Watch a K-drama, and you’ll realize that it carries a lot of themes and subplots—such as friendship. It may not be the main focus of the storyline, but a lot of K-dramas highlight the ups and downs of friendships between the characters. Check out this list of some of the best K-drama friendships.
Family by Choice
There’s nothing more Yoon Ju-won (Jung Chae-Yeon) wants than to become real siblings with Kim San-ha (Hwang In-youp) and Kang Hae-jun (Bae Hyun-sung). After all, they’ve shared lives ever since they were children—left behind by their mothers and raised by their dads. But as they grow older and prepare for college and their future careers, the arrival of some unexpected—and some unwelcome—adults shake their peaceful lives and the relationship they have with each other. Family by Choice is not just a beautiful tale about friendship—it’s a heart-rending story about family, especially the ones we choose and fight for.
Hospital Playlist
Dramas featuring wholesome adult friendships can be tricky to do, but when done right, they can produce masterpieces, such as Hospital Playlist. It isn’t just about the ups and downs of five doctors who are trying to navigate their careers and workplace challenges—it’s about five friends who meet in unexpected ways and become the best of friends. What’s even better is how they all end up in the same hospital and play in the same band as a way of de-stressing. Beyond the fun times they have is a friendship that runs deep. You can tell with the way they interact with each other and the things they know about each other.
The King Eternal Monarch
Despite its gripping tale on time travel and worlds-crossed lovers, The King Eternal Monarch also tells the beautiful story of a friendship between monarch Lee Gon (played by Lee Min-ho) Jo Yeong, his faithful bodyguard (played by actor Woo Do-wan). Jo Yeong is more than just a bodyguard to Lee Gon, however, and the story soon reveals their friendship and how it came to be.
Prison Playbook
Kim Je-hyuk (Park Hae-soo) and Lee Joon-ho (Jung Kyung-ho) are close buddies and baseball enthusiasts until one of them gets into an accident that keeps him from playing baseball. They meet again several years later—one as a prisoner and the other as one of the guards in the prison cell. It’s funny, it’s poignant, and it also explores the different kinds of friendships (and enemies) found within the prison walls.
Chinese drama Hidden Love is another fun story featuring two best friends, Duan Jiaxu and Sang Yan. Read about it next!
Racket Boys
Racket Boys dives into the funny yet endearing ways a group of boys becomes friends. They start as rivals, bickering about the littlest things and trying to best each other in badminton. But as they live under the same roof, bond over food, games, and their shared misfortune of not having enough funding and support to do what they love, they soon grow closer. They learn to open up to each other, forming a true bond between them.
Reply 1988
Reply 1988’s story is not only known for being a superb slice-of-life K-drama, but also one that portrays K-drama friendships really well. It features five neighborhood friends and the beautiful relationships they have with each other. You get a glimpse of their everyday life—simple, mundane, but very relatable. What’s even better is that their parents, too, are good friends, providing beautiful insight into adult K-drama friendships.
Start-Up
It’s not every day that you get to establish a start-up with your best buds, but that’s what Nam Do-san (Nam Joo-hyuk), Kim Young-san (Kim Do-wan), and Lee Seol Chan (Yoo Soo-bin) get to do. Despite their early blunders, their petty quarrels, and the mistakes they make in between periods of growth and learning, the three founders of Sam San Tech stick together through thick and thin.
READ THIS NEXT: 6 Reasons to Love Nam Do San in Start-Up
Thirty-Nine
Thirty-Nine explores the idea of K-drama friendships of women in their late thirties, each with their own careers, the complexity of their relationships, and other issues in life. What’s interesting is how the drama doesn’t portray their friendship as something “perfect”. One of the characters, Jang Joo-hee (played by Kim Ji-hyun), even expresses how she often feels left out in their little friend group. The tension, of course, is how they work through it and the other challenges they face.
Twenty-Five, Twenty-One
What starts out as a misunderstanding and heated rivalry turns into a lifelong friendship between fencers Na Hee-do (KimTae-ri) and Go Yu-rim (Bona). Part of their friend group includes classmates Moon Ji-ung (Choi Hyun-wook) and Ji Sung-wan (Lee Joo-Myung). Together, the four friends go through their high school days, careers, friendships, and relationships—navigating the ups and downs and learning about life together.
Welcome to Samdal-ri
When a work scandal drives famous photographer Cho Sam-dal (Shin Hae-sun) back to her small hometown in Jeju Island, she tries her best to escape from nosy neighbors. But Sam-dal can’t hide forever from her childhood friends, including Cho Young-pil (Ji Chang-wook). It’s heartwarming seeing her friends come to her defense and rescue on several occasions—and not just them, but the other townspeople, too—which is one of the best-written K-drama friendships you’ll see ou there.
The Winning Try
Sports dramas often portray some of the best K-drama friendships, and The Winning Try is no exception. It’s a heartwarming story of a rugby team in a sports high school—a mix of mismatched students who are doing everything they can to prevent the board from disbanding their team. Along comes a new coach, but his not-so-stellar reputation makes them mistrust him at first. Together, the students learn to trust him and each other.
[BONUS!] Tale of the Nine-Tailed
Not so much of a friendship as it is a brotherhood. Tale of the Nine-Tailed follows the story of Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook), a gumiho (nine-tailed fox) who has lived for a long time. His brother, Lee Rang (Kim Bum), looks up to him, and yet has mixed feelings due to a misunderstanding from the past. When they’re faced with a common enemy, the brothers have to learn to let go of the past and trust each other once more.
