Our Sticky Love (2026) Review: Cast, Plot & My Honest Verdict

It’s been a hot minute since I sat down to share my thoughts about a K-drama.

Even with a full-time job and a demanding study program on the side, I somehow managed to pop out a review or two every month. But ever since I graduated, life became unexpectedly busier, and all those little things that used to make me feel like myself slowly disappeared from my day-to-day life.

Despite all the swirls of life, I did continue watching K-dramas; sometimes to take my mind off the stress and anxiety of everyday life, and other times simply out of habit. Or, more honestly, to avoid doom-scrolling the short-form content that has absolutely wrecked my attention span.

Among the long list of K-dramas that I am yet to talk about on this blog, today’s pick is my latest watch: “Our Sticky Love” (2026).

And considering the title, I really wish the story had stuck with me a little more.

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Our Sticky Love (2026): What Is It About?

“Our Sticky Love” is a romantic drama with elements of crime, action, amnesia, found family and the classic small-town-versus-big-city setup.

The story follows Go Eun-sae, a celebrated criminal attorney who gets caught while investigating the connection between a mafia boss, Baek Sang-gil, and a mayor.

Sang-gil’s men torture Eun-sae to the brink of death, and Sang-gil calls upon Jang Tae-ha, his most trustworthy guy, to clean up the mess.

Except Tae-ha can’t bring himself to finish the job.

Instead, after seeing Eun-sae’s bloodied and unconscious body, he stages her death and secretly rescues her.

Eun-sae wakes up in a hospital with all her fingertips burnt and, more importantly, no memory of who she is.

And then Tae-ha shows up, claiming to be her boyfriend.

Things get even more complicated from there.

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The Cast

1. Ha Young as Go Eun-sae

This is my second time seeing Ha Young after “Boyfriend on Demand” (2026), where she played the close friend of the female lead — a savage one at that!

Here, Ha Young plays Go Eun-sae, a successful criminal attorney who finds herself completely out of her element after losing her memory.

Her recent work includes “Teach You a Lesson” (2026), “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call” (2025) and others. This is also one of the first times I’ve seen her take on a female-lead role, and I was quite curious to see what she would do with it.

Eun-sae is an interesting character on paper: ruthless and confident in her professional life, materialistic and obsessed with flashy cars and luxury items, but also carrying unresolved childhood trauma.

Unfortunately, I didn’t always feel that the drama knew what to do with all of those layers.

2. Jung Hae-in as Jang Tae-ha

I must attribute Jung Hae-in for watching this show.

Honestly, he was one of the biggest reasons I clicked on it in the first place.

Since last year, I have managed to watch 7 K-dramas featuring Jung Hae-in: 5 where he played the male lead and 2 where he had short but memorable side roles.

And he has shown quite a good acting range.

From the handsome lover boy in “Something in the Rain” (2018), to the rookie soldier throwing punches in “D.P.” (2021–2023), to the grounded single father in “One Spring Night” (2019)…

Once again, he has picked a completely different role; this time, an ex-boxer turned mafia guy.

Tae-ha is probably the character I found easiest to root for. He has spent years working for a violent mafia boss, but his kind nature has never completely disappeared underneath all of it.

And, of course, Jung Hae-in brings his usual grounded charm to the character.

Although, as I eventually realized, even Jung Hae-in’s charm has its limits.

3. Heo Seong-tae as Baek Sang-gil

I must say, I struggled so hard to accept Heo Seong-tae in a negative role here.

I had just seen him in “Good Boy” (2025) as the sweet, kinda loser police officer who is trying to fight the bad guys.

And here?

He’s a mafia boss with a cruel and mysterious personality.

The contrast was honestly jarring!

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The Plot of Our Sticky Love

The story begins with Go Eun-sae, a celebrated criminal attorney, investigating a connection between mafia boss Baek Sang-gil and a mayor.

Eun-sae gets caught by Sang-gil, and his men torture her to the brink of death. Sang-gil then calls Tae-ha, his most trustworthy guy, to clean up the mess.

But Tae-ha is taken aback after seeing Eun-sae’s bloodied, unconscious body.

Instead of killing her, he rescues her after staging her death.

Eun-sae suffers from memory loss and wakes up in a hospital with her fingertips burnt and no memory of her own identity.

While Eun-sae struggles to regain her memory, Tae-ha shows up at the hospital claiming to be her boyfriend.

And this is where the drama takes us from the dark world of crime into a completely different setting.

From Mafia Life to a Taffy Village

Go Eun-sae, the criminal attorney who was ruthless at work and a sucker for flashy cars and luxury items, is suddenly brought to a remote village; Tae-ha’s childhood home.

The village has a tightly knit community that makes a living from making candies and taffy.

After serving Sang-gil for many years, Tae-ha is finally ready to retire from his mafia life and earn a living by teaching boxing alongside his former coach.

Tae-ha was once a promising young boxer who grew up without parents. He was brought up by a kind grandmother, but when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the hospital bills pushed him to abandon his boxing career and join Baek Sang-gil’s gang.

He did everything he could to get money for her medical expenses, while keeping his naturally kind personality tucked away.

Now, Tae-ha is finally ready to leave the gang behind and live a normal life.

Except Eun-sae’s situation changes everything.

Tae-ha’s First Love

Eun-sae isn’t a complete stranger to Tae-ha.

She is the girl he had met briefly during his high school days, when he was just getting started with boxing.

Years later, they meet again in Japan.

Without recognizing him, Eun-sae saves him from some rival gang members.

They spend the night walking through streets covered with cherry blossoms and watching the sunrise on a beach.

In the morning, they part ways.

Their encounters are brief, but Eun-sae becomes Tae-ha’s first love, and he deeply wishes to meet her again.

And the next time he sees her, she’s lying unconscious and at the brink of death.

Talk about a reunion.

Eun-sae Starts Over

Tae-ha decides to keep Eun-sae in his home as his girlfriend and eventually send her away to Japan without his boss’s knowledge.

The villagers go along with the plan as well.

Eun-sae, meanwhile, feels like a complete fish out of water in the humble village and shabby clothes.

Tae-ha takes her to a clinic to help her regain her memory, and slowly, her memories begin resurfacing in bits and pieces.

Sometimes it’s childhood trauma.

Sometimes it’s memories of the Constitution and law.

And sometimes, it’s pieces of the life she had completely forgotten.

Eun-sae’s boyfriend from her attorney life is technically a mole in the attorney’s office. He eventually discovers that Eun-sae is still alive and shares the news with Sang-gil.

Sang-gil becomes worried about some evidence Eun-sae may have collected against him, completely unaware that she has lost her memory.

From Entitled City Girl to Village Girl

During Eun-sae’s stay in the taffy village, she has a rocky ride with the villagers.

At first, she’s an entitled big-city girl who doesn’t really know how to fit into this strange little community.

But eventually, through small acts of service and shared experiences, she becomes close to the villagers.

She also initially suspects Tae-ha of being a fraudster.

And then, predictably…

She falls for him.

Mostly because of his constant acts of kindness towards her.

The Final Showdown

Eventually, Sang-gil arrives in the taffy village, confronts Tae-ha, and starts hurting people close to him for revenge.

Eun-sae regains her memory and manages to extract the evidence she had collected against Sang-gil before losing her memory.

Sang-gil is arrested, but he flees prison after a short time.

And, naturally, he comes back to the taffy village once again.

After discovering his true relationship with Tae-ha, Sang-gil feels defeated and eventually kills himself.

With peace finally returning to the village, Eun-sae goes back to her city apartment to deal with her office work.

She also restarts her relationship with Tae-ha; for real this time.

The story ends with Tae-ha and Eun-sae getting married in the presence of the whole village.

The materialistic Eun-sae has, by then, been brought back to her roots and to the warmth of a family she had never experienced as an orphan.

My Fangirl Commentary

1. The First Half Was a Struggle

When I saw the trailer, I was honestly quite excited to watch the show.

The premise seemed interesting, and there were a lot of familiar faces to look out for.

But for the first half of the show, I really struggled.

Eun-sae’s clumsy act, the villagers’ over-the-top shenanigans; everything felt like forced comedy.

I don’t mind comedy in my K-dramas. In fact, I quite enjoy it when it works.

But here, the tonal shifts didn’t always work for me.

Eun-sae’s story also had an odd placement or maybe it was the pacing which made it difficult for me to properly root for her.

Somehow, the second half was a little bit better, particularly when the characters started acting more seriously.

Eun-sae became much more enjoyable as she regained her memory and slowly became the savior for everyone!

Tae-ha, meanwhile, couldn’t be saved only through Hae-in’s charm and grounded acting.

2. K-drama Stereotypes Galore

The show is packed with K-drama stereotypes.

• The high-school first love.
• Sharing an umbrella in the rain.
• The montage of the hero and heroine running around on the beach.
• The loud but loving neighbors.
• The remote village where everyone knows everyone’s business.
• The tough guy with a heart of gold.
• The childhood trauma.
• The found family.

You name it.

“Our Sticky Love” has it.

And honestly, I’m not necessarily complaining. These are familiar tropes for a reason.

But the drama didn’t always manage to make them feel fresh.

3. Eun-sae and Tae-ha Had Potential

Eun-sae and Tae-ha’s relationship did have a lot of potential.

I particularly liked the plotline where amnesiac Eun-sae was going crazy trying to sleep with her “boyfriend” of 2 years, while Tae-ha was too shy and too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her.

There was something genuinely cute about that dynamic.

Unfortunately, I felt that their romance could have been developed much better.

The first-love angle, the fake-boyfriend situation, the memory loss and their eventual real relationship: there was enough material here to create a really compelling romance.

But somehow, it never quite got there.

4. The Grandmother’s Alzheimer’s… Just Disappeared?

The grandmother had Alzheimer’s in the early episodes and identified herself as a young girl.

And then… Nothing.

In the second half, she was completely normal whenever the story needed her to be.

I kept waiting for the drama to explain this, but apparently, we were just supposed to move on.

Okay then.

5. Tae-ha Never Discovers His True Connection With Sang-gil

This was another thing that bothered me.

Tae-ha never discovers his true connection with Sang-gil.

And Sang-gil’s backstory itself felt like a patchwork.

There were pieces of an interesting story there, but they never really came together in a way that made the character feel fully fleshed out.

For a drama that relies so heavily on the connection between these characters, I expected a little more.

6. The Locations Were Gorgeous

I must say, the locations in some of the scenes took my breath away.

The village, the countryside, the cherry-blossom scenes, the beach…

There were quite a few moments where I found myself appreciating the visual beauty of the drama more than what was actually happening in the plot.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes, a K-drama just needs to give you a pretty landscape and let you breathe for a moment.

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Final Verdict: Is Our Sticky Love Worth Watching?

I am usually pretty generous when rating a show if I have genuinely enjoyed watching it.

I don’t try too hard to find plot holes, logical inconsistencies or controversies involving the actors.

For me, watching a K-drama is mostly about whether I enjoyed spending those hours with the characters.

“Our Sticky Love” (2026) has an ensemble of really talented cast members, a picturesque backdrop and a decently interesting plotline.

On paper, there was quite a lot to like.

Jung Hae-in as an ex-boxer-turned-mafia-guy?

A successful criminal attorney losing her memory?

A fake relationship?

First love?

A remote candy-making village?

Crime and action mixed with romance and comedy?

Sign me up!

Yet somehow, the execution felt weak for whatever reason.

The first half was particularly difficult to get through, while the second half did manage to pull things together somewhat. There were moments I enjoyed, characters I liked and some genuinely beautiful scenes.

But when I look back at the show as a whole, I don’t think it left much of an impression.

The romance didn’t stick. The crime plot didn’t stick. The emotional moments didn’t quite stick either.

And so, I move on to the next K-drama.

Rating: 7/10

Not terrible. Not unforgettable. Just… a story that didn’t stick at all.

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