Kdrama Second Leads: Why Do The Nice Guys Finish Last?

One of the great things about romantic kdramas is that there is not just one male lead, there's an extra. There's a second male lead, just to make things interesting. But it's hard to think of one case in which the second male lead ever gets the girl. And sometimes you wish he would.

So why does the second male lead finish last, especially when sometimes he seems like such a nice guy and a much better choice than the lead? I can't figure it out.

Take Goo Jun Pyo, played by Lee Min Ho, in "Boys Over Flowers." He's cruel, spoiled and has a mom you don't really want to be related to. Ji Hoo, played by Kim Hyun Joong is sensitive, kind and always there to help out poor troubled Geum Jan Di, played by Go Hye Sun. He is just as good looking, just as rich and even talented. And yet, although she is initially attracted to him, she leaves him in the dust for Goo Jun Pyo.

In the drama "You're Beautiful," Shin Woo fills the same "nice guy" function. Played by Jung Yong Hwa, Shin Woo is there for Go Mi Nyu played by Park Shin Hye. But she prefers the main lead, Tae Kyung, played by Jang Geun Suk, even though he is mean to her.

And this story plays out over and over again. In "I Do, I Do," the heroine, Hwang Ji An, played by Kim Sun Ah chooses the inappropriately aged shoe counterfeiter to her handsome suitor, who is a doctor, no less. She rejects the funny, charming doctor. Seriously?

Maybe women like the idea of having a choice, and while watching kdramas, making the less logical one. But whatever the reason, there seems to be a pattern to all male second leads.

He's warm-hearted and handsome. Should he start out bad, he will quickly develop a conscience because of his love for the female lead. Unlike the lead, he has no trouble expressing his emotions and, despite all evidence that she does not care for him, will continue to wait for her to change her mind. He will nobly sacrifice himself. Even if she forgets he exists because she is so head over heels about the main lead, he will forgive her. Think Shin Woo waiting for Go Mi Nam in the restaurant while she runs after Tae Kyung.

And yet these guys always finish last. Perhaps, it's the lack of a challenge for the heroine that makes her think less of the second lead. After all, she knows she can have him and the other guy is not so easy.

Whatever the reason, second leads do dish up some interesting plot developments. They prolong the inevitable moment when the male and female leads commit to each other. They help the male lead commit often by making him jealous. And often by virtue of being such a nice guy, they help the male lead see where his own personality falls short.

Still, it would be nice, just once to see the second lead get the girl. Hey, kdrama writers, can you just once make this happen?