15 K-dramas where the couple starts as childhood sweethearts

Tatler Asia

03-06-2025

2. 'When the Camellia Blooms' (2019)
Small-town charm meets low-key obsession in this Gong Hyo-jin and Kang Ha-neul drama. But rewind a few decades, and you'll find that Hwang Yong-sik had already fallen for single mom Dong-baek when they were just kids. His devotion never wavered, even if hers took a while to catch up. Proof that sometimes the loud kid in class turns into the man who'll love you through serial killer subplots. 3. 'Castaway Diva' (2023)
The premise is unconventional: a girl (Park Eun-bin) stranded on an island for 15 years returns to civilisation to become a pop star. But buried beneath the survival storyline is a poignant twist: her long-lost childhood friend Mok-ha is unknowingly reunited with the boy who once protected her from an abusive father. Ultimately, this K-drama uses the childhood connection and enemies-turned-friends trope to full effect. What follows is a masterclass in longing, memory and quiet redemption. 4. 'My Love from the Star' (2013)
Sure, he's an alien. But Do Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) first met Cheon Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun) when she was a child in the Joseon era, and he saved her life. Centuries pass, but the universe has a flair for reunions. While the story doesn't dwell on their first meeting, the undercurrent of destiny is strong, and frankly, intergalactic devotion deserves a mention. 5. 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' (2025)
This is a Jeju-set youth romance that delivers soft-focus cinematography and heartache in equal measure. Gwang-sik (Park Bo-gum) and Ae-sun (IU) grow up together, chasing each other through beaches and cabbage patches. Unlike the tropes where the couple meet once in their youth and then again as adults, When Life Gives You Tangerines is truly about childhood sweethearts. Unfailingly loyal to Ae Sun since they were nine years old, Gwang-sik stood by her side through family tragedy all the way to menopause. 6. '18 Again' (2020)
Technically not childhood sweethearts, but an exception has to be made: Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun/Lee Do-hyun) and Jung Da-jung (Kim Ha-neul) fell in love and had kids young. After a magical body-swap scenario, Dae-young becomes 18 again and sees his wife from a new lens, all while reliving the roots of their relationship. The flashbacks to their teenage years are pure nostalgia-fuelled romance. 7. 'I'll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice' (2020)
This slow-burn gem centres on introvert bookstore owner Eun-seob (Seo Kang-joon) and cellist Hae-won (Park Min-young), whose connection stretches back to high school. Without spoiling too much, it's later revealed that Eun-seob has quietly loved her since childhood. Set against a wintry village backdrop, the show whispers its way into your heart. Childhood love, but make it melancholic and snow-dusted. 8. 'The Smile Has Left Your Eyes' (2018)
Not your typical romance—this drama is darker, twistier and potentially traumatic. But yes, our leads (Seo In-guk and Jung So-min) share a tragic link from childhood that fuels the entire mystery. It's less 'we were meant to be' and more 'we were bound to collide', but the emotional weight of their past makes the adult romance all the more intense. 9. 'She Was Pretty' (2015)
Once upon a playground, Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) had the world—good looks, good grades and a best friend who adored her. Years later, life has rearranged the chessboard: Hye-jin now hides behind frizzy bangs and an unpaid credit card bill, while her childhood pal Ji Sung-joon (Park Seo-joon) has transformed into a magazine-cover version of success. When they meet again, he doesn't recognise her, and she doesn't correct him. What follows is a masquerade of mistaken identity, office antics and buried affection, all underlined by the ache of once being seen and now being invisible. 10. 'See You in My 19th Life' (2023)
We're redefining childhood sweethearts a bit with See You in My 19th Life . Ban Ji-eum (Shin Hye-sun) remembers every life she's ever lived—all 18 of them. But in her 19th, she wants only one thing: to find the boy she once loved. Her pursuit of Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun) isn't just romantic; it's cosmic, a collision of past and present griefs. He, of course, remembers nothing, only the aftermath. A reincarnation romance soaked in melancholy and second chances, See You in My 19th Life asks: how far would you go to reclaim a love the universe keeps rewriting? 11. 'Come and Hug Me' (2018)
They met in childhood, shared first kisses and playground promises. But then his father murdered her parents. Come and Hug Me is not a gentle love story, but a raw, unnerving meditation on trauma and survival. Years later, Chae Do-jin (Jang Ki-yong) wears a police badge; Han Jae-yi (Jin Ki-joo) lives behind stage lights. Their connection is fragile, haunted and quietly defiant, a love not defined by the violence that surrounded it but by the strength it takes to remember who they were before it.
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First love rarely comes with a film crew, but Choi Woong (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo's (Choi Woo-shik) romance was documented from the start: awkward, bickering, electric. Years after they break up, fate (and a nosy producer) drags them back on camera for a sequel no one asked for. What unspools is part rom-com, part emotional autopsy, as flashbacks blur into present longing. It's messy, modern and disarmingly tender: the story of two people trying to make sense of a love that never fully faded. 13. 'Pinocchio' (2014)
Their lives are stitched together by coincidence and calamity. Choi In-ha (Park Shin-hye), who hiccups when she lies, and Choi Dal-po (Lee Jong-suk), who wears his grief like armour, share a household, not by blood, but by circumstance. She considers him family; he's spent years quietly redefining the word. Behind their sibling façade lies a tension neither dares name, forged in tragedy and nurtured in quiet companionship. When the past catches up, their bond must weather more than just societal judgment. 14. 'Reply 1988' (2015)
There are dozens of love stories in Reply 1988 , woven through dinner tables, alleyways and late-night chats under shared blankets. Set in the analogue warmth of the late '80s, Reply 1988 isn't just about who marries whom. It's about how love grows when no one's looking—via childhood games, neighbourly teasing and the way a boy silently gives you an extra tight hug. This classic is a love letter to community, nostalgia and the kind of affection that sneaks up after years of friendship.
Also read: 11 heart-warming found families in K-dramas 15. 'Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo' (2016)
She lifts like a tank, cries like a teenager and falls in love like someone who's never really been looked at before. Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) is no manic pixie. She's an athlete with calloused hands and a deeply awkward crush. Her banter with swimming star Jung Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk) is peak college rom-com, but what elevates their story is a flicker of memory: a childhood encounter, long buried but quietly formative. He once helped her, and now he sees her. And slowly, so does she.