As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am not a huge fan of the triangle plot. I detested Ross and Rachel and their petty jealousies by the time Friends wound up.
However, dealing with jealousy is part of romance and I suppose rivals have to make an appearance.
They fall into several categories:
1. Awful people but not really rivals.
Miss Bingley falls into this category. Whatever she, her sister, or Charles may have hoped, Darcy has zero interest in her and doesn't even seem to realize that he is supposed to.
However, Austen plays fair. Miss Bingley isn't entirely unlikable. She isn't evil. Mostly jealous herself, she ends up sabotaging her own efforts. At the end of the novel, Austen tells us that Miss Bingley will make nice with Elizabeth: better to be a family friend of the Darcys than not!
A fellow student in Cherry Blossoms After Winter falls into this category. She decides to pursue Taesung to the point of arranging to have lunch with him and the somewhat naive Haebom. She then attempts to shoo Haebom away. She doesn't see him as a rival; she sees him as an annoying irritant.
The scene is skillfully done. When Taesung says, "I'm dating someone," both he and Haebom obviously consider the matter closed.
The female student shrugs. So what? She's willing to date him anyway.
At which point, Taesung gets less tactful and shoos her away.
4. The non-friendly serious rival.
Here is where I begin to get creeped out. The non-friendly serious rival is actually trying to break the couple up, and the sheer arrogance of "I know what is best for you--it is me" sends me searching for something else to read/watch. I gather from the number of films and series out there with this type of rival that some people just love for a male or female protagonist to have endless choices but I find the constant competition tedious at best and nearly sociopathic at worst.
5. The friendly serious rival.
Ryu Jihye in Semantic Error falls into this category. She's a decent person, honestly interested in Sangwoo (not for his potentially great future or family or money). She helps him relate to people and remains his friend after he and Jaeyeong pair up.
Her rivalry is with Jaeyeong. And Jaeyeong knows it. He cleverly out-maneuvers her on several occasions, as indicated by his wink.
6. The hilarious rival.
The teenage female high school students in His Favorite fall into this category. They pursue Sato. Then he starts dating Yoshida and tells everyone. Instead of beating up Yoshida (which Yoshida expects), they tell him, "Stop being such a wuss. We're going to keep competing with you, you know."
Except often their competition backfires--as when they get Sato to study with them and he spends the whole time asking them dating advice, which annoys them to no end. Don't you understand that we are serious competitors here?
Rivals are going to arise in romance: here's to hoping writers handle them in a non-revolting manner!
