Stealing hearts with a deadly malady called Second Lead Syndrome

“To be brave is to love someone unconditionally without expecting anything in return.” － Madonna.

Indeed, when you love someone without expecting anything in return is such a brave and selfless kind of love. There are times when we tend to think of what will benefit us before actually doing something, but you can’t say the same thing in love.

Korean dramas (K-dramas) are always overlooked by focusing only on the main leads or couples. However, in K-dramas, besides enthralling plots and unforeseen jaw-dropping twists, there’s something that one should look forward to－the existence of the second leads.

Second leads are always outshone by the main leads, and their existence is barely recognized as something important in the drama. People often view them as the one who tries to take the female lead from the male lead or the other way ’round. Although they appear as an obstacle to the development of the main leads’ relationship, as someone who is very enthusiastic towards the existence of second leads, perhaps we think they are not always the douchebag of the story.

Have you heard about Second Lead Syndrome? This term is not only popular for K-drama enthusiasts but as well as may be common to other genres or foreign dramas. This syndrome is not that popular with female second leads, but it’s a lot used for male second leads.

Have you ever found yourself rooting for the second male lead instead of the main male lead? Have you ever been stirred or enthusiastic about the sweet chemistry between the second male lead and the female lead? Did it occur to you…the feeling of being struck by a bolt of lightning when the second male lead turns out to never be the end game of the female lead?

That’s the second lead syndrome. It’s not infectious, but it has no cure. It’s fatal but not lethal.

In almost every film and series we watch, there is always a second lead. Though there are times that we ship for the second lead actor than the first lead, which is where Second Lead Syndrome happens.

Looking at the one you love being happy with someone else can really make your heart bleed and broken into million pieces. Thus, this is one of the few reasons why my heart beats for the second lead and why we’ve always caught ourselves in a Second Lead Syndrome all over again.

The second lead tends to present themselves extraordinarily. They can be the good guys who are always there to comfort the lead actress or the bad guy who keeps on pestering her. They tend to deny their feelings, but in the end, they are falling deeply into the girl they cannot have.

Tormenting as it appears to be. The writers, directors, and the whole production staff will be playing with our feelings, assuming that the second male lead and the female lead might end up with each other, but it turns out nothing but a quick shuffle of cards. They always caught us hoping for a love to bloom and then burst our hopes by serving us a wholesome menu that they’d never end up with each other. It was as if they were just meant to cross paths, but they won’t end up at the same dead end.

Annoying it is, sometimes. You get your hopes higher than the standards of the female lead. You even get your heart flutter by the simple interaction between the second male lead and the female lead. And then gets your heart broken by the fact that they were never meant to end up with each other.

For K-drama enthusiasts who missed or overlooked the existence of such exceptional men, they treat them as second male lead only. Here are some gentlemen who we can vouch for as potential candidates for Second Lead Syndrome. After reading this, you might realize that they deserve the love they offer, hence left unreciprocated.

Han Ji Pyeong (Kim Seon Ho) of Start-Up ended our 2020 second lead syndrome, while Han Seo Jun (Hwang In Yeop) started our 2021 with the same vibe. They became the talk of the town, even slammed search bars for their extraordinary characters. The Second Lead Syndrome heart of the countless K-drama fans burns for these two. They were even recognized as the kings dethroning previous well-acknowledged second lead who gave the second lead syndrome to K-drama fans like Kim Shin-hyuk (Choi Siwon) of She Was Pretty and Baek Kyung (Lee Jae Wook) of Extraordinary You.

Many fans are still baffled how on earth Seo Dal Mi (played by Suzy Bae, Start-Up) ended up with Nam Do San (played by Nam Joo Hyuk), like all these years she was whipped by the letters written by Ji Pyeong. Ji Pyeong and Dal Mi’s grandmother borrowed Nam Do San’s name only, but the letters’ content, later on, became more unfeigned and focused on Ji Pyeong, who was asked to write Dal Mi letters. Do San actually look like a lot more as the second lead than the real second lead, Ji Pyeong.

We just couldn’t understand how Dal Mi dense could be for choosing Do San, who was away for three years, and did not choose the guy who stayed with her through thick and thin through the years. Well, of course, that’s all part of the drama; after all…Dal Mi’s heart still burns for Do San. Still… it’s objectionable, right?

Here comes the birth of the King of second leads, Han Seo Jun (Hwang In Yeop) of True Beauty. At first, he showed no interest in the female lead Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga Young), and later developed feelings for her when she was already too whipped for Lee Su Ho (Cha Eunwoo) friend of Seo Jun.

What really got the fans heartsick is the fact that Seo Jun still looked after her (Ju-kyung) despite the fact that she is deeply in love with his friend Su Ho. What’s truly heartrending, for the span of two (2) years of breakup between Su Ho and Ju-kyung, Seo Jun patiently waited for Ju-kyung to open up to him and even continued loving her despite the fact he would not really stand a chance.

He was even unprepared about confessing his love for Ju-kyung. It was long overdue; hence, he asked for a chance to go on a date three (3) times; if it doesn’t work out, he will finally move on from her. He tried to make a lucky shot, although it was pretty clear that he could not really replace Su Ho on Ju-kyung’s heart. Indeed a heart-breaking scene, wasn’t it?

And what’s really got the fans crying over the drama, the scene where Seo Jun encouraged Ju-kyung to finally go to Su Ho. He deserves better, as he had chosen the happiness of the girl he loves and the friendship he treasures with Suho. The scene where Seo Jun was crying on his own, grieving over his unrequited love, really left a lasting impression on the viewers, a reason why they empathize with his character.

Few underrated second male leads made the fans overly suffer from the second lead syndrome. Go Cheong-myeong (Lee Dohyun) of the well-known rom-com dark fantasy Hotel Del Luna. What’s anguishing about his role was some viewers actually assumed or anticipated that he was reincarnated as Go Chan-sung (Yoo Jin Goo). It turns out he was there all along protecting Jang Man-wol (IU/Lee Ji Eun) in the form of a firefly being the first guest of the hotel, waited for about a thousand-year to finally fulfill his promise to Man-wol and due to his unwavering love to the female lead.

Another potential candidate that broke the fan’s hearts was Kim Shin-hyuk (Choi Siwon) of She Was Pretty. Although he has shared a genuine friendship with the female lead, for him, it was love. He even openly expressed what he truly felt for the female lead, even risked his life only the female lead would end up with the male lead.

The all-time favorite second lead was Kim Jung Hwan (Ryu Jun Yeol) of Reply 1988. He could definitely line up with the named ‘best boys’ from the selection of second leads. He has been harboring a crush for his childhood friend, but he could not bring it up as he does not dare to do so. A certain scene raised the fans’ anticipation that finally, the ship (them) would finally sail. However, he diverted his gaze instead of taking advantage of the close counter with the female lead. With that, he won the hearts of the viewers and even earned respect from the fans when he decided to step aside as he learned that one of his childhood friends liked the female lead. His selfless nature left the fans heartbroken for his character.

Either he was not just meant for the female lead, or his timing was exceptionally late. But then again, not because the character was the second lead, he will be branded as the guy who’ll try to snatch the female lead from the main male lead.

They, too, deserve the love they give and the love that the main male lead receives.

But the second lead syndrome does hurt as much as when it is when the second female lead feels crappy about not being able to get the love they deserve in the drama. Although, the spotlight rarely given to them, we can vouch for few second female leads who had heart-breaking love stories as much as the guys mentioned above.

If you have watched Doctors (starring Park Shin Hye), Jin Seo-woo (Lee Sung Kyung) who have been pinning Jung Yoon-do (Yoon Kyung-sang) ended up hurting herself for loving a man who couldn’t love her back. The guy was even pressured by their family (him and Seo-woo’s) to marry off each other, hence, Yoon-do made it clear that he doesn’t feel anything for Seo-woo. As well as Choi Soo-ji (Moon Ga Young) from Tempted who was known for her cunning appearance, but bearing with a heavy burden did not have the love she deserves in the drama. Realizing feelings late, she had her heart burning for Kwon Shi-hyun (Woo Do-hwan) who is a childhood friend of hers, hence, the guy has fallen in love with someone else leaving Soo-ji heartbroken. One more notable second female lead who made the fans cried and sympathized with her was Kang Soo-jin (Park Yoo-na) of True Beauty, who went boundaries ruining her friendship with Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga Young) for the man he loves, Lee Su Ho (Cha Eunwoo).

Second female leads are not getting enough credits they deserve as much as the second male leads. Perhaps, it’s because of the nature the drama has given to them…the ‘girl who’d hurt the female lead because she loves the male lead who was meant for the female lead.’ They are always given that image of having the tendency to make the female lead suffer for getting the attention of the person they love more than they can or not receiving the feelings they have devoted.

These dramas or shows make us realize how cruel life can be. We meet someone we thought is “the one,” but you’ll realize that she/he isn’t meant for you in just a snap. They are just some passers-by that have made a significant impact in your life.

How ironic it is that the one who can bring joy into your life can also be the one to wash it away, but even how hard and painful it is, you’ll still love that person, and his/her happiness will always matter.

It really paints a beautiful picture of love; sometimes, when paths crossed, it doesn’t mean they’d eventually go in the same direction. However, there are times that we overlook people’s worth. We tend to miss the opportunity to obtain the precious diamond while busy looking for something a lot more ‘valuable.’

The second leads are humans, too. Maybe their character comes too strong, but they are masters of making people swoon over them when they couldn’t win the female lead’s heart.