25 Greatest Enemies-To-Lovers K-Dramas Ever, Ranked

Whether it's novels, TV shows, comics, or movies, the enemies-to-lovers trope has been around since time immemorial, and K-dramas are no exception. Both love and hate are very strong, visceral emotions, which is precisely why it is very easy to mix up the two, or even tell them apart, for that matter. This is why enemies-to-lovers stories often make for the most intense romances out there. Sure, straightforward romances such as friends-to-lovers stories can be sweet, but nothing quite beats the thrill of seeing two individuals who supposedly despise each other reluctantly fall in love. The initial denial followed by the yearning and the growing tension during all the bickering make for a very engaging story, which is why the enemies-to-lovers trope has lived on for so long, and K-dramas have also seen every variant of it by now. 25 What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018) Main Couple: Park Seo-jun as Lee Young-jun & Park Min-young as Kim Mi-so Based on the webtoon of the same name, What's Wrong With Secretary Kim is a romance K-drama classic and is often considered a must-watch starter show for those just being introduced to the medium. The series is a typical chaebol romance revolving around a multimillionaire CEO Lee Young-jun and his incredibly capable secretary, Kim Mi-so. The story takes off when Mi-so quits her job after nine years, prompting Young-jun to pop the titular question of "What's wrong with Secretary Kim?" With Young-jun being the egocentric boss that he is, he finds it hard to fathom why Mi-so would possibly want to quit and thus sets out to somehow persuade her into staying. However, these very personality quirks are also what set the two at odds, paving the way for a typical enemies-to-lovers romance as Young-jun discovers just why he can't do without Mi-so. 24 My Love From The Star (2013) Main Couple: Kim Soo-hyun as Do Min-joon & Jun Ji-hyun as Cheon Song-yi My Love From The Star is a science fiction romance of a K-drama. Not only does it feature an enemies-to-lovers story, but it also features the story of an alien finding that there’s some good in humanity after all. In this series, an alien landed in Korea during the Joseon period - about 400 years before the modern storyline takes place. In that time, he’s tried to stay far from humans, keeping his distance from them and not trusting them to be understanding or kind. When he meets an actress who has a childish attitude, his idea about humanity seems to only be solidified, but he slowly begins to see another side. As the two become closer though, it’s during the end of the alien’s time on Earth. He’s supposed to finally be returning to his home planet. The story plays with the idea of soulmates as it takes over 400 years for these two to find one another, but their relationship isn’t an easy one. 23 Bon Appétit, Your Majesty (2025) Main Couple: Lim Yoona as Yeon Ji-young & Lee Chae-min as Lee Heon Netflix recently found quite an enduring hit in the 2025 time-travel fantasy Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, which is not only holding strong well after its release but has also since been adapted into a webtoon. Bon Appétit, Your Majesty takes the tried and tested isekai trope and brings it to K-dramas, and with great success. The series essentially follows star chef Yeon Ji-young who is transported back in time into the Joseon era during the reign of the most tyrannical king in all of the nation's history. Fortunately, her cooking saves her from execution, but one thing leads to another, and Ji-yeong finds herself appointed as the tyrannical king Lee Heon's chief royal cook. Now her life depends on every dish she serves, made even more challenging by the fact that Lee Heon is a renowned gastronomer. As far as enemies-to-lovers go, it really doesn't get any more intense than this, especially when it starts out with one of them trying to kill the other. In this sense, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is an enemies-to-lovers series in the truest sense of the word. 22 Doctor Slump (2024) Main Couple: Park Hyung-sik as Yeo Jeong-woo & Park Shin-hye as Nam Ha-neul Though Doctor Slump is sometimes classified as a friends-to-lovers romance, it would more accurately be an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance. It’s also similar in concept to a second-chance romance as the two main characters have a history, though not a romantic one. The two main characters were enemies as teenagers. More accurately, they were rivals in their school days. 14 years later, they’ve both pursued different careers in the medical field and experienced some serious setbacks in their personal and professional lives. When they cross paths, they find themselves remembering their rivalry and finding new ways to connect as adults. Eventually, they become friends, but they also fall in love along the way. The series is full of romance tropes, like the two becoming roommates, but it’s also got some drama, like a murder mystery, for those who want more than a love story in their shows. 21 Hyena (2020) Main Couple: Kim Hye-soo as Jung Geum-ja & Ju Ji-hoon as Yoon Hee-jae The medical field isn’t the only place to find professional enemies who fall in love in K-dramas. Hyena is a legal drama, but it also happens to feature a pair of lawyers who are like oil and water. ... the chemistry of the two leads and their need to one-up one another is what carries the show. Both characters work in the world of business law, but they have very different techniques to help their clients and themselves. While Jung Geum-ja is willing to cross any line to win a case for her clients (and get a big payday) and is a more street-savvy lawyer, Yoon Hee-jae is the opposite. The series has lower-stakes plotlines compared to the legal dramas that focus on murder mysteries, but the chemistry of the two leads and their need to one-up one another is what carries the show. The more interested in one another they become, the more innuendo is present in their exchanges without the show ever becoming risqué. 20 The Innocent Man (2012) Main Couple: Song Joong-ki as Kang Ma-ru & Moon Chae-won as Seo Eun-gi The Innocent Man (also known as Nice Guy) is a little more complicated than a straightforward enemies-to-lovers story. That’s because it involves a story of greed and revenge. Kang Ma-ru is, at one point, in love with the older woman who lives near him. She, however, is more concerned with becoming wealthy than being in love and betrays him, leaving him to take the fall for a crime she commits and marrying a wealthy man. When Ma-ru crosses paths with her stepdaughter, he decides to use a relationship with her stepdaughter to get back at her. That eventually backfires when Eun-gi learns the truth about why he is interested in her to begin with. Even more complicated is that one of the characters ends up in an accident and suffers memory loss, causing their personality to shift and their perception of those around them to change. 19 Her Private Life (2019) Main Couple: Park Min-young as Sung Deok-mi & Kim Jae-wook as Ryan Gold While Her Private Life often comes up in discussions of K-dramas that feature a workplace romance, sometimes, fans might forget that the coworkers here are essentially enemies at the start of the show. They very much get off on the wrong foot. Sung Deok-mi is a curator at an art gallery who is very good at her job, but she also is very careful about keeping her private life private because she is a huge K-pop fan and even runs a website for her favorite K-pop star. When she gets a new boss at the gallery, they immediately clash, and he only has an even worse opinion of her when he finds out how she spends her time outside of work. Of course, the chemistry between the two is fantastic, so even when it seems like they can’t stand one another, the audience knows there’s more to their relationship. 18 Shooting Stars (2022) Main Couple: Kim Young-dae as Gong Tae-sung & Lee Sung-Kyung as Oh Han-byul The stories of celebrities being misjudged by those who work with them (or vice versa) seem to make for some great enemies-to-lovers stories. In truth, the main characters in these kinds of shows aren’t straightforward enemies since they often have to work together for a common goal, but they feel like enemies because of how much they initially despise one another, usually because of a miscommunication. In this case, those two characters are a member of a public relations firm and an actor who knew one another in high school as friends, but became enemies before their careers took off. While they don’t get along, there’s no denying that Oh Han-byul (the PR representative) is excellent at her job. She excels at crisis management and often clashes with Gong Tae-sung. He, of course, has a public persona that doesn’t quite align with his past. 17 Alchemy of Souls (2022) Main Couple: Lee Jae-wook as Jang Uk & Jung So-min and Go Youn-jung as Naksu With 30 episodes across 2 seasons, Alchemy of Souls utterly dominated Netflix's rankings for nearly all of 2022 and years later, it still remains a near-unbeatable fantasy K-drama. Set in a fictional land called Daeho full of mystical abilities, Alchemy of Souls revolves around a forbidden spell of the same name that allows people within this world to switch bodies. Naksu, an infamous assassin, uses this spell when cornered, only for her soul to be trapped in the body of a weak girl. It is in this form that she catches the attention of Jang Uk, the young master of one of the most prestigious families in the land. For reasons unknown at the start, Jang Uk's powers were sealed away as a child, and Naksu grudgingly ends up becoming his master, helping him gradually unlock his true potential and change his fate. With Naksu serving as Jang Uk's maid on the outside but his reluctant master in secret, the relationship between the two is about as unique as they come. And, with how much the two butt heads with each other, Alchemy of Souls easily classifies as an enemies-to-lovers romance. 16 King the Land (2023) Main Couple: Lee Jun-ho as Gu-won & Lim Yoona as Cheon Sa-rang With how adorable King the Land's main pairing is later in the series, you'd never guess that the two started out hating each other's guts. Much like What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, King the Land offers another addictive office romance following Gu-won, a chaebol who's also the general hotel manager of the illustrious King Hotel, where Cheon Sa-ang has been climbing the ranks as a concierge. A hilarious faux pas sets the two off on the wrong foot when Sa-rang, unaware of Gu-won's true identity, mistakes him for a pervert at the hotel. Meanwhile, Gu-won immediately takes issue with Sa-rang's fake customer service persona and smile. That said, as Gu-won fights for his employees to be treated better, Sa-rang eventually warms up to him, while G-won finds himself melting into her smile against all odds.