Between Youth and Regret - Korean Dramas That Bleed with First Love!

First love is never ideal. It's messy and all-consuming and impossible to forget. It's the racing of hearts in high school confessions, the agony of timing gone wrong, and the kind of regret that endures well into one's adulthood. In Korean dramas, first love is not a memory—it's an open wound that never heals and a fire that never extinguishes. These dramas get to the heart of falling in love for the first time—and of getting on with it.

Below are the best Korean dramas that ooze first love, where youth and regret meet in the most beautiful, heartbreaking ways.

1. Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee-do loved at the worst possible moment but as if it was the only time. This show paints their story with shades of impossibility and longing. Their love was young, fierce, and indelible—but a fleeting thing. And this is what shatters your heart.

2. Reply 1988 (2015)

Who didn't root for first love here in this nostalgic gem? Whether you were Team Jung-hwan or Team Taek, Sung Deok-sun's journey to the heart is shrouded in the naivete and uncertainty of growing up. The drama catches the bumbling beauty of not knowing how to say "I like you" until too late.

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3. My First First Love (2019)

As the title promises, this is a story of the misinterpretation, jealousy, and yearning of loving someone for the first time. Tae-oh, Song-yi, and Do-hyun constitute an intertwined triangle where love and friendship interchangeability and choice too late cause everlasting grief.

4. Moments of 18 (2019)

This is a gentle, nostalgic gem that embodies the spirit of youth. Jun-woo and Soo-bin connect amidst loneliness and tension, seeking comfort in the heat of each other's eyes. Their love is shy and real—the type of maiden love you remember not for raucous deeds, but for quiet gestures of kindness.

5. Youth of May (2021)

Against a politically unstable backdrop, the drama is half about heartbreak and half about history. Hee-tae and Myung-hee fall in love when the rest of the world is falling apart. Their first love is real and heartbreaking, born of the sacrifices they never should have had to make.

6. Do You Like Brahms? (2020)

This one belongs to the those who loved too gently. Song-ah first falls in love, and it is gentle, unspoken, and painful. Their love is shrouded in music and doubt, a romance where feelings are played out in minor notes, and what is left unspoken between says so much more.

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7. The Heirs (2013)

Cha Eun-sang and Kim Tan's love life is haphazard and swoon-tastic, full of stolen kisses and stubborn sentiments. It's every teenager's worst and best nightmare combined—first love struggling between class, pride, and parental rule. It's melodramatic, to be sure, but that makes it indelible.

8. Love Alarm (2019)

In a world where an app will tell you that someone loves you, Kim Jo-jo experiences her first love with two boys who possess differing wounds. Her story reflects fear of hurting others and getting hurt, of choosing incorrectly too early—or too late. Love Alarm is proof that at times regret may be longer-lasting than love.

9. Our Beloved Summer (2021)"}

Choi Woong and Yeon-soo were dating and eventually broke up when they were in school. Years passed, and fate reunites them. Their first love persists—tactless, bitter, and unilaterally crushing. It is not a tale of finding someone new. It is that of realizing your first love never actually ended.

10. Orange Marmalade (2015)

A high school vampire romance with a deeper message about acceptance and fear, this drama gives a fantasy twist to the experience of first love. Jae-min and Ma-ri’s relationship is filled with prejudice and misunderstanding, but also the kind of emotional intensity only first love can ignite.

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11. A Love So Beautiful (2020)

Shin Sol-i’s endless devotion to her childhood crush Cha Heon is both adorable and heartbreaking. Her love is persistent, full of awkward smiles and failed confessions. This drama captures the kind of youthful love that’s all-in—even when the other person doesn’t know how to love back yet.

12. When My Love Blooms (2020)

A first love that comes back in adulthood—older, wiser, but just as hurtful. Han Jae-hyun and Yoon Ji-soo were two peas in a pod in their youth, but time had them apart. Their reunion is filled with memories, remorse, and the painful realization that some first loves never truly disappear.

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