9 of the Best Actor-Idol Couples in K-Entertainment

Idols and actors form a large part of the Korean entertainment population. While there are multiple idol-turned-actors and some actors that venture into singing, it seems that most of each group largely stick to their fortés with few forays into the other parts of the industry. As a result, it is comparatively rare to find idol-actor pairs, whatever the platform may be, simply due to the nature of their work and surroundings.

However, there are idol-actor pairs that came about, some real and some that we simply hope to be real, which completely blow us away with their chemistry. Here are nine of the best actor-idol pairs, in no particular order.

Jung Eun Ji of A Pink is considered one of the representative acting idols, having been named one of the best female acting idols on a broadcast of “Entertainment Relay.” In her debut drama role, she starred alongside Seo In Guk on tvN‘s “Reply 1997,” which was a runaway success. Jung Eun Ji played the bright and cheerful Sun Shi Won, who is in love with the idol group H.O.T. This formed a perfect juxtaposition to Seo In Guk’s character, her silent, brooding next door neighbor who is loyally in love with her.

Their sweet interactions showed the charms of young love and many people believed that they were dating in real life. Seo In Guk admitted on “Taxi” that he had slightly burgeoning feelings toward Jung Eun Ji after the filming of the drama.

In addition to their chemistry onscreen, we have some great products of their collaborations to enjoy, as they sang two songs for the official soundtrack, “All for You” and “Still Our Love Continues,” for “Reply 1997.”

Jung Yong Hwa of CNBLUE single-handedly redefined the meaning of the second-male-lead syndrome when his kind and protective actions failed to win him the lead Park Shin Hye in the Hong Sisters’ drama “You’re Beautiful.” Seeing Kang Shin Woo (Jung Yong Hwa) having to give up Go Mi Nyeo (Park Shin Hye) to Hwang Tae Kyung (Jang Geun Suk) shattered viewers’ hearts.

Since then, many viewers hoped to see them paired together again, and the K-drama world complied. The two later became the leads of college drama “Heartstrings,” where Jung Yong Hwa, acting as the arrogant Lee Shin, falls in love with his straight-forward and honest fellow university student, Lee Gyu Won (Park Shin Hye).

Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye remain good friends along with Jang Geun Suk and Lee Hong Ki, who acted with them in “You’re Beautiful.” Park Shin Hye also often goes to support both Jung Yong Hwa and Lee Hong Ki, who are labelmates, at their FNC Entertainment concerts, and it is indeed beautiful to see their friendship continue to blossom long after the show has ended.

Park Se Young and Wooyoung of 2PM were a virtual married couple on the show “We Got Married,” and were known as the YY couple, or the 2Young couple. They spent nine months on the show and amused viewers with their cute interactions, which viewers found realistic and adorable. Their charming chemistry led them to win polls such as Mnet’s Favourite We Got Married Couple of 2014 with a whopping 60.1 percent of the votes and was so intense that even the “We Got Married” PD thought that they might be in a real relationship.

One of the real couples on our list, Tablo and Kang Hye Jung didn’t meet each other through any programs. Tablo had always been a fan of the beautiful actress and met her through a mutual friend, Bong Tae Kyu.

Although Kang Hye Jung is an actress, she seems to know quite a bit about the hip hop music scene and is fully supportive of  Tablo’s career. On his part, Tablo visits her on her filming sets to give her encouragement. They now have an adorable daughter, Haru, and received much love when they appeared with her on “The Return of Superman.”

INFINITE‘s Woohyun was paired with child actress Kim Sae Ron in the drama “Hi! School: Love On.” Woohyun is nine years older than Kim Sae Ron and was initially apprehensive about having to demonstrate skinship during the drama, as he feels that she views him more as an elder brother rather than a love interest. Despite that, their pure love displayed during the show still made for an adorable relationship.

Yet another couple brought together by “We Got Married,” Lee Jong Hyun of CNBLUE was “married” to actress Gong Seung Yeon. In a slight change to the variety show’s format, the couples were not declared immediately, but were allowed to meet another possible partner before deciding who they wanted to choose. Lee Jong Hyun was paired with Gong Seung Yeon on the first date and immediately became so enamored with her that he insisted that she choose him.

They went on to share their interests with each other, with her even visiting his practice studio and performing a duet with him. Their sincerity towards one another and ability to be comfortable with each other in any situation won the hearts of many viewers.

Yook Sungjae of BTOB met Kim So Hyun on the set of “Who Are You: School 2015.” Another cause of severe second-male-lead syndrome, Yook Sungjae stole all our hearts as the troubled Gong Tae Kwang in the drama. Even Kim So Hyun later admitted on the July 5 episode of “Section TV” that she would choose his character over the male lead Han Yi An (Nam Joo Hyuk). Their sweet chemistry on the show where Gong Tae Kwang acted as Lee Eun Bi’s protector made viewers swoon.

Lee Min Ho and Suzy of miss A got together in real life last year and was considered to be one of the most unexpected couples, the two having never been in any programs together. Suzy is a prolific actress herself, having acted in multiple successful projects such as “Dream High,” “Architecture 101,” and “Gu Family Book.” This is likely to be one of the reasons they get along so well, being able to understand each other’s work and connect on that level.

We’re rooting for this happy couple and hope that K-dramaland will one day put them together in a drama.

Kim Soo Hyun first met IU on the set of “Dream High” but were not paired together. They were later reunited on “Producer,” where IU’s character Cindy has a one-sided love for Kim Soo Hyun’s Baek Seung Chan, which created an adorably awkward relationship as Baek Seung Chan struggled to sort out his emotions as his feelings for Cindy started growing.

Soompiers, which is your favorite actor-idol relationship? What other actor-idol pairings do you think would be good? Let us know in the comments below!

gigglyypuff loves CNBLUE, Seohyun of Girls’ Generation, and Ji Chang Wook. She spends most of her time living in K-dramaworld, working out to K-pop, laughing with “Running Man,” and melting at the cuteness of the kids on “The Return of Superman.”