Okay, since half of you are apparently already counting down to “Our Sticky Love,” I figured now’s the time to talk about the guy at the center of it. If Jung Hae-in is new to you, you’re about to have a very good time. If he’s not new to you, you already know why I’m writing this.
Here’s the thing about him — he doesn’t really have “a type” of role. He goes from soft rom-com lead to actual traumatized soldier to morally gray politician’s protector, and somehow makes all of it feel like the same guy just wearing different coats. So instead of one recommendation, here’s a small starter pack depending on what mood you’re in.
If you want the melodrama that made everyone lose it: Something in the Rain
This is the one that put him on a lot of people’s radar internationally. He plays the younger brother of his co-star’s best friend, and the whole show is just… two adults slowly realizing their feelings are inconvenient and doing it anyway. Slow, quiet, a little devastating in the way real relationships actually are. If you want to understand why people call him “the king of eye contact acting,” start here.
If you want him to break your heart in a completely different way: D.P.
This one’s not a romance at all, it’s about military police tracking down deserters in the Korean army, and it is significantly heavier than anything else on this list. Jung Hae-in plays a soldier who starts the show fairly checked-out and ends it having seen way more of the system’s cruelty than he wanted to. This is the one where you go “oh, he can actually act-act.”
Oh, and one more thing — Koo Kyo-hwan is criminally charming in this too, playing the guy who ends up dragged along on these deserter-hunting missions with him. Half my notes while watching were just “wait, these two together” in some form or another.
If you want the pure comfort rom-com: Love Next Door
Childhood friends, one apartment building, a mother scheming to get them together whether they like it or not. This is the lightest thing on the list by far, and honestly sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Zero homework required, maximum charm delivered.
This one was genuinely massive in Korea while it aired, like everyone-was-talking-about-it massive, so I’m curious how much that made it across. Anyone outside Korea actually catch this one, or did it kind of fly under the radar?required, maximum charm delivered.
If you want prestige political drama with a side of romance: Snowdrop
This one’s controversial for reasons that have nothing to do with his performance, so I’ll just say: this is where you see him do restrained, dangerous, morally complicated in a way none of his other roles ask of him. Worth it for the tonal range alone.
Also — the female lead is Jisoo, yes, that Jisoo, from BLACKPINK, and honestly the plot could’ve been half as good and I still would’ve watched for the visuals alone. Jung Hae-in and Jisoo together on screen is genuinely unfair, like the casting director looked at both of them and just went “yeah, that’ll work.”
If you’re just here for found-family comfort: Prison Playbook
Honestly, out of this entire list, this is the one I recommend the hardest. An ensemble show technically set in a prison, which sounds like a weird comfort pick, but somehow becomes exactly that. Jung Hae-in isn’t the lead here — he’s genuinely one of many — but every single character gets written with this much care, this much specific personality, that you end up attached to basically the whole cast list by episode three. This was a massive hit in Korea for exactly that reason, and I don’t think “ensemble prison dramedy” does it justice as a description. It’s less about any one performance and more about how well all of them play off each other.
Anyway. If you had to pick one to start with before Our Sticky Love drops, which one are you going with? And if you’ve already seen all five… okay, we need to be friends, tell me your ranking.
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