Friends to Lovers

Fight For My Way - the main leads are childhood best friends who have always been dependent on each other and then slowly realize that what's between them is more than platonic. The main themes of this drama are friendships, relationships, and passion. I recommend this drama to mediocre but passionate people who want to fulfill their dreams and aspirations. I feel like many of us can relate to this because of its realistic portrayal of life including the challenges and hardships that comes with growing up.  - u/AspiringIska

Fight My Way - leads have been friends forever and naturally they start to like each other. Very funny, great acting, Park Seo Joon, awesome chemistry. What more could you want. - u/hallyubae

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo - cute college romance, the leads know each other from childhood, they develop a friendship which blossoms into a healthy, supportive romance. Extremely cute highly recommend - u/hallyubae

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo - the FL saved the ML as children, and he has always secretly admired her. When they meet as adults, he teases her a lot, but also becomes her confidant and their feelings grow from there. It is incredibly sweet and pretty angst-free. I also love that the female achieves big goals, unlike many FLs in Korean dramas.  - u/AnimalInstinct

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo - A friends to lovers romance between a male swimmer and a female weightlifter at a sports school with no break ups or triangles. This is one of the happiest Korean dramas that I've watched. - u/ComplicatedShadows

Reply 1997 - The drama is set in the 1997 and though it highlights a lot of friendships and relationships, the part about who is the FL's husband is the best and it's interesting to see with whom the FL ends up with. The FL's fangirling antics are also a delight to watch. The bickering between the FL and ML is goals too. - u/Fatooz

Reply 1994 - This is an amazing show that truly ticks all the boxes for me. Watch as friendships develop amongst strangers from the countryside as they share a boardinghouse in Seoul, attend university, manage their social and dating life and just grow with the times and each other.  - u/catalinawashername

Reply 1988 - An amazing drama about friendship and community and has ample of friends to lover trope. Highly recommend. Will make you laugh out loud and cry a lot as well.  - u/Iconia18

Reply 1988 - A slice of life drama that focuses on friendships and family. There are quite some stories in this drama that are friends to lovers and pretty much all are cute! Personally, I regard this as a top-tier drama that hits all the emotions perfectly. Each and every actor delivers a great performance and there is bound to be at least one character with whom you will resonate. A must watch if you’re a newbie or a slice of life drama lover! - u/Fatooz

Bubblegum - It has a very sweet ML and an FL who doesn’t look strong at first but is actually strong of character. It can get sad at times but overall has a very light feel to it. - u/MarooshQ

Let’s Eat 2 - leads know each other from childhood even though they weren’t friends then lol. However they develop a friendship throughout the show which is honestly one of the best male-female friendships I’ve seen in a kdrama. Great food scenes too, great feel good show.  - u/hallyubae

My First First Love - it takes some for the relationship to develop but it is a good show. - u/mandylin4904

Multiple Seasons (2)

Coffee Prince - the FL pretends to be a man to get a job at an all-male coffee shop. She gets extremely close to the ML and the other guys at the coffee shop. She also has a friendship with the ML’s cousin, who knows she is female and develops feelings for her. The ML (Gong Yoo!!) enjoys spending time with her as a friend, which eventually develops into love for her, even though he believes she is male. Angst ensues. I have watched a lot of KDramas at this point, but Coffee Prince remains one of the best I have ever seen. The slow-burn is so well done. - u/AnimalInstict

When the Weather is Nice - the leads knew each other as teens, after a family trauma resulted in the FL moving to a small town to live with her grandmother and aunt. When the FL moves back as an adult following a workplace incident, she begins working at the ML’s bookstore near her home. She joins the book club there, and becomes part of a group of ragtag friends who love and appreciate poetry and literature. Feelings between the FL and ML grow from friendship as they individually work through trauma from their past. Beautifully filmed slow-burn romance. TW: domestic abuse. - u/AnimalInstict

I'll Go To You When the Weather is Nice - It's so lovely. I watched it as it was broadcast and because I loved it so much I rewatched episodes as I waited for new installments. - u/aliciawesome

Where Your Eyes Linger (Korean BL) - ML 1 is the lifelong bodyguard of ML 2, whose father is the CEO of a big company. They appear to be best friends joined at the hip. They live together and do everything together, but when ML 1 decides to date a girl, ML 2 increases pressure on the simmering feelings between the two. It’s hot. This is available as a short series of 8 ten minute episodes, or as a movie - both on Viki. - u/AnimalInstinct

I Need Romance 2 - This drama tells the story of childhood best friends that have been dating on and off since they were teenagers. I liked that even though they hurt each other many times over the years, they never stopped loving each other, and they never stopped being best friends. I also liked that the characters were in their 30s, they didn't shy away from sexual conversations/scenes, and I loved the friendship between the 3 main females. It is a more "Americanized" kdrama, which might not appeal to everyone, and the ending is a bit rushed, but I still really enjoyed the script, pacing and chemistry. - u/ME_B

My Unfamiliar Family - The central theme of this kdrama isn't romance per se (it's a family drama), but it does have two best friends who eventually end up together. I loved the ML in this drama, how he supported the FL and her family through turmoil, and helped them finally get closer to one another. I liked that all the characters were flawed, yet I still loved and rooted for every single one of them. The ML is also one of the sweetest, most understanding ML's of kdrama history.  - u/ME_B

My Unfamiliar Family - The ML and FL were friends while the FL was dating someone else, but when she broke up with her previous boyfriend their friendship also fell apart. They meet again while she's in the process of pursuing someone else, but as they spend time together they kind of progressively grow closer. The rest of the drama is mostly about the FL's family life falling apart around her, because literally everyone in her life fails completely at communication. That aspect is a bit frustrating, but I enjoyed the drama overall.  - u/GiraffeWC

The Time We Were Not In Love - This story revolves around best friends who grew up next door to each other. I liked that Ha Ji Won is an independent, hardworking woman with her own career (she is a manager for a show brand). Overall, this was a sweet, typical kdrama, and I enjoyed watching their romance evolve. Note that is is a remake of the Taiwanese drama In Time With You (which was actually slightly better, but both are still worth the watch as long as you watch them a few months apart).  - u/ME_B

My other favorite friends to lovers is Romance is a Bonus Book on Netflix. The FL is rebuilding her life after a divorce and the ML, her oldest friend, is there for it. They bicker and tease and have each other's back and it's sweet and calm. It's on my all-time favorite list. I've been told the first episode is hard to watch but once you're halfway into episode 2 you're hooked. I cheered for all the characters. It's my happy place (along with IGTYWTWIN). Plus, it's about a publishing company and BOOKS. - u/aliciawesome

Romance is a Bonus Book - a story about two old friends who have each experienced difficult lives, separately and often without communication, but relied on one another for friendship and support at different times. the FL reaches an all time low in her life, which brings the leads back into each other's lives and with time, their friendship grows into something more especially as they learn to communicate and open up to one another and recognize what they have.  - u/forever-cha-young

Wednesday 3 30 PM. It is a minidrama. 10 episodes 15 mins each. But I think it's worth checking out. Great chemistry, simple plot and incredible ost (OMG level). It's a complete mini package. - u/RayInRed

You Drive Me Crazy. Again a minidrama. 4 episodes 35 mins each.  But I think it's worth checking out. Great chemistry, simple plot and incredible ost (OMG level). It's a complete mini package. There's a cute hedgehog too.  - u/RayInRed

She Was Pretty - The ML and FL are childhood friends, when young the ML is looked down on by people because he is "ugly" but only the FL befriends him. As they grow they're already in love but when they become adults, the FL grows to be "ugly" and the ML becomes handsome. How do they meet again and how do they accept each other is the plot of the drama. It's a cute and light hearted drama. - u/Fatooz

Something in the Rain - The FL is practically "pretty noona who buys the ML food", they're friends since childhood and though the ML calls the FL noona and though the FL treats the ML as her donsaeng, they pretty much have a passionate love and liking going on for each other in their hearts. The chemistry between the leads is off the charts in this drama. It's a melodrama slow burn romance. - u/Fatooz

A Love So Beautiful - A high school romance where the FL and ML are childhood friends but the FL has had a crush on him ever since they were young. It’s a cute and wholesome drama that deals with some issues very nicely. It’s also really short which makes it an easy watch. It is definitely your typical clichéd high school rom-com but I think it does the clichés nicely and which is why it is entertaining. - u/Fatooz

More than Friends - FL and ML have been friends since forever and FL has always had a crush on the ML while ML always liked to think of her as just friend. It’s your typical friends to lovers drama where one character has a crush on the other all along and the other character realizes it only after a while. I would recommend this for its side stories and side couples. The main couple was too clichéd, but it’s a good watch if you’re a fan of either of the actors, want to watch something aesthetic and want to watch friends to lovers. - u/Fatooz

EXO Next Door - Can’t say much about how this is a friends to lovers drama but if you’re an EXO fan then this is must watch. DO is absolutely adorable and while the four EXO member (DO, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun) aren’t best of the actors, it’s hilarious and gives all the cringe. Moon Ga-Young’s over-the-top red cheeks were hilarious. It’s worth the watch for your EXO love. - u/Fatooz

King's Doctor (Horse Doctor) - A combination of a medical drama, a rags to riches story, and a fight the system story, this one is an epic historical with 50 episodes. ML and FL meet each other as street urchins, become BFFs, get torn apart then meet again as adults. The romance is a long and slow burn, but pretty satisfying when they get there.  - u/Silly_Merricat