# Between Steps (2026)

> A former swimmer turned PhD student who lives a quiet, controlled life meets a restless master's student whose romance disrupts his balance.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1105002

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 70 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: romance, drama
- Network: ENA
- Cast: Choo Young-woo, Kim So-hyun, Jeon Seok-chan, Lee Kyu-sung, Kim Min, Ryu Kyung-in, Lee Sang-jin, Park Ha-rang
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39087958/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: tender, bittersweet, fiery, dreamy, sincere, melodramatic

## Synopsis

Between Steps (2026-present) is a South Korean romance drama series created for ENA, a single-season run of twelve roughly seventy-minute episodes. Choo Young-woo plays Park Min-jae, a former swimmer who lost a leg to illness and now pursues a PhD with a carefully controlled routine, and Kim So-hyun plays Lim You-jin, a master's student starting over after losing her way. Their paths cross in a busy robotics lab, where the daily rhythms of research, deadlines and campus life become the stage for a romance that slowly unsettles Min-jae's guarded world. Supporting roles include Lee Kyu-sung as Eom Tae-ho, Kim Min as Choi Han-gyeol and Park Hyuk-kwon as Lim Yong-seok, who fill out the lab and the wider circle of friends. The series is built on intimate conversations, awkward near misses and small gestures that gradually matter more than grand declarations. Its tone moves between fiery and tender, with a bittersweet undercurrent that tracks how each character must learn to let someone else close. Viewers who enjoy melodramatic korean romance with grounded, realistic emotions will find it resonates in the vein of Reply 1988 and Crash Landing on You, and it suits anyone who wants a dreamy, emotionally sincere love story that feels closer to everyday life than fantasy.

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