13 Romantic Korean Dramas About Falling In Love With Someone You Don’t Like
Romance is an integral part of most Korean dramas. No matter the genre, a little bit of romance is sprinkled in most dramas. You may have your personal favorite tropes, but there is no denying the allure of falling for someone you don’t like or wouldn’t like under regular circumstances. This is not a hate-to-love couple but an unlikely couple who shouldn’t fall for each other but destiny plays its strong game to bring them together.
13 Romantic Koreans Dramas About Falling In Love With Someone You Don’t Like
Isn’t it cool to have destiny write a love story? Here are some of the most romantic dramas about couples who shouldn’t have but still did fall in love with each other.
1. The Secret Life Of My Secretary
Image Courtesy: Netflix
Do Min Ik fires his hard-working, loyal, and diligent secretary, Jung Gal Hee because in the past a secretary betrayed him and he is afraid of being betrayed by a long-term secretary once again. Gal Hee is struggling to make ends meet and needs the job desperately. Do Min Ik is not too fond of her because of her poor appearance and bad dressing sense i.e. she wears the same red cardigan every single day.
An accident causes Do Min Ik to lose sight of people’s faces. Which means he can see but cannot recognize faces. So, in such a situation he is only able to recognize Gal Hee because of her stale red cardigan and becomes dependant on her for a lot of his work. His proximity to her and her helpful nature makes him warm up to her as he slowly falls for her. This selfish boss was not supposed to fall for the disheveled secretary whom he had fired. But destiny!
Image Courtesy: Netflix
This is a love story of a super-rich South Korean businesswoman, Yoon Se Ri and a humble North Korean military officer, Ri Jung Hyuk. Had the high-handed Se Ri met Jung Hyuk in normal circumstances, she would never have spared him a second glance (which we do see happen in the show too).
But she accidentally crosses the border and lands up in the much dreaded North Korea where she meets Officer Ri Jung Hyuk who gives her shelter and helps her safely return back to South Korea. After she returns home, she realizes how much she misses Jung Hyuk. The poker-faced no-nonsense officer may not be her ideal type but his caring nature moved her heart. Her wish to see him again is granted when he comes looking for her in South Korea.
Image Courtesy: JTBC
Kyung Woo Yeon falls in love with her high-school classmate, Lee Su and is never able to move on in life. Even after a decade of pining over Lee Su, who rejects her multiple times, her love for him does not diminish a bit. Lee Su moves abroad and comes back only to find out that Woo Yeon is still hung up on him. He still has no interest in her until they meet again and she finally tells him that she has decided to move on.
Lee Su is a loner who has a lot going on in his personal life and hence he has no interest in love. He cares about Woo Yeon but does not like her romantically. His feelings are stirred only when he realizes that he might lose Woo Yeon. Lee Su would not have re-entered Woo Yeon’s life had everything been fine abroad. He had a tough time adjusting in a foreign place and so life brought him back into her life.
Image Courtesy: JTBC
Yoon Song Ah is a hard-working and dedicated employee of a cosmetic brand. She is a great mentor to her junior Chae Hyun Seung who is secretly in love with her. She, however, has plans to marry her long-term boyfriend unaware that he is cheating on her. Hyun Seung not only exposes her boyfriend but also confesses his feelings for her.
Song Ah has always seen Hyun Seung as a junior and she gets angry with him when he exposes her boyfriend. She feels humiliated and dismisses his romantic advances. But Hyun Seung protects her on several occasions and helps her even when she doesn’t ask for it. Heartbroken Song Ah eventually comes to love Hyun Seung who was there by her side when she needed him the most.
5. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim
Image Courtesy: tvN
In this boss-employee love story, boss Lee Young Joon is dependant on secretary Kim Mi Soo for every professional and personal need of his. Overworked, Kim Mi Soo one day hands in her papers as she cannot take the work stress anymore. Young Joon cannot accept the fact that his right-hand and most loyal employee wants to quit.
He tries to stop her from leaving and in his efforts at becoming a better boss realizes his true feelings for her. It is only later that we see how deep a connection Young Joon and Mi Soo actually share. But he wouldn’t have come to terms with his feelings had Mi Soo not quit the company.
Image Courtesy: SBS
Dr. Yoon Seo Jung meets with an accident that causes irreparable damage to her wrist and also her self-confidence. She quits her job at the main hospital and starts working under a senior and experienced doctor at a small hospital in a remote location.
One day when she reports at work, she comes face-to-face with Dr. Kang Dong Joo who was her junior at the main hospital in the city. Dong Joo had a soft spot for his senior Seo Jung and had even kissed her once after a stressful event at the hospital. Seo Jung was in a relationship with another man so did not pay heed to Dong Joo’s romantic advances.
At this new hospital too they do not get along. But then circumstances bring them closer as Seo Jung slowly but eventually starts to like Dong Joo.
Image Courtesy: SBS
If there is anything popular TV anchor Lee Hwa Shin ever felt for the struggling weather reporter, Pyo Na Ri then that was contempt. This arrogant man never spared an opportunity to humiliate Pyo Na Ri while fully being aware of her feelings for him. He kept her at an arm’s length until competition for her affection arrived as his friend Jung Won fell hard for Pyo Na Ri.
Lee Hwa Shin is the typical drama bad boy who does not value a good and kind heroine until her love for him is threatened. He was never supposed to like her but circumstances were such that they kept meeting and connecting with each other and he slowly started feeling for this pretty lass.
Image Courtesy: tvN
Deok Mi is the leader of a fan group of a popular singer. She is so obsessed that her room is filled with pictures of her darling singer. At her day job as an art gallery curator, she does not get along with her boss Ryan Gold who is not aware of her fan-stalking ways.
Deok Mi does not like Ryan Gold and he is not fond of her either. However, a nasty rumor spreads that a popular Korean singer could be dating Deok Mi, and fans start harassing her. These crazy fans could cause trouble for the art gallery so Ryan and Deok Mi decide to fake a relationship to convince the fans that Deok Mi is not really dating the singer and that they should stop harassing her.
The fake relationship leads to creating real feelings for Deok Mi and Ryan who once hated looking at each other.
Image Courtesy: tvN
A scandal compelled Oh Yoon Seo to take a sabbatical from her acting career hoping that the bad publicity will eventually fade from public memory. Ready to make a comeback, she has no option but to work with a lawyer to get into the skin of the next character she is to play on-screen. Much to her dismay, she is made to work with the Kwon Jung Rok who does not like her at all. She tries her best to make him happy but her clumsy work makes him dislike her even more.
But Yeon Seo is a sweet girl and not one to give up easily. She works sincerely to help Jung Rok who gradually sees why Yeon Seo is popular and liked by everyone around her. There was no way Jung Rok could like or even meet someone like Yeon Seo, but dramas enjoy a good surprise, don’t they?
10. My Love From Another Star
Image Courtesy: SBS
Cheon Song Yi is in a relationship with Lee Hee Kyung who wants to marry her soon. She moves into her new apartment where she meets her rude neighbor, Do Min Joon who likes to keep to himself and hates interacting with her. Circumstances are such that she even ends up being a student of his class where he often grills her for her lack of interest in the subject.
They both do not like each other much but Song Yi often gets into trouble and Min Joon is somehow always there to protect her. They slowly grow fond of each other and even discover that they share an old connection. Min Joon is an alien who will be leaving for his home planet soon and so he has no business in Song Yi’s life. But you see drama brings two unlikely people together.
11. So I Married An Anti-fan
Image Courtesy: Viki
Geun Young is a magazine reporter who does not like famous celebrity, Hoo Joon for his arrogance and lack of manners. When she loses her job because of Hoo Joon her hatred for him only increases a manifold. She retaliates in a public manner because of which she is invited to participate in a reality show where she has to live with the celebrity she hates the most i.e. Hoo Joon.
Geun Young and Hoo Joon sign up for the show thinking they will be able to exact their revenge on each other but they only end up falling in love. How can a celebrity marry a hater? Only in a drama is this possible.
Image Courtesy: KBS
A Prince falling for a eunuch how does that sound? Weird. Well, Prince Lee Young is on the lookout for the person who is flirting with his sister through love letters. He finds writer Hong Sam Nom who is famous for his romantic writing and had been writing to his sister for another man. He decides to teach him a lesson and takes him to the palace with him and gives him a job as his personal assistant to harass him.
The more he harasses Sam Nom the more he falls for the cute eunuch unaware that he is actually a girl named Hong Ra On. The relationship of a Prince and a eunuch is not usual and common. It shouldn’t have happened but it did and it bloomed like a fresh, fragrant flower.
13. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Image Courtesy: SBS
Go Ha Jin is magically transferred back in time and finds herself in the body of a girl named Hae Soo who is a part of the royal household of Goryeo. She bumps into the dominating prince Wang So who is feared by everyone around him. Wang So feels curious about this new girl in the royal household but he is not fond of her. She tries to avoid him the most but they keep bumping into each other time and again.
Gradually, he starts to like this clumsy, clueless girl while she still fears him until she slowly falls for the misunderstood prince. Time travel and a love so difficult. This Soo-So couple is one of my most favorites of all time.
Love cannot be forced and the process to earn it is what makes a drama special. From not liking to liking to ultimately loving is a journey romance lovers cherish the most. The way these characters change for love is what makes them so endearing.
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