Cover Did you know that before playing the main role in ‘Pursuit of Jade’, Zhang Linghe was a beloved second male lead? (Photo: IMDB)
Did you know that before playing the main role in ‘Pursuit of Jade’, Zhang Linghe was a beloved second male lead? (Photo: IMDB)
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These C-dramas made us fall hopelessly for the second male lead who, more often than not, was never going to get the girl
There is a special kind of emotional damage that comes from falling for the second male lead.
You know the rules. You know he isn’t getting the girl. You know the story has already decided where the romance is going and yet—somehow—you find yourself waiting for his scenes, defending his decisions, replaying his quietest moments and wondering if the heroine couldn’t simply make a different choice for once.
C-dramas are particularly good at creating this kind of romantic chaos. Their sprawling casts and long-form storytelling give secondary characters enough room to develop full emotional lives of their own. The second male lead isn’t simply the handsome man standing between the main couple. He might be the childhood friend who loved her first, the noble prince who arrived too late or the tragic immortal whose devotion was doomed from the beginning. Sometimes he’s the kinder choice. Sometimes he’s the more interesting one. Occasionally, he’s so compelling that the fandom spends the entire drama wondering whether the wrong man ended up at the core of the love story.
Here are the C-dramas that made us fall hopelessly for the man who, more often than not, was never going to get the girl.
In case you missed it: Hard-to-resist: 8 greenest red flags in C-dramas
Runyu (Luo Yunxi), ‘Ashes of Love’ (2018)
Above The second lead who went from gentle, overlooked prince to tragic villain—and somehow made us root for him anyway
The second male lead: the elegant, overlooked Night Deity whose quiet longing slowly turns into one of the drama’s most tragic descents
The romance: Jin Mi (Yang Zi), a sheltered flower fairy incapable of understanding romantic love, finds herself caught between the fiery Xufeng (Deng Lun) and his older brother Runyu. While Xufeng is the obvious romantic hero, Runyu’s love is quieter, built on patience, protection and the hope of finally being chosen.
Why we fell for him: Runyu begins as the gentle prince viewers can’t help but sympathise with, especially after a lifetime of family trauma and persecution. When his longing for love and justice eventually curdles into obsession and revenge, his transformation becomes genuinely heartbreaking. Luo Yunxi’s restrained performance makes his downfall even more devastating: we’re not simply watching a villain emerge, but someone we desperately wanted to see happy lose the ability to imagine happiness without power.
The second-lead syndrome: You don’t just root for Runyu to get the girl. You root for him to get a life.
Qi Heng (Zhu Yilong), ‘The Story of Minglan’ (2018)
Above Sometimes the second male lead isn’t the wrong man; he’s simply the right man trapped in the wrong circumstances
The second male lead: a refined young nobleman whose greatest tragedy is discovering that love isn’t always enough to overcome family, status and circumstance
The romance: Qi Heng falls deeply for Minglan (Zhao Liying), the intelligent but socially overlooked daughter of a concubine. Their romance promises the classic period-drama fantasy of the golden boy and underestimated girl finding each other—until family expectations and social realities get in the way.
Why we fell for him: Qi Heng is painful precisely because he isn’t a bad choice. He’s kind, sincere and genuinely loves Minglan. He doesn’t lose her because someone is better; he loses because the world around them makes their relationship impossible. By the time Minglan finds the partner who can truly stand beside her, viewers understand why Qi Heng wasn’t right for her life—even if they still wish things had turned out differently.
The second-lead syndrome: Sometimes the saddest love story is the one where nobody did anything wrong.
Chang Heng (Zhang Linghe), ‘Love Between Fairy and Devil’ (2022)
Above He was the green flag, the celestial prince and the obvious choice—unfortunately, the heroine fell for a demon lord
The second male lead: the honourable celestial prince who seems to have everything a heroine could want—except the ability to stop fate from ruining his life
The romance: Chang Heng is the dutiful God of War of Shuiyuntian and the man Xiao Lan Hua (Yu Shuxin / Esther Yu) initially admires. But her fate becomes entwined with Dongfang Qingcang (Wang Hedi), the feared Moon Supreme, whose dangerous, forbidden romance ultimately takes centre stage.
Why we fell for him: Chang Heng is the classic “right person, wrong story” second lead. He isn’t jealous or conveniently flawed; he’s simply a genuinely good man who still can’t have the person he loves. Zhang Linghe gives him a quiet melancholy that makes the contrast even sharper: Chang Heng represents the safe, reliable life Xiao Lan Hua could have had, while Dongfang Qingcang represents the impossible love she ultimately chooses.
The second-lead syndrome: He was the green flag. He was the prince. He was perfectly lovely. He was simply not the demon lord.
Wu Bosong (Gao Zhiting), ‘A Love So Beautiful’ (2017)
Above The sunshine best friend who had every quality of a perfect boyfriend except the one thing that mattered: her heart
The second male lead: the warm, athletic, endlessly supportive swimmer who has everything the heroine could want—except her heart
The romance: Chen Xiaoxi (Shen Yue) is hopelessly devoted to her reserved childhood friend Jiang Chen (Hu Yitian), while Wu Bosong is the open, affectionate alternative who is always there when she needs him. As they grow up together, his feelings for Xiaoxi become increasingly impossible to ignore.
Why we fell for him: Wu Bosong is the quintessential second lead who makes you wonder whether the heroine is watching the same drama. He’s supportive, funny, emotionally available and completely transparent about his feelings. The tragedy is that his kindness never feels like a strategy to win her over—he genuinely cares about her, even when he knows she may never feel the same way.
The second-lead syndrome: He had the personality of a golden retriever and the romantic prospects of a Victorian orphan.
Hao Du (Liu Yuning), ‘The Long Ballad’ (2021)
Above He started out hunting princesses and ended up becoming the man viewers desperately wanted to see fall in love
The second male lead: the cold imperial officer who starts out hunting princesses and ends up becoming one of the drama’s most unexpectedly lovable characters
The romance: Hao Du is tasked with hunting down Li Changge (Dilraba Dilmurat), but his life changes when he meets Le Yan (Zhao Lusi), a sheltered princess whose kindness gradually softens his hardened worldview.
Why we fell for him: Hao Du is the ultimate “cold man secretly made of marshmallow” archetype. Liu Yuning gives his gradual transformation a quiet vulnerability, turning a ruthless warrior into someone willing to protect Le Yan for reasons that have nothing to do with duty.
The second-lead syndrome: He started out hunting princesses and ended up looking like the man most likely to die for one.
Xiang Liu (Tan Jianci), ‘Lost You Forever’ (2023)
Above The second lead who technically isn’t a second lead—but whose tragic devotion created an entire fandom faction anyway
The second male lead: a nine-headed demon general whose tragic devotion made him one of the biggest second-lead obsessions in recent C-drama history.
The romance: Lost You Forever features several major male characters vying for Xiao Yao’s (Yang Zi) heart, including Tushan Jing (Deng Wei), Cang Xuan (Zhang Wanyi) and the enigmatic Xiang Liu. Xiang Liu’s relationship with Xiao Yao is defined by contradiction: he protects her while pretending not to care and repeatedly pushes her away despite his feelings.
Why we fell for him: Xiang Liu’s love is expressed through sacrifice, distance and impossible choices rather than grand declarations. Tan Jianci’s sharp, magnetic performance turned his self-denial into an entire fandom obsession.
The second-lead syndrome: He had nine heads, centuries of emotional baggage and somehow still wasn’t complicated enough for this fandom.
Jiang Wu (Dai Xu), ‘The Legends’ (2019)
Above The morally questionable wildcard who proves that sometimes we don’t need a character to be good. We just need him to be fascinating
The second male lead: a chaotic, obsessive demon who may not be the healthiest romantic option—but is certainly one of the most fascinating
The romance: The Legends follows demon sect leader Lu Zhaoyao (Bai Lu), whose life becomes entangled with Li Chenlan (Xu Kai) and the unpredictable Jiang Wu. Rather than a straightforward romantic rival, Jiang Wu adds another layer of ambition, danger and shifting loyalties to the story.
Why we fell for him: Jiang Wu isn’t necessarily the “better man”, and that’s exactly the point. He’s ambitious, morally slippery and impossible to predict. Dai Xu’s charismatic performance makes you want to know what he’ll do next—even when you probably shouldn’t be rooting for him.
The second-lead syndrome: He may not be the healthiest romantic option, but at least he guarantees that absolutely nothing will be boring.
Fu Chou (Jing Chao), ‘Princess Silver’ (2019)
Above A calculating prince with a political agenda, a complicated heart and precisely the kind of emotional baggage that fuels second-lead syndrome
The second male lead: a calculating prince whose ambition, vulnerability and complicated feelings make him impossible to dismiss completely.
The romance: Fu Chou, Great General of Northern Lin, becomes entangled with Rong Le (Zhang Xueying), a princess whose identity and political fate are shrouded in secrets. As their paths cross, his feelings for her become tangled with his relentless pursuit of power.
Why we fell for him: Fu Chou is the kind of second lead who makes your moral compass wobble. He’s ambitious and manipulative, but beneath his ruthlessness is a man shaped by insecurity and a desperate need to prove his worth. Jing Chao gives him just enough vulnerability to make you wonder whether he could have chosen love over power—if circumstances had been different.
The second-lead syndrome: He came with a crown, a political agenda and enough emotional damage to fill an entire palace.
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Sasha Lim Uy Mariposa is a lifestyle journalist who is known for her food writing. Based in Manila and currently a marketing content specialist, she still dabbles in entertainment, beauty and dining coverage. She was the former managing editor of Esquire Philippines and was the food editor at SPOT.ph. She also edited several best-selling books about food.
She now writes for the different Tatler Asia markets as a contributing writer for T-Labs.
