20 Best K-Dramas About First Love

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Korean dramas, or K-dramas, cover a wide range of genres, from thrilling mysteries to feel-good everyday stories. However, romantic K-dramas are the most popular, especially those focused on first love. These stories often use familiar themes and simple plots, leading to satisfying and happy conclusions, which is why they’ve become so beloved by viewers around the world and earned a lot of praise.

Many of the most beloved couples in K-dramas share a sweet story of first love. These dramas can be quite diverse – some are simple and heartwarming, while others playfully twist the typical tropes. But no matter how they’re told, stories about first love always have a special appeal.

Our Blues

2022

Our Blues is a wonderful Korean drama that tells the stories of many different people living on the beautiful island of Jeju in South Korea. The show explores various relationships, from old friendships being rekindled to a mother starting a new chapter, and features a lot of heartwarming romance. One particularly engaging storyline follows the connection between two high school students, Jung Hyun (played by Bae Hyun-sung) and Bang Young-joo (Roh Yoon-seo).

Young lovers Bang Young-joo and her partner had plans to build a life together, hoping to eventually move to a city like Seoul. However, those plans changed when Young-joo discovered she was pregnant, forcing her to reconsider her future.

Love Next Door

2024

Many first love stories, especially in K-dramas, begin with friends falling in love. However, Love Next Door offers a fresh take on this familiar theme. Bae Seok-ryu, played by Jung So-min, and Choi Seung-hyo, played by Jung Hae-in, were inseparable as kids, but Seok-ryu couldn’t wait to move away after school. Years later, she finds herself needing to return home and reconnects with Seung-hyo, who has since become a successful architect.

Even after a long time apart, Choi Seung-hyo still deeply loves Bae Seok-ryu and immediately misses her when she returns. While Seok-ryu is cautious about reconnecting, she finds a lot of happiness and support in their friendship throughout the story.

See You in My 19th Life

2023

The K-drama See You in My 19th Life offers a fresh take on the classic first love story. The main character, Ban Ji-eum (played by Shin Hye-sun), can remember all her previous lives. She briefly connects with Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun) before her 18th life is cut short, and in her 19th life, Seo-ha is determined to find her again.

The K-drama See You in My 19th Life skillfully combines seemingly different concepts. While it starts as a fantastical, supernatural story, it quickly incorporates familiar romantic tropes, such as a love story that develops between coworkers.

Gangnam Beauty

2018

Beyond being a popular drama starring Cha Eun-woo, Gangnam Beauty is a story about overcoming challenges and learning to love yourself. Kang Mi-rae, played by Im Soo-hyang, undergoes plastic surgery before starting college, and unfortunately faces harsh judgment from her peers who mock her appearance.

Cha Eun-woo plays Do Kyung-seok, who fell in love with Mi-rae a long time ago, even when she felt very insecure about her appearance. Mi-rae didn’t realize Kyung-seok was her first love, and their relationship begins with some challenges because of her self-doubt. However, Kyung-seok’s love and encouragement help Mi-rae grow and become more confident when she really needs it.

Start-Up

2020

I’m really invested in Start-Up! It mostly follows Seo Dal-mi as she tries to make it big in the cutthroat world of tech companies, but honestly, the romance is a huge part of what draws me in. When she was younger, she had a pen pal named Nam Do-san who meant a lot to her. Now, as an adult, she meets a brilliant tech guy with the same name, and it’s so interesting to see how their connection develops!

Without her knowledge, Dal-mi had been writing letters to Han Ji-pyeong (Kim Seon-ho), who was pretending to be someone else. This creates a complicated situation where she finds herself caught between her feelings for her first love and a man who isn’t who he seems, making Start-Up a captivating K-drama centered around hidden identities.

Twinkling Watermelon

2023

The K-drama Twinkling Watermelon is a colorful story set in the past with an interesting premise: Ha Eun-gyeol (played by Ryeoun) goes back in time to 1995. There, he encounters his parents as young adults – Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook) and Yoon Chung-ah (Shin Eun-soo) – and also meets On Eun-yoo (Seol In-ah), who is secretly another time traveler pretending to be her mother.

Twinkling Watermelon is a heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking story about family obligations, pursuing your passions, and navigating life as a child of deaf adults. Romance is a central theme throughout the series: Eun-yoo tries to keep her mother from reconnecting with a past love, Chung-ah and Yi-chan seem destined to be together, and Eun-yoo unexpectedly finds herself falling for Eun-gyeol.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

2022

The TV show Extraordinary Attorney Woo beautifully shows that you can experience a first love at any point in life. The series follows Woo Young-woo (played by Park Eun-bin), a brilliant lawyer who has faced discrimination throughout her life because she has autism. Her life takes a turn when she meets Lee Jun-ho (Kang Tae-oh), a colleague from her law firm.

The K-drama series features the compelling character Woo Young-woo and her ideal partner, Lee Jun-ho. Despite facing societal prejudice, Lee Jun-ho consistently empowered Woo Young-woo within their relationship, and he was deeply affected when they briefly separated. Ultimately, the couple achieves a satisfying and optimistic conclusion.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One

2022

Twenty-Five Twenty-One tells the touching story of a woman discovering her mother’s past through an old diary. Na Hee-do, a talented young fencer with a promising career, spent much of her teenage years focused on her connection with Baek Yi-jin.

Na Hee-do and Baek Yi-jin loved each other very much, but love isn’t always enough to make a relationship last. The story ends on a tender note, with Na Hee-do finding peace, though their romance ultimately becomes just a part of her life’s journey.

True Beauty

2020

This popular K-drama, based on a webtoon, tells the story of Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young), who uses makeup skills to hide from a painful past of being bullied. She manages to create a new life for herself, but the school’s most popular guy, Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), actually likes her best without any makeup – preferring her natural face.

Two students begin a sweet relationship, but difficult situations force them to separate for several years. Eventually, they find their way back to each other and discover that Lee Su-ho had feelings for Lim Ju-kyung long before either of them knew it. They actually met as children and didn’t realize they were reconnecting in high school.

At Eighteen

2019

The K-drama At Eighteen is a beloved coming-of-age story that skillfully balances emotional moments with humor. It centers around Choi Joon-woo (played by Ong Seong-wu), a quiet student who’s transferred to a new school as a result of a mistake he didn’t make. There, he meets and befriends Yoo Soo-bin (Kim Hyang-gi), a popular and high-achieving student, forming an unexpected connection.

Despite other potential connections, Joon-woo and Soo-bin were the only true match. They balanced each other out, and their relationship profoundly changed both of their lives.

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2025-12-10 03:01