Top Korean Dramas That Prove Love Between a Man and a Woman Is Never Simple!

Love is not always fairy tales and roses — it's sometimes heartbreak, disorientation, and impossible choices. Korean dramas are not afraid to show us this truth. They remind us that love between a man and a woman is never easy. It can be complex, painful, and messy — but it's also what makes it unforgettable. These stories go beyond the idealized romance and explore the emotional distress that love actually entails. If you're ready for melodramas that showcase the beauty and the baggage of being in love, these 12 K-dramas are going to take you through it all.

1. The World of the Married (2020)

Marriage, betrayal, vengeance — this has everything. Kim Hee-ae and Park Hae-joon star as a couple whose relationship is destroyed by adultery and obsession. It's gritty, cringe-worthy, and unflinching. This drama does not depict love as simple; it portrays how easy it is to be at war with it.

2. Nevertheless (2021)

There are some that are doomed romances from the get-go, but that doesn't take away from their existence. Han So-hee and Song Kang get involved in a romance full of red flags and mixed signals. It's maddening. It's intense. It's complicated. And that's what makes it so addictive.

3. Encounter (2018–2019)

When a young adventurous man is smitten with a divorced older woman bearing emotional scars and the brunt of societal pressures, it's not as simple. Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum present us with a story of love that needs sacrifice and strength.

4. Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) (2021–2023)

Three women. Three troubled marriages. And enough secrets to go around. This series strips back the façade of picture-perfect relationships and exposes the raw cracks hiding beneath the surface — showing that even when love's real, it isn't always enough.

5. Temperature of Love (2017)

Love has its own beat — and sometimes two people are just out of rhythm. Seo Hyun-jin and Yang Se-jong star as lovers who just can't quite get the timing down, even when they're so in love. This drama is about the gap between love and life — and the tug of war of how to hold on to both.

6. My Liberation Notes (2022)

This is not a love that happens with fanfare. It's slow, quiet, and painfully subtle. Kim Ji-won and Son Suk-ku show us what it's like to love someone who hardly lets themselves be seen. It's the kind of romance that hurts because it's so hard-won.

7. Just Between Lovers (2017–2018)

Both weighed down by the wounds of a common past, two strangers take comfort in each other. Junho and Won Jin-ah's love story is not easy — it's built on pain, hurt, and healing. But that's what makes it so deeply moving. Love, here, is survival.

8. Now, We Are Breaking Up (2021–2022)

This drama makes it plain: love does not necessarily conquer all. Song Hye-kyo and Jang Ki-yong show the struggle of getting romance right in a career-, ego-, and personal-scars-driven world. It's complicated, yes — but it's also heartbreakingly real.

9. One Spring Night (2019)

Han Ji-min and Jung Hae-in’s romance is intimate and emotionally mature — but not simple. This drama explores love that arrives unexpectedly, in the middle of old obligations and broken promises. It questions what you’re willing to risk for something that feels true.

10. Secret Love Affair (2014)

A clandestine affair between a young pianist and a much older, married woman. Yoo Ah-in and Kim Hee-ae don't romanticize it — they sensationalize it. This passion is founded on guilt, yearning, and decisions that cannot be made. And yet, it's also inordinately relatable.

11. The Time We Were Not in Love (2015)

Can longtime friends be lovers? Ha Ji-won and Lee Jin-wook's will-they-won't-they affair explores exactly how complicated things can get when love is hiding under years of familiarity and fear. Sometimes the toughest love stories are the ones in front of our noses.

12. Flower of Evil (2020)

What do you do when the man you love might not be as you perceived him to be? Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won render a compelling performance in a story that blends thriller and romance. Love here is tested by lies, secrets, and an identity that's disintegrating — and by forgiveness.