Lee Jong-suk Dramas: Romance, Reporters and Worlds That Break

Choose your next Lee Jong-suk drama with a clear guide to W, Pinocchio, While You Were Sleeping, Big Mouth and Romance Is a Bonus Book, including his roles.

Lee Jong-suk — photograph (2024-07-25). Photo: K-POPIT 케이팝잇 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Original source. Scaled for display with no additional crop.

Start here: While You Were Sleeping. It gives Lee Jong-suk a useful balance of ordinary awkwardness, romance and urgent decisions as prosecutor Jung Jae-chan. Prefer your evening without a supernatural rulebook? Begin with Romance Is a Bonus Book. Want the boldest premise? Open W.

Pick the kind of uncertainty you enjoy

A good Lee Jong-suk watchlist needs more than a row of romantic leads. These characters work with stories: a reporter investigates them, an editor helps publish them, a prosecutor tests them, and a webtoon hero lives inside one. Big Mouth makes a dangerous reputation into a survival problem. Choose the question that interests you first.

Series	Lee's character	Your reason to choose it
While You Were Sleeping	Jung Jae-chan, prosecutor	Romance with future-facing cases
Romance Is a Bonus Book	Cha Eun-ho, writer and publishing editor	Friends, books and a working-life reset
Pinocchio	Choi Dal-po, also known as Ki Ha-myung	Reporting, reputation and family history
W	Kang Chul, a wealthy webtoon protagonist	Romance across fiction and reality
Big Mouth	Park Chang-ho, a struggling lawyer	Prison danger and contested identity

While You Were Sleeping: a balanced first stop

Jae-chan tries to stop tragedies foreseen in Nam Hong-joo's dreams. SBS identifies Lee's prosecutor role opposite Suzy and describes the character's mixture of comic behavior and difficult memories. Knowing a possible future does not automatically supply the evidence needed to prevent it.

Choose this if you like an emotional connection alongside case-driven momentum. Lee can be uncertain or ridiculous without losing the seriousness of Jae-chan's job. It is a friendly gateway for viewers who enjoy fantasy inside a recognizable city and workplace. Go elsewhere if you want a strictly realistic legal procedural.

Romance Is a Bonus Book: let everyday life carry the stakes

Cha Eun-ho is a writer and editor whose long friendship with Kang Dan-i shifts as she rebuilds her working life. Netflix's title description supplies the publishing setup, while tvN's program introduction emphasizes the many people involved in making books.

This is the low-fantasy, low-action option here: there are no dream warnings or crossings into illustrated worlds. Pick it for familiar relationships changing in shared rooms and offices. Dan-i's career restart matters in its own right, so approach it as an ensemble workplace romance rather than waiting only for Eun-ho's romantic moments.

Pinocchio: ask who gets to tell a story

Lee plays Choi Dal-po, whose original name is Ki Ha-myung, opposite Park Shin-hye's Choi In-ha. SBS's premise guide introduces the contrast between his assumed name and her inability to lie without hiccupping. Their route toward journalism connects romance with the consequences of public narratives.

Choose it if the publishing setting sounded appealing but you want sharper questions about truth and responsibility. It starts with substantial family history before its professional world fully opens up. Avoid reading an ending recap first: learning why the past matters is part of following Dal-po's decisions.

W: watch a leading man question his own world

Kang Chul exists inside a webtoon; Oh Yeon-joo comes from the world outside it. MBC's official synopsis and character guide establish that divide and Kang Chul's position as a wealthy broadcasting owner. Their encounter makes the boundary unstable.

This is the pick for viewers excited by changing story rules. Watch the early episodes attentively rather than as background television: the romance depends on what each person can understand about the other's reality. Choose it for conceptual suspense, not a promise that life will settle into a simple office routine.

Big Mouth: take the darkest branch

Park Chang-ho is a lawyer caught up in a murder case and imprisoned under the accusation that he is a notorious con artist. MBC's early-series introduction confirms the mistaken-identity crisis. Pick this for intimidation and survival under pressure; it is the least comforting choice in this group.

Two quick questions and the next guide

Must these dramas be watched in order? No. All five are separate series. Start with the tone you want, then move from familiar workplaces toward fantasy or prison suspense.

What should I watch after W or While You Were Sleeping? Follow the other half of their central pairings: our Han Hyo-joo guide explores Yeon-joo's actor, while our Suzy watchlist offers the clearest next step after Hong-joo.

Explore more actors and viewing moods in our K-drama Watchlist Finder.

Role and premise sources checked on 28 October 2026. Streaming access can vary by country.