Five Kinds of Short-Drama Villain Who Are Clearly the Better Kisser

Let us admit what the genre already knows. The hero is the one you are supposed to choose. The villain is the one you are tempted to. I have watched enough short dramas to notice that the person plotting against the lovers often seems to have spent more time on the details: the slower approach, the lower voice, the smile that arrives half a second late. I will not name names. I will name types, and I will be shameless about it.

First, the Gentleman Who Apologizes in Advance. He says sorry before he does anything, and somehow it makes the whole thing worse and better at once. Second, the Rival Who Never Blinks. Third, the Ex With Excellent Manners, who holds a door as though it were a negotiation. Fourth, the Heir Who Smiles Like a Closed Door. Fifth, the Fixer Who Knows Your Order. Each one kisses, I am convinced, like someone who has rehearsed patience.

First, the Gentleman Who Apologizes in Advance.

Why does the villain win this particular contest? Because he has stakes the hero lacks. The hero is allowed to be sincere. The villain has to be convincing, and being convincing is a craft with its own choreography. A hand at the jaw that is a fraction too gentle. A pause where the music dips. I am not endorsing his schemes, understand. I am simply noting who understood the assignment of the scene.

For this evening, dress in dark green or oxblood, something with a collar you can turn up for effect. Pour a red with a little menace in it, a Syrah perhaps, and let it breathe longer than you are comfortable with. A title like Her Revenge Target Was His Dad on TheFriend promises exactly the kind of tangle where a rival's charm becomes a problem, and I intend to taste that trouble responsibly.

My rating for the entire category is five held breaths, with one condition: the camera must cut away at the correct moment. Nothing explicit, ever. A villain's best kiss is the one you imagine in the half second after the screen goes dark. If you disagree, good. Bring your own candidate to TheFriend, where the argument can continue with better lighting and worse intentions.