Hello! I guess this is a somewhat unusual request but I'm looking for a drama where the male lead does NOT rescue or save the female lead because he knows she can handle herself just fine. Something where he absolutely loves and cares for her but is NOT protective over her because he treats her like  a true equal. Maybe he even request her to do something dangerous not because he doesn't care but because he trust her to get the job done and come back safely. 

Examples: 

*Best* example I can think of is actually not from a drama but from the 90s shojo comic Basara where both leads are in a dangerous situation where the female lead (literally) jumps ship due to an bad inkling and runs away into more danger. When asked if the male lead was going to run after and rescue her, he responds that although he is sad to be separated from her, she knows what she is doing and can take care of herself.  

The King's Daughter, Soo Baek Hyang - ML trusts FL to handle dangerous missions 

The Story of Ming Lan - kind of. The first maybe 80% of the drama fits but the remainder and how its written and the ML hiding everything from the FL derails the entire concept of the FL and it's incredibly lazy writing.

Any genre or country is fine. Thank you!  


I feel like these are not romance focused or are classified as slight romance so  probably not exactly what you are looking for. Most romances  have the damsel like FL or turn her into one. 

 Saygo :


I feel like these are not romance focused or are classified as slight romance so  probably not exactly what you are looking for. Most romances  have the damsel like FL or turn her into one. 

Thank you! 

Honestly, I don't know why its so hard for drama-writers to understand. Like, they can take all of real life as an example which has plenty of romance without it occurring only because a girl is getting saved by a guy. But anyway, sometimes the chemistry and writing of slight romances are much better than full-on romances, so I don't mind too much. 

 cutearisu:
Kill It (2019)Sisyphus: The Myth (2021)Good Casting (2020)Doctors (2016)

Thank you!