Published Jun 7, 2026, 11:15 PM EDT
Shealyn Scott is a Self-Publishing Senior Writer at Screen Rant. She has been writing for the site since 2024, focused on network, reality, streaming, and classic television.
A creative writer, journalist, and lover of the written word in all its forms, Shealyn enjoys deconstructing scenes from her favorite shows, using context clues and historical precedent to predict major plot points (which, due to her successful track record, has sparked rumors of clairvoyance).
As an award-winning student journalist, Shealyn spent her college years advocating for the humanities while studying English Literature. Her love of storytelling propelled her to expand her degree with minors in Writing and History, believing life to be a mere collection of stories that can be framed in as many ways as a movie scene.
As a Senior member of the TV Team, Shealyn treats the series she covers like books, analyzing every line, camera angle, and lighting choice. Thankfully, her personal mission statement lines up perfectly with Screen Rant: every creative work deserves just as much thought from the viewer as it received from its creator.
Whether you're part of the LGBTQ+ community or just an ally, there are plenty of must-watch K-dramas to see this Pride Month. For years, the closest most Korean dramas came to LGBTQ+ representation was cross-dressing comedy, queer-coded side characters, and mistaken identity subplots that ultimately resulted in straight relationships. As the sub-genre has gotten more and more popular, however, more diverse stories are emerging and reaching more viewers than ever.
Though the majority of K-drama couples are still male/female pairings, queerness is now being incorporated far more often. Whether it's a touching subplot that dives into a beloved main character's sexuality or a side couple that helps normalize LGBTQ+ relationships in the industry at large, there are many K-drama masterpieces that tackle queerness with tact and create meaningful storylines that help countless viewers feel seen.
Blueming
A Man Who Built His Identity Around Being Popular Is Rattled By A New Rival On Campus
After experiencing childhood bullying, Cha Si-won devotes his life to becoming popular, be it for his looks, personality, or general likability. His secret plan is quickly derailed, however, when he meets Hyung Da-un, who seems to effortlessly have all the traits he worked so hard to cultivate.
Immediately, Da-un's seemingly perfect persona instills a sense of insecurity in Si-won, but the two film majors are forced to work through their differences when they're assigned as partners for a class assignment. Soon enough, the pair find common ground, and Si-won realizes there's much more to Da-un than meets the eye. Blueming has a fairly straightforward premise, but there's beauty in its simplicity and the heartwarming romance that blooms between characters who are, at heart, two sides of the same coin.
Friendly Rivalry
Two Students At A Prestigious Academy Find Themselves Entangled In A Grand Conspiracy
At an elite all-girls academy, transfer student Woo Seul-gi quickly catches the attention of the most popular person in school, Yoo Jae-yi. Unbeknownst to Seul-gi, however, Jae-yi's interest borders on obsession as the two girls are thrown into the K-drama's thrilling mystery: the unexplained death of Seul-gi's father.
Friendly Rivalry is by no means a feel-good romantic comedy. Rather, the dark romance blends into a potential murder mystery while the ensemble cast of competitive students treat the upcoming college entrance exams as life-or-death tests— because, based on what happened to Seul-gi's father, they just might be. Furthermore, the relationship between the two leads isn't as overt as some queer stories, but some spicy dream sequences offer iconic K-drama kisses nonetheless.
Love for Love’s Sake
A Man Is Transported Into A Video Game With A Life-Or-Death Romantic Trial
Love for Love's Sake may have dropped in 2025, but it has already left quite a mark on the K-drama sphere. The series follows Tae Myung-ha, an ordinary man who finds himself stuck in a virtual reality video game. In order to avoid a permanent game over, Myung-ha must complete a special in-game quest: to win the heart of Cha Yeo-woon, a skilled athlete with a complicated history.
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The magical elements make Love for Love's Sake the perfect K-drama for romantasy fans, but it's not so fantastical that the viewer feels completely removed from reality. As a result, the love story is grounded enough to earn the audience's investment while maintaining its otherworldly edge that sets the drama apart from the crowd.
Jun & Jun
A Former K-Pop Idol Reunites With His First Love After Joining His Company
When K-pop idol Lee Jun decides to abandon his dreams, he becomes an intern for a cosmetic company's marketing team. Yet, his supposed fresh start turns into a blast from the past once he meets his boss, Choi Jun— who, ironically, was Lee Jun's childhood crush.
From there, Jun & Jun employs common tropes from K-dramas about first love with a slightly more mature angle, playing off of the main characters' natural chemistry to amp up the sexual tension. Thankfully, Lee Jun has genuine aspirations aside from his complicated love plot, which adds some much-needed substance to the office romance and makes it an even more satisfying watch.
Am I the Only One with Butterflies?
A Rookie Office Worker Falls For Her Manager On Her First Day
Similarly, Am I the Only One with Butterflies? centers on Jung-ah, an office worker who is instantly enamored by her boss, Manager Lee Ji-won. Love at first sight can easily be cliché, but Am I the Only One with Butterflies? feels more compelling than contrived.
Given the episodes are incredibly short, it would be a disservice to not set aside one evening to binge the sapphic drama. The bite-sized slice-of-life romance is sweet— if not necessarily groundbreaking— and queer women absolutely deserve the ease of a simple, uplifting love story.
Roommates of Poongduck 304
An Expelled Heir Must Turn To His Subordinate For A New Home
Ji Ho-jun lives a comfortable life as a wealthy chaebol heir until his family decides he needs to experience the real world. To prove to his father he's worthy of his inheritance, Ho-jun moves into Poongduck Villa, where he makes a terrible first impression and earns the scorn of his landlord, Seo Jae-yoon.
Intriguingly, Roommates of Poongduck 304 flips the script when Ho-jun shows up for work at his new company and discovers Jae-yoon is his subordinate. As such, the enemies-to-lovers K-drama is all about dichotomies, exploring how Ho-jun and Jae-yoon seem worlds apart, even when their relationship dynamic is constantly shifting. Regardless, the rom-com takes a classic formula and executes it quite well, making an entertaining miniseries that's sure to meet expectations.
Jazz for Two
A Passionate Transfer Student Helps A Musical Prodigy Cope With His Grief
After the tragic death of his older brother— a gifted jazz pianist— Han Tae-yi vows to hate jazz music for the rest of his life. Unsurprisingly, when new student Yoon Seo-heon appears with a loud and proud passion for jazz, Tae-yi doesn't welcome him with open arms. Initially, Seo-heon is a walking reminder of his loss. As time passes and the pair grow closer, however, the musician helps Tae-yi reclaim both his love of jazz and his very sense of self.
The interplay between grief, coming-of-age romance, and music makes Jazz for Two an incredibly thought-provoking K-drama, but not every big swing is a hit. Still, the musical drama packs a walloping emotional punch, and it has a captivating story that viewers can really dig their teeth into.
Gray Shelter
Two Complex People Untangle Their Traumatic Pasts While Living Together
True representation means that not every LGBTQ+ K-drama can be humorous, hopeful, or even completely happy. At times, Gray Shelter is hard to watch due to how sad its subject matter is, but it offers the viewer a rewarding ending that's as optimistic as the series could realistically allow.
The melodrama follows Cha Soo-hyuk and Lee Yoon-dae, two men who share a painful past. After Yoon-dae is dumped by his girlfriend, he seeks solace in Soo-hyuk, and the pair begin living together. Admittedly, Gray Shelter isn't without its flaws, but the overall message is a valuable one: no matter what happens, love can give you the strength to carry on.
Nevertheless
A Pair Of Best Friends Can't Control Their Growing Feelings
Although they're only a side couple, the relationship between Yoon Sol and Seo Ji-wan is arguably Nevertheless' best. The two women are best friends, but they begin to drift apart as college graduation nears. Ji-wan doesn't realize that Sol's withdrawal perfectly coincides with her pursuing a relationship with a new boyfriend, but a failed drunken confession and a dash of miscommunication leaves the two even further apart.
Once the women work up the courage to talk through their feelings, however, a friends-to-lovers arc ends in a sickeningly sweet happy ever-after. Ju-wan and Sol may not be the main characters of Nevertheless, but considering how notoriously toxic the central pair is, they're irrefutably the healthiest love story in the entire K-drama.
A Shoulder to Cry On
A Skilled Archer's Future Is Jeopardized By His Sworn Enemy, But Love & Hate Go Hand-In-Hand
Despite being ostracized by his classmates, Lee Da-yeol is a talented archer who finds comfort in his school's official archery club. Yet, a chance encounter with antagonist class president Jo Tae-hyun leaves Da-yeol at the root of career-ruining rumors. Tae-hyun seems to revel in his discomfort, making it his mission to follow Da-yeol like a shadow and ruin his life at school.
A Shoulder to Cry On has been renewed for season 2, which is slated to release sometime in 2026.
As both boys soon learn, however, there's a thin line between love and hate. The cruel Tae-hyun pushes people away to hide a traumatic secret, but his proximity to Da-yeol slowly breaks down his defenses until the pair can no longer deny their mutual attraction. A Shoulder to Cry On is certainly a complicated love story, but the destination is just as interesting as the journey itself.
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