My talk with @KdramaSwimmer reminded me of what I’ve been meaning to post for quite some time now. It’s about how I’m one of those who rarely have Second Lead Syndrome (SLS) in Kdramas and how I can count in just one hand how many times I’ve had SLS. And now that I’ve checked my notebooks full of dramas I’ve watched, I can safely say that I was right. *grinning* *proud smile* *rest in the comments below*

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    So without further ado- the 4 (4 and a half?) dramas where I’ve had SLS. I started my drama watching around 2011 and the third drama I watched was You’re Beautiful (Secret Agent Miss Oh and Boys Over Flowers being first and second dramas, respectively). And You’re Beautiful killed me! I HATED the lead so much like I’ve never hated anyone before (Yeah, not even Gu Jun Pyo…don’t ask). I just remember him being the biggest jerk ever and I couldn’t fathom how on earth someone can like…LOVE him..? Especially when there was Yong Hwa as the second lead!!! *I’m still fuming thinking about it* *I have never rewatched it* *Would my views change if I did?* *Maybe I should rewatch it one day* #Idontrewatchdramas# *oh well* So that was my first SLS ever.

    Second time- Flower Boy Ramyun Shop. Cha Chi-Soo. *The end* Second lead here was Lee Ki-woo and he was so handsome and sooo polite and sooooo opposite to everything that was Cha Chi-Soo (Jung Il-woo) who was a big bully, and a meanie and I couldn’t continue watching it. I stopped around ep 8 or so.

    Third- Who Are You? School 2015. One of the dumbest shows ever. *I’m not hating on it I swear* It was a good show. *Just upset that it couldn’t do the math properly* *twins and two heroes… they could’ve ended it with happily ever after* *plus, is it SLS when I thought the second lead was actually the lead?* *sighhhh*

    Reply 1988- *Ugh don’t even* *this one still hurts* *even though Oppa is Taec* *I was on Jung hwan’s team* *but then again, is it even SLS when I thought the second lead was actually the lead?*
    The 4 and a half goes to- Rescue Me. But, I’m not gonna count Rescue Me because romance wasn’t a major aspect of the show and we know she didn’t really end up with anyone) (Otherwise I would’ve rooted for Woo Do Hwan’s character…I still did, lol).

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      thanks for mentioning my name and i feel so proud of you to not being the sufferer of SLS a lot. you are one intelligent girl to stay away from the torture.
      but in ur 4.5 SLS there is only 1.5 common, i.e. Reply 1988 (1) and You are beautiful (.5). I loved PSH with JGS more than JH though i had very bad SLS (which got satisfied with Heartstrings later). rest in all i was beside male lead rooting for his love….

      my biggest and most painful SLS was BOF… i hated GJP so badly and wanted GJD to end up with JH, i dropped this drama twice as i couldn’t handle JH’s pain n heart break.

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        and now about reply 1988.
        just like you i was sure 10000% that JH is the main lead during first 2 episodes. but when that “giving chocolate” episode happened and then SW – BR confirmed i started having doubts that this drama’s ending wouldn’t be this simple and straight forward, still i had my heart on JH all the while not even once i thought otherwise.
        Taek… i never considered him lead, not even 2nd, 3rd, 4th let alone main lead. i was so sure that his character is so slow and introvert, it wil be like a liability to a girl like DS who is free spirited and bold.
        i had more confidence on DR than Taek..lol
        but the way things unfold i still believe someone was mastermind in this whole plot to make people go crazy…

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          I just want to add to that… on top of all that, the guy who acted as her ‘future’ husband had alllllll the characteristics and mannerisms of Jung Hwan!! I could/can NOT believe that that is Taec in the future..? 😩

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            …and worse the only deciding factor that the older future husband is Taek is that he smoke, while junghwan can’t and won’t smoke because of his brother heart condition😞.

            i feel like we are going into fanwar zone again with this discussion,hehehe

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            @ravennightstar and @prisonplaybook
            very well said chingus.
            All the mannerisms and way of sitting, talking behaving….how an extreme introvert like Taek can behave as Jung Hwan … such transitions are not at all possible to same person in one life let alone 10-20-30 years. no way not at all….
            and smoking…hahaha if Taek can transform having JH’s mannerisms why cant JH start smoking, if not in front if brother but when he is at his working place… (no way I am supporting a bad habit) just saying.

            One question… was this drama pre-produced or real time shooting ?
            cause I am sure all these hints and ways to manipulate viewers by letting Taek behave as JH was deliberate…..

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            @prisonplaybook
            fan warzone….lol..i can take any war at this moment. I am really very very angry and depressed…. *looking for some chocolate in my fridge to boost my mood*

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            @kdramaswimmer

            they went into live shooting mode after a few episodes iirc. but they do a lot of script reading together. aside like the main script reading, they also have separate script reading meeting with junghwan family and the friends also has their own separate script reading. the funniest script reading is when go kyung pyo find out who will be bora character. ryu hye young is his best friend in real life, so it was really awkward for them to know they will act as a couple in that drama.

            seriously, a lot people tuned in for reply 1988 back then because it a popular franchise drama, and bogum is a rising newbie actor at that time. ryu jun yeol basically a nobody(he was quite iconic in socialphobia, but not enough to blow up like this)and i remember people speculate that jun yeol will probably will take a funny character instead. i also remember he got the nickname EoNamRyu after like 3 or 4 ep, if im not mistaken. the majority knetz was infected by junghwan fever at that time. everyone expect him to be the next Yoon Yoon-jea n Sseureki.

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            @prisonplaybook
            thanks for letting me know about the background.
            the reason I asked was to know if during live shooting the plotline could have been switched from JH (supposed to be lead) to Taek (eventually the lead).
            Raason…. if the whole story line was made in such a way that all actions, behavior, mannerisms of husband pointed to be of JH then am sure everyone in production team must be aware of the fact people would take that as bait and they would connect with DS-JH love story more than anyone else. otherwise why would they had to mislead viewers with so many confusing traits of childhood JH coming from Adult Taek.

            So in my head I still am sure JH was a stronger and more appealing character than Taek.

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        You’re welcome! 😊 And thanks. Although I don’t really get what I get from being proud of not getting SLS too often. 😂😂😂😂 Lol.
        Ahhh yes, Heartstrings was all the fluff I wanted from You’re Beautiful but didn’t get. It was a balm to my broken heart back then.

        Hahaha I can totally understand you hating Gu Jun Pyo. But… for some reason I never did get SLS here (as much as I hated him, I swooned just as much in the later episodes when he wasn’t being a jerk).

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          you did get one big thing “Peace of mind” and “happy heart” by not being pulled in SLS tragedy…lol
          Heartstrings was indeed balm to our bruised hearts…good adjective..
          happy that BOF was so fun experience for me. you know what.. i watched Playful Kiss right after BOF cause I could not digest seeing JH all sad and gloomy after letting go his gal.. and PK is till date my most Fun and Happy drama.

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            Hahha I didn’t think of that…
            But I think the 4 SLS I’ve mentioned are plenty enough to keep me away from having a full “happy heart” as you say. But then again, it is not as broken either. So I’ll be satisfied with that.
            For me I enjoyed Playful Kiss soooo much. I watched it in yr 11 with my high school friend and we took turns swooning and then tearing apart his character because he was SO SO rude!! Ahhh tis a fun memory hehe

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      Team Tae-kwang forever, lol.

      And YES to Woo Do Hwan’s character in Rescue Me. Dong-chul deserves that big smile that Sang-mi gave to Sang-hwan at the end of the series.

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        #TeamTae-kwangForever#

        I’d like to think that the smile was meant for Dong-chul and that the cameraman accidentally turned it and it rested on Sung-hwan’s face. 👍😂

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      I watched Flower Boy Ramyun Shop and rewatched it to make sure. I dislike it excessively. Both the male and female lead, plus the story.

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        *sighs in relief*
        Good to hear I’m not the only one! Yes, I knew I didn’t like the story either and the fact that the female lead somehow (miraculously) falls for Cha Chi Soo who I believe was in highschool or something around that time?? Anyways glad I didn’t rewatch it then.

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          The problem for me was that to me CCS was an entitled annoying mean brat and the female lead seemed like his actual related noona who was quite frustrating and annoying herself too. I never felt any romantic pull or even a bit of chemistry.

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    I’m the same, and the last two are the only times I think I’ve ever had SLS!

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      Team Jung Hwan… my heart is not alone during this time when I am seeing JH all lonely and just longingly looking at DS with Taek….. so so happy to find more people….

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      Only 2?? *whistles!* I think you now hold the record of Not Suffering from SLS now… hehehe

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        Honestly, part of it is that I’m not a huge shipper in the first place so it’s easy for me to just let the story take me wherever it wants to go.

        Then there are other times, especially in older dramas, where I don’t really care for either male lead. 😛

        People harp on a lot of female second leads but I honestly find lots of male second leads to be just as meddlesome and don’t like that annoyingly think they somehow deserve the heroine. It’s just usually hidden under a “nice guy” facade. Not always, but sometimes.

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          HA! I so agree with the last paragraph! I might have felt more SLS than you, but lots of second male leads seam to me annoying under their nice facade. High-handed.

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        WAIT. I REMEMBER ANOTHER. Kind of. It’s a J-Drama, though!

        In Hana Kimi I freakin’ LOVED Ikuta Toma’s character and never cared for Oguri Shun’s main character. He was such a sourpuss all the time.

        But you know, Ikuta Toma and Horikita Maki’s characters had an awesome friendship so I really can’t complain about that.

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    I love that you keep ‘drama notebooks’!! I started to write quotes I liked from dramas a couple of years ago, but didn’t continue…I should get back to it!
    I’m also a rare, rare SLS sufferer (I must say I suffered for Jeremy instead of Shinwoo…it may have been Yonghwa’s acting, but I never thought he should’ve been the one to end up with Minam), and I’m trying to remember the drama where I finally got hit by it and was surprised by what a miserable way of watching a drama it was lol I think I suppressed the memory because I can’t remember for the life of me which one it was!

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      Sungkyunkwan Scandal!!

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      @natzillagorilla
      Haha! I actually just have one drama notebook where I’ve been writing down the names of all the Kdramas and Kmovies I watched. It’s because I’m kinda forgetful so if you asked me if I watches this then I wouldn’t remember. 🤣 So I refer back to my notebook for that.

      And I’m impressed that you even remember the characters names from You’re Beautiful! I barely remember the plotline, other than how it made me feel.

      Ahh Sungkyunkwan Scandal! My first drama with YAI and SJK. They were pretty fun in this drama, except I couldn’t continue for some reason and dropped about half-way. I think I’ll blame it on PYC’s character. He was always so grim and unfriendly (even to the girl he liked!) And I think I got annoyed..

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        Oh, I’m the same! I started to make a mydramalist, but kept going back and forth reading the plot and looking for videos to make sure I had/hadn’t watched it. Worst memory ever. Still, I think I’m gonna go back to my ‘drama quotes’ notebook…there are some gems now and then that resonate with me ^^
        Hah! I actually rewatched You’re Beautiful 2 times (with 2 different friends when I was introducing them to Kdramas…I had to rewatch Heartstrings with one of them because she couldn’t believe Shinwoo wasn’t the one she ended up with heh)
        I think SKKS was really, really good up until about ep…16? Maybe? It somehow got bit boring and definitely lost momentum. I feel you with PYC’s character being overly blegh…this is why, to this day, I don’t understand how he got the girl (I mean, I do:Kdrama hero lol, but you know what I mean)

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    You have so many comments now…do I want to add my 2 cents??? Of course I do!! 🙂

    I’ve gotta agree with your hashtag #Idontrewatchdramas. I’ve tried countless times but it’s never a full rewatch. #1 being I don’t have time for that.

    When I watched You’re Beautiful, I think I was too young and stupid to realize what SLS was at that time. Did I get SLS? I’m not even sure. At that time I had moved from T-dramas to K-dramas. And it wasn’t that big of a difference, since the male lead was usually a mean prick or obnoxious guy. The second lead was always the awesome or nice one. Sound familiar? Yah….I know.

    For Flower Boy Ramyun, I didn’t finish it. I guess I’m not a big Noona romance type of gal. And Jung Ilwoo was just not cutting it as a high schooler for me or he was just too prickly. Needless to say, of the Flower Boy series, I dropped this one. But I was absolutely ecstatic that they second lead and female lead are/were dating in real life!

    Yeah…Reply 1988, I don’t even know what hit me. Maybe coz of old age, there’s been a few dramas I can’t recall if I finished watching. I know I watched it. But I think I skipped a few episodes or skimmed it. I guess I should have live watched it. Live watching is probably my best bet watching the full episode these days.

    I have not seen the other dramas –School 2015 but I remember reading the recaps. I didn’t like how it ended. It was kinda weird. Or maybe I’m confusing it with another School series I read the recaps for??

    Rescue Me is on my watch list mainly coz of Woo Do Hwan. He is a cutey. I’m watching Mad Dog because of him, but the show is currently on hold because I haven’t felt like going back to it yet.

    Sorry for the long read! I think I’m done!

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      Feel free to chip in! I love reading these comments. I love it, even more, to see that I’ve got heaps of notification hahaha.

      That’s my reason too. I don’t have time to rewatch dramas. Also, I need what time I have to watch all the currently airing one. I have a mental checklist- watched it, tick, move on. Lol! If that makes sense…

      I don’t think I’m a Noona romance type either. The only one I can remember (from the top of my head) being a great example of Noona romance was I Hear Your Voice. I try and stay away from them generally though…

      Live watching is the best for dramas like Reply 1988. Half the feels come from gushing over it week in week out. Waiting in anticipation to see what’s going to happen. And more importantly, no spoilers.

      Rescue Me is SO SO good. You’ll love it!

      Hehehe no worries… it was my pleasure to read it;D

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        Two days later, it hit me that my SLS was bad when watching R94. I never finished it when I realized it wasn’t who she would choose in the end. Actually, Netflix’s subtitles gave me the big reveal by the time I got to episode 4. I’m sitting really mad at Netflix for that!!

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          Ah yes, I heard about Chilbongie… although I never watched 94 haha.
          Oh, that sucks! I hate spoilers especially where I really care about a drama and suddenly find out something happens at the end that I wasn’t expecting! It’s the worst feeling.

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