Kdramas show romance in different forms. But Korean dramas with love triangles turn a straightforward romance into a difficult choice. In Kdramas with love triangles like Love Alarm, the choice is between a childhood friend and a new love, and in Korean series like Start-Up, sometimes between stability and passion.
For viewers searching for Kdramas with love triangles on Netflix, these five series offer different takes on romantic rivalry. From Start-Up’s complicated history of letters and first love to Our Beloved Summer’s uncertain college romance, each brings a different kind of emotional conflict to the screen.
Kdramas With Love Triangles To Watch On Netflix
If you love watching Korean dramas with the lead characters struggling in a complicated love triangle, these Kdramas on Netflix are for you.
1. Reply 1988
Reply 1988 is set in the Seoul neighbourhood of Ssangmun-dong. The story revolves around five childhood friends as they navigate adolescence, first love and the uncertainties of growing up.
At the centre of the romantic storyline is Sung Deok-sun, whose relationships with her childhood friends Kim Jung-hwan and Choi Taek become a major love triangle.
Jung-hwan expresses his feelings through teasing and awkward behaviour, while Taek maintains a mature relationship with Deok-sun. Their relationships get tangled between everyday experiences and struggles.
Cast: Lee Hye-ri, Park Bo-gum, Ryu Jun-yeol, Go Kyung-pyo, Lee Dong-hwi
Episodes: 20
Genre: Coming-of-age drama, family, romance
Perfect if you loved: Childhood-friends-to-lovers romances and stories where the smallest gestures depict the deepest feelings.
2. Strong Woman Do Bong-soon
Strong Woman Do Bong-soon is about a young woman born with extraordinary physical strength. Do Bong-soon’s life takes an unexpected turn when Ahn Min-hyuk, the CEO of a gaming company, hires her as his bodyguard.
Bong-soon has feelings for In Guk-doo, a police officer and her childhood friend. But as she spends more time with Min-hyuk, their professional relationship develops into something more than colleagues.
Min-hyuk offers Bong-soon open affection, which is the opposite of Guk-doo, who gives mixed signals. It creates a romantic rivalry that runs alongside the drama's crime investigation.
Cast: Park Bo-young, Park Hyung-sik, Ji Soo
Episodes: 16
Genre: Romantic comedy, fantasy, action
Perfect if you loved: Strong female leads, workplace romance, and a love triangle mixed with action and comedy.
3. Start Up
The Start Up series revolves around Seo Dal-mi, whose dream is to build a successful business. But before reaching her goals, she encounters two men connected to different parts of her past and present.
Nam Do-san is a gifted but struggling entrepreneur like her and eventually becomes her love interest. While, investor Han Ji-pyeong has a deeper connection to her childhood than she initially realises.
The complication begins with letters Dal-mi received as a teenager, written under Do-san’s name but connected to Ji-pyeong. As the truth becomes more complicated, the series asks whether a relationship should be built on the comfort of a familiar past or the connection two people develop in the present.\
Cast: Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Seon-ho, Kang Han-na
Episodes: 16
Genre: Romance, workplace drama
Perfect if you loved: Childhood connections and slow-burn romance where love takes its own sweet time to bloom.
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4. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
Yoon Hye-jin is a modern, highly educated dentist who left Seoul to open a clinic in the village of Gongjin. There, she encounters Hong Du-sik, who is a popular local. Their contrasting personalities eventually bring them closer.
But their relationship comes under threat when producer Ji Seong-hyeon enters Hye-jin’s life. He is considerate, accomplished and genuinely interested in her, making him a credible alternative and creating an interesting love triangle.
Cast: Shin Min-a, Kim Seon-ho, Lee Sang-yi
Episodes: 16
Genre: Romantic comedy, slice of life
Perfect if you loved: Small-town romances with opposites-attract chemistry.
5. Our Beloved Summer
Our Beloved Summer is a story about Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-su. They were once a couple and made a high school documentary which unexpectedly became popular years later.
They reunite to make another documentary, and past unresolved feelings begin to surface. But the reunion is complicated by documentary director Kim Ji-ung, who has long-standing feelings for Yeon-su, and NJ, a celebrity who develops an interest in Ung.
All the characters are concerned about whether people can overcome the hurt that ended their romance.
Cast: Choi Woo-shik, Kim Da-mi, Kim Sung-cheol, Roh Jeong-eui
Episodes: 16
Genre: Romantic comedy, second-chance romance
Perfect if you loved: Second-chance romances, unresolved feelings and stories where emotional history matters as much as new attraction.
| Drama | Key Cast | Episodes | Genre | Love Triangle Dynamic |
| Reply 1988 | Lee Hye-ri, Park Bo-gum, Ryu Jun-yeol | 20 | Coming-of-age, Family, Romance | Sung Deok-sun is caught between the covert affection of childhood friend Jung-hwan and the gentle maturity of Taek. |
| Strong Woman Do Bong-soon | Park Bo-young, Park Hyung-sik, Ji Soo | 16 | Rom-com, Fantasy, Action | Bong-soon balances her long-standing crush on childhood friend Guk-doo with the open affection of her CEO boss, Min-hyuk. |
| Start-Up | Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Seon-ho | 16 | Romance, Workplace drama | Seo Dal-mi’s feelings are split between entrepreneur Nam Do-san and investor Han Ji-pyeong, who ghostwrote letters to her in youth. |
| Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha | Shin Min-a, Kim Seon-ho, Lee Sang-yi | 16 | Rom-com, Slice of life | Dentist Hye-jin is drawn to local handyman Du-sik, but the arrival of accomplished producer Seong-hyeon introduces a charming alternative. |
| Our Beloved Summer | Choi Woo-shik, Kim Da-mi, Kim Sung-cheol | 16 | Rom-com, Second-chance romance | Ex-lovers Choi Ung and Yeon-su reunite for a documentary, complicated by mutual unresolved feelings and director Ji-ung’s quiet crush on Yeon-su. |
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These Kdramas approach romantic relationships filled with uncertainty and jealousy between the characters. Would you choose the second male lead or the first one instead?
FAQs
Q1. What are the best Kdramas with love triangles?
A1. Reply 1988, Start-Up, True Beauty and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha are popular choices featuring complicated romantic rivalries.
Q2. Which Kdramas on Netflix have a second male lead?
A2. Start-Up, Reply 1988, and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha feature prominent second male leads who complicate the central romance.
Q3. Which Kdrama should I watch if I love love triangles?
A3. Try Start-Up for a romance involving childhood letters, or Reply 1988 for a slow-building love triangle between childhood friends.