Fight for My Way to Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo; 5 K Dramas excelling at 'friends turned lovers' storyline

The typical 'friends turned lovers' trope has been used for decades in movies and TV shows, irrespective of language. Whether it be Bollywood movies or K-dramas, the romance genre is filled to the brim with childhood friends or 'we just met' friends, who eventually fall in love and have their happily ever after. We've seen in 13 Going on 30, we've seen in it in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and we've also seen it in Friends. The examples are countless!

But, let's focus on K-dramas as an example to further prove our point. It's a major possibility that your all-time favourite K-drama will at least include one couple, who used to be friends a long time ago and meet again only to not remember each other. Then, one magical day, an incident occurs which makes them realise their past and subsequently fall for each other. Sounds familiar? While it's an overused trope, we still can't help but be suckered to such storylines as its simplicity at its best.

Here are five 'friends turned lovers' K-dramas that should be on your watch list:

Fight for My Way

This drama is the handbook for the 'friends turned lovers' storyline as Ko Dong-man (Park Seo-joon) and Choi Ae-ra's (Kim Ji-won) love story is as realistic yet dreamy as it gets. While their separate ambitions play a major role in the storyline, it's the back and forth bickering/flirting between Dong-man and Ae-ra, which leads to the eventual happily ever after, that viewers genuinely loved.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo

This endearing drama has our hearts for its simplistic yet heartwarming story of a talented weightlifter Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung). At the heart of the series is the love story between Bok-joo and her childhood friend, Jung Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk). While initially, they don't remember each other, over time they find out and eventually fall in love.

Reply 1997

Next up, we have Shung Shi-won (Jung Eun-ji) and Yoon Yoon-jae (Seo In-guk), who managed to leave us gushing with their love story, that came only after being friends since childhood. While Yoon-jae harbours a secret crush on Shi-won, eventually his feelings are reciprocated.

Personal Taste

This Lee Min-ho and Son Ye-jin series sees Jeon Jin-ho (Min-ho) and Park Kae-in (Ye-jin) start off as friends, with Jin-ho believed to be gay and gradually sees the characters falling hard for each other. The misunderstanding in the beginning and motive behind Jin-ho's actions play an important role but the love story was bound to blossom nonetheless.

She Was Pretty

Another Park Seo-joon series makes it our list and this time we have childhood friends Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) and Ji Sung-joon (Seo-joon), who meet after years. The only problem is, Hye-jin is not as beautiful as she once was and instead has her friend Min Ha-ri (Go Joon-hee) pretend to be her when Sung-joon comes back to her life. However, the sparks between Hye-jin and Sung-joon grow when she gets employed for a fashion magazine, where the latter is the editor. The eventual love story is extremely cheesy yet endearing.

Which is your favourite 'friends turned lovers' K-drama? Let us know your pick in the comments section below.