Second Male Lead Syndrome (SMLS)

I have always wondered why people were so addicted to Asian drama, and Korean drama in particular. It wasn’t until I was sucked into this world two years ago, did I really understand. They have really cracked the code when it comes to telling beautiful, feel-good, heart touching stories, that stay with you long after you have watched them. Post series depression is very real when it comes to Kdrama. They are so addictive that in order to get over that depression, you end up diving into another show, and before you know it, you have become a Kdrama fanatic. But of all the things that the Koreans have mastered in their art of story-telling, the one that they have perfected is the character development of their second male leads. Though I wouldn’t say that their second male leads are perfect in all the shows, but they definitely are in majority of the cases. I sometimes feel like they put more effort into developing the second male lead character, than they do the main lead. Though I have watched movies and shows before, where I felt sorry for the second male lead, it wasn’t until I started watching Korean drama did I understand exactly what a Second Male Lead Syndrome (SMLS) really feels like. Like any Kdrama fanatic, I have felt this very real emotion multiple times in varying degrees. But of all those second male leads the three that really left me heartbroken and sad for a very long time are Yoon Ji-hoo from Boys Over Flowers (/ Boys Before Flowers), Choi Young-do from The Heirs (/ Inheritors) and Kim Jung-hwan from Reply 1988 (/ Answer me 1988).

When you talk about SMLS the first character that comes to mind for most of us is Yoon Ji-hoo (Kim Hyun-joong) from Boys Over Flowers. For a very long time he was everyone’s favorite second male lead. Ji-Hoo is that soft-natured, kind hearted, all around good guy that you can depend on any time, and to see such a beautiful character end up empty-handed, was a little too hard for most of us to handle. Especially since we know that Ji-hoo and Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) connect with each other on a much deeper level from the very beginning, a connection she does not share even with Jun-pyo (Lee Min-Ho). They can sense when the other is happy, sad or in agony. Most importantly he loves her unconditionally, a love that feels more powerful than even the love Jun-pyo has for Jan-di. Last but not the least, she never feels inferior to Ji-hoo and is very comfortable around him and his family. They are a perfect fit in every possible way. So, in the end when Jan-di chooses Jun-pyo over Ji-hoo, you can’t help but cry for him. It was just too cruel to keep Ji-hoo by her side till the very end, while she waited for Jun-pyo and walked into his arms.

The next character that always comes to mind when I think of SLMS is Choi Young-do (Kim Woo-bin) from The Heirs / Inheritors. Young-do is the polar opposite of Ji-hoo. He is the typical bad guy turned good, that you can’t help but fall in love with. What makes Young-do stand out from other second male leads, is his vulnerability. You know he is longing to be loved, and he is willing to go to any lengths, even at the risk of hurting himself, to protect Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye), the girl he loves. There are so many scenes where your heart goes out to him, like when he finally finds Eun-sang in the police station, or when Eun-sang’s mom feeds him. For Young-do’s sake and my poor heart, I was really hoping for either Eun-sang to have a change of heart or for the writers to introduce a new character so he wouldn’t be so lonely. Sadly that never happened 😦

Another show that left me devastated because the second lead did not get the girl is Reply 1988. Actually it is unfair to call Kim Jung-hwan (Ryu Jun-Yeol) the second lead of the show. He was the one that had the most screen time with Sung Deok-sun (Lee Hye-ri), and his was the love story that we watched very closely from the very beginning. It was a case of many missed opportunities in Jung-hwan’s case, making us think of all the “if only”s. Like, if only Duk-seon was not misled by her friends regarding Sun-woo, if only she paid more attention to Jung-hwan’s actions, if only she knew who really bought the other pink shirt, if only he wasn’t so shy or hesitant about sharing his feelings, if only he had arrived at the concert first, if only…. However, I think the main reason this hurt so much was because I feel the writers had started writing the series keeping Jung-hwan in mind as the male lead, but switching it half way through the show. Why else would they mislead us with the older husband character looking and acting more like the younger Jung-hwan, and why would they make us aware of his feelings first, and get us invested in their love track way before Taek’s feelings for Deok-sun are revealed? Being misled so much from the very beginning, made accepting the fact that Jung-hwan does not end up with Deok-sun that much more painful.

So what about you guys? Did you also suffer from Second Male Lead Syndrome? Which character left you devastated the most?

PS: All three shows are available for online streamlining on Netflix