13 Unconventional Korean Romances to Watch If You're Craving Eccentric Love Stories

Sometimes the romances that are the most narratively interesting follow the creative path less traveled. While there’s a reason certain romantic tropes exist in Korean dramas — rivals-turned-lovers, fake relationships, and tension-filled love triangles are just a few of the go-tos — there’s a certain satisfaction that comes with watching characters fall in love in unexpected ways or under unique circumstances.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with going the traditional K-romance route, especially for Valentine’s Day. Swoonworthy dramas like King the Land, Crash Landing on You, and Business Proposal are worthy of binge viewing if you’re in the mood for the classics. But if you’re looking for heart-fluttering love stories that venture outside the box, are a little left of center or feature leads that challenge norms, there’s plenty for you too.

From faux AI romance I’m Not a Robot to the subversive Strong Girl Bong-soon to the super meta Extraordinary You, we put together a list of 13 unorthodox Korean romances (listed alphabetical order), each with a different take on love and relationships.

Extraordinary You (Prime Video, Viki)

Like Western television, Korean dramas take their inspiration from source material like webtoons and novels. Extraordinary You is no different, drawing from a 2018 digital comic called July Found by Chance. The high school series is about as meta as a K-drama gets: A student, Eun Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon), discovers she’s merely a side character in a webtoon whose journey is left to the devices of the story’s omniscient writer. Unhappy about her ending, Dan-oh sets her sights on changing her fate and, in the process, begins liking another side character, Ha-ru (Rowoon), as they become the central heroes of the story.

Happiness (Netflix)

Set in an apocalyptic future, the series’s title, Happiness, is a bit ironic considering disease has become the norm, the threat of infection is high and survival is the No. 1 goal. You’d think there’d be no room for romance, but surprisingly there is. It’s less about grand gestures – they’re trying to fend off zombies, after all – and more about being each other’s support system in the face of extraordinary circumstances. The simplicity of Yoon Sae-bom (Han Hyo-joo) and Jung Yi-so (Park Hyung-sik)’s slow-burn romance is one of the more underrated pairings.

I’m Not a Robot (Prime Video, Viki)

If Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her had more of a comedic bent and featured a life-like robot instead of a Scarlett Johansson-voiced AI virtual assistant, you’d get something close to I’m Not a Robot. The Korean series is an atypical romance that revolves around entrepreneur Kim Min-kyu (Yoo Seung-ho), who is allergic — literally — to people, and thinks he’s developed feelings for a robot, Aji 3 (Chae Soo-bin), when it’s sent to him for testing. Through a series of twists, he’s actually fallen in love with the real woman, Ji-ah (also Chae Soo-bin), who’s been paid to pretend she’s a robot this entire time. As we said before, there’s nothing quite like I’m Not a Robot.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (Netflix)

If you’re in the mood for a modern love story with a fierce female character at the center, look no further than It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Children’s book author Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji) becomes infatuated with Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun), a psych ward caretaker who’s dedicated his life to caring for his autistic brother. Moon-young, who has antisocial personality disorder, decides to romantically pursue Gang-tae after learning they have more in common than previously thought. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay subverts any ideas of what a typical romance looks like.

My Lovely Sam Soon (Prime Video, Viki)

Originally debuted in 2005, My Lovely Sam Soon still remains one of Korea’s most-watched dramas. It centers on the titular heroine, Kim Sam-soon (Kim Sun-a), who battles with weight insecurity. Through an unfortunate series of events, Sam-soon is dumped by her boyfriend, loses her job, and is humiliated in the process. Thankfully, she’s offered a job by Hyun Jin-heon (Hyun Bin), the owner of an upscale restaurant, and is later propositioned to be his fake girlfriend in exchange for money she desperately needs. It’s far from love at first sight for the two as they have a deeply antagonistic relationship before the iciness begins to thaw. There are other factors at play that muddle their romantic storyline, such as an ex-girlfriend resurfacing and misunderstandings.

One Spring Night (Netflix)

In One Spring Night, an unexpected relationship begins when Lee Jeong-in (Han Ji-min), a librarian in a loveless relationship, and pharmacist Yoo Ji-ho (Jung Hae-in), a single father with a young son, have a chance encounter one evening at the pharmacy. Their complicated realities don’t allow for a typical romance to unravel, which makes their story relatable and angst-filled. When they do reach their honeymoon phase, it’ll make you feel extremely single. What’s refreshing about this K-drama is how it destigmatizes single parenthood, which is still frowned upon in Korean culture; examines toxic relationships; and acknowledges that the road to love is sometimes a messy one.

See You in My 19th Life (Netflix)

Reincarnation, a popular K-drama story driver, gets the spotlight in the beautifully shot webtoon-inspired fantasy romance, See You in My 19th Life. The main heroine, Ban Ji-eum (Shin Hye-sun) has been reincarnated for centuries and remembers all of her past lives. When her 18th life is abruptly cut short following a violent car accident, she makes it her mission in her 19th try to reunite with Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun), who has PTSD as a result of the crash.

Something in the Rain (Netflix, Viki)

Age isn’t just a number in Something in the Rain. The romantic drama explores a blossoming relationship between an older woman, Yoon Jin-ah (Son Ye-jin), and a younger man, Seo Joon-hae (Jung Hae-in), a dating taboo in Korean culture. Their age gap isn’t all that large — just a few years separate them — but it’s enough to be an obstacle. (Joon-hae is also Jin-ah’s same-age friend’s brother.) The series also examines timely themes like career expectations and what women sometimes endure in the workplace.

Strong Girl Bong-soon (Viki)

The comic book-tinged Strong Girl Bong-soon flips gender roles in romances on its head quite effectively. The dramatics begin when Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young), a petite young woman possessing super-strength, is hired as a bodyguard to protect the wealthy CEO of a gaming company, Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik), who’s being blackmailed. It’s an unorthodox dynamic to start and it gets even more unconventional as the series goes on. (There is the requisite love triangle, however.) He’s the one who falls first (and hard), but due to her circumstances, she’s less on board… at first. Even as they face death several times, their romance is one of K-drama’s biggest green flags.

True Beauty (Viki)

Adapted from the webtoon of the same name, True Beauty may seem light and fluffy on the surface but deals with difficult subject matter like beauty standards, bullying, and suicide. In the series, Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young) — a lover of horror comics — transfers to a new academy after being perceived as “ugly,” reinventing herself through makeup and hiding her real appearance. As she gains popularity, one person who’s aware of her true identity is Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), the school’s popular guy, top student and Ju-kyung’s ex-childhood friend. They go through a lot over the course of the series, but their relationship is proof happy endings do exist. (Fun fact: Extraordinary You and True Beauty exist in the same TV universe.)

Twinkling Watermelon (Viki)

Fantasy drama Twinkling Watermelon gives voice to Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun), a model high school student whose parents and brother are deaf, and who has ambitious musical aspirations. After visiting a mysterious music store, Eun-gyeol time travels back to 1995, where he meets both his parents as teenagers and a fellow student, Yoon Chung-a (Shin Eun-soo), who is hard-of-hearing and whom he develops a crush on. The four form a band, Watermelon Sugar (sorry, no Harry Styles cameo that we’re aware of). Twinkling Watermelon is the rare K-drama that embraces the deaf community and prominently features sign language.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (Prime Video, Viki)

Inspired by the real life of Olympic gold medalist Jang Mi-ran, the series follows tomboyish Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung), who has dreams of becoming a college weightlifter and has a crush on her friend’s older brother. It’s a classic tale of misguided love as Bok-joo’s attention gradually turns to her friend, Jung Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk). Their road to romance is a turbulent one, considering they start out with childish teasing and friendzoning each other, but gradually they warm to the idea that maybe they’re meant to be.

While You Were Sleeping (Viki)

Not to be confused with the 1995 Sandra Bullock movie, While You Were Sleeping is a fantasy drama that revolves around three characters (Bae Suzy, Lee Jong-suk, and Jung Hae-in) who have premonitions of their futures through their dreams after being saved from their intended deaths. The trio work together to stop each other from seeing their original destinies as they figure out why they were given these prolific powers in the first place and a love triangle forms.

Philiana Ng is a Los Angeles-based writer covering TV, celebrity, culture and more. Her work has appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, TV Guide, Yahoo Entertainment, and The Daily Beast, among others.