Jung Hae-in, Hayoung Bring Sweet, Sticky Romance to Netflix's "Our Sticky Love"

Netflix's new series "Our Sticky Love" is aiming to match its bold title with an equally bold mix of tones. The show opens as a romantic comedy, then shifts through action, noir and thriller beats before circling back to romance.

A press conference for "Our Sticky Love" was held on August 5 at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo district, Seoul. Director Kim Jang-han and stars Jung Hae-in, Hayoung and Heo Sung-tae attended.

The romantic comedy centers on Go Eun-sae (played by Hayoung), a prosecutor with amnesia, and Jang Tae-ha (played by Jung Hae-in), a boxing coach who insists he is her boyfriend. The two end up living together. Kim summed up the setup by saying his female lead loses her memory and wakes up to find Jung Hae-in claiming to be her boyfriend, drawing laughs from the room. He added that a string of chaotic incidents unfold in Yeot Village, the fictional town where the story is set, and called it a warm show full of love.

Kim explained the unusual title, which uses the Korean word "yeot," a chewy traditional candy that also doubles as a slang term for a rough situation. He said the phrase has a hook to it, and that Tae-ha goes through his own "damn" phase while trying to deny his own feelings. He also said yeot is sticky, which fits how the couple's love holds together, and that the candy takes on different flavors and shapes depending on the ingredients, much like the show itself.

Jung Hae-in said the title struck him as bold the first time he heard it. Hayoung said she found it intense and wondered what kind of story a romantic comedy with that title could tell. Heo Sung-tae said his first reaction was to ask if someone was joking. He was told the show was a noir, and the more he read the script, the more he felt no other title could fit. He also said his conversations with the director and writer about life and human nature clicked easily.

Jung Hae-in plays Jang Tae-ha, once a promising teenage boxer who fell into organized crime and now works as a boxing gym coach after leaving that world behind. Tae-ha lives in the quiet small town of Yeot Village in Gujin. Jung said he was drawn to the story between Tae-ha and Eun-sae, and that he read the scripts eagerly, waiting for the next episode. He said the show starts as a romantic comedy, moves through thriller, noir and action, then returns to romance, giving it a wide range of appeal.

Jung said filming often felt like working on several projects at once. He joked with the director that scenes with Eun-sae played like romance and comedy, while scenes with Heo Sung-tae played like noir. It felt like shooting two or three different shows inside one, he said.

On his character, Jung called Tae-ha the purest romantic lead he has ever played. He said he found it cool how Tae-ha does everything he can to protect the person he loves, no matter the situation. Because Tae-ha has never dated before, Jung added, he gets awkward and clumsy around the woman he likes, which Jung found charming.

Hayoung plays Go Eun-sae, a prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office anti-corruption unit who loses her memory after a certain incident. Her original name, before the memory loss, is Go Ji-won. Ha said Ji-won was ambitious, both worldly and driven in her career, but got caught up in an incident during an investigation and lost her memory. Losing her memory, she said, is what actually brings the character back to her true self as Eun-sae. Ha described Ji-won as someone wearing the world's heavy clothing, and Eun-sae as the innocent version underneath. She said Eun-sae receives a lot of love and grows into a better person, calling the arc a coming-of-age story, and that Eun-sae learns from meeting Tae-ha, the man who insists he is her boyfriend.

Ha said this is her first romantic comedy. She said it felt like an honor but also a little scary, and that she worried she might not do it well. She added that meetings, script readings and preparation with the director, writer, Jung and other senior actors erased that worry, thanks to their full support.

Jung Hae-in and Hayoung are billing their pairing as sweet and sticky. Asked to describe their chemistry in one keyword, Jung answered "a damn love," drawing laughs. He said yeot gets stickier as it heats up, and that the two characters push through hardship together the same way. Ha described the couple as an anxious girlfriend and a steady boyfriend. Eun-sae, who has lost her memory, cannot help feeling anxious, she said, and Tae-ha stays by her side giving steady, unwavering love.

Asked about each other's appeal, Jung praised Ha for her bright, playful and positive energy. He said she laughs easily, matched the energy of every scene partner, reacted well opposite senior actors, and got along warmly with the crew. He said there were many moments he was grateful for. Ha said Jung is cool, with the emotion and eyes of an actor who fully commits to a scene. She said there were many difficult, challenging scenes, and she felt she could trust him and follow his lead without worry. She added that he gave her plenty of advice and created a space where she could act freely.

Heo Sung-tae plays Baek Sang-gil, the boss of the organization Tae-ha once belonged to. Baek has thoroughly scrubbed his identity and lives with all ties to the group hidden. Believing he has eliminated prosecutor Go Ji-won, who holds his weakness, he learns one day that she is alive and starts hunting her down. Heo said it had been a while since he returned as a truly dark villain.

Heo described Baek as vicious and obsessive. Baek tries to eliminate Ji-won, thinks he has succeeded, then hears she is alive, and the story storms forward from there, he said. He hinted that the character has a cool side beyond his story arc, then added that Baek is the worst, saying Jang Deok-su has nothing on him. Jang Deok-su is the villain from "Squid Game."

The show features a kiss scene from episode one. Kim said the series opens with a kiss right at the top. He said there are several kisses throughout the show, each carrying a different message, and that viewers who follow the emotional arc will understand why each kiss was inevitable. He added, drawing more laughs, that beyond the kiss scenes, the couple has sweet moments even when Baek is bleeding, and asked viewers to look forward to it.

On what sets the show apart, Kim said projects can sometimes drag, but this one keeps only the scenes it needs and moves at the fast pace today's viewers expect. Ha said it had been a while since she had seen a project that is both a romantic comedy and a serious love story. Jung said the show is packed with what the world needs, which he described as romance, and asked viewers to give the show love.

"Our Sticky Love" premieres on Netflix on August 7.