7 K-drama couples who embody a golden retriever and black cat dynamic, from ‘The Remarried Empress’ to ‘Strong Girl Bong-soon’

Golden retriever: Lee Ga-kyung (Kim You-jung)
Black cat: Hideo Sato (Jinyoung)

Nothing tests a composed bureaucrat’s patience quite like realising the new trainee just stole his wallet. In tvN’s spy drama 100 Days of Deception, now on Netflix, Lee Ga-kyung (Kim You-jung) is a quick-thinking pickpocket with a knack for talking her way out of trouble. Saving for passage to America, she takes up the resistance’s proposal and goes undercover at the Japanese government-general as a trainee interpreter, under the name Geum Seo-hee.

There, she works under Hideo Sato (Jinyoung), a Korean-born interpreter raised as Japanese by his adoptive father, Shinichi Sato (Jin Sun-kyu), the second-highest government official. Impeccably composed and difficult to read, Hideo has good reason to be wary of the newcomer. After all, their first encounter ended with Ga-kyung making off with his wallet.

When she later turns up at the government-general, he has little cause to believe her intentions are entirely innocent. The black cat of the pair, Hideo is watchful and reserved, while Ga-kyung’s lively resourcefulness makes her the golden retriever. But as their paths continue to cross, suspicion gives way to attraction, complicating a mission in which neither can afford to let their guard down.

See more: Who’s who in the K-drama ‘100 Days of Deception’: get to know the cast and characters

Golden retriever: Lim Joo-kyung (Moon Ga-young)
Black cat: Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo)

Lim Joo-kyung (Moon Ga-young) arrives at her new school hoping for a fresh start in the hit tvN rom-com True Beauty, available to stream on Netflix. After years of being bullied over her appearance, she has mastered make-up with the help of the internet, and her new look soon earns her admiration from her classmates. But the transformation is purely cosmetic. Underneath, she remains a horror-comic-loving girl with a sunny disposition and an eagerness to make friends. Her open-hearted warmth is golden retriever through and through.

Her favourite refuge is a local comic book shop, where she can go bare-faced and be entirely herself. It is also where Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), a handsome and academically gifted classmate, sees her without make-up, leaving Joo-kyung dreading the day he connects the girl in the shop with the schoolyard beauty. It is among those shelves that the pair are most at home, with themselves and each other.

Su-ho, for all his ease when he’s with her, keeps everyone else at arm’s length—a classic black cat behaviour. Still, there is more to his aloofness than first appears. As Joo-kyung gets to know him, she begins to see the emotional wounds behind his brusque manner and the more considerate person he keeps hidden from others.

Golden retriever: Yoo Eun-ho (Lee Jun-hyuk)
Black cat: Kang Ji-yun (Han Ji-min)

In the SBS workplace romance Love Scout, available to stream on Netflix, Kang Ji-yun (Han Ji-min) is a black cat in the boardroom. The driven CEO of Peoplez, the industry’s second-ranked headhunting firm, is formidable in meetings and has little time for anything beyond work, but is far less adept at managing the everyday details of life. Entirely consumed by the demands of building her business, she barely has the time to learn the names of the people working under her. 

Her newly hired secretary, Yoo Eun-ho (Lee Jun-hyuk), is a welcome contrast. The golden retriever of the office and, in time, the relationship, he is warm and attentive, able to anticipate Ji-yun’s needs before she even voices them. A devoted single father, he brings the same patience and thoughtfulness to work that he shows his young daughter at home. Their contrasting approaches to business make for a rocky start, but despite herself, Eun-ho’s steady presence eventually softens Ji-yun’s edges.

Golden retriever: Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik)
Black cat: Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi)

The SBS romantic comedy Our Beloved Summer, a fan-favourite K-drama on Netflix, follows high school sweethearts Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi), whose old documentary suddenly goes viral years after their split. Its belated success prompts a follow-up that, to their dismay, forces them into each other’s company again.

Ung, now a successful illustrator, is a quintessential golden retriever: easygoing, with a gentle romantic streak and feelings for Yeon-su that have never quite faded. Yeon-su, meanwhile, is a textbook black cat. A fiercely independent public relations professional who has spent much of her life striving to get ahead, she has no patience for sentimentality and rarely lets anyone see her vulnerable side.

Their awkward reunion stirs up old tensions, but as they are drawn together, the differences that once drove them apart also help them understand each other in a new light. Even when Yeon-su insists she has moved on, Ung’s habit of quietly showing up with an umbrella or snacks and his unguarded honesty wear down her defences.

Golden retriever: Yoon Dong-ju (Park Bo-gum)
Black cat: Ji Han-na (Kim So-hyun)

In JTBC’s action-comedy K-drama Good Boy, streaming on Prime Video, Yoon Dong-ju (Park Bo-gum) and Ji Han-na (Kim So-hyun) are members of a police unit made up of former national athletes. Dong-ju, an Olympic boxing gold medallist, is a passionate, headstrong officer whose instinct to stand up for what is right often gets him into trouble. Beneath his brash exterior, however, is a gentle soul with plenty of affection to give. These, along with his boundless enthusiasm and puppy-dog devotion to Han-na, are golden retriever-coded.

Han-na, a former shooting champion, is more reserved and measured, and tends to keep to herself. That quiet composure makes her a black cat at heart, though she is anything but restrained when on the job. Their connection begins when Dong-ju falls for her at first sight, and his feelings remain unwavering even as they navigate the demands of police work and their own complicated pasts. While Han-na takes longer to let him in, Dong-ju’s sincerity cannot help but win her over.

Golden retriever: Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik)
Black cat: Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young)

Strong Girl Bong-soon, the beloved 2017 rom-com K-drama available on Netflix, follows Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young), a young woman born with superhuman strength. Keen to keep it secret, she nonetheless does not hesitate to use it when others are in danger. When Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik), the CEO of the gaming company Ainsoft, sees her in action, he offers her work as his bodyguard. With dreams of becoming a game developer, Bong-soon accepts, not least because he dangles the prospect of a place on the company’s development planning team if she proves herself.

Cheeky, playful and refreshingly expressive, Min-hyuk exudes golden retriever energy. He takes an immediate interest in Bong-soon and is the clingier of the two. Bong-soon is the black cat in this equation: she is independent, strong-willed and takes her eccentric boss in her stride, even as she gradually lets him into her world.

The appeal of a golden retriever and black cat pairing is not simply that two opposites attract. What makes the dynamic click is watching guarded characters finally drop their armour in the face of gentle persistence and unguarded affection.

From the palace romance of The Remarried Empress to the playful chemistry of Strong Girl Bong-soon, these K-drama couples show just how many ways the dynamic can unfold. And while the labels may help describe their personalities, it is the individual quirks, growing trust and romantic chemistry that make their stories worth watching.

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