FL is close to other guy, but ends up with ML and...

he doesn't feel like a consolation prize. I was reading this story and the ML felt like a consolation prize in the end because of FL's relationship with the other guy and how deeply he affected her even though she supposedly was so in love with ML. She never says she loved the other guy and only loved the ML despite her actions showing something different. So going on that, she's just close to the other guy who loves her, but she loves the ML only. I kept feeling really bad for ML as I read because he kept having these moments of inferiority saying how he couldn't be there for the FL like the other guy could. She also never seemed to think about how this was affecting the ML. She only cared about what was happening with the other guy. So are there any where in the end, she realizes that the ML has more of a profound effect on her than the other guy and it actually shows her care more about the man she loves instead of someone else?

Definitely agree with I Hear Your Voice.

Some other dramas where the FL is close to a male character who cares about her, but she cares more about the ML and the ML isn't a consolation prize:

• Sassy Go Go - the FL's best friend is male and the ML's best friend is the SL. Although the FL is very close with her best friend, their relationship never becomes romantic. She is also a good friend to the SL who develops feelings for her, but she only has feelings for the ML and he is not a consolation prize. 
• Jealousy Incarnate - (forgive my long explanation of why I think this might fit what you're looking for) the FL has a crush on the ML for three years. He is aware of it and allows it to inflate his ego, but doesn't accept her feelings or properly reject her so she can move on. She finally decides to move on from her feelings, only to end up being the person who helps him find out that he has breast cancer. She ends up helping him hide his illness (which he is embarrassed by because it's a female-coded illness and he has a fragile male ego, and which also threatens his job). Meanwhile the FL meets the ML's only friend on a couple occasions, and for complicated (and silly) reasons the ML introduces them as potential romantic partners. The FL dates the SL, who is basically a better guy than the ML in almost every way. The ML realizes his feelings for the FL and she finds out about it. She's torn, and they come up with an only-in-drama-world solution: she should date both of them to help her decide which guy she likes more. The SL keeps winning (she keeps track of who did more things she like each day), but she can't shake her feelings for the ML. In the end she realizes she loves the ML and chooses him. The drama shows that she cares about him more and that he is not a consolation prize. 
• General and I (heads up: I'm currently watching this so I don't know how it ends) the FL grew up serving a prince and his household as a maidservant and military strategist. He planned to marry her before circumstances led to the destruction of his household. The ML is a prince and military commander from a rival state who has a childhood connection to the FL. The FL owes a debt to the prince and his family for raising her, so she helps him on a number of occasions, but the drama shows that she quickly comes to care more for the ML and when she picks him he is not a consolation prize. 

You're welcome. You could also try: 

• Healer - the FL starts the drama with a bit of a crush on a famous reporter. He becomes her mentor, and she doesn't remember in the beginning, but he looked after her and the ML when they were kids. The FL also had a bit of a crush on the ML's professional / secret identity (he's a man-for-hire) in the beginning. Later on she has a friendly relationship with her mentor that is completely platonic, but makes for some short, cute jealous moments from the ML. She falls for + is completely focused on the ML, and he is definitely not a consolation prize. 
• Hi! School - Love On - the FL is an Angel who becomes human after saving the ML's life. She becomes friends with the ML and SL, and they both develop feelings for her. She eventually comes to return the ML's feelings while still being close to the SL. At one point, in order to protect the FL the ML has to let the FL live with the SL. Later on, an incident occurs and the FL loses her memories. When she meets her old friends again, she feels strange when she sees the ML (presumably because of her emotions + strong memories of him locked away in her subconscious?) / when he looks at her (with love + sadness), so she avoids him. Instead she gravitates towards the SL, who she always got along with even though she didn't have romantic feelings for him, and develops a small crush on him. The SL does the right thing and rejects her (he knows she belongs with the ML), and in the end when her memories return she ends up with the ML and he's not a consolation prize.