Romance is full of cold Mls that appear to be strong. But we all know by now: Showing emotions is the real strength. So if you are in the mood for something different, you should check out these five recommendations with blushing male leads.

Blushing Male Leads: Which one should you pick

• If you are in the mood for an office romance and don’t mind a LOT of Drama and pushiness along the way, read Iseop’s Romance.
• If you want to read a very underrated historical romance, read Crown Princess Scandal.
• If you are in the mood for something with a little spice and an ML that does everything for the FL read Baroness goes on Strike.
• If you don’t mind misunderstandings and love the hidden identity trope, read Father I don’t Want This Marriage.
• If you are in the mood for a romance that feels mature and realistic and where the FL is the assertive one, read My Bias Gets on the Last Train.

Iseop’s Romance

Summary: Mingyeong Kang, with her sharp business skills, quickly rose to become a senior manager at Korea’s top conglomerate, TK Group. After 10 years, she faces a new challenge as the secretary to Iseop Tae, the company’s heir. Their history goes back to their early days at the company, where Mingyeong outshone Iseop and bruised his pride, yet he can’t help but be drawn to her.

Before you start reading, a warning: their physical dynamic isn’t handled well. Iseop often comes across as pushy, which doesn’t reflect well on him and the rest of the story.

Check it out if you:

• Like reading a Romance Manhwa from the perspective of a ML (though the author switches to the FL’s perspective sometimes)
• Enjoy a secretary–boss relationship
• Love reading about a CEO who is far from perfect – he is childish, pushy, and indecisive

Crown Princess Scandal

Summary: Hwa-yeong somehow ends up in the crown princess selection at the imperial palace – and she really doesn’t want to be there. So she fails every task on purpose, hoping to get kicked out. But her plan backfires: suddenly, everyone at court loves her. And Crown Prince Shin-yeong is especially keen on keeping her close, which doesn’t exactly help. If you love the enemies-to-lovers trope with a lot of bickering, you should read Crown Princess Scandal.

Check it out if you:

• Like it when the ML falls first
• Love it when the FL is funny and headstrong
• Don’t mind when the FL is oblivious to the ML’s feelings (though to be fair, he keeps calling her “goblin”)

Baroness goes on Strike

Summary: Baroness Cassia is at the end of her life and the one thing keeping her going is the thought of finally escaping her miserable marriage to her mercenary husband Zester. She regrets pouring all her energy into supporting his domain instead of living for herself. And then she somehow wakes up ten years in the past. This time, she’s determined to live a life without stress. The only question is: can she actually make it work with Zester, or is she just going to repeat the same mistakes?

Check it out if you:

• Don’t mind a super annoying, possessive guy (I won’t even call him the second ML) who tries to break the main couple apart
• Love a golden retriever ML
• Like it when both protagonists put real effort into the relationship and grow close pretty quickly

Father I don’t Want this Marriage

Summary: If you like misunderstandings, this story is for you. Juvelian is supposed to be a villainess, although it’s never really shown what she did wrong. She is scared of her father and feels neglected. In the first chapter, she dies a tragic death – no one helps her, not even her lover or her father. After going back in time, she breaks up with her lover and tries to win her father’s love. The thing is: her father is actually pretty protective, they’re just all terrible at communicating. To keep herself from being married off, she makes a dating contract with her father’s student.

Check it out if you:

• Like it when the male lead falls in love first and is pretty shy and possessive
• Don’t mind a misunderstanding-inception and the lack of proper communication
• Love the hidden identity trope

My Bias gets on the Last Train

Summary: Every night, our protagonist Yeo-un gets on the last train and every night he sees a girl with a guitar that catches his eye. One night they start talking about music – turns out, that Yeo-un’s favorite indie band is none other than her, Hae-in. She doesn’t reveal her secret, though.

Check it out if you:

• Want to read a regular slice-of-life romance story – no office romance, CEO drama, or overused tropes
• Love reading a romance webtoon from a male POV
• Like good tension between the main characters from the very beginning