7 Romance K-Dramas To Keep You Warm This Winter
With winter fast approaching, it’s only natural to try to find as many ways to stay warm as possible. That’s why we’ve come up with a list of dramas so warm and fuzzy, they’re sure to chase away winter’s steadily encroaching chill. When the cold weather hits, check out the following seven K-dramas!
1. “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon”
If you’re looking for a drama with a strong female lead, “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” delivers in every way. As tiny as she is in stature, Park Bo Young‘s character, Bong Soon, is physically stronger than probably even Superman, but she’s also an incredibly strong person in every other respect. With dreams of designing a video game whose protagonist is modeled after herself, Bong Soon is soon hired as a bodyguard for the incredibly wealthy and slightly threatened video game company president, Ahn Min Hyuk, played by the adorable Park Hyung Sik. While there are a series of threatening and actually quite dangerous happenings in the story, mostly carried out by the creepy bad guy, played by Jang Mi Kwan, the incredible chemistry between Bong Soon and Min Hyuk is really what drives this drama and makes it a perfect candidate for this list.
Watch “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” here:
2. “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo”
While we’re on the subject of strong women, we have to take a moment to talk about Lee Sung Kyung‘s character, Kim Bok Joo, in the delightfully warm and fuzzy drama, “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.” With dreams of becoming a college weightlifting champion, Bok Joo isn’t afraid of doing whatever it takes to achieve those goals. As such, she’s not like the pretty, petite girls of her school’s cheerleading squad, but really, that’s what makes her so special. A strong girl with strong determination, Bok Joo isn’t easily distracted from her goals. But when she meets Jung Joon Hyung, played by Nam Joo Hyuk, life gets a little more complicated. There’s something so endearing about watching a girl who has never really experienced love fall in love with a boy who is equally awkward and clueless, which is why we just had to add this drama to the list. The warm-fuzzies are nearly never-ending!
Watch “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo” here:
3. “Oh My Venus”
With an emotionally scarred and therefore vulnerable So Ji Sub playing Kim Young Ho, a Hollywood trainer on the run, you already know “Oh My Venus” is going to be good. But when you add to that a clever lawyer by the name of Kang Joo Eun (Shin Min Ah) using her wits, rather than her looks, to convince Young Ho to help her with her own problems, you’ve got a recipe for instant success. That’s exactly what this drama was when it originally aired and why it still holds up to this day. The chemistry between Young Ho and Joo Eun is so completely fabulous that you can’t keep yourself from coming back for more. The looks, the smiles, the slowly melting hearts, and steadily healing wounds…. It’s what every rom-com drama lover lives for, and this drama delivers on so many levels. So if you’re looking for witty leading characters with far more chemistry than any two people should ever be allowed to have, and adorable side characters (including one incredibly squishy Henry Lau) who consistently make you smile, this drama is definitely the one for you.
Watch “Oh My Venus” here:
4. “She Was Pretty”
Along the lines of “Oh My Venus,” “She Was Pretty” is another drama which focuses on the slow transformation of its leading lady into a woman of unsurpassed beauty. But it’s not the physical transformation that makes this drama so great. No, just like in the previous drama, it’s the chemistry between the leads that keeps you coming back for more. Once a rich and beautiful girl, Kim Hye Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) had the world at her feet, but a reversal of her family’s fortune, along with the loss of her outward beauty, has made life since then rather difficult. On the other hand, her once plain and poor childhood friend, Ji Sung Joon (Park Seo Joon), has grown into a rich and handsome fashion magazine editor. Separated as children, the two agree to meet again as adults, but their complete role reversal has Hye Jin doing everything she can to get out of her promise. With this storyline alone, you’ve got more than enough for a delightfully warm and fuzzy drama, but when you add a number of colorful side characters, namely Super Junior’s Choi Siwon‘s loveably goofy Kim Shin Hyuk, you’ve got yourself a real winner – which is probably why this drama has inspired such a large number of remakes.
Watch “She Was Pretty” here:
5. “Love in the Moonlight”
When you think of warm, fuzzy dramas, historical dramas aren’t usually the first to come to mind. But when you have a cast that includes Park Bo Gum, Kim Yoo Jung, and B1A4’s Jinyoung, you suddenly understand why we’ve added “Love in the Moonlight” to the list. As Crown Prince Lee Young, Park Bo Gum’s life in the palace wasn’t the greatest, but this all changes the day he meets the young eunuch Hong Ra On. Raised as a male by her mother, Ra On not only worked as a relationship counselor and secret romance author, but also eventually ends up working at the palace as a eunuch. Assigned to work for Lee Young, it doesn’t take long for her quirky disposition to catch the young royal’s eye. What ensues is nothing short of adorable as the one-day king and his eunuch find themselves falling for each other. Add to that an in-love Jinyoung who does his best to break your heart as a dutiful second male lead, and you’ve got one sweet drama you’re sure to love.
Watch “Love in the Moonlight” here:
6. “Falling for Innocence”
What could easily be one of the most overlooked dramas of the mid-2010s, “Falling for Innocence” is the story of a man who has a complete change of heart after receiving… wait for it… a heart transplant. Admittedly, the premise of the story could be why this drama was so easily overlooked, but if you give it a chance, you may very well find yourself pleasantly surprised. A cold-blooded corporate scallywag who takes no prisoners, Jung Kyung Ho‘s Kang Min Ho is a true piece of work. He’s nasty to his core but he doesn’t stay that way, and we’d like to think that has more to do with the fact that Kim So Yeon‘s character, Kim Soon Jung, finds a way to melt his hardened heart, rather than the fact that he had a very literal change… of heart. With a heartbreaking connection unknowingly linking our two leads together, this drama takes us on a series of ups and downs that are sure to tug on the ole heartstrings. However cheesy it may sound, this drama really is full of warm-fuzzy moments that could very easily melt the most frozen of hearts.
Watch “Falling for Innocence” here:
7. “Healer”
It may seem strange to wrap up this list with a drama that touts itself more as an action-thriller than a romance, but just hear us out. Ji Chang Wook‘s character, Seo Jung Hoo aka Healer, is indeed everything an action hero should be. He’s strong, he’s clever, he’s incredibly handsome, he’s mysterious, and he’s a total loner who has every reason in the world to be the tough baddie that he is. But as soon as he crosses paths with our heroine, the adorable Chae Young Shin (Park Min Young), Jung Hoo/Park Bong Soo, whatever you want to call him, becomes this incredibly squishy teddy bear who makes your heart melt every time he smiles. Watching him fall for Young Shin and seeing his internal struggle – as he knows he should stay away from her for both his own good and hers, but is completely unable to do so – gives us so many opportunities to squeal with heart-fluttering delight that it becomes completely impossible for us to leave this drama off this list. So yes, there are moments in “Healer” when you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat, wondering what’s going to happen to our poor leads next, but there are also so many adorable moments between them that you’re going to find yourself coming back to this one over and over again.
Watch “Healer” here:
So which warm-fuzzy dramas do you turn to when you need a little something to turn up the heat? Let us know in the comments below!
Leah is a freelance writer who has spent the past decade lost in the Wonderland that is Asian pop culture and entertainment.
Currently watching: “Jirisan,” “Young Lady and Gentleman,” “Happiness,” and “Now, We Are Breaking Up”
All-time favorite dramas: “Master’s Sun” and “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God”
Looking forward to: Gong Yoo making more than just a drama cameo appearance and the eventual release of ONE OK ROCK’s next full-length album
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