15 Greatest Love Triangles In K-Dramas Ever, Ranked

Like any other medium of storytelling, K-dramas are not immune to falling back on popular tropes. After all, these tropes exist for a reason, the reason being that viewers simply eat them up every single time. One such very popular K-drama trope, especially in romance series, is love triangles.

Now, stories about love triangles have been around for centuries, though the trope has definitely grown more prevalent in K-dramas in the last decade or so, especially since K-dramas have made their way into the mainstream. Even so, the medium has managed to keep the trope from feeling overused, with every other series offering a slightly different take on this addictive trope.

15 Start-Up (2020)

Seo Dal-mi, Nam Do-san, and Han Ji-pyeong

Relationships between coworkers tend to make for some of the messiest love triangles in K-dramas. That’s the case with Start-Up, which is part of the reason the show is so entertaining. In the series, Seo Dal-mi becomes disillusioned with her corporate job and longs for adventure and to make her mark on the world. She thinks she can do that by joining the tech start-up Sandbox Company. She and the CEO, Nam Do-san, form a connection, and she starts to work for him. That connection, however, is interrupted by Han Ji-pyeong, one of the other employees at the company.

Han Ji-pyeong actually holds a debt to someone in Dal-mi’s life, making him feel like he has to protect her. That leads him to become a bit too involved in her life, but also for new feelings to emerge. For those who like their love triangles with plenty of longing looks and heartbreak, Start-Up is the perfect series.

14 Forecasting Love And Weather (2022)

Jin Ha-kyung, Lee Shi-woo, and Han Ki-joon

It might be more accurate to call the love triangle in Forecasting Love and Weather a love square since Chae Yoo-jin actually marries Han Ki-joon early in the series. The bulk of the emotional conflict, however, occurs between Han Ki Joon, his ex Jin Ha-kyung, and his new wife’s ex Lee Shi-woo, who also happens to enter a relationship with Ha-kyung.

The three main characters of the triangle all work for the Korean weather service, while Yoo-jin is a journalist who reports on the weather, and their lives intertwine because of the complicated relationships between them. Ha-kyung and Shi-woo spend one night together after she is cheated on by Ki-joon, only for her to end up as Shi-woo’s supervisor when he transfers to her office. They decide to keep their relationship a secret.

Ki-joon, despite being married, cannot let Ha-kyung go for much of the series, leading him into conflict with both Ha-kyung and Shi-woo repeatedly. It nearly ruins his marriage as he worries he’s not good enough for Yoo-jin and becomes obsessed with Ha-kyung’s new relationship. There’s never a worry by the audience that Ha-kyung and Ki-joon will end up together again, but the drama helps fuel the rest of the story as other members of their workplace gradually become aware of the conflicts, making for a compelling narrative.

13 Boys Over Flowers (2009)

Geum Jan-di, Gu Jun-pyo & Yoon Ji-hoo

Boys Over Flowers makes viewers' hearts leap over one of the best K-drama love triangles. Based on a Japanese manga, it follows a young woman named Geum Jan-di who gets mixed into the wealthy lives of a group of young men at school, namely Gu Jun-pyo. Feelings and interactions blossom between Jan-di and Jun-pyo, but Jun-pyo's friend, Yoon Ji-hoo, also becomes smitten with Jan-di. However, out of all of them, there's one that she has an undeniable connection with.

Boys Over Flowers is critically acclaimed and has garnered accolades at the Baeksang Arts Awards, Asian Television Awards, and KBS Drama Awards. The series is also known for helping to bring interest in K-dramas around the world. It was one of the first K-dramas to see international demand through streaming.

12 Record Of Youth (2020)

Ahn Jeong-ha, Sa Hye-jun & Won Hae-hyo

Record of Youth is a Netflix K-drama with one of the best K-drama love triangles. In the series, a talented makeup artist named Ahn Jeong-ha has a crush on a lesser-known male model named Sa Hye-jun. She gets the opportunity to do his makeup for a show and sparks a friendship, which soon turns into a relationship, but there's one problem. The model-turned-actor also has a childhood friend named Won Hae-hyo who's also at the top of his career as a model-actor. Hae-hyo also becomes smitten with Jeong-ha.

Both seem to be a good match for Jeong-ha, making her final decision all the more heart-pounding. Love triangles always work better in K-dramas when both sides of the love triangle are equally viable. If they aren't, the audience is only going to root for one character and the love triangle isn't nearly as compelling.

11 She Was Pretty (2015)

Kim Hye-jin, Ji Sung-joon & Min Ha-ri & Kim Shin-hyuk

She Was Pretty is a K-drama that will have viewers simultaneously laughing and having their hearts break from the romance of one of the best K-drama love triangles. It all started when Kim Hye-jin backed out of meeting her childhood friend Ji Sung-joon due to him becoming gorgeous and her feeling inadequate. She instead forces her best friend, Min Ha-ri, to take her place.

When Hye-jin is given a new job by accident at a fashion magazine, she then discovers Sung-joon is the new editor of the magazine, hence her new boss, making this one of the best K-dramas about falling in love with the boss as well. However, two love triangles occur. The incredibly charming Kim Shin-Hyuk starts to fall in love with Hye-jin just as her boss starts to remember who she is. All the while, Ha-ri, who pretended to be her at the first meeting, starts to fall for Sung-joon too. Mistaken identity plays a great role in this story.

10 The Heirs (2013)

Cha Eun-sang, Kim Tan & Choi Young-do

The Heirs, much like Boys Over Flowers, is an iconic drama that features one of the best K-drama love triangles that had audiences rooting for both of the boys. In the series, Cha Eun-sang was a normal girl who got to attend an ultra-rich school. Her main love interest, Kim Tan, loved her a lot and tried to help her fit in, but it didn't always work out so well.

However, things get complicated when troublemaker Choi Young-do enters the scene. Young-do was Tan's closest friend before they had a big fallout. Initially, he tried getting close to Eun-sang to get revenge on Tan, but over time, he developed genuine feelings for her and comforted her in times when Tan couldn't understand. The show has won a slew of awards, including at the SBS Drama Awards, the Baeksang Arts Awards, and the APAN Star Awards.

9 Cheese In The Trap (2016)

Hong Seol, Yoo Jung & Baek In-ho

Cheese in the Trap is another K-drama based on a webtoon and has one of the biggest cases of "Second Lead Syndrome" in any K-drama as well as one of the best K-drama love triangles. The idea of this syndrome is that viewers typically want the girl to end up with the second guy because of how much better he is, as a character, and for her. Such is the case in this drama as Hong Seol likes Yoo Jung, but Yoo Jung is reserved and quiet, and no one can really tell what he's thinking.

The two quickly start dating with a ton of ups and downs. All the while, Hong Seol is becoming closer to Yoo Jung's ex-best friend, Baek In-ho. In-ho is loud and eccentric but comforts Seol and knows how to put a smile on her face. Over time, he develops feelings for her, but she's already too invested in Yoo. The K-drama was adapted into a movie of the same name, which was released in 2018, and has garnered acclaim from the Baeksang Arts Awards, the Asia Artist Awards, and the Korean Cable TV Awards.

8 My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho (2010)

Cha Dae-woong, Gu Mi-ho & Park Dong-joo

One of the best K-drama love triangles involves Korean lore and can be seen in the romantic comedy series My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho. College student Cha Dae-woong has ambitions to become an action star, but accidentally unleashes a gumiho (a fox with nine tails in Korean mythology) named Gu Miho, who saves Dae-woong from a fall. Though scared that she will eat his liver like gumihos of legend, he takes Mi-ho in and keeps her identity a secret, slowly falling in love with her.

However, things get complicated when a half-human half-supernatural being posing as a veterinarian named Park Dong-joo enters the scene. He tells Mi-ho of a process that will allow her to become human for good, but completely neglects to tell her that it will kill Dae-woong in the process, as he wants her for himself. The series sparked critical acclaim and has won accolades at the SBS Drama Awards, DramaBeans Awards, and Style Icon Awards.

Eun Dan-oh, Ha-ru, & Baek Kyung

One of the best teen romance K-dramas is a self-aware story inspired by the world of comic books, and it also has one of the best K-drama love triangles. Extraordinary You sees high school girl Eun Dan-oh discover that she actually lives in a secret fantastical world of comics. She and everyone she knows are characters in a comic called Secret, and the omniscient writer has given her a fate she's unsatisfied with. As a result, she ventures out on her own, forgoing the original setup of being engaged to her long-time crush who despises her and having a terminal illness.

She and Ha-ru, originally an unnamed student, decide to rewrite their destinies, but it could have resounding consequences. Dan-oh and Ha-ru fall in love, but this is complicated when Dan-oh's original lover, Baek Kyung, realizes that it's her illness that he hates and that he actually has feelings for her. Extraordinary You is critically acclaimed and has garnered awards at the MBC Drama Awards, the Grimae Awards, and the Seoul Drama Awards.

6 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)

Hae Soo, Wang So, & Wang Wook

One of the best K-drama love triangles is featured in the 2016 time-traveling K-drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Another complicated love triangle, Scarlet Heart Ryeo has two different brothers — Wang So and Wang Wook — who like Hae Soo. It gets even more complicated due to the fact that the brothers are princes, and their father, the king, wants to marry her at one point.

Hae Soo was whisked away from another time and landed in the Goryeo Dynasty as someone else. She falls in love, gets her heart broken, falls in love again, and gets it broken once more. This drama is utterly tragic, and viewers shouldn't expect a happy ending when this one is over. The series went on an awards sweep at the SBS Drama Awards, winning seven accolades, and got national attention for actor Lee Joon-gi (Wang So).