Kdramas would be nothing without the cliche love stories, a dramatic course of events, and a classic love triangle. The tension between the main and the second lead always tends to keep the audience hooked to their seats. The dilemma that the main character goes through and the guy whom she chooses often tends to connect the audience to the characters in a better manner. So let’s look at some of the Top 10 Love triangles in Kdramas:
1. Boys Over Flowers
This popular adaptation of a Japanese manga followed the story of a poor girl, Geum Jan-Di who surprisingly gets enrolled in a prestigious school where she encountered the F4, an elite group of the school. Apart from a blooming romance between her and the leader, this drama also had one of the most classic love triangles between a rich boy, a poor girl, and his best friend. The obstacles didn't end there, because a series of events like the return of the lead's ex, memory loss, issues with the family, etc. followed immediately after. The engaging storyline and excellent cast of this drama have continued to attract the hearts of audiences worldwide.
2. True Beauty
This rom-com webtoon adaptation was released in 2020 and followed the story of a high school girl, Lim Ju Kyung, who was insecure about her face since childhood and used makeup as protection from her bullied past, and Lee Su Ho, the school crush with a cold demeanor who had secrets of his own. Eventually, they fell in love but faced some complications when Han Seo Jun, a rebel with an adorably warm heart, fell in love with Lim Ju Kyung. Their relationship continued to be tested when one of her classmates and the school topper, Kang Soo-Jin fell in love with Lee Su Ho. This drama had a mix of romance, drama, and comedy, making it a binge-worthy series!
3. Don't Dare To Dream
This romance drama followed the story of a weather reporter, Na-ri who had a one-sided crush on her agency's lead anchor, Hwa-Sin for 3 years. However, things changed when Hwa-Sin's best friend came into the picture. They met each other for the first time on a flight to Thailand after which he pursued her seriously. This drama portrayed a typical love triangle with a unique twist of her taking a break from them until she was sure about her choice. This drama was an adorable and romantic mix of the journalism industry of Korea which kept the audience engaged till the end.
4. The Heirs
This drama was considered to be the epitome of a love triangle in Korean Dramas. The story revolved around an heir to a wealthy family empire, Kim Tan, who was studying in the United States, and the daughter of his maid, Go Eun Sang, who met Kim Tan in the States when she visited her sister. Their relationship already had a major chunk of difficulty regarding their difference in family status and wealth, but the scenario became complicated, when his arch enemy, Choi Young Do falls in love with Go Eun Sang and his family forcibly engaged him with Yoo Rachel, the mean girl of the school. The tension between the characters and the different hurdles that the couple went through, made this one of the most popular dramas of its time.
5. Cinderella With Four Knights
This drama was released in 2016 and followed the story of an actual Cinderella, Eun Ha-Won, who was mistreated by her stepmother and step-sister and had a life-changing experience when she was hired by a wealthy man, to live with his spoiled grandsons to mend their ways, in exchange for money. All 4 cousins were different in their ways and would never reach a middle ground, despite living together. The plot eventually revealed different layers of angst, jealousy, drama, and romance when 3 of them fell in love with her.
6. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
This romantic comedy revolved around two childhood friends, Kim Bok Joo, a weightlifter, and Jung Joon Young, an aspiring swimmer with a traumatic past. However, before their love story, Kim Bok Joo fell in with his cousin, Jung Jae-Yi who was a doctor. However, this drama had a unique twist to the love triangle wherein Kim Bok Joo had an innocent and childish crush on an adult who never felt the same about her. Eventually, she realized her mistake and the story blossomed into an adorable love story between Kim Bok Joo and Jung Joon Young.
7. Love Alarm
This webtoon adaptation followed the story of an app called ‘Joalarm’, a buzz among high school students, who used the app to identify the people who liked them within a radius of 10m. Amongst the hundreds of users were Kim JoJo, a poor girl who worked part-time, Hwang Sun-Oh, a popular guy in the school who made her love alarm ring and Hye-Young, the childhood best friend of Sun-Oh who was also secretly in love with Kim JoJo. Eventually, the story portrayed a spiralling love triangle between them and revealed different adorable and romantic moments between them, which made this drama binge-worthy.
8. She Was Pretty
This drama revolved around a formerly beautiful and popular girl, Kim Hye-Jin, whose beauty started to deteriorate with age, and her chubby best friend/ first love, Ji Sung Joon who grew up to be an extremely handsome and successful as well as turned out to be the editor of her company. In their twisted game of hide seek, came another man, Kim Shin Hyuk, an employee of the same company and who fell in love with Hye-Jin, regardless of her external beauty. The journey between the three characters was filled with romance, drama, and comedy, making it a great weekend watch!
9. Who Are You: School 2015
This high school drama revolved around a pair of identical twins, Lee Eun-Bi and Go Eun Byeol, who were separated and living different lives, one as an orphan and the other as a popular and wealthy girl. The drama journeyed through thrilling and engaging incidents of a missing sister, the other one replacing her and revealing the secret behind them all. However, amidst the chaos, a love triangle bloomed between Han Yi An, a handsome swimmer and lead of the story, Eun-Bi, and Gong Tae Kwang, the second lead with a difficult past.
10. Reply 1988
Set in the era of the 1980s, this nostalgic yet beautiful family drama revolved around the lives of 5 childhood friends and their families who lived and grew up in the same neighborhood. This drama had a very cute and less complicated love triangle between Deok Sun, the lead character, and her two best friends, Jung Hwan, the one who would always tease her, and Choi Taek, an innocent and secret admirer of Deok Sun. Eventually, they portrayed a mutual understanding between the two of them and remained great friends till the end.
