In today’s world, where creators are coming out with thrilling and intense K-dramas that bring you to the edge of your seats, we often forget the simplicity and the power that those wholesome K-dramas have that lift our spirits on a bad day. Anyone who has watched a few K-dramas must know the hilarious elements they add where the main leads are chasing each other and consequently trip and fall or have the most awkward encounters (hello King the Land!), which never fail to make us laugh. So, here are some hilariously wholesome K-dramas involving heartwarming friendships, sweet romances, and wholesome familial bonds that will surely have your back after a long, hard day.
1. Business Proposal
If you haven’t heard of this drama already, let me give a quick rundown. The story follows Kang Tae-Moo, the newly crowned president of the GoFood company passed down by his grandfather. And like every other rich K-drama CEO, he is obliviously handsome and single. Kang Tae-Moo’s grandfather orders him to go on twenty blind dates to find a woman suitable to marry him since it is time for him to settle down. The first blind date he agrees to go on is with Jin Young-Seo, who is equally wealthy and uninterested in marriage. So, she sends our main heroine, Shin Hari who is her best friend to fill in for her date, and guess where our lead lady works? That’s right, Shin Hari works as a food researcher under Go Food. Thus ensues a hilarious tale of Shin Hari trying to maintain a double personality, Kang-Tae Moo falling for her quirkiness, which had me rolling over on the floor. This drama truly has the most wholesome friendships and an adorable romance.
2. Strong Girl Bong-soon
I will never stop recommending this drama solely based on its cuteness. This story revolves around a girl named Do Bong-Soon with supernatural strength passed down by the women in her family. Subsequently, after discovering her beating up a guy, An-Min Hyuk, CEO of a gaming company, hires her to be his personal bodyguard. The gender reversal is absolutely hilarious, and the fact that the actor playing Min Hyuk (Park Hyung-Sik) had a crush on our female lead (Park Bo-Young) makes him acting as an absolute simp for her in the show even more adorable. The story kind of also has a weak love triangle and deals with the darker themes of a serial kidnapper on the loose, but it doesn’t dampen the light tone of the show. An absolute must if you need a pick-me-up!
3. Fight For My Way
If you like Park Seo Joon, you will love him in Fight for My Way. This drama is about Ko Dong Man (a former Taekwondo champion) and Choi Ae Ra (a receptionist), who have been friends since childhood and now live opposite one another, along with their two friends: Baek Seol-Hee and Kim Joo-Man, all living in the same block. The story follows them as each of them tries to achieve their dreams while overcoming different obstacles in life. The friendship between all four of them, including both couples is so wholesome and filled with funny moments. Perhaps showing the most realistic obstacles in life, this show is very underrated and thus needs to be watched!
4. Shooting Stars
Fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope assemble! Shooting Stars revolves around Gong Tae-Sung, Korea’s favorite hero, and his publicist, Oh Han-Byul, who hate each other’s guts; okay, so more like she hates his guts because our hero is for sure obsessed with her. Having known each other since college, the story shows Han-Byul and her PR team putting fires out all day and Tae-Sung delivers his character with perfect comedic timing, which makes the audience love him even more. Also having a love triangle, the show has a fun and refreshing plot.
5. Alchemy Of Souls
Okay, so this is a more fantasy, supernatural-themed show, but that did not make it shy away from adding comedic relief every few minutes and providing warmth from all the pure bonds created between different characters. The drama shows a skilled, deathly warrior named Nak-su, whose soul gets trapped in the body of a weak girl named Mu-Deok, through the ‘alchemy of souls.’ She then meets Jang-Uk, who is from a prestigious family and requests her to teach him her skills in order to gain access to perform magic. The show consists of two seasons, the second season might need time to get accustomed to, but after that it will indeed become one of the most beautiful dramas that you’ve ever watched.
6. Vincenzo
The found family trope vibes are strong in this one. Vincenzo’s plot delves into, well, Vincenzo Cassano, a Korean-Italian mafia consigliere/lawyer visits Korea in order to dig out a stash of gold hidden in a basement under a commercial office building. In his attempts to do so, he encounters our female lead, Hong Cha-Young, also a lawyer working in that building. He then helps her and all the other people working in that building, fight against a corrupt corporation hell-bent on demolishing the building. Even though it’s crime centric, the comedy in this show will have you rolling over the floor.
7. King The Land
King the Land involves Goo Won, potential heir to the King Hotel, along with his sister Gu Hwa-Ran as they fight for their inheritance. Doing so, Won encounters the best employee of the hotel, Cheon Sa-Rang, who is famous for her charming smile, something that the hero cannot stand due to his past (because what is K-drama without the rich male lead having a childhood trauma?), but still ends up falling for that smile. The leads’ encounters are hilarious from the start, along with their off-the-charts chemistry. The friendship between the female characters is heart-warming, and people cannot wait for the new episodes to come.
8. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?
Probably my comfort drama, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim follows Lee-Young-Joon, a narcissistic CEO of the Yumyoung Group, and his secretary, Kim Mi-So who have been working together for nine years and thus are indifferent to each other. One fine day, Mi-So decides to quit, and upon addressing this, Young-Joon realizes that he absolutely cannot function without his secretary and starts attempting to make her stay while also falling in love with her. The two soon find out that their childhood tragedies might be connected with one another.
9. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
This drama has become popular because it shows the peacefulness of living in a small village, away from all the business of a town. The drama revolves around Yoon Hye-Jin, a dentist who leaves her dental practice in the city to move to a seaside village. There she meets Hong Du-Sik, an unemployed local handyman who goes around the town helping everyone. They both seem to then take a liking to each other despite being so different. This show gives a break from the rich boy-poor girl trope and their relationship is genuinely wholesome.
10. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo
This drama just screams CUTE! Our Weightlifting Kim Bok-Joo is a weightlifting athlete in her college team, having won many competitions. The drama revolves around her as she navigates her way through college as a teen athlete and finds love and friendship; along with Jung Joon-Hyuk, her Olympic swimmer collegemate with whom she also shared elementary school. The fact that both the leads were dating each other in real life around the time of the drama’s shoot makes their on-screen/off-screen chemistry spark even more.
