Spending 8 hours at your office desk becomes so much easier when the love of your life sits a few feet away. The little breaks together, the eye contact, looking up from your desk, only to find them already staring? SWOON! And while not everyone is as lucky, it’s never too late to start bingeing on the best office romance K-Dramas.
K-Dramas have a formula for hooking in viewers, and workplace romance in a K-Drama? Chef’s kiss! While you might think workplace romances are doomed to fail with strict HR policies restricting them, it’s hard to restrain yourself when you catch the eye of a dashing CEO in the K-Dramaland. Fortunately, there is plenty to choose from. From Protect the Boss to Business Proposal, these are the best K-Dramas featuring workplace romance, ranked by entertainment value.
25
‘Gaus Electronics’ (2022)
Directed by Park Joon-soo
While Gaus Electronics is primarily a comedy series, it wouldn’t be a K-drama without a budding office romance involved. This show is one of many office dramas, but its unique blend of relatable young workers, comedic situations, and cute office crushes makes it a memorable series. Gaus Electronics has twelve 45-minute episodes and once you start it, it’s a pretty quick and easy watch; it stars Kwak Dong-yeon, known for Vincenzo and The Queen of Tears, and Ko Sung-hee, best known for her role in the Korean version of Suits.
Gaus Electronics follows employees of Gaus Electronics’ Marketing Team 3. The show follows their careers and bizarre situations they sometimes find themselves in, but also the romances and friendships between the leads. It’s a very wholesome series that will make you laugh and say ‘aww’ in every episode. While it’s not an office romance in its totality, it is one of the best K-comedies out there with an office romance as a beautiful bonus in the storyline. —Anja Djuricic
Gaus Electronics
- Release Date
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2022 – 2021
- Network
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Seezn, Genie TV, ENA
- Directors
-
Park Jun-soo
- Writers
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Kang Go-eun
-
Kwak Dong-yeon
Lee Sang-sik
-
-
Bae Hyeon-seong
Baek Ma-tan
-
24
‘Dali and the Cocky Prince’ (2021)
Directed by Lee Jung-sub
Who could’ve imagined that a business deal has the potential to turn into an enchanting love affair? That’s exactly what happens in the K-drama Dali and the Cocky Prince, as Jin Mu-hak (Kim Min-jae), an ambitious tycoon, becomes the savior of Kim Dali’s (Park Gyu-young) struggling gallery. The unlikely pair, separated by their differing values, find themselves drawn to each other despite their constant bickering.
As the two navigate the challenges of preserving the gallery, their professional partnership blossoms into a heartwarming romance, and the viewers are with them every step of the way. While there’s a lot left to be desired with regard to the show’s pacing, it delivers plenty of memorable moments, such as Mu-hak’s awkward yet heartfelt proposal at the art gallery.
23
‘Jugglers’ (2017–2018)
Directed by Kim Jung-hyun
In the enthralling 2017 romantic comedy K-Drama Jugglers, viewers follow the story of a loyal and devoted office secretary (Jin-hee Baek) who must juggle multiple jobs at once for her austere and stoic boss (Daniel Choi). While she is his assistant at work, their roles start to shift slightly when he moves into her home as a new tenant.
While Jugglers may not be considered a masterpiece, a remarkable watch, nor earn a high spot as the best of the best in its genre, this must-see K-drama you should stream surely offers audiences a great time in front of the screen, providing viewers with a memorable office love story and some hilarious bits that elevated the series to higher grounds.
22
‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ (2022)
Directed by Cha Young-hoon
As the name suggests, Forecasting Love and Weather, which joined Netflix’s selection of K-Dramas in 2022, is a cheerful and lighthearted drama that depicts the beginning of a magnetic dynamic between two staff members (Park Min-young and Song Kang) at the Korea Meteorological Administration. The series juggles between the leads’ work and romantic life, making for a compelling watch.
Between using changing weather as metaphors for love (among other weather references perfect for “weather nerds”), and featuring a very entertaining narrative, Forecasting Love and Weather is very well-written and undoubtedly a must-see when it comes to Korean workplace love stories. Furthermore, the chemistry between the two leads is noticeable in this K-Drama, adding to the show’s overall quality.
21
‘My Secret Romance’ (2017)
Directed by Kang Cheol Woo
When Lee Yoo Mi (Song Ji Eun) spends a night with Cha Jin Wook (Sung Hoon) at one of her mother’s many weddings, she doesn’t plan on seeing him again. Since she’s never had a boyfriend, Lee Yoo Mi doesn’t know the procedure of a one-night stand and decides to flee the following morning. Years later, she lands a job as Jin Wook’s nutritionist, but he’s no longer the same rich boy. Even after changing his ways and taking over his father’s company, Jin Wook never really forgot Yoo Mi.
The lighthearted and sweet My Secret Romance is an intriguing office romance that showcases the characters’ struggle through awkwardness, and that soon gives way to true love. It’s also among the cheesiest K-Dramas given its somewhat predictable plot and clichés, but we love it for it.
Directed by Yoo In-shik
Another show that isn’t totally an office romance but has strong elements of it is Extraordinary Attorney Woo. This show was meant to bring neurodivergent people closer to wider audiences, as it features a protagonist with savant-level autism and photographic memory. People with autism and those close to people with it call Extraordinary Attorney Woo a nice step in the right direction for autism representation, and the show tries its best to make attorney Woo its main focus. Still, she gets a romantic interest, too, and though the romance doesn’t work in the same way with her, it’s still endearing and cute.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo is about Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), who tells everyone she meets about her name being a palindrome and fun facts about whales. She also has a great knowledge of the law and legal matters, and attempts to work at a famous law firm after graduating from college. When she joins a big legal company, she meets new colleagues, and a love story develops between her and Lee Jun-ho (Kang Tae-oh). The romance is sweet, charming, and full of beautiful turns, and you’ll simply love how Young-woo and Jun-ho fall in love. —Anja Djuricic
19
‘My Shy Boss’ (2017)
Directed by Hyun Wook Song
Eun Hwan Ki (Yeon Woo Jin) is the exact opposite of what you’d expect the CEO of a public relations firm to be. His social anxiety often makes him appear cold and rude, and his employees know very little of him. When the company hires Chae Ro Woon (Park Hye Soo), a cheery extrovert who wants to uncover his identity, to work with him, his worst nightmares come true.
With a strong female lead and a captivating revenge plot, My Shy Boss is a must-watch for fans of television workplace romances and stands among the best in the genre. Although flawed, it is still worth a look, if not only for its performances and sweet narrative.
18
‘Crazy Love’ (2022)
Directed by Kim Jung Hyun
Blending genres of comedy, drama, and romance to incredible results, Crazy Love is certainly an amazing pick. It portrays the relationship between a narcissistic and highly intelligent mathematics instructor (Kim Jae-Wook) in the private education field, and the CEO of GOTOP Education and his responsible secretary (Krystal Jung), who has learned that she does not have much time left to live.
Equal parts moving and humorous, this K-Drama is definitely worth checking, even if it feels a bit predictable at times.
On top of its unexpected twists and entertaining storyline, Crazy Love makes for the perfect workplace romance show that viewers will likely not get enough of, and blends elements of comedy, romance, and politics to intriguing results.
Crazy Love
- Release Date
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2022 – 2021
- Network
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KBS2
-
Kim Jae-Wook
Baek Soo-young
-
-
-
Yoo In-young
Lee Dae Seok (Reporter)
17
‘Marry My Husband’ (2024)
Directed by Park Won-guk and Han Jin-seon
One of the most recent K-dramas that swept people off their feet is Marry My Husband, a straight-up office romance drama with a sci-fi/fantasy element. Park Min-young stuns in another lead role, where her character is given a second chance at life, something a lot of people would definitely enjoy getting in their lifetime. While her taking revenge for all the misdeeds that happened to her is the main plot of the story, the romances in her life are deeply connected with her job; she’s at first seen married to her co-worker Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and then courted by her manager, Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo).
Marry My Husband is about a terminally ill office worker Ji-won (Park), who finds her husband, Min-hwan, and best friend, Su-min (Song Ha-yoon), in bed together. Though she dies, she actually gets a second chance at life and wakes up 10 years in the past, before she married Min-hwan and got sick. She returns to work and decides to allow Min-hwan and Su-min, who are her co-workers, to get married instead. While doing so, she attracts the attention of her manager, Ji-hyuk. Marry My Husband is a guilty pleasure of a show and it’s quite fantastical, but it makes days warmer and a little more fun. —Anja Djuricic
16
‘Start-Up’ (2020)
Directed by Oh Chung-hwan
Start-Up shows a different direction for K-dramas since it includes employees of a tech company. It’s not groundbreaking or new, but most office romance dramas revolve around corporate workers and conglomerates having to do with business and marketing; start-ups are rarely represented in K-dramas, so Start-Up is a greatly refreshing thing to watch on Netflix. Starring one of the most popular actors and idols, Bae Suzy, Start-Up has a fun love triangle amid career improvement attempts and bringing broken families back together. Suzy is joined by another K-drama heartthrob, Nam Joo-hyuk.
Start-Up follows several people intertwined by different moments in their past and one common factor in the present: Sandbox. Sandbox is like the South Korean fictional version of Silicon Valley, and we follow Dal-mi (Suzy), who’s been dreaming of becoming the next Steve Jobs, as she enters an app-making contest at Sandbox. There, she meets Do-san (Nam), a young start-up founder, and the main investor in the contest, Han Ji-pyeong (Kim Seon-ho). This love triangle evolves until the final episode, and it seems that it divided viewers a lot when it first aired; indeed, Dal-mi is put between two charming romantic leads who both have advantages going for them, so it can be easy to get dragged into one side only. —Anja Djuricic