Explosions of hearts and flowers

It’s Valentine’s Day – a great excuse to think back on the K-dramas that made our heads explode into hearts and flowers.

Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다

As two of my picks will show, I’m a big fan of noona romances. With an older woman and a younger man, there just seems to be more action.

Only 만

There’s a long list of K-drama kissing tropes that drive me crazy: the wrist-grab followed by a kiss, the my-eyes-are-wide-open-so-I’m-not-really-participating kiss, the sleeping kiss (creeeeeepy), the I-eat-your-face kiss, the accidental kiss (lame), the our-faces-are-attached-at-the-lips-but-we’re-just-standing-here kiss and many others. It’s rare to see a good kissing scene with two active participants and some romantic or sexual tension leading in to it.

I Hear Your Voice

Good kissing scenes are rare in K-dramas, because characters frequently resort to hugging, or worse, unpursed lip smooshing.
In “I Hear Your Voice”, Soo Ha (Lee Jong Suk) is about to leave Hye Sung (Lee Bo Young) without confessing his love for her, but he doubles back one last time. On the basis of Soo Ha’s teenager status, I fully expected a chaste hug. Imagine my head exploding when Soo Ha kisses Hye Sung as a single tear trails down his dewy cheek. There isn’t a lot of action, but their lips are pursed sufficiently for a pleasant fit. Dreamy. – 중국어 캐나다

First Shop of Coffee Prince

Han Gyul (Gong Yoo) throws all caution to the winds and decides to go for it with Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye), whom he still believes to be male. It’s all going to go to hell by the end of the episode but, like Eun Chan, we can enjoy the moment. He goes in for the surprise kiss, but then she kisses him back. I watched this before I realized how chaste k-dramas were, and my head still exploded. – 만

Dal Ja’s Spring

It is frustrating to see a couple making out like siblings when what you want is for them to make like the beast with two backs. Or, at least, have the drama insinuate something beyond hugging.

Dal Ja (Chae Rim) and Tae Bong’s (Lee Min Ki) romantic dinner appears to be a bust when both parties return to their respective rooms. However, fuelled by liquid courage, Tae Bong stops at his bedroom door then enters Dal Ja’s bedroom instead. Dal Ja, in the middle of disrobing, swivels around in shock. I am equally in a state of disbelief.

With his back against the bedroom door, Tae Bong simply states that if Dal Ja wants him to leave, he will do so right away. But, if he counts down to zero, and she says nothing, he will assume that he can stay.

Tae Bong counts down slowly as he and Dal Ja stare at each other, the tension building. When Tae Bong reaches zero, Dal Ja is silent. He tackles her with a kiss, and they fall out of sight. And, my head explodes, because they are not chastely snuggling. – 중국어 캐나다

Last Cinderella

Not a K-drama (it’s from Japan), but I include it anyway for being the least chaste series I’ve ever seen. After a couple of abortive attempts (in earlier episodes) to get each other’s clothes off, Hiroto (Miura Haruma) bursts in to Sakura’s apartment (Shinohara Ryoko) in episode 9 and kisses her. When he carried her off to bed, I nearly fell off the couch. – 만

City Hall

She’s annoying (Kim Sun Ah), he weeps too much (Cha Seung Won), and they’re the most unlikely pairing in history, but when they park by the sea, they do the natural thing and make out in the car. And they both participate! They hop in the sack in a later episode but this was the one that did it for me; I wish I’d stopped watching here. – 만

Yoon Eun Hye

Too often, the female lead is kept so virginal that the male lead looks like he is kissing an inanimate object. Park Shin Hye has been the destroyer of many a kissing scene, bringing otherwise competent kissers like Jang Geun Suk down to her level. Thank goodness for Yoon Eun Hye.

In “Lie to Me”, she and Kang Ji Hwan have some of the most effortless yet intense kissing scenes I’ve ever seen in a K-drama.

Even as a completely believable tomboy in “First Shop of Coffee Prince”, Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo generated so much sexual tension that when they finally give in to their urges, my head exploded. – 중국어 캐나다

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Readers: what kiss made your head explode into hearts and flowers?

Do you understand how it feels to to have your head explode into hearts and flowers? Elaborate in the Comments below.