9 K-Drama BFFs Who Both Love And Hate Each Other
K-drama friendships are always a little extra compared to real life. In real life, friends hang out, grab food, and watch movies. In K-dramas, friends hang out, save the world, and solve mysteries. In real life, we make friends with like-minded people at work or school, and we only rarely have real fights. In K-dramas, people make friends with weirdos who are nothing like them, and they rarely ever stop fighting.
Friendships are always put to the test in K-dramas. But that’s where the fun is, right? K-drama BFFs have way more reasons to fight than to get along, so when they get over all the hurdles and let themselves feel the love, it’s just so satisfying to watch. Here’s our pick of nine K-drama frenemies and the reasons why we love them so.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
1. Chief Kim and Seo Yool in “Chief Kim”
When your nicknames are “TQ Psycho” and “Gluttonous Sociopath,” you know you’re a match made in heaven. Or should that be in hell?
The best part of workplace comedy “Chief Kim” is watching our hero Chief Kim (Namgoong Min) and his nemesis, Director Seo Yool (2PM’s Junho), throw down in a battle of wits. Of course, they still find time to sneak in a few smooches and throw some chips at each other. These two are such formidable opponents that once they’re on the same side, you can’t help but squee over the beatdown the real bad guys are about to get.
Check out the first episode of “Chief Kim”:
2. Chun Song Yi and Yoo Se Mi in “My Love From the Star”
Female frenemies are less common in K-dramas, but they’re just as rewarding to watch because their connections can be so complex and relatable. That’s definitely the case with Se Mi (Yoo In Na) and Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun). They’re gorgeous, glamorous actresses who actually remind us of ourselves.
Se Mi has always been in the shadow of her more charming friend. It also doesn’t help that the guy she loves is in love with Song Yi instead. She keeps her feelings under wraps because she still loves Song Yi too – until she finally gets a chance to outshine her. If you’ve ever felt like life is unfair, you’ll spare a thought for Se Mi at her worst.
Check out the first episode of “My Love From the Star”:
3. Seon Woo and Ji Dwi in “Hwarang”
Here’s another friend pairing that is thrown asunder by an ill-timed love triangle. Oh, and that whole “which one of us gets to be king?” saga doesn’t help either.
Seon Woo (Park Seo Joon) grew up as orphaned pauper while Ji Dwi (Park Hyung Sik) grew up as a king in hiding. Thrown together as Hwarangs, they’re forced to get along for the sake of the realm. So begins a glorious array of misguided macho posturing, as they find their way as Flower Knights and try to prove their worth to the woman they love (Go Ara). But when they’re both equally badass yet hapless, how could they not fall for each other a little bit?
Check out the first episode of “Hwarang”:
4. Goblin and Reaper in “Goblin”
C’mon, how could these two not be on the list? This is Dramaland’s most iconic bromance for a reason. The best thing about Goblin (Gong Yoo) and Reaper’s (Lee Dong Wook) relationship is that their millennium-spanning, fatefully tragic connection is also super dorky and petty.
It’s that balance that makes for great bromance. On the one hand, these two have caused untold havoc and sorrow in each other’s lives. On the other hand, they’re both scared of the doorbell, don’t know how to use the phone, and strut home together with groceries like supermodels on a catwalk. In the end, the memories of those little, dumb and cute moments might end up meaning more than the darker past they wish they could forget.
Check out the first episode of “Goblin”:
5. Kang Yi Na and Jung Ye Eun in “Age Of Youth”
Yi Na (Ryu Hwayoung) is confrontational, sexually confident, and afraid of commitment. Ye Eun (Han Seung Yeon) is timid, girly, and romance-driven. You wouldn’t blame them for disliking each other, which makes it all the sweeter when they have each other’s backs.
What Yi Na has, Ye Eun lacks and vice versa. They argue so much because they remind each other of their own insecurities. But they show up for one another when it’s really important because those difference also push them to protect each other – even if Yi Na has to drag Ye Eun by the hair to get her out of trouble.
6. Yoo Jung and Baek In Ho in “Cheese In The Trap”
When we first meet Jung (Park Hae Jin) and In Ho (Seo Kang Joon), they’ve already known and hated each other for a long time. Their story starts in the aftermath, and it takes a long time to unpack why there’s so much bad blood.
At first, we feel like we must choose one or the other. They both like the same girl (Kim Go Eun), so surely one of them deserves to be with her and the other doesn’t, right? But soon we start to see that there wouldn’t be so much hate if they hadn’t loved each other so much to begin with. It takes all the sting out of their hostility, and all we can see are two lost boys who forgot how to find their way back to each other.
Check out the first episode of “Cheese In The Trap”:
7. Kang Bok Soo and Oh Se Ho in “My Strange Hero”
Jealousy can drive even the sweetest person to a very dark place. In “My Strange Hero,” Se Ho (Kwak Dong Yeon) starts off as a fluffy marshmallow who utterly adores his best buddy Bok Soo (Yoo Seung Ho). But getting to know Bok Soo also shows Se Ho just how much he’s missing in his own life. Would it be easier for Se Ho to become like Bok Soo, or to bring Bok Soo down to his level?
Se Ho’s choices become the driving force for this drama. He may feel helpless, but in fact, he has the power to break the best friendship he ever had. We can only hope he’ll find the power to mend it again.
Check out the first episode of “My Strange Hero”:
8. Go Hye Mi and Yoon Baek Hee in “Dream High”
Would you still be friends with the person who dropped a flowerpot on your head? Yeah, neither would we. To be fair to Baek Hee (Ham Eun Jung), Hye Mi (Suzy) had never been very nice to her when they were still friends, always treating her like a doormat. But still, the flowerpot was a bridge too crazy.
Fortunately, both Baek Hee and Hye Mi do a lot of growing and learning during their time at Kirin Arts High School. On very different journeys, they eventually arrive at the same lesson: no amount of success or recognition is worth more than the unconditional support you can only get from your BFF.
Check out the first episode of “Dream High”:
9. Park Kwang Ho & Kim Seon Jae in “Tunnel”
Sometimes, the only way to stop hating someone is to realize you knew them when they were a baby, which was about two weeks ago. If that sentence makes no sense to you, go right ahead and watch “Tunnel” to get your mind blown along with your bromance fix.
The moment cops Kwang Ho (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Seon Jae (Yoon Hyun Min) are forced to become partners, you know this show is gonna be a fun ride. That is, if they don’t beat each other to a pulp before they catch the crook. Even after they discover their unimaginable connection, Seon Jae keeps finding ways to frustrate his senior-turned-junior-turned-senior partner. But whenever Kwang Ho walks out that tunnel, Seon Jae’s always the first one to welcome him back.
Check out the first episode of “Tunnel”:
Which bickering BFFs do you root for? Let us know in the comments below!
Azra_A spends most of her waking hours waiting patiently for 2PM’s next comeback (roll on 2021!). She relies on sheet masks and weird ice cream flavors to help her endure (cucumber is great, ceylon is better). When she’s not watching the comeback clock, you’ll find her on Instagram.
Currently watching: “Her Private Life,” “Absolute Boyfriend”
All-time favorite dramas: “My Love From the Star,” “Healer”
Looking forward to: “Angel’s Last Mission: Love,” “Arthdal Chronicles”
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