4 K-Dramas To Watch If You Miss "Motel California"
After weeks of going back and forth, from being friends to lovers to strangers, Kang Hee (Lee Se Young) and Yeon Soo (Na In Woo) finally got their happy ending in the finale of “Motel California.” However, their absence from our screens has left a gap in the daily K-drama schedule that feels impossible to fill.
While it may be difficult to find a K-drama with the exact combination of childhood love, yearning, a green-flag male lead, and a love so resilient it makes the audience jealous, here are four K-dramas that “Motel California” fans would enjoy.
“Love Next Door”
If you’re looking for a childhood-friends-to-lovers K-drama with a bit less trauma than “Motel California,” then “Love Next Door” is your best bet.
Literally translated as “My Mom’s Friend’s Son,” “Love Next Door” follows Bae Seok Ryu (Jung So Min), whose life, while not perfect, was smooth sailing. She studied hard in school, attended a top university, landed a job at a prestigious U.S. tech company, and got engaged to the love of her life. However, just when everything seemed to be going perfectly, she quits her job, breaks off her engagement, and moves back to her parents’ house in Korea, and no one knows the reason why.
Back home, she reconnects with Choi Seung Hyo (Jung Hae In), her mother’s friend’s son and her childhood best friend. But soon, their relationship starts to feel like more than just friendship.
“Love Next Door” is a sweet, slice-of-life romance with just enough suspense to make you both twirl your hair in excitement and pull it out in frustration. While viewers may find themselves asking why Bae Seok Ryu left her job and fiancé, one thing that needs no questioning is the undeniable chemistry between the main leads.
“What Comes After Love”
Lee Se Young is famous for making audiences cry with her expressive, yearning eyes, and if you’re in the mood for a good cry, there’s no better K-drama than “What Comes After Love.” Arguably one of Lee Se Young’s best performances, the drama is adapted from a novel by Gong Ji Young and Tsuji Hitonari.
“What Comes After Love” tells the story of Choi Hong, a Korean student studying in Japan, played by Lee Se Young, and Aoki Jungo (Sakaguchi Kentaro), a Japanese student. Choi Hong meets Aoki Jungo when she moves to Japan for her studies, and the two fall in love. Even though they love each other deeply, they end up breaking up soon. While they think their story has ended, fate has other plans—they meet again five years after the breakup, this time in Korea, when Aoki Jungo arrives to promote a book he has written about their time together.
“What Comes After Love” is one of those dramas that makes you stop and reflect on what love truly means. Is loving someone enough, or does love require more than just giving your heart? Although this K-drama is only six episodes long, each episode is packed with a story that will make viewers laugh, cry, sympathize, and even envy Aoki Jungo and Choi Hong.
Start watching “What Comes After Love”:
“The Red Sleeve”
Ever wondered how Lee Se Young would look in a period drama? Then “The Red Sleeve” is the perfect K-drama to add to your watchlist.
Set in the 18th century, “The Red Sleeve” follows Prince Yi San (Lee Junho), who is set to inherit the throne after his grandfather, a ruthless king, passes away. Though haunted by his father’s gruesome death, Prince Yi San aspires to be a ruler unlike his grandfather and seeks to reform the kingdom’s laws. One day at court, he meets Sung Deok Im (played by Lee Se Young), an intelligent young woman. Prince Yi San immediately falls for her and asks her to become his concubine. Initially hesitant, Sung Deok Im soon realizes the power she could wield to change the kingdom for the better through her relationship with royalty.
While “The Red Sleeve” delivers romance strong enough to give viewers butterflies, this K-drama is more than just a love story. At its core, “The Red Sleeve” portrays the harsh realities of royalty: inequality and political corruption.
Start watching “The Red Sleeve”:
“Marry My Husband”
Missing Na In Woo on screen? It’s time to tune into “Marry My Husband” and see how he steals audiences’ hearts, even in a completely different role.
Arguably one of the biggest K-dramas of 2024, “Marry My Husband” is exactly what its title suggests. The story follows Kang Ji Won (Park Min Young), who is married to Park Min Hwan (Lee Yi Kyung), a selfish, unloving man-child. Not only is Kang Ji Won the sole breadwinner of her family, but her unemployed husband doesn’t even help with household chores. Things get worse when Kang Ji Won is diagnosed with cancer. As she struggles with her illness, she discovers that her husband is having an affair with her supposed best friend. While confronting them, she slips on a glass table and dies.
But instead of dying, she somehow wakes up 10 years in the past, before she ever married her husband. Now, she has the chance to change her fate.
Na In Woo’s character, Yoo Ji Hyuk, initially seems like the classic tsundere K-drama boss—cold, distant, and seemingly only existing to love the female lead unconditionally. However, without spoiling too much, Yoo Ji Hyuk proves to be much more than that. Not only does he show the kind of love everyone dreams of, but he also helps Kang Ji Won in ways that completely change the trajectory of her life for the better.
Hello Soompiers! Would you like to add any K-dramas to the list? Feel free to comment down below!
Also binge-watch “Motel California” below:
Javeria is a binge-watching specialist who loves devouring entire K-dramas in one sitting. Good screenwriting, beautiful cinematography, and a lack of cliches are the way to her heart. As a music fanatic, she listens to multiple artists across different genres and stans the self-producing idol group SEVENTEEN. You can talk to her on Instagram @javeriayousufs.
Currently watching: “The Witch,” and “Coffee Prince.”
Looking forward to: “Reborn” and “Weak Hero Class 2.”
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