10 K-Drama Male Characters We Wouldn’t Actually Date IRL
When you watch a K-drama, it really takes no effort at all to fall in love with the male character. They’re (most of the time) handsome, charming, and know how to woo the main female character, which in turn, woos us. It’s easy to get caught up in the fictitious world of love triangles, back hugs, and epic confessions or proposals, but are these characters actually dating material in real life? Here’s a look at 10 male characters who would be pretty difficult to actually date in real life.
Disclaimer: I loved each and every one of these K-dramas despite the opinions on this feature.
Warning: spoilers for dramas below.
“Goblin” – Kim Shin
Now here’s a character who has it all. Wealth, good looks, a huge mansion, endless amounts of luxurious designer coats, and a bride (Kim Go Eun) that’s waiting for him to find her. Sounds pretty perfect, right? Except that Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is a 900-year-old goblin who’s destined to die.
Not only is he mad old, but when he does eventually find his bride, his immortal life comes to an end and he crosses over to the afterlife, leaving his bride on earth. Don’t get me wrong, long distance relationships can work, but not to this extent. It also seems like a lot of trouble for the bride to have to reincarnate to be with the goblin again.
Watch “Goblin”:
“Heirs” – Kim Tan
At first glance, Kim Tan (Lee Min Ho) seems like an amazing catch. I mean, there’s a reason why this series was such a mega success in South Korea. He is super persistent when it comes to winning over the woman he loves and he is not going to let anything get in the way of being with his girlfriend. Women dig this kind of loyalty and romance, right?
But when it comes to intense male K-drama characters, Kim Tan takes the cake. He’s got a lot of baggage, which in turn has made him pretty possessive when it comes to his girlfriend. Even when things are getting rough with Cha Eun Sang (Park Shin Hye) and Kim Tan’s father exiles her out of Seoul, Kim Tan doesn’t let her go. There is hardly any room for her to breathe and have space from him even after she repeatedly asks him for time.
More so, the fact that Kim Tan’s father is so crazy about who his sons are marrying would probably put any girl into mental breakdown mode. It’s not a situation anyone would be jealous about!
Watch “Heirs”:
“Kill Me Heal Me” – Cha Do Hyun
Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) is a very, very complicated man. By himself, he is a pretty solid guy: caring, kind, rich, and very successful. But he’s also got several other personalities as he’s suffering from a multiple personality disorder as a result of a traumatic incident that happened when he was a child.
So although Cha Do Hyun is a good catch, I’m pretty sure it would be a little stressful having to deal with all seven of his other personalities. Although, Shin Se Gi was pretty cool, right?
Watch “Kill Me Heal Me”:
“Cheese In The Trap” – Yoo Jung sunbae
Ah, sunbae! Park Hae Jin played the mysteriously handsome Yoo Jung in “Cheese in the Trap.” Who doesn’t love a smart, handsome, and well-off sunbae on campus? Well, we all thought Jung was a decent fellow until we peeled back some of his layers.
What we discover is far more than meets the eye. Yes, Jung is from a well-off family and is well-respected in school, but he also has a lot of personal issues that need to be dealt with. In the perspective of Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun), you’re able to see how shady and secretive he really is. So although he seems all put together on the outside, our sunbae isn’t all he is cracked up to be and he just needs to figure his life out before he can get in a relationship.
Watch “Cheese in the Trap”:
“I Hear Your Voice” – Park Soo Ha
So Ha (Lee Jong Suk) is a high school student who falls in love with Jang Hye Sung (Lee Bo Young), a lawyer. Although he’s got attributes that are charming and hard to resist (even for the older and more mature Hye Sung), So Ha has a very special gift: He can hear what people are thinking.
For anyone, having a significant other who can read your mind would be downright creepy and annoying. It’d be difficult to have any sort of negative thoughts, and you’d have to be completely conscious of what you’re thinking about at all times. How exhausting!
Watch “I Hear Your Voice”:
“The Innocent Man” – Kang Ma Ru
Kang Ma Ru (Song Joong Ki) has to be one of my favorite K-drama male lead characters of all time. And yes, he is my ultimate bias, so I am a little partial, but he’s a character who is complex, tortured, and totally sexy.
Despite these amazing qualities, he’s definitely not a character that is date-worthy. Yes, he’s brooding and hot, but he’s got plenty of issues that have eventually made him into a bad boy. He cons people and has no problems toying around with women’s emotions to get revenge on them. Even after he falls in love with Seo Eun Gi (Moon Chae Won), he still hurts her! Definitely not a guy I’d want to hand over my heart to.
Watch “The Innocent Man”:
“Boys Over Flowers” – Gu Joon Pyo
Gu Joon Pyo (Lee Min Ho) pretty much has got his prep school in the palm of his hands, so when a poor girl named Geum Jan Di (Ku Hye Sun) transfers to his school, he makes sure to make her life a living hell.
Yes, he eventually falls in love with her, but he’s still a huge jerk. His character is a bully who will make sure you suffer if you do anything remotely wrong to him. He’s unforgiving, unreasonable, has a temper, and is totally irrational. Remember that time he sent men to kidnap Jan Di?! And he sent a group of other students to “scare” her. Yeah, I’d prefer if my future boyfriend didn’t do these things, thank you.
Watch “Boys Over Flowers”:
“Scarlet Heart: Goryeo” – Wang So
In “Scarlet Heart: Goryeo,” Wang So (Lee Joon Gi) is one of several princes who are in line of becoming the next King. Wang So is already considered the “black sheep” in the family and has had some baggage involving his mother. This in turn makes him bitter and angry, causing a lot of distance and tension with his family members. He eventually meets Hae Soo (IU) and falls in love with her, but it comes with a hefty price.
Although the two fall in love with each other, Wang So makes the choice to take up the responsibility of becoming the next King. Unfortunately, in order to do this, he has to break up with Hae Soo and marry another woman. Call me selfish, but I’d prefer my man to have less responsibility and choose to marry me.
“That Winter, the Wind Blows” – Oh Soo
Now, here’s a guy we want to stay away from. Oh Soo (Jo In Sung) is a con artist who you definitely don’t want to date, let alone fall in love with. Oh Soo devises a plan in which he takes advantage of Oh Young (Song Hye Kyo) and her blindness to get a lot of money from her. Calling him a jerk is kind of an understatement.
He ends up pretending to be Oh Young’s long-lost brother and manipulates her into thinking he actually cares about her. Before you know it, he falls in love with her. But at this point, it’s hard for him to get any sort of sympathy because of his conniving ways. Even though he looks all cool and really does end up falling in love with Oh Young, it’s really hard to look past all the lies and deceiving he’s capable of doing!
Watch “That Winter, the Wind Blows”:
“Come and Hug Me” – Chae Do Jin
There is nothing wrong with Chae Do Jin (Jang Ki Yong). He’s cute, a successful cop, and he’s got good values and morals. When he falls in love with his childhood friend, Han Jae Yi (Jin Ki Joo), he’s nothing but devoted to her. Sounds pretty perfect, right? But it’s not so much Do Jin that poses as a problem – it’s his psychopathic serial killer dad. In “Come and Hug Me,” Chae Do Jin’s dad brutally kills the family of his son’s future girlfriend. He proceeds to spend his entire time in prison waiting for the day he will be released so he can finish off what he started and kill Jae Yi (Jin Ki Joo).
It’s hard enough with your significant other’s parents, but if the parent murdered your family and is on a mission to murder you, I’d say it’s a problem. A problem I’d rather do without.
Watch “Come and Hug Me”:
Hey Soompiers, which of these characters would you never date in real life? Let me know in the comments below!
binahearts is a Soompi writer whose ultimate biases are Song Joong Ki and BIGBANG. She can often be seen singing her heart out at karaoke, walking her dog, or indulging in desserts. Make sure you follow binahearts on Instagram as she journeys through her latest Korean crazes!
Currently watching: “Clean With Passion For Now” and “Encounter”
All-time favorite dramas: “Secret Garden,” “Goblin,” “Because This Is My First Life,” “Star In My Heart”
Looking forward to: Won Bin‘s return to the small screen and Song Joong Ki‘s next drama
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