If you haven’t heard of BL bingo yet, it’s a silly, fun BL spin on the classic game. Instead of numbers, BL bingo boards are filled with BL cliches and tropes, BL character archetypes, and anything else recognizable or iconic about the genre.
On any given BL board, you might see things like “ML has a girlfriend,” “forced to be roommates,” and “starts as enemies.” It’s ultimately a fun way to categorize shows, from super niche aspects of a show to wildly oversimplified plot summaries.
So if you’re ready to try BL bingo for yourself or you’re already an expert player, these five K-BL recommendations will help you fill out more of your bingo board.
Warning: Light spoilers ahead!
1. Unresolved past: “Our Dating Sim”
Lee Wan (Lee Jong Hyuk) and Shin Gi Tae (Lee Seung Gyu) were best buds in high school until a totally unexpected confession.
After Lee Wan confesses he likes Gi Tae on high school graduation day, he runs away Cinderella-style before Gi Tae can give any sort of answer. Unlike Cinderella, Lee Wan doesn’t leave any trace of himself behind. No glass slipper, let alone any way for Gi Tae to contact him.
Seven years later, Lee Wan has become a talented illustrator. Things are looking up when he gets a job offer from a gaming company, but he walks into his interview to find Gi Tae is an employee at the company. But Gi Tae doesn’t seem surprised at all to see Lee Wan, and he takes the situation as an opportunity to get under Lee Wan’s skin and tease him.
Lee Wan proclaims he’s moved on and just wants to be coworkers, but Gi Tae isn’t ready to let Lee Wan off so easily about abandoning him in the past. He’s determined to clear the air about their relationship.
Why it’s worth the watch:
There’s nothing like unresolved feelings in a confined space for an entertaining watch. The gaming premise is also lots of fun, especially because it’s a dating game that hits a little too close to home for Lee Wan and Gi Tae. If you loved “Semantic Error,” this will deliver similar vibes.
Start watching “Our Dating Sim” now:
2. Supernatural love: “Kissable Lips”
In “Kissable Lips,” vampires are real. They don’t sparkle, but they do go to college.
University student Kim Jun Ho (Kim Ji Woong) is one such vampire. He’s lived for hundreds of years but is slowly deteriorating and losing his senses as a consequence of his past. He’s grown tired of his immortality and is ready to accept his fate when he runs into a pureblood, Choi Min Hyun (Yoon Seo Bin).
In this world, purebloods are a rare type of human whose blood can turn a vampire into a mortal. Meeting Min Hyun, Jun Ho has a chance to become human and escape his impending death. There’s just one major catch: in order for it to work, he has to make Min Hyun fall in love with him. It’s the only way a pureblood’s blood can make a vampire human. In the supernatural BL world, that totally makes sense.
Lucky for Jun Ho, it doesn’t take but a few painfully long glances to make Min Hyun’s heart flutter. But, unexpectedly so, Jun Ho’s heart starts to flutter too. Jun Ho’s simple plan to become a human isn’t so simple after all.
Why it’s worth the watch:
A sickly vampire unintentionally falls in love with a cute college student who also might just be the answer to his illness? It’s truly the “Twilight” of the K-BL world, with the same level of cheesiness, in a good way. “The lion fell in love with the lamb,” except, in this case, it’s two handsome college guys in a K-BL.
Start watching “Kissable Lips” now:
3. “We’re just brothers”: “Cherry Blossoms After Winter”
If you’ve watched BLs for a while, you may have come across a BL where the main antagonist is actually one word: “brothers.” In “Cherry Blossoms After Winter,” Seo Hae Bom (Ok Jin Uk) and Jo Tae Sung (Kang Hui) were raised from childhood as brothers, but they aren’t related.
Growing up together, the relationship between Tae Sung and Hae Bom has been anything but clear and simple. Because Hae Bom feels so indebted to Tae Sung and his mother, Hae Bom’s plan is to move out and live on his own after graduating high school.
Over time, the two “brothers” started to keep to themselves and not talk as much. Though they live in the same house and go to the same school, they’ve really lived separate lives.
This changes in high school when Hae Bom and Tae Sung get assigned to the same class. Tae Sung begins to learn more about Hae Bom’s life, and the two finally start talking and grow closer, but not necessarily as brothers. There’s something more and that something more comes to the surface after a drunk kiss makes them question their relationship.
Why it’s worth the watch:
The classic brothers-but-not-real-brothers BL storyline is a super interesting one. In essence, it’s about feeling pressured to act, be, or feel a certain way or go against your heart, which draws parallels to what almost all BLs touch on in one way or another. On a less serious note, Hae Bom and Tae Sung are also just so sweet, cute, and pure-hearted. You’ll get instant butterflies and fluffy feelings whenever they are on the screen.
Start watching “Cherry Blossoms After Winter” now:
4. Food is the love language: “All the Liquors”
Han Ji Yu (Kim Jun Hyung) is a man who loves drinking just as much as he loves good food. He meets his match when he drunkenly walks into Chef Park Ki Hoon’s (Won Do Hyung’s) restaurant, which has a strict no-alcohol policy. When Ji Yu sobers up, Ki Hoon hears his rumbling stomach and serves him anyway. Still, not the best first impressions.
As it so happens, Ji Yu’s company is launching a campaign for a new traditional soju, and they want to collaborate with a famous chef to find dishes that pair well with the drink. The chef the company absolutely must have is, of course, none other than Ki Hoon.
What Ji Yu knows and the company doesn’t is that Ki Hoon wants nothing to do with alcohol. Ji Yu has no choice but to try and convince Ki Hoon to take the job. But Ki Hoon is one stubborn guy.
Why it’s worth the watch:
Behind the oddly specific but very fun premise is a cute, simple romance between two totally opposite guys. Ji Yu has such a carefree, love-eat-drink personality, while Ki Hoon is quiet and serious. Seeing them slowly develop feelings for each other and find a middle ground is just perfect. The show’s sense of humor and food scenes are also wins.
Start watching “All the Liquors” now:
5. Reincarnated love: “First Love, Again”
Yeon Seok (Jin Gun) is living his third and last life, and by all means, he’s winning at it this time. As a famous web novelist, Yeon Seok is handsome, wealthy, and successful, but he’s still got one thing missing: his reincarnated love, Ha Yeon.
In his past two lifetimes, he couldn’t live a long, happy life with Ha Yeon like he wanted. But this lifetime, he’s determined to find his reincarnated love and live his last life deeply in love.
But “all according to plan” isn’t in the cards this lifetime, it seems. When he finally finds his lost love, it turns out Ha Yeon (Jeon Chang Ha) is, in fact, a man.
Because he was hoping to reunite with the woman he once knew and loved, Yeon Seok wants to ignore this version of Ha Yeon, but Ha Yeon comes knocking on his door as his newly assigned editor.
Why it’s worth the watch:
This story feels like an epic love story but in a bite-sized package that’s not a long-time commitment to watch. But, despite being about this epic love, the show doesn’t take itself too seriously. The unserious, funny moments in between the drama and romance elements make it lots of fun.
Start watching “First Love, Again” now:
Have you tried BL bingo yet? What shows are you interested in watching from this list? Let us know in the comments below!
Asya’s a BL-biased Soompi writer with a love of K-pop and all types of Asian dramas. Some of her favorite shows are “Psychopath Diary,” “Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!,” “Light On Me,” “The Untamed,” “Go Go Squid!,” and “Cherry Magic!”
Currently watching: “Undercover High School,” “The Art of Negotiation,” “Heart Stain,” “Gel Boys,” “Secret Relationships,” and “FC Soldout”
Looking forward to: “I’m the Most Beautiful Count,” “Love Carved in the Moonlight,” “Me and Thee,” and “The Love Matter”
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