Dramaland heroes are pretty much the reason I got into dramas. In the beginning, it didn’t take much for a male lead to win me over. Pretty face? Check. Obvious eyeliner? Check. Bangs sprayed across the forehead into a helmet? Check! After those criteria were met, all the wrist grabs and one-sided kisses that came along with the romances just seemed like a swoony part of the package. In the world of these heroes, showing care meant yelling and withholding — usually so the female lead could improve her lot in life. And man did I want to see these women win.
Somewhere around five years ago, though, I noticed a massive shift in the way I related to the female characters. There were more dramas to choose from, and more women who reflected autonomy, agency, and nuance in their needs. That is, they reflected more “me.” I became less interested in the escapist element of their lives and latched onto their realism instead. However, it took me some time to fully grasp just how much the men had changed alongside them — not just in reaction to the new heroines, but in the core of how they were written.
The new generation of men weren’t the hair-pulling type, and only sometimes were they the default protectors. They were as suave and debonaire as ever but their charms were located in updated aspects of their behavior. They could be curious and communicative, as well as supportive and unassuming. Not only did I find them swoonier than before, they began to cast an unforgiving shadow on my once-loved heroes of dramas past. These days, I find myself less able to watch a certain style of classic romance, interested instead in the complexities of contemporary characters.
With every new year comes a better crop and 2024 delivered some seriously heart-stopping heroes. My favorites expressed their feelings (with words), stepped back when it was appropriate, learned about their love interests, and even made long-distance relationships work — all while packin’ the pretty (which, let’s be honest, isn’t off the list of reasons they stole my heart).
Yoo Bobby
Yumi’s Cells 2
Bobby stole the heart right out of my chest and still will not give it back. Part of it has to do with Jinyoung’s reserved portrayal — his subtle facial expressions that sometimes break into eye smiles or tears — but a lot of it has to do with how much Bobby supports Yumi in becoming the person she wants to be. He encourages her to write, is respectful of her time (always treating her writing like a “real” job), and is beside her in all the moments that it doesn’t work out — finally becoming her steadfast reader when it does.
His total trust in Yumi swept me off my feet, whether it was about her friendship with her ex (Woong — a heart stealer from last year) or her need to stay in Seoul when he moves to Jeju. I love how he’s confident, while being easy-going and forthright (that scene where he calls Yumi a liar after she says she didn’t miss him is in my personal file of all-time swooniest moments). But, of course, everything I love about Bobby also led to his downfall. His desire to never burden Yumi meant he hid parts of himself, to the detriment of the relationship. For me, his initial flawlessness made it all the more crushing, and my heart fluttered all the more for it.
Choi Woong
Our Beloved Summer
If I had to pick a favorite drama this year, it would be this one. The problems and personalities of both leads are so fully fleshed out that I couldn’t help but feel for them — and I adore the way they feel for each other. Woong is such a thoughtful, self-reflexive, vulnerable character — impossibly in love with Yeon-soo — and always actively trying to understand her side of things.
Of all the heart-wrenching scenes (and there are many), my favorite is when Yeon-soo enters Woong’s room and finds him sleeping on the floor. She sits beside him and her hand falls close to his. Woong moves his hand, just slightly, to rest on top of hers, holding her hand. Yeon-soo pulls away and leaves the room, and we see that Woong was not really asleep. It’s such a subtle moment, but manages to capture how deeply he still feels for her, even five years after their breakup. Maybe it’s because Choi Woo-shik can turn any role into some kind of masterpiece, but even now (almost a year later) I still feel an ache in my chest for Woong.
Han Ji-yool
Once Upon a Small Town
Oh, the big city vet who arrives to a small town not knowing a local lady will be his undoing. I was so impressed with Ji-yool’s honesty and ability to communicate that I fell for him pretty much instantly. I said in my weecaps that this was a relatively drama-free drama (the kind I like best) and it’s in large part because when Ji-yool realizes his feelings, he falters only briefly before getting the message to the important parties: the heroine and his interceding ex.
There’s a moment when he tells his ex-girlfriend that it’s over between them — independent of the female lead’s feelings for him — because he knows how he feels about her (there’s no going back). It’s almost shocking in its directness, but it’s conveyed with the warmth and care I’d already come to expect from a character who spends his time doctoring up baby animals. Later, after a period of mature long distance with the female lead, Ji-yool decides to live full-time in the countryside, rather than trying to pull her to the city. It makes sense for this couple, and it turned me to jelly for Ji-yool.
Lee Jun-ho
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Despite sharing a name with the most heart-stealing man on the planet, Jun-ho took some time to grow on me. I think it’s because romance is not the centerpiece of this drama and the relationship moves at a pace and scale that makes sense for the female lead (which is exactly what makes it so lovely). What I ended up loving most about Jun-ho is his careful attention to Young-woo’s boundaries. He knows when to shut up (which is a lot of the time) and when to speak up for himself. And when he does speak up, he makes Young-woo aware of his own boundaries in a way that’s revelatory — he presents a new way of doing things that she hasn’t considered (rather than getting defensive).
As a couple, these two grow together — Jun-ho learning about autism and being sensitive to Young-woo’s perspective, and Young-woo realizing how her actions often hurt Jun-ho. I had a serious soft spot for Kang Tae-oh after his role in Run On, but here he operates with such metered confidence and unabashed nerdiness that I cannot freakin’ wait to see what he does next.
John Jang
Love is for Suckers
All right, I know, this one’s cheating because he’s not the hero of the drama, but he stole my heart nonetheless so I’m throwing it in as a bonus. John Jang is the most surprising of all the heart thieves on this list because he was supposed to be a side character. But, as anyone who saw the show knows, this chef and his lovely webtoon artist sweetheart ripped the attention away from the leads so severely, it will go down in K-drama history.
Why do I love Chef John? Because in the beginning the audience was meant to despise him for his egotism and superficiality. He totally redeems himself, though, by showing his attentive, thoughtful, serious side to the lady he likes — who doesn’t fit society’s definition of acceptable beauty. He then throws his own curated celebrity image to the wind in order to marry said lady. Not to mention, he’s a chef — he makes her a bunch of food and seems to actually enjoy watching her eat it (and that’s enough to win me over any day).