K-Dramas Make Buses Seem Romantic

Inevitably in the course of a k-drama, someone will make fun of dramas. They might say "something like this would never happen in a drama" or "things like this only happen in dramas."

Episode 14 of "She Was Pretty" had such a moment. Most worker Kim Joon Yoo, played by Park Yoo Hwan, is riding a bus on his way to a blind date because his girl broke up with him. She wanted to marry someone richer. Then she realizes how much she cares for him and chases the bus.

Occasionally in a k-drama a character will chase a bus and catch up with it. Or the person inside will beg the bus driver to stop and he will comply.

But in that episode, Kim asks the bus driver to stop and the bus driver treats him much like a non k-drama bus driver would. He says, I can't. You can get off at the next stop.

Kim Joon Yoo looks confused and says, but they always stop in dramas. Apparently not in that drama. Of course he meets up with his girl anyway and his short bus ride  leads to a kiss.

Other k-dramas have used bus rides to romantic effect. In the same drama Choi Si Wan flirts with Hwang Jung Eum by riding his motorcycle along her bus.

And it's not a new drama development. Lee Min Ho was not too nice to Son Ye Jin when he meets her on the bus in "Personal Taste" but after he falls for her, he drops her off at the bus stop and admires her through the bus window.

Falling asleep on someone's shoulder, as Gong Hyo Jin did in "Producer," led Kim Soo Hyun to hope that she really cared for him. And buses can be a good backdrop for a stolen or accidental kiss.

Buses can also be a place to mourn lost love.

In "That Winter, The Wind Blows," Oh Soo, played by Jo In Sung, was on the bus when he saw Oh Young walking down the street, happy and smiling without him. Of course, sh can't see him, because Oh Young, played by Song Hye Kyo, is blind.

In "Who Are You - School 2015" Nam Joo Hyuk often rides the school bus with his first love, played by Kim So Hyun. But when Yook Sung Jae wants her to himself, he drags her on to a bus and leaves Nam Joo Hyuk running behind.

In "You're Beautiful," Jeremy, played by Lee Hong Ki, takes a bus ride to ease his broken heart. He already told Park Shin Hye that when anything goes wrong in his life, he likes to ride his "Magic Bus" through all its stops.

An hour on his bus helps him come to terms with the fact that she does not love him. Of course, she had to run to catch up with that bus.

At least k-drama characters catch the bus some of the time.