Five drama recommendations… to give you second lead syndrome

by DB Staff

Ahh, second lead syndrome. It’s a pain we know well — and you don’t have to have many dramas under your belt to feel the pain of the second lead male who’ll just never get the girl, even though he’s perfect. Sometimes tropey, sometimes agonizing, sometimes created just to give the audience something to clutch their feels over, let’s talk about some of our favorite SLS moments. Because even though they’re painful, we love ’em.

Anser Me 1994 (2013)

I adore the Answer Me series. The nostalgia, the lovable characters, and the sense of community in each installment are hard to beat. There’s something so warm and familiar, like settling in with an old friend. I can’t say I love the whole who-is-the-husband conceit (that’s maybe a bit too familiar at this point), but I’m usually okay with the result. Not in Answer Me 1994. Nope. The second lead syndrome was strong with this one, and I’m not even someone who often gets second lead syndrome. But poor, sweet Chilbongie (Yoo Yeon-seok), always on the sideline, pining with those sad eyes – he got to me.

Childbongie was caring, mature, and considerate, and I loved his and Na-jung’s (Go Ara) friendship. How could I not root for him to win her over? Especially given that Garbage Oppa (Jung Woo) was way too much like Na-jung’s actual sibling to make that pairing anything but uncomfortable for me. Although I’ve forgotten many of the details of the drama by now, when I think of Answer Me 1994, I will forever see the image of a broken-hearted Chilbongie crying alone on the baseball field. Oh, what could have been. –@quirkycase

Answer Me 1988 (2015)

I have waxed poetic about this drama enough already, but I guess no matter how many years go by, this one still feels like a punch in the gut — and a punch in the gut that everyone needs to know about. The Answer Me series is now ~~famous~~ infamous for the who-is-the-husband guessing game, but by the time the team got to the 1988 edition, they were ready to go all in. And by that I mean, misleading us, tricking us, giving us a collection of the most heart-rending scenes in dramaland, and then waving on the way out. I hate it, but I love it.

By the logic of the show, Deok-sun’s (Hyeri) husband in the present day should have been Jung-hwan (Ryu Joon-yeol): if you watch this drama and tell me otherwise, you’re lying. That being said, the drama decided to pull its trickery and give the girl’s heart not to the tsundere next door who adored her, but the cutie pie genius next door (granted, he also adored her). Park Bo-gum smile aside, this failed love line will always be the example of second lead syndrome at its most brutal. And most memorable, going based on how hot and bothered I still get over this one. –@missvictrix

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

My second lead syndrome for Woo-tak (Jung Hae-in) was not one of those cases where I shipped him with the leading lady and was disappointed that he didn’t win her over in the end. Nope, I felt like Hong-joo (Suzy) and Jae-chan (Lee Jong-seok) had better chemistry, and I wanted Woo-tak all for my nerdy, Batman-loving self. Geeky hobbies and interests? Check! A dog lover? Yes, please! A strong sense of justice? Yup! Physically fit and looks good in a uniform? Sign me up!

Even if he didn’t already tick off all my personal what-to-look-for-on-Tinder boxes, he still would have won me over with the quiet way he accepted and rooted for Jae-chan and Hong-joo. Sure, there was some playful bickering between the two men, but it was all in good fun. At the end of the day, Woo-tak also knew he was the second lead, and the graceful way he managed his feelings without resorting to jealousy or pettiness endeared me to his character.
–@daebakgrits

Start-Up (2020)

Ji-pyeong (Kim Sun-ho) had all the makings of a leading man: the childhood connection, a delightful relationship with our leading lady’s grandmother, and the confidence that comes from being a self-made success. We also met him, like, thirty minutes (a long time in dramaland) before our real leading man, so I was legitimately surprised when it became apparent that Ji-pyeong wasn’t Dal-mi’s (Suzy) romantic end game. On the one hand, props to the writers for subverting some classic K-drama tropes and completely screwing with my expectations. But on the other… why did they have to make him so darn likable if they were going to pull the rug out from underneath me?!

Admittedly, Ji-pyeong’s success made him a bit pompous, so he had to eat some humble pie before I started to truly ship him with Dal-mi. But as he stepped down from the pedestal he put himself on, I felt he became a better match for our leading lady. He motivated her and brought out the best in her, whereas Do-san’s lack of confidence often got in the way and even dragged Dal-mi down. I’m all for couples who build each other up, and in my opinion, Ji-pyeong was better — and more experienced, thanks to that childhood connection — at coaxing the best out of Dal-mi. Sadly, Dal-mi didn’t agree, and Ji-pyeong was quietly placed into the mentor-zone, which is like the business casual cousin to the dreaded friendzone. –@daebakgrits

Nevertheless (2021)

Slightly controversial to include Nevertheless in this post of knock-out SLS stories, yes, but it’s here for a very particular reason. While most
destined-to-lose second leads exist in dramas to show us the innate worth of our heroine, the fated fatey fateness of the OTP, and the logic of the heart, Nevertheless used its second lead quite differently: to show the illogic of the heart. From the very start of the drama, our heroine Nabi (played by Han So-hee) struggles with her attraction to bad boy on campus, Jae-eon (Song Kang). Their relationship/fling — when it starts — is riddled with spice, drama, and deep unhappiness on our heroine’s part. There’s nothing about Jae-eon that is good for her, and we see the toll he takes on her emotions to the point where she cuts him out of her life.

All this while, coasting in the background is the second lead Do-hyuk (Chae Jong-hyeop) who’s wholesome and sweet and devoted — everything our hero isn’t. It’s not the typical SLS setup because there isn’t much redeemable about Jae-eon… and in the end the drama doesn’t even try very hard to redeem him. Instead, our heroine chooses the destructive Jae-eon over the wholesome Do-hyuk because it’s what her heart wants, come what may. It’s actually a similar logic to one of my favorite novels ever, Portrait of a Lady, where we watch our heroine basically self-destruct after making choices that she thinks will free her, but in fact, only bind her up more. If Nevertheless wanted to be a little less about sexual attraction and a little more about the human soul, it could have showed us this; instead, we just got a young heroine making a bad choice, and a cute noodle-making, potato-toting character for SLS annals. –@missvictrix

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Five drama recommendations… to give you second lead syndrome