12 Second Male Leads We Were Rooting for in Korean Dramas

Sometimes, we were wishing these second male leads got the girl in the end.

Korean dramas have managed to become a boon and bane for many people’s existence. While they provide a wonderful, trope filled experience that can easily slide into a historical television show or deep into the romantic comedy genre, there are some parts of these dramas that manage to be frustrating every time. Whether it’s the female lead turning away in anger and the male lead grabbing her wrist, telling her to stop, don’t leave, or a moment of fate adding in a previously unknown variable, it’s these kinds of moments that we live for in dramas. But if there’s one thing about Korean dramas that never fails to be frustrating, it can be the second male lead.

Every drama has a female and male lead, and those are the two who are destined to be together at the end of the show. In romance shows, there is almost always a second male lead to create a love triangle of sorts, and sometimes we can’t help but to fall for the second male lead. Sometimes, he’s the antidote for a toxic male lead that viewers curse at, telling the female protagonist on their television to not go for him. At other times, he’s just a normal guy or a classmate with a crush. These are the second male leads we’re still rooting for even after these shows concluded.

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12. Yang Do-hyuk in Nevertheless

In Nevertheless, the protagonist is Yoo Na-bi (Han So-hee). An art student who has given up on the premise of love after her previous boyfriend does an act of cruelty against her publicly. Throughout the course of the show, she’s hit on by a fellow student named Park Jae-eon (Song Kang), and while their relationship is set to be the endgame on, it can be extremely upsetting for some viewers at how it unfolds.

Jae-on does not treat her well, which is why audiences may have been rooting for Yang Do-hyuk, a popular YouTuber and Na-bi’s childhood friend. He is way nicer to her than the actual male lead is for the majority of the show, making him an obvious choice.

11. Hwang Sun-oh in Love Alarm

Love Alarm ran for two seasons, tackling the premise of what would happen if an app were made telling us who was in love within 10 feet. Kim Jo-jo (Kim So-hyun) is a high school student from a difficult background, and at the beginning of the series, she begins to date the wealthy Sun-oh (Song Kang).

However, by the start of Season 2, it becomes increasingly clear that these two might not end up together by the end of the series, as Sun-oh’s childhood friend, and their former classmate, Hye-yong (Jung Ga-ram) might become the object of her affections.

10. Gye Sun-woo in My Roommate Is a Gumiho

My Roommate Is a Gumiho originally aired back in 2021. Jang Ki-yong stars as Shin Woo-yeo, a 999-year-old gumiho that happens to be the only male one. When college student Lee Dam (Lee Hye-ri) swallows his bead, it forces them to live together, making them fall in love. Granted, it’s evidently clear that the second male lead, Gye Sun-woo (Bae In-hyuk), has no chance, but because he doesn’t know the truth of her situation, he still pursues his crush on Lee Dam. Despite knowing how this is going to end, one can’t help but to root for him anyways.

9. Han Seo-jun in True Beauty

Based on a webtoon of the same name, there are plenty of relevant themes about today’s world in shows like True Beauty. Its protagonist, Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young), has been bullied for years due to her classmates calling her ugly, motivating her to transfer schools and learn how to use makeup.

There, she becomes friends with two of her classmates: Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp). Seo-jun is a character who goes through immense growth throughout the series, and when his hard exterior melts into someone who is kind, one can’t help but to feel bad for him when he’s rejected.

8. Ji Seo-joon in Romance Is a Bonus Book

Book lovers will fall in love with Romance Is a Bonus Book, as it takes place in the publishing industry. Lee Na-young portrays Kang Dan-i, an unemployed divorcee who ultimately gets hired at a publishing company. This puts her on the direct path of the young editor-in-chief Cha Eun-ho (Lee Jong-suk), who will be her romantic endgame.

But before we get there, Dan-i develops a relationship with Ji Seo-joon (Wi Ha-joon), a freelance designer the company is looking to hire. When he gains feelings for her romantically, their unique chemistry is unfortunately set up to fail.

7. Choi Young-do in The Heirs

One of the most iconic Korean dramas of the 2010s, The Heirs was one of the representative shows when it came out early in the decade. Playing on the rich-poor trope, Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye) is sucked into the world of the wealthy and ends up in a strange love triangle between a wealthy chaebol heir Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) and another chaebol heir: Choi Young-do (Kim Woo-bin).

Although both male leads here can be mean to the female lead, Choi Young-do sticks out as he doesn’t leave behind a literal engagement like Kim Tan for Eun-sang.

6. Han Ji-pyeong in Start-Up

The world of entrepreneurship and start-up culture is explored in the drama Start-Up, which stars Bae Suzy at Seo Dal-mi, a humble girl who dreams of becoming the next Steve Jobs, but in Korea. When she becomes involved with the people making these dreams a reality in Seoul, she assembles a team to help her get closer to reality.

But in this show, there are two male leads with completely different situations. The actual male lead is pretending to be her childhood love when he’s not, and the other, Han Ji-pyeong, has a connection to her through her grandmother. One can’t help but to root for him as he helps her on her journey, although futile in his attempts to let his feelings be known.

5. In Guk-doo in Strong Woman Do Bong-soon

Strong Woman Do Bong-soon was a massive success when it first aired in 2017. Park Bo-young is Do Bong-soon, a young woman born with the power of immense strength. At the beginning of the series, she has a major crush on police officer In Guk-doo (Ji Soo), but when she becomes the bodyguard of a rich boy (Park Hyung-sik), it completely changes her love life. There’s a hint of the old friends to lovers trope emerging with her relationship with In Guk-doo, but, alas, it never comes to fruition for those waiting for it to happen.

4. Yoon Ji-ho in Boys Over Flowers

Boys Over Flowers is considered to be one of the biggest Korean drama releases in the 2000s, and it is a major reason why K-dramas are so popular today. However, despite audiences going wild for its pairing of Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho) and Geum Jan-di (Koo Hye-sun), their relationship is actually really toxic in the beginning. He simply doesn’t treat her right. It’s Yoon Ji-ho (Kim Hyun-joong) who treats her with more kindness at the end of the day, and although he doesn’t end up with her, he finishes the show still loving her despite accepting the circumstances at hand.

3. Seo Beom-jo in Pinocchio

Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye are the stars of 2014’s Pinocchio, but it’s Kim Young-kwang’s Seo Beom-jo that stands out throughout the series as a serious potential romantic candidate for Park’s Choi In-ha. He’s a fellow reporter working with her, and as it turns out, he took In-ha’s mother’s phone over a decade ago and reads the text messages she sends thinking that it’s her mother. He falls in love because of that with In-ha, and although his character needs a little more depth at times, he still can be memorable.

2. Baek In-ho in Cheese in the Trap

In Cheese in the Trap, university student Hong Seol (Kim Go-eun) is a scholarship student who ends up being antagonized by the male lead: Yoo Jung (Park Hae-jin). He’s a rich chaebol and a student like her, and, at the beginning of the series, he’s terrible to everyone around him. Baek In-ho (Seo Kang-joon) was adopted into Yoo Jung’s family, but, as it’s revealed later, Yoo might actually be the reason for ending Baek’s piano career.

1. Kim Jung-hwan in Reply 1988

Reply 1988 remains one of the most popular Korean dramas ever released, and there are many good reasons why. But for many viewers, they were devastated when the second male lead, Kim Jung-hwan, doesn’t end up with the female lead Sung Deok-seon (Lee Hye-ri). The next door neighbor who’s always had a crush on her, he’s forever condemned to the friend zone when his feelings come to light. Even more heartbreaking is how he lets the actual male lead romantically pursue her even though he knows he’s giving up his own chance.