I have to say that the love triangle in currently airing Chicago Typewriter (SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn't watched, though I'm not sure if these are really spoilers or not, but just in case, you have been warned) has really tugged at my heart. Yoo, being a second lead as well as a ghost, kind of puts a tragic gloom over everything, knowing that it will never be, yet wanting it to be so. But at the same time, Se Joo acknowledging Yoo's love was a beautiful moment, while also struggling with his new feelings.
And then their past lives are even more heartbreaking. It seems like Se Joo might have stayed quiet about his love, for the sake of his friend, and now his friend is helping his future reincarnation out (just my thoughts). Of course things might change later, but for now, that's how it seems.
Love triangles between good friends are even more heartbreaking, knowing one of them will end up being hurt in the end, giving up their love for the sake of their friendship.

Oooh! Hit me up with cool books! My favorite love triangle would probably be Healer, Bong-Soo/Young-Shin/Healer. I mean how do you win against yourself?

Honourable mention goes to the love square in SKKS. :)

This is open to non-US citizens, right? Just checking

I'm going with Chuno for Dae-gil/hye-won/tae-ha but also Dae-gil/Hye-won/Sul-hwa cos no matter how you looked at it, it was tragic all around. This drama caused sooo much pain omg

Runner ups:
Flower for my life
Sunkyunkwan Scandal
Oh my ghostess
Healer
Jealousy incarnate
49 days
Heart to heart
Scent of a woman

Eh, so many. Then again, most kdramas I watch feature love triangles in some form.

The love triangle in Reply 1988 was the first time I experienced both second lead syndrome and first lead syndrome (is that a thing) as well as not knowing which was which and knowing I'd be heartbroken but happy no matter who was chosen. It was a painful experience. I didn't know who to choose and I didn't know how it was possible for Duk Seon to choose, but what happened happened. It made me think deeply about how missed timing is such a big factor in our fate, as well as hesitation.

My favourite drama love triangle would be

ahem ?
of course
No No no pair (winks) ?
Get It !!!

One of my favourite love triangles was possibly the one between Hye Jin, Sung Joon and Shin Hyuk in She Was Pretty because of how memorable the second lead was.

I'm usually one for the main couple all the way but Shin Hyuk had my heart for it all. He was a second lead that didn't resort to petty tricks to try and get the girl if I remember clearly and he was just kind of perfect. Hye Jin obviously was in love with Sung Joon the whole time and vice versa but it was a love triangle that will stick with me for a long time.

I can´t say a love triangle can even be a favorite thing of mine. But there are a couple of times when it was very hard to decide who is right for whom.
1. Cha Do Hyun x Shin Se Gi x Oh Ri Jin. Kill Me Heal Me presented us with a very odd triple relationship. It was not just a triangle of love, but also resentment, fear of losing self and negotiating with the key to their boths´ existence. In the end, "I am you, she is me, You ARE, in your own right." We were as torn as the main characters, in not wanting either guy to disappear - if only Shin Se Gi could have existed on his own! The triangle which has to become a duo but why? In the end, they exist in each other. One of the most memorable relationships of all drama times.
2. general Choi Young, plastic surgeon Eun Soo and ... it wasnt really a love triangle as such, but it felt like there was SOMETHING always there. Time. Loyalties. Danger. Choices. Historical accuracy vs following your heart. Choi Young was torn between priorities, but it is a difficult matrix to juggle for a person. but in the end, their hearts won over all the obstacles and themselves.

and of course, Lee Jong Suks´ unrecruited pining for Oska in Secret Garden.

Omg there are so many love triangles to choose from...agh probably Reply 1988 Duk-sun, Taek and Jung-hwan. It tore my heart to pieces, which either means it was well done or the writer is evil. Still can't decide which...maybe a bit of both?

I kind of loved the love-triangle dynamic in Kill Me, Heal Me. He was literally competing with himself, himself, and himself for her attention.

I'm still a newbie into the k-drama world, so I don't have a long list of dramas to call on my favourites. But honestly, I can't help but have second-lead syndrome and feel bad for the one who doesn't get the girl because we all know the main leads will be together in the end. I have so much sympathy for their storyline, and it makes me love their character even more. My two examples so far would be The Heirs and The Moon Embracing the Sun.

Must I also mention Oh My Ghostess. Park Bo Young was so good act acting the two personalities of Na Bong Sun and the ghost Shin Soon Ae. At first I disliked the ghosts' personality, but by the end I was drawn into tears by her. This is one of the times that I wished the male lead could end up with 2 girls...

Discovery of Romance.

the love triangle was the centre of the drama. everyone was guessing who yeoreum will end up with but i was 200% sure from the start that it's taeha. hajin was almost the perfect boyfriend; understanding and considerate, but he had some serious issues... i'm weak for storylines of couples breaking up and get back together again ?

Too many good triangle to choose! But i would love to say Jealousy Incarnate wins them all, and also, on going drama with the same second lead male, go kyung po, Chicago TW will be another triangle love hit!

Hands down, one of my favorite drama love triangles is in
Healer, which made my heart stop more than enough times. How do you pick when its Park Bong Soo against the Healer? They have the qualities from the best of both worlds, especially when its the same person, which in that case, heals the wound on your heart when trying to decide.

I wasn't crazy about any of them, but I've got to admit Kim Eun Sook writes some of the most "popular classic" love triangles: Lovers in Paris, Secret Garden, and the recent Heirs too had a love triangle.

Because I just watched TLAHL, all I can seem to remember are love triangles from music dramas like Dream High, SUFBB, Persevere, Bethoven Virus, You are beautiful, and then the random Surplus Princess. I'm sure I'll be able to think of more diverse ones in a few hours when I'm off from the TLAHL high.

Scent of a woman - The show was funny, sad, sexy, heartwarming and heartbreaking, thanks to Kim Sun-A (my girl crush), Lee Dong Wook (my Wooki) and Uhm Ki-Joon (only potential SLS ever).

Beak in ho/seol/jung

Valid Love.

like what heetae said, it's like his wife is experiencing her first love with kim joon, BUT she's married to him. il-ri admitted she love both of them at the same time too. up till today, i still don't know who should she be with, though i secretly hope it's kim joon (sorry, lee soo hyuk is too hot to resist ?)

Choi dal po/ choi in ha/ Seo Beom-jo- pinocchio

Sung shi won/ yoon yoon je/ Yoon Tae-woong- reply 1997

Love triangles are not always my favorite things, however--I think my favorite love triangle is in W, where Kang Chul 2.0 is competing against Kang Chul 1.0. As far as 2.0 is concerned, that comic book character is a totally different guy, lol. And 2.0 is desperate to prove he's better. :)

Recently my favorite live triangle was between Do Bong Soon, Minhyuk, and Gookdoo!

I really loved the shift between Do Bong Soon liking Gookdoo to when she finally started seeing hearts and sparkles all around Minhyuk, accompanied by ‘Heartbeat’ by Suran! That was the perfect song. :D I was kind of frustrated by the fact that Gookdoo liked her all along and didn’t realize it, and I did feel bad for him, but when Minhyuk jumped in front of Bong Soon to take the stab for her, I knew they were meant to be together!

Heirs.

everyone knows that eunsang will definitely be with kim tan. but i really wanted youngdo to get the girl, or at least even have a chance albeit his elementary kid style of clumsy bullying ways to get the attention from the girl he likes. ?

It would have to be Reply 1989. (Its a huge rant, bear with me, am obviously still scarred by this story)

Not just because of the characters Jung Hwan or Taekie or Duk Seon. But because how close it felt to real life. Out of all kdramas I have watched over 8 years, this is the one that hurts the most because it feels so real.

When two friends love the same girl who is also their friend - it does not have too much excitements, drama, wrist grab or man to man face offs. It's lot of internal struggle with amount of love and respect they have for each other. You can't really hate your best friend. Because it will be easier if you can hate him/her. Its easier if you don't feel happy for that person. It's not a easy conflict to get past and people don't confess so soon for same reason.

And this is one drama where each of them had reason for loving who they loved.

For Duk Sun, it was all fluttery butterflies and excitement with Jung Hwan and she went all out - she didn't hide what she felt. But with Taek, she freaked out. The fear of losing his friendship, the fear of being awkward, the fear of getting rejected. All rolled into one, made her shut up and run away. You know your heart is real when it freaks the hell out of you.

For Taek, she was always there. Right from when the lonely boy who moved into a new street, she embraced him. Took care of him. The affection grew as he grew and he has no other choice but to love her so.

And Jung Hwan - first love with all giddy feelings, angst, hurt and heartbreak. Like all first loves(in real life, not dramaland) do, it showed him more of who he was not rather than who he was. His indecisiveness was his fatal flaw. It was too late for him, Duk Seon's heart had not been hers for long time. But it still sucks, to not confess. To not even have taken the chance to be honest.

And isn't that what happens in real life? You don't confess when you are third person in a love triangle. You stay silent and keep it as your own special secret. You can't risk getting it out, you can't risk getting it awkward. But the thing that hurt me the most about this was no one knew!!
None of their friends knew! His love just faded into obscurity. No one remembers it other than him. No one regrets other than him. No one willl ever know how broken he was. That's so close to real life that it hurts.

I was one of the persons who was so mad at Deok sun for not acknowledging his confession. But with time, I understood her better. Will any of us acknowledge a throwaway joke made by our childhood friend on how much he loved us when we were young? We may forever wonder in our heads whether it was real but we will never talk about it.

Even after 2-3(?) Years of this drama, am still not over it. Over this love they had for one another. The most realest love triangle I have seen in kdrama so far.

I'm going to have to go with I Remember You's Lee Hyun, Cha Ji An, and Lee Min. The way that SeoInGook looks at ParkBoGum deserves all the love in the world ???
15 + alpha all the way

Favorite K-Drama love triangle: City Hunter -- Lee Yoon-sung / Mama Lee / Kidnapper-Papa Lee. Does he risk being unmasked as the City Hunter and risk his dad's quest for revenge or does he refuse to donate his blood and let his estranged Mother die?

Mary Stayed Out All Night.

i admit the drama was a mess. maeri took turn to live with both guys, falling in love with one while still caring for another. i can only envy her even though she chose mu gyul in the end because, god! how do you choose between jang geun suk and kim jae wook?! I WANT THEM ALL~ ??

Soulmate!

Probably my all time fave drama. But also because the triangle in the latter half of the drama with Lee Soo Kyung/Shin Dong Wook/Hong Yu Jin was so compelling to me. I often felt like SDW's character was trying to do the right thing but in reality he was just hurting more people due to his attraction to LSK and the connection they had. And LSK's attempts to deny her feelings was also interesting considering she was recovering from ending a long-term but ultimately tepid and unfulfilling relationship. I also will never get over how funny their first meeting was when he puts his earbud in her ear when she's crying and she reacts like a real person would.

Though the other triangles in the drama were also interesting and there were so many triangles in this drama now that I think about it - triangles for everyone. Literally.

Also, this show has hands down the best soundtrack of any show I've ever seen.

I'm not one for SLS so my choices are limited. I'll go with Flower Boy Ramen Shop mainly because that was one of the few dramas where I actually really liked the SML.

I Need Romance 2012.

yeolmae and sukhyun were meant to be, but she fell in love with jihoon when sukhyun was pushing her away. jihoon brought out the good in her when she only felt negativity of herself when she's with sukhyun. jihoon was a perfect boyfriend any girl can hope for. yeolmae love him but she knew she can't leave sukhyun behind after the big secret reveal.

Flower boy ramyun shop
Eun Bi, Cha Chi Soo, and the big tree Kang Hyuk

At the time, this drama had me in tears laughing so hard. But I was really rooting for Kang hyuk

(Trying again, I think my response got eaten.)

I'm not usually one for love triangles, but I think that W has a good one (Kang Chul 2.0 desperately trying to prove himself better than Kang Chul 1.0). And in that vein, yes, Healer with Healer also competing against himself. :) That might just be my favorite kind of triangle...

Chicago Typewriter's little triangle is hurting my heart just a little right now...hope it ends well.

Jealousy Incarnate.

nari love them both and end up using jealousy as a measure (subconsiciously) to determine who she loves more. 2 best friends having similar tastes and falling in love with the same woman, getting petty and fighting each other. ?

I want to say Ji Eun Tak > Kim Shin < Reaper Kim LOL :D from Goblin

Deleted old post since I forgot to put in the drama...though I'm sure everyone here knows them by name ^^

The Lonely Shining Goblin.

it's not a legit love triangle but i REALLY wanted the drama to focus on the bromance then the two lovelines ?? i mean, how can you not want more after all those adlibs?! ? gong yoo and lee dong wook is love forever ?

Reply 1988 ... The only love triangle that made me root for both guys to win the girl

Even though this is more of a love hexagon, I have to say my favorite is in My Name is Kim Sam Soon. What a mess of complicated feelings! Plus, Hyun Bin.

in case non-korean dramas are accepted too (i noticed it wasn't specified in the rules ?)

1. Triumph in the Skies (Hong Kong drama)

two best friends with contrasting personalities, fell in love with the same woman one after another. if vincent didn't die, will isabelle and him have a blissful marriage, or will isabelle return to samuel? i still ask myself this question whenever i think of this drama.

2. The Rose (Taiwan drama)

if kui wasn't baihe's blood brother.... ??? will he stand a chance against his own blood brother, jin, who he once loved?

3. The Vampire Diaries (American series)

[looking at only the first few seasons]
like what rose said, "It’s not just that she makes him a better person-- she does-- but he changes her too. Damon challenges her, surprises her. He makes her question her life, beliefs. Stefan is different-- his love is pure. He’ll always be good for her. Damon is either the best thing for her or the worst." i was team damon~ ??

The Moms and Pal-gang in Jealousy Incarnate.

Not a romantic triangle, but a love triangle nonetheless. This show in general was so great with all the different types of love, but this was the best triangle to me. I just loved how the moms learned to live together and love their daughter together. At the end of the day all Pal-gang really needed was for them to be there for her and to show her that they would support and love her no matter what.

Here is my first entry:

Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy: Three intertwined love triangles. Standard reasoning would suggest the two teachers would fall for each other, while the two high school students would end up together and someone would be left out. But no, not in kdrama land!

I give you:
1. Na bori / Ji Hyun Woo / Park Tae In
2. Na bori / Noh Jem Ma / Park Tae In
3. Na bori / Ji Hyun Woo / Eun Seong (I bet you forgot about her)

I had no idea about second leads until this drama, nor did I realize that Noona romances were a thing until this drama because I had shipped Na bori and Hyun Woo (two teachers) really early in the drama. But then, Hello! Gong Yoo! Then it was obvious where this was going. But what about the two other girls, Jem Ma and Eun Seong? I almost thought in the middle that Jem Ma would end up with Park Tae In, because that was what society expected and I was trying to rationalize what Koreans would think about a high school student dating his high school teacher. Then Na bori would still end up with her first love until Eun Seong (the old fiancee) came back into town. Confused yet? Which makes for a great love triangle--or three in this case. Gong Yoo played the overly emotional high school beau so well in this that even I hoped he would end up with Na Bori, even though I had real issues with the set up.

Having seen waaaay too many dramas (if that's a thing - I think the world might say yes but fellow Beanies would say no), I think one of my favorites was Best Love.

Most embarrassing (for me) was Star in My Heart from ye olden days. I honestly thought that the second male lead WAS the main lead UNTIL THE LAST EPISODE. In my defense, it was one of the first k-dramas I watched. And I couldn't stand the main lead's hair . . . so maybe I projected a bit too much. Oh well!

Hmmm...the first to come to mind is Moonlight Drawn by Clouds: Crown Prince Lee Yeong- Hong Ra-on- Yoon-sung.
While the love between Yeong and Ra-on was undeniable, there was Yoon-sung on the other hand... so kind and charming and always fighting for her till death. My heart broke for him. I hope he gets the girl in his next life

Choi Taek x Dukseon x Junhwan! Reply 88! This drama got me brokenhearted and I cant even hate the guy Dukseon end up with.

So I really thought about which love triangle I liked the best. There are plenty of dramas where I have major second lead syndrome, but then I just want the Heroine to be with the second lead. Not really being pulled between the two.
Inclusion I'm going with Save the Last Dance for Me, starring Ji Sung Eugene, and Ryu Soo Young
Ji Sung and Ryu Soo Young both did such a good job (Ryu Soo Young especially since he was the villain) that I wanted Eugene to end up with both of them.

♡ Reply 1994 (Najung x Trash x Chilbong) It was so difficult to choose between the boys, Trash always caring for Najung and Chilbong the cutie pie that was left broken heart.... Why??? Why cant they put 2 leads and 2 sub-leads forming a Love Square and then everybody can have theirs respective happy endings??

This was only a temporary love triangle. Last year in Legend of the blue Sea:
when Ho Joon-jae (Lee Minho) was competing with himself, because he didn't have his memories. Saying that the guy who bought Cheong (Jun Ji-hyun) ramyeon was a "bastard" and a womanizer, and all their related antics. Only to later realize it was him. Aaaah that was funny.

Scent of a Woman! Anyone watched that?
I totally though Uhm Ki-Joon character was awkward and cold at times but he slowly warmed up to Kim Sun Ah character and turned out he likes her when young! Also Lee Dong-Wook was sooo steaming, that tango scene with Kim Sun Ah was hot!

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.

worst second lead syndrome EVER. i was rooting for our pillar and i still remember the scene where the two brothers were cuddling eunbi on bed. how i wish i can insert a photo of it here lol. i was so sad that kanghyuk didn't have a happy ending (i mean a girl in the end ?), but i'm sooooooo glad that lee kiwoo and lee chungah became a couple in real life after the drama! ??