Life after We Are All Trying Here: From My Mister to Summer Strike, 5 K-dramas that won't let you give up on yourself

There is a specific, hollow ache that comes with finishing a K-drama that truly saw you. Not just the one that entertained you, but the one that sat in the corners of your anxiety with you.

Now that We Are All Trying Here has aired its final episode today (May 24), fans are left with that familiar void. If you are wandering through streaming services looking for something that makes you feel less alone in your struggle, you have come to the right place. We have curated a list of five dramas that carry the same bruised but beating heart. These shows won't just distract you; they will sit beside you and remind you to be easy on yourself.


Hwang Dong Man (played by Koo Kyo Hwan) is a guy who talks too much because he's terrified he doesn't matter. Byun Eun Ah (played by Go Youn Jung) is a sharp producer who looks like she has her life together but actually gets nosebleeds from stress. She internalises. He externalises. Together, they're a beautiful disaster of two people both trying their best. The drama is awkward, raw, and weirdly comforting.

Add powerhouse actors like Oh Jung Se, Park Hae Joon, and Bae Jong Ok into the mix, and you basically get a drama where everyone is depressed, talented, sleep-deprived, and somehow still painfully relatable. It’s messy adulthood, existential crises, and quiet healing wrapped into one beautifully chaotic K-drama.

If We Are All Trying Here taught you that you aren't alone in your anxiety, My Mister is the hug you need after admitting it. Often cited as a masterpiece, this 2018 drama is the spiritual predecessor to the healing genre.


Why it fits the bill: The story follows Park Dong Hoon (Lee Sun Kyun), a middle-aged engineer in a crumbling marriage, and Lee Ji An (IU), a young contract worker suffocating under poverty and debt . She is tasked with ruining him, but instead, they find an unlikely refuge in each other. It is a show about two people carrying impossibly heavy loads realizing they can lean on one another without romance getting in the way . It is heavy, yes, but it is profoundly liberating.

• Cast: Lee Sun Kyun, IU (Lee Ji Eun)
• Vibe: Melancholy, realistic, and deeply cathartic.
• Watch on: Netflix .

Bonus: It's written by Park Hae Young, the mastermind behind We're All Trying Here.

Also written by Park Hae Young, My Liberation Notes is arguably the closest sibling to We Are All Trying Here. If you loved the introspective monologues about feeling stuck, this is essential viewing.

Why it fits the bill: Set in the countryside, three miserable siblings (Gi-jeong, Chang-hee, and Mi-jeong) are trapped in a soul-crushing commute to Seoul. Enter the mysterious, alcoholic Mr. Gu (Son Seok Koo), a man hiding from his own violent past. The show asks: What if we stopped trying to be happy and just allowed ourselves to be free?

• Cast: Kim Ji Won, Son Seok Koo, Lee Min Ki
• Vibe: Slow-burn, poetic, and quietly revolutionary.
• Watch on: Netflix .

You might not expect a superhero show to make this list, but Moving is a Trojan horse. It hides the most tender portrayal of parental love and generational trauma inside a high-budget Disney+ action thriller .

Why it fits the bill: The story follows teenagers with inherited superpowers (flight, regeneration, super-strength) who are being hunted by a dangerous agency . However, the heart of the show is the flashbacks, watching their parents, retired black-ops agents, fight tooth and nail to protect their children. It is a story about hiding who you are to protect the ones you love, and the immense effort it takes to "try" for someone else.

• Cast: Ryu Seung Ryong, Han Hyo Joo, Zo In Sung, Lee Jung Ha
• Vibe: Epic, emotional, and surprisingly warm.
• Watch on: Disney+ .

Call It Love understands that hurt people don't need fixing—they need someone to see them.

Why it fits the bill: Shim Woo Joo (Lee Sung Kyung) is Byun Eun Ah if Eun Ah had chosen rage instead of suppression. Both women are drowning internally while wearing a brave face. And Han Dong Jin (Kim Young Kwang) is Hwang Dong Man's quiet twin, a man so used to being hated that he forgot he deserves love too.


The drama asks the same question: What happens when two exhausted people stop performing strength and just admit they're struggling? The answer is slow, sad, and stunning.

If We Are All Trying Here is about the noise of anxiety, Summer Strike is about the silence of peace. This 2022 drama is for those who fantasise about throwing their phone into a river and moving to a tiny coastal town .

Why it fits the bill: After a traumatic loss, Yeo Reum (Kim Seol Hyun) quits her toxic job, leaves Seoul, and moves to a random village where she decides to do "nothing." She strikes from life. There, she meets a quiet, withdrawn librarian (Im Si Wan) who hides his own deep scars . Together, they don't solve the world's problems; they just learn to breathe, run, and exist without pressure.

• Cast: Kim Seol Hyun, Im Si Wan
• Vibe: Gentle, healing, and atmospheric.
• Watch on: Viki, Amazon Prime Video.

See, healing is not a straight line. We Are All Trying Here understood that sometimes "trying" looks like jealousy, or failure, or just getting out of bed. Whether you choose the realism of My Mister or the escape of Summer Strike, these dramas are here to remind you of one thing: You don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love.