*Spoiler Alert!!!!!* Sometimes, we need those Kdramas that will break our hearts and make us ugly cry with their ending. If we are to follow the advice of Aristotle, he did say that tragedy will cleanse us, didn't he? 'Catharsis', if we were to go by his terms. So I have listed down below the dramas, where the lovers were not united at the end, and there is no happily ever after. I have included spoilers, though, so be very careful.
1. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)
The story is of an investigator who tries to solve a murder case that has been covered in the garb of suicide. Gradually it becomes his obsession. Soon his younger sister meets a man who is in some way connected to the manslaughter case. He(the detective) tries to create distance between his sister and the other man, whom the detective knows for sure that he is not a good man. But in vain, for his sister deeply sympathizes with him. The drama ends with the detective's sister and the man she loves dying in each other's arms.
2. The Hymn Of Death (2018)
The male lead is a stage drama writer, while the female lead is the first Korean soprano. The male lead, though married, falls for the female lead, and this historical drama set in Korea which was under Japanese occupation, gradually leads to an end through various twists and turns where tragedy befalls this couple.
3. Mr. Sunshine (2018)
The story is of a Korean boy who boards an American warship that had come to the Joseon-led Korea in 1871. After a few years, when he returned, he was an American soldier. He falls in love with a girl of blue blood. The chemistry between the male and female lead is beautiful, which is why it hurts more when the male lead dies at the end of the drama. A heart-wrecking end that will probably leave you crying for days.
4. A Korean Odyssey (2017)
The female lead has the eyes to see spirits. When she is but a little girl she meets the male lead, who is a supernatural being. She frees him, when he promises her his protection in return. But he tricks her, and leaves her alone. They meet again, when she has grown up to be the owner of a real estate company. They fall in love, and are ready to give their lives for each other, but in the end, the female lead dies leaving, not just the male lead but also us heartbroken.
5. Black (2017)
Two lovers who defy the laws of heaven and, therefore, not surprisingly, have a tragic end. The male lead was possessed by a Grim Reaper and is a detective by profession. The female lead, on the other hand, can see the shadow of death. This uncanny duo sets out to save the people's lives disregarding the laws set by heaven, and meets a tragic end.
6. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
The female lead gets transported back in time and inhabits the body of a 16-year-old living in the Goryeo dynasty. She unintentionally gets entangled in the palace intrigues as many of the princes have been enamored by her. The drama ends on a sad note which will leave anyone crying.
7. Uncontrollably Fond (2016)
Two classmates who were irrevocably in love with each other during their teenage years get separated due to unavoidable circumstances. They meet again as adults, and gradually fall in love with each other and soon, the male lead gets ill, and the disease is not cured till the very end. Instead, the couple accepts the situation which they are in, which is probably more heartbreaking, the inevitability of a tragedy.
8. Cheese In The trap (2016)
The male lead is the wealthy heir to a multinational company, whereas the female lead is struggling not to let her poverty become her handicap. The two meet in college, where the female lead hears rumors about her senior(the male lead), who is a broody man known to manipulate those he dislikes. As time goes by, the male lead's attention and reformed attitude towards her baffles the female lead, but the two end up dating. However, some incidents make the male lead believe he is not worthy of the female lead, and thus, they get separated.
9. Empress Ki (2013)
This drama is one of women empowerment. The female lead slowly becomes one of the most powerful and influential empresses and rises like a phoenix from the ashes of her painful past. But, life isn't fair and thus the man she loves dies in the end, leaving her to survive in a world where she didn't get her happily ever after.
10. I'm Sorry, I Love You (2004)
This story left scars in my heart; it is a paradigm of its genre. The female lead loves someone else but falls in love with the male lead, whom she disliked from the first time they met. The male lead, entangles himself in a dangerous situation for the sake of his brother and, unfortunately dies. What made me cry was when he called the female lead in his last moments to tell her, "I'm sorry, I love you."
