Perfect Crown (a k-drama on Disney) provides some great examples for writing tips. An illegitimate chaebol heir and a Grand Prince in a fictional 21st-century constitutional monarchy agree to a marriage contract. Thus, it has fake dating and forced proximity, two of my favorite tropes. As they fight to surmount political intrigue, feelings deepen. Beware, there are probably spoilers ahead.

The Main Characters and Their Arc

The Female Protagonist: the illegitimate chaebol heir Seong Hui-ju, played by IU, is capable and solves her own problems. She’s been dismissed all of her life because of being illegitimate, especially by her father. Yet she keeps proving that she excels (in school, at running her company etc.) She’s a bit of a loose cannon. She also has a temper, so she’s not perfect. She gains your sympathy as the underdog and for never giving up.

The Male Protagonist: The Grand Prince I-an, played by Byeon Woo-seok, is second in line to the throne, after his brother, the King, and, then later, the King’s son. He also excels. Instead of being allowed to excel, however, he’s had to suppress his desire to excel so that he doesn’t outshine his brother. His father is equally horrible, always cutting him done. His father even changes his name to make it clear that he is to be passive and to keep the peace.

Perfect Crown Writing Tips: Setting your two love interests with similar traumatic back stories (but opposite reactions) helps to frame your character’s arc so that they develop in a complementary fashion. In the beginning, I-an appears more passive, and she encourages him to fight. When she is disrespected because of her social status, Prince I-an stands up for her and changes the rules so that she can compete on equal terms.

The Second Lead and Perfect Crown Writing Tips for Showing He’s Not The One

What I also really liked was how, from the beginning, the writer of Perfect Crown showed how the Prime Minister, played by Noh Sang-hyun, was not the soulmate for Hui-ju. He is the RomCom Bellamy, or Wrong Guy/Girl.

In the first episode, she wears a red outfit–a color reserved to royals at the palace–to attend a celebration of the young king’s birthday at the Palace. She wears red anyway, to catch attention and to drum up sales for her corporate empire. The other attendees at the event ostracize her and talk dismissively about her (see above for how to score sympathy for your character as the underdog). The PM approaches her because they are close friends since school days. He definitely wins points for that, but he also chastises her for wearing red. That’s kind of understandable, especially from his position as the Prime Minister. But, in a clever parallel, Prince I-an wears a hunting robe to the birthday party, which is an outfit that is also considered inappropriate attire.

In the next episode, she wins a business award and an ostentatious hat, which she asks the young king to place on her head. It is a sweet exchange with the young king, Prince I-an, and herself. The hat, which has various strings dangling down from it, clearly delights Hui-ju. However, when she meets the Prime Minister for lunch, he, embarrassed, asks her to take it off. For me, this was a clearer sign, because it felt like he wanted her to dim her joy, like when someone tells you that you’re laughing or speaking too loud, or calling too much attention to yourself etc.

And of course, there’s the main point that the Prime Minister has had years to declare his interest. Why didn’t he? It’s probably because of his political career and his concern about her illegitimacy. In contrast, Prince I-an is willing to marry her. He has also liked her for years. (One of my favorite scenes was the flashback to school, where both boys admit they like her). But even in those flashbacks, you can see why Prince I-an is the perfect mate. She complains about the unfair system, where everybody else is allowed to practice their archery but her, and Prince I-an fixes it. The PM tries to protect her as well, but he doesn’t challenge the unfair system.

Perfect Crown Writing Tips: Subtly show how the second lead doesn’t understand the main female character, and in fact, wants to change her, while the main romantic lead likes her as she is. This also manages to showcase how the two leads are perfect for each other.

More Writing Tips for a Second Lead

If you’re looking for more tips on how to show that the Second Lead is not the right one for the main character, please also check out my previous post entitled The RomCom Bellamy in ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE – Kathy Rewrites. But as I’ve learned from k-dramas, it can create a lot of tension to make the second lead a worthy contender for the female protagonist, if you’re looking to foster Second Lead Syndrome.

Are you watching Perfect Crown? What do you think?