Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook play best friends in "The Time I Loved You, 7000 Days." Their characters have been friends for 17 years and during that time they have spoken to each other about everything, including the people they have fallen in land out of love with. The reason they have not yet met Ms. or Mr. Right is that they are perfect for each other in a way no one else could be.
At the press conference for the drama they were asked whether best friends could really fall in love.
"Now I do think that friends could become lovers," said Lee Jin Wook. "I used to think that men and women couldn't be friends, but through this project I've thought about it a lot and met Ha Ji-won's character and experienced it, and I think that you could become friends, and that you could then progress into a romantic relationship."
"I never thought before about whether friends could progress into lovers," said Ha Ji Won. "I'm the type to fall in love based on a first impression, but I think I've changed in doing this drama. I think I could advance to a romance with the friend beside me."
The theme of friends falling in love does appear in other dramas, at least four we can think of. And it's always fun to watch, as the moment that people realize they have fallen in love is one of the things that k-dramas do best.
Another drama that features best friends is "Operation Proposal." In that fantasy drama, Kang Baek Ho, played by Yoo Seung Ho, and Ham Yi Seul, played by Park Eun Bi, have been best friends since elementary school. He never said he liked her and does not know that she has loved him for 20 years. When she is about to marry someone else, he wishes he had said something. Fortunately, he gets the chance to travel back in time and change their relationship. But with each chance to change the past, he somehow does not achieve the desired effect.
"9 Ends and 2 Outs" is another best friends drama. The 2007 romantic comedy stars Soo Ae, who currently appears in "Mask" and Lee Jung Jin. They play two best friends who bicker like siblings. But their pseudo-sibling relationship can't continue forever. She turns 30 and decides to date a baseball player. She also winds up renting space in a house Lee Jung Jin lives in and once they are living together they begin to realize how important they are to each other.
"Reply 1997" is another story of friends who fall in love but you don't know which friends will become man and wife until you reach the finale. The drama's timeline moves back and forth between 1997 and 2012 when one of the couples announce they are getting married. Which friends make the move from camaraderie to romance? Watch the drama and find out.
"Pinocchio" is also a case of best friends who eventually fall in love and marry. Lee Jong Suk and Park Shin Hye play Choi Dal Po and Choi In Ha. They live in the same house for many of their formative years and are best friends. But once they grow up, their relationship changes and they fall in love. They have been living like siblings but they are not really related. He has always secretly liked her, but even more of a challenge to their relationship is her mother's role in his father's death. Nothing, however, can stand in the way of true love. Not even friendship.
