7 K-dramas about K-pop idol fans and stans, from ‘My Bias, My Boss’ to ‘Lovely Runner’

When Nam Da-reum (Kim Hye-jun) lands a job at Appello, a fashion start-up co-founded by her bias—idol-turned-actor Lee Chan (Cha Woo-min)—all she hopes for is to catch a glimpse of him and, if she’s lucky, work alongside him. What she doesn’t expect is for Lee Chan to take a special interest in her.

Recognising Da-reum as the fan whose heartfelt letters and messages helped him through a difficult period in his idol career, Chan finds himself drawn to Da-reum. However, his celebrity status complicates their budding relationship, with co-stars, fame and sasaeng allegations getting in the way. Things get more tangled when Appello’s gruff CEO—and Chan’s good friend—Kang Ha-gi (Kang Hoon) also begins to develop feelings for Da-reum, setting the stage for a workplace love triangle that leaves her caught between her bias and her boss.

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In the Netflix original K-drama Doona!, based on the webtoon The Girl Downstairs, popular K-pop idol Lee Doona (Bae Suzy) is overwhelmed by the relentless pressures that come with fame and abruptly resigns. The former Dream Sweet lead singer moves to a share house near a university and retreats from her life in the spotlight. It’s here that she meets kind and thoughtful college sophomore Lee Won-jun (Yang Se-jong).

Coming from different backgrounds, the two initially don’t get along. Over time, though, Doona’s guard begins to slip and the two fall in love. Their bond becomes a source of mutual healing, helping Doona confront the trauma of public scrutiny while giving Won-jun space to reckon with the weight of his family responsibilities and long-repressed emotions.

When Doona decides to stage her comeback, her return to the public eye puts a strain on their relationship, and the two part ways. Years later, both more grounded in their lives and careers, their paths cross once again—leaving open the question of whether they’ll find their way back to each other.

Adapted from the web novel Noona Fan Dot Com, Her Private Life is one of the earlier K-dramas centred on a K-pop fan. The series stars Park Min-young as Sung Duk-mi, a buttoned-up museum curator who leads a secret life as a devoted K-pop idol fangirl.

Duk-mi runs a popular fan site dedicated to idol Cha Shi-an (One), carefully keeping her fangirl identity separate from her professional life. But her two worlds collide when the museum meets with Shi-an, an avid art collector, to borrow pieces from his collection for an exhibition. Things escalate when paparazzi mistake Duk-mi for the idol’s non-celebrity girlfriend as she’s leaving his apartment, exposing her to harassment from his overzealous fans.

To protect her, her boss Ryan Gold (Kim Jae-wook) proposes that they pretend to be dating. What begins as a fake relationship soon develops into something real. More importantly, rather than asking Duk-mi to tone down or abandon her fangirl identity, Ryan comes to understand—and even embrace—her passion for Shi-an.

Not every K-pop idol fan in a K-drama is a loyal stan. So I Married an Anti-Fan subverts the usual fan-and-idol set-up with Lee Geun-young (Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung), a magazine reporter who becomes the self-proclaimed number one anti-fan of global K-pop star Who-joon (Choi Tae-joon).

The two get off to an unfortunate start when Geun-young witnesses an unflattering side of the idol at a club. After losing her job and becoming convinced that Who-joon is responsible, she stages protests outside his agency, inadvertently gaining notoriety as his anti-fan. Her unusual feud with the superstar soon catches the attention of a producer, who casts the pair in a reality show that requires them to live together as a couple.

Forced into each other’s orbit, Geun-young and Who-joon spend much of their time bickering and trying to get under each other’s skin. But as they begin to see past their assumptions, their antagonistic relationship slowly gives way to something more. With its unlikely romance, So I Married an Anti-Fan offers a different take on the genre—one that begins with an anti-fan instead of an admirer.

Sooyoung returns to the K-pop world in ENA’s Idol I. The Girls’ Generation member plays Maeng Se-na, a top criminal lawyer with a near-perfect track record—and an 11-year history as a fan of Gold Boys, particularly its vocalist and visual, Do Ra-ik (Kim Jae-young). Off the record, she streams his new releases, surrounds herself with his photos like any dedicated fangirl and dreams of running into him someday.

What she doesn’t count on is that they would eventually meet as lawyer and client. When Ra-ik becomes the prime suspect in the death of a fellow Gold Boys member, Se-na takes on his defence, determined to prove her favourite idol’s innocence while trying to keep her feelings for her bias separate from the case. With its courtroom stakes, Idol I grounds the fan-idol premise in a genuine murder mystery that’s a rare pairing for the genre.

In this K-pop-meets-high-fantasy K-drama, Pontifex Rembrary (Kim Min-kyu) is a powerful high priest who one day wakes up in the body of Woo Yeon-woo, the lead singer and visual of K-pop group Wild Animal. After three years with little to show for it, Wild Animal is on the brink of disbandment—until Rembrary takes over. His unexpected charm and unconventional approach to idol life take fans by surprise, setting the struggling group on the path to superstardom.

Meanwhile, long-time Woo Yeon-woo fangirl Kim Dal (Go Bo-gyeol) secures a job as Wild Animal’s road manager to be closer to her bias. When she learns the truth about the soul swap, Dal does everything in her power to steer the group to greater success—and get her beloved Yeon-woo back—including helping Rembrary battle the Evil One.

From time travel to soul-swapping fantasy and courtroom drama, these seven K-dramas prove that K-pop fandom is fertile ground for storytelling well beyond the usual idol romance. Whether it’s Im Sol's decade-spanning devotion in Lovely Runner, Duk-mi’s secret fangirl life in Her Private Life, or Geun-young’s reluctant turn from anti-fan to leading lady, each series finds a fresh angle on what it means to love an idol. For anyone who has ever wondered what it might be like to end up face-to-face with their own bias, this list is a reminder that K-dramas keep finding new, inventive ways to answer that question.

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