male lead—Kang Min and Ryu Sun-jae, respectively—who navigates a high-pressure entertainment industry while harboring deep personal trauma, yet willingly throws away his top-tier celebrity status, agency boundaries, and public image out of absolute devotion to his first love. This shared dynamic blurs the lines between fiction and reality, as the iconic emotional ballads performed by the characters on-screen—Kang Min’s rock ballad "Forever" and Eclipse's viral hit "Sudden Shower"—both crossed over into the real world to dominate domestic and global music charts. Furthermore, both narratives thrive on the immense societal and industrial gap between the leads; whether it is a wealthy 1990s pop star fiercely protecting a struggling, orphaned fashion designer or a modern-day top idol altering timelines to save his most passionate fan, both stories capture the public's imagination by showing a larger-than-life idol who treats an ordinary girl as his entire universe.
