Viewers are heartbroken to witness these second male leads end up without the female lead or a loving family.
These second male leads break the viewers’ hearts by not only ending up without the love of their life but also having no loving family and being too kind.
1. Kim Ji Woong (Kim Sung Cheol) of “Our Beloved Summer”
Ji Woong (Kim Sung Cheol) has been in love with one person for 10 years and growing up in complexity for not receiving love from his family, but perhaps what makes the viewers’ hearts ache most is how he accepts his loneliness and his life.
10 years is not a short period to like a person, especially when it is a one-sided love. It is understandable that Ji Woong did not dare to confess his feelings for fear of losing the only friendship he had with Choi Woong (Choi Woo Sik), but during that nearly 1 decade, was Ji Woong being too understanding as he never once dared, not even for a second, to reveal his feelings. He has repressed it so much that even in his thoughts, Ji Woong also felt guilty for having loved Yeon Soo (Kim Da Mi): “I must be pathetic to lie to my friend and secretly like her like this.”
Not only having a one-sided love, Ji Woong is also a pitiful person because he always finds a way to run away as he fears being abandoned. Ji Woong has a mother but has not lived a day in the love of his family. All the memories Ji Woong has of his mother are the times he was abandoned, starved. His mother couldn’t even remember the food he was allergic to, resulting in him being almost killed. He did not dare to go home when his mother came back and was afraid to talk and become close with her, for fear that she would leave. Perhaps because he always looked at the happiness of others while growing up and fears being abandoned, Ji Woong has decided to give in and lock his personal feelings until now and forever.
2. Jang Geun Soo (Kim Dong Hee) of “Itaewon Class”
Just like Ji Woong, Jang Geun Soo (Kim Dong Hee) grew up in struggles, surrounded by hatred from his dad and brother as well as the abandonment from his mother. That’s why Jang Geun Soo seems like a shy and lonely character, but he is actually a good, strong-minded, and quick-witted guy.
Like Ji Woong, Jang Geun Soo felt true love from humanity for the first time from Sae Ro Yi. For the first time in his life, someone asked if he was hurt, trusted him and rooted for him, even considered him an important person in their life. But then, what to do when your unrequited love turns out to be in love with the one you considers your family, which is why Jang Geun Soo decided to hide his feeling for Yi Seo. It was not until the end of the drama did Jang Geun Soo decided to end his one-sided love with a handshake.
After all, Jang Geun Soo is truly a miserable character. He has neither love nor family and didn’t dare to stand up for his own feeling, due to which his life ends up in pain and misery.
3. Seo Jun (Hwang In Yeop) of True Beauty
Seo Jun’s life was also not going well as he suffered the loss of his best friend and had to live in a family without his father’s love. Seo Jun (Hwang In Yeop) grew sensitive to other people’s feelings as a result of his many early traumas, and he quickly became a more caring yet pitiful person.
The most heartbreaking element is his sorrowful unrequited love for Joo Kyung (Moon Ga Young). Seo Jun is aware of his feelings and also knows that his crush is in love with someone else. Seo Jun did not dare to confess, but instead functioned silently as an observer, turning into an understanding and protective closest friend, as well as a counselor for Joo Kyung. Even after Joo Kyung and her boyfriend split up for a long time, Seo Jun still cared for her as a friend.
And after all effort, Seo Jun officially gave up his unrequited love for Joo Kyung and continued on his lonely journey. The scene at the end of the drama in which he left the person he had loved for many years and cried alone on the stairs has stayed with netizens for a long time.
