Even though most of us love the main lead couple, there are instances where our heart belongs to the second lead, and we are crushed by their devastating fate, all of us love a good love triangle, it’s secretly our favorite, but yes we really hope for better storylines for the second leads, besides the heartbreaks, without crushing our dreams of seeing them lead a happy life forever, let’s just hope that the second leads are not the typical, heartbroken because of their unrequited love type, therefore here our second leads, that stole the spotlight and made our hearts go heavy.
1. Reply 1988 - Kim Jung Hwan
Now, we believed in the supremacy of Kim Jung Hwan’s love, the man of few words, was adorable and we hoped that he would be the one to end up with Sung Deok Sun, but that did not happen, but he became the most iconic second lead becausehe got the girl in real life! Yes, the only reason why fans were not pissed.
2. Extraordinary You - Baek Kyung
The character might not be likable off the bat, but it’s his unraveling, his trauma, his past, his thoughts behind what he says, and most importantly the character development, is why we love him, even though we know that he didn’t stand a chance in front of Haru, our sweet boy, but all of us like a bad boy, who is protective of that one girl they like.
3. Cheese In The Trap – Baek In-Ho
Easily one of the most frustrating dramas, especially when it comes to compatibility, and the lead couple; the lead couple were so toxic that we rooted for our not-so-complicated Baek in Ho to win over the girl, but the girl never noticed him and it ended pretty much one-sided, he is the one who reasons for our heartache.
4. True Beauty - Han Seo-Joon
The popular webtoon turned drama, True Beauty , really messed with our hearts by giving us such an adorable character, but our golden boy Han Seo-Joon is everything one needs, he loves his family, he protects his friends, and he is always there to support Joo-Kyeong even when Lee Su-Ho had to leave, it was Han Seo-Joon who took care of Lim Joo-Kyeong, the heartbreak was intense.
5. Start-Up - Han Ji-Pyeong
This epic love triangle shattered everybody’s hearts, to the point where fans wrote petitions and letters, asking for justice for the nice and kind boy character, Han Ji-Pyeong; when the actor cried in the scene, most fans burned in a fury, there is still so much struggle accepting the fate of our perfect boy.
6. My Roommate Is A Gumiho - Gye Sun Woo
Our recent heart-break, Gye Sun Woo, was introduced as a guy with a bad image, but his character development was all we needed to love this character, he is perfect to the end, even though his love started as a bet, but it was much more, the respect and care the character has shown for her, how do we not root for him.
7. Save Me - Suk Dong-Chul
The very intense drama, Save Me, might not be a romance drama, but we can still feel the second lead syndrome in the drama; even though Dong- Chul was the one always saving her, we could see signs of romance between the characters Han Sang- Hwan, who happens to be his best friend and the female lead.
8. King-The Eternal Monarch - Kang Shin Jae
To be honest, Kang Shin was Jung Tae Eul’s close friend slash comrade, who was always right beside her, to the point where she could not notice him; he is our sweet but rough around the edges ice- cream boy who was always around whenever Tae Eul needed him.
9. Record Of Youth – Won Hae Hyo
Even though playing the second lead gave the actor a lot of praises in real life, in the drama, he had to go through crushing rejections and getting friend-zoned, he played the part of a guy, with lingering feelings for his crush and all of this just made us sympathise with him better
10. Hotel Del Luna - Go Chung Myung
The most bittersweet second lead, played by Lee Do Hyun, in the drama Hotel Del Luna, although we had different opinions about him in the beginning, by the end, we had nothing but empathy and love for the character, and to be able to be a protector for your life, for thousands of years, damn, that just is a different kind of love.
