btp qts
when the b-ship is better than the main ship.
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1. Age of Youth
Korean Drama - 2016, 12 episodes
two employees pining for each other, but believing that the other deserves better. the ust was super great and i’m glad they got their happy ending that continued into the sequel.
main couple was okay, i didn’t mind the shallowness of how it developed, particularly as a first relationship, which is pretty realistic in a university setting. and i like how it dissolved in the sequel, but i much preferred how jin-myung and jae-wan ended up together rather than eun-jae and jong-yeol tbh.
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2. Alchemy of Souls
Korean Drama - 2022, 20 episodes
both park dang-gu/jin cho-yeon and park jin/kim do-ju were really cute and unexpectedly charmed me! esp park jin and maid kim who danced around their love for each other for so long and constantly misunderstood what everyone was getting at, but were so cute and happy once park jin figured it out. dang-gu and cho-yeon was also v. sweet being young and in love and were adorable trying to date in secret.
unfortunately, jang uk/naksu being a double whammy of master-servant and teacher-disciple just made it hard for me to ship. s2 was slightly better for them, but sadly they never really worked for me.
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3. Ancient Love Poetry
Chinese Drama - 2021, 49 episodes
technically, hou chi/qing mu DID eventually win me over with their cuteness after they got together, in a way i never got with bai jue/shang gu. but i adored the tragedy of tian qi/yue mi, and the slowburn of feng ran/jing jian first and foremost.
idk what bai jue/shang gu lacked, but they started off bland, and when they returned i just did not care, preferring their shadow selves instead.
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4. Boys over Flowers
Korean Drama - 2009, 25 episodes
so yi jung and chu ga eul caught me by surprise, but oh, how she sees the kindness in him but is also unafraid to put her foot down and disagree and call him out. they cute. i loved how he inspired her to take up pottery, his speciality, and how she cheered him on. he helped her when she was in trouble, and she returns the favour. i just liked their charming story that grew slowly but surely over time and with recurring motifs.
you could not get me to care about jandi/junpyo at all. i’d rather jandi end up with jihoo, her firs love, and junpyo with jaekyung, tbqh. but that’s just my opinion.
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5. Crash Landing on You
Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes
the conman and the ex-fiance! how i wished they could have had gotten a happily ever after with each other :(
main couple had me in the first half ngl, but they kinda lost me in the second half thanks to the melodrama tbh
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6. Eternal Love
Chinese Drama - 2017, 58 episodes
despite ending on a bittersweet note, the romance of bai feng-jiu and dong hua delighted me so much, and i badly wished for their happy ending. which, they do get in eternal love ofdream.
main couple, okay, while i liked the initial romance of ye hua and su su, after su su became bai qian, it never felt like ye hua saw them as two different people, su su was bai qian, and that’s all that mattered, whereas i wanted ye hua to fall in love again with bai qian because she is so different from su su. so that issue killed the romance for me, also it took way too long for bai qian to find out that she was the mortal su su.
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7. Hwarang
Korean Drama - 2016, 20 episodes
i wish there had been more time seeing ban ryu and soo yeon falling in love beyond the initial meeting mistake, BUT, they were super cute smiling cuties so it kind of made up for it?
main ship let me down bad by having the ah-ro fall for moo myung when she believes he's her brother (and hoping that he's not); so it kinda squicked me out a bit
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8. Goblin
Korean Drama - 2016, 16 episodes
sunny and the grim reaper! reincarnated lovers that long for each other and fall for each other in every life time without knowledge of their tragic past! i just adored them and their romance and their eventual happy ending in the next life as an actress and a detective!
watching the main couple often felt like watching a father and daughter interact, which is all sorts of uncomfortable when they’re supposed to be falling in love ngl
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9. I'm Not a Robot
Korean Drama - 2017, 32 episodes
listen, i love Kang Yi Young to pieces because originally he would always appear in all the dramas i watched, but always kind of background, so in this one he was FINALLY a b-lead, AND he got the girl? not to mention i very much loved how his character fought to define himself and he shouldn't have been blamed for the mistake he made as a child, and i loved how the girl was very much 'love vs duty', and they GOT their happily ever after ANYWAY. i found their story so touching.
the main ship was not for me, should have been but it just. dragged out and i didn't really care for them.
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10. Moon Embracing the Sun
Korean Drama - 2012, 20 episodes
despite minhwa’s selfishness, part of me really liked her romance with heo yeom, and his eventual falling in love with her and the broken hearted revelations afterwards. i do think it helped that minhwa was punished for her actions, but at the same time, she was a child when she made her choice, and her grandmother took advantage of a silly, melodramatic, lovestruck girl who swooned over a handsome scholar. so i personally liked that they got a happy ending anyway.
the romance between lee hwon and heo yun woo worked better when they were kids, imo.
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11. Pinocchio
Korean Drama - 2014, 20 episodes
the nitpicker and the camera girl!!! what a cute evolution of them getting married!!
i did not care for the Not Blood Related Uncle And His Niece main ship. getting emancipation does not get rid of the incestuousness.
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12. Search: WWW
Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes
watching scarlett be ji-hwan’s biggest fan, rooting for him and cheering for his success was super cute, so it was very sweet to see him pine and want to meet her halfway.
main couple, after their argument about marriage, one opposed, the other in favour, should have stopped there, tbh, because unless one of them changes their mind, it’s an inevitable breakup.
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13. Strongest Deliveryman
Korean Drama - 2017, 16 episodes
barring The Kidnapping Incident, the mere premise/conflict of 'Just Date This Person For Six Months Then Dump Him' vs 'If You Don't Get This Girl To Marry You Within Six Months, You'll Lose Your Inheritance' with the b leads hating each other's guts and hilariously winding them up, these two were super cute
main ship, didn't really care for them. the girl should have left this town which she considers to be hell tbh.
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14. You're All Surrounded
Korean Drama - 2014, 20 episodes
alright, genuinely got won over by the endgame ship (despite slightly preferring the bozo duo) BUT i was immediately charmed by the divorcees who still love each other and get married again! they cute! they resolved their issues and love each other! i found them super fun to watch from start to finish!