Jung Hae-in and Shin Se Kyung to star in unconventional romance 'Love Virus'

Actors Jung Hae-in and Shin Se Kyung will collaborate for the first time in a single project. The two will meet in a romance drama with a unique premise: a couple who has maintained their first love for nine years meets to explore other people before marriage to confirm if any lingering feelings remain for one another.

TVING announced on the 1st that the new drama 'Love Virus,' starring Jung Hae-in and Shin Se Kyung, will be released in 2027. The work begins with the question of whether maintaining a long-term relationship might actually be more difficult than starting a new romance. It depicts the story of a long-term dating couple facing marriage who, in order to leave no lingering regrets or remorse for each other, spend a certain period meeting new people separately.

In the drama, Jung Hae-in plays the role of Ha Do-woon, a capable lawyer. Ha Do-woon is a character who has maintained his first love with Park Chae-rin for nine years; given his stable career and long-term relationship, his life appears to be already complete. However, just before entering the institutional stage of marriage, he finds himself in a situation where he must confirm whether his emotions are truly based on certainty.

Shin Se Kyung portrays dentist Park Chae-rin. As Ha Do-woon's girlfriend and first love, Park Chae-rin has also maintained a relationship with one person for a long time, but by agreeing to the choice of experiencing a new partner before marriage, she encounters unexpected emotional shifts.

The most interesting aspect of 'Love Virus' lies in how it flips the common starting point of romance stories. While typical melodramas focus on the moment of falling in love and the process of forming a relationship, this work asks whether two people who have already loved sufficiently can continue to choose that love. It uses the emotions following familiarity rather than the excitement of a first meeting, the boundary between love and habit, and the psychological gap between marriage and dating as its primary narrative drivers.

In particular, the setting of a '9-year couple' puts the temporality of the relationship at the forefront. A period of nine years is a time that accumulates memories and trust for the two, but it is also a period that makes them excessively accustomed to each other's lives. A paradox can arise where, at the very moment they think they know the other person best, they become uncertain about what they themselves truly want.

Because of this, the new encounters in the work hold a different meaning than a simple device for a love triangle. There is a high possibility that it will expand into a question of whether the feeling of being attracted to a new person signifies the failure of the existing relationship, or if it is a natural human desire that can occur even in a long-term relationship.

The changing perception of modern people regarding dating and marriage is also expected to serve as a major background for the work. In past romance dramas, a long-term relationship signified a kind of narrative completion leading to marriage, but recently, the perception is spreading that a long courtship does not inherently guarantee the necessity of marriage. 'Love Virus' looks into whether the fact that 'they loved for a long time' is truly the same as the belief that 'they can continue to love in the future.'

The meeting of Jung Hae-in and Shin Se Kyung is also drawing significant interest. While both have shown stable acting skills in the melodrama and romance genres, this is their first time working together in the same project. Jung has showcased delicate emotional expressions in works such as 'Something in the Rain,' 'Spring Night,' and 'Doctor Slump,' while Shin has built her own domain by handling various styles of melodrama in 'The Bride of Habaek,' 'Run On,' and 'The Matchmakers.'

The texture of the relationship the two actors will show in this work differs from existing romances. This is because they are not a man and a woman falling in love for the first time, but lovers who already know each other's habits, wounds, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, rather than an explosion of emotion, how they express the psychological cracks that occur in long-term relationships—such as subtle facial expressions, silences, and differences in the temperature of conversation—is expected to determine the quality of the work.

The screenplay is written by writer Choi Soo-young, who penned 'Work Later, Drink Now' and 'My ID is Gangnam Beauty.' Director Kim Seok-yoon, who directed 'My Liberation Notes,' 'It's Beautiful Now,' and 'More Beautiful Than Heaven,' will participate in directing. A key point of interest will be how Director Kim's directing style, which has captured emotional cracks and the ironies of life within the everyday landscapes of human relationships, combines with the subject matter of this work.

Production will be handled by CJ ENM Studios and Studio Phoenix.

Ultimately, the question 'Love Virus' poses is simple. If one must meet someone else to confirm whether the person they have loved for nine years is truly the one to spend a lifetime with, will the emotions discovered in that process be evidence of love, or the end of it?

Whether the "last romance" chosen by Ha Do-woon and Park Chae-rin, played by Jung Hae-in and Shin Se Kyung, leads to a new beginning or a final goodbye will be the core highlight of 'Love Virus,' set to be released in 2027.