Park Eun-bin, Yang Se-jong, and Ong Seong-wu Spark Buzz in 'Sinister Love' Table Read

tvN has revealed the first behind-the-scenes look at Sinister Love (오싹한 연애), an upcoming weekend drama that brings together three of South Korea's most anticipated performers — Park Eun-bin, Yang Se-jong, and Ong Seong-wu — for what is shaping up to be one of summer 2026's most eagerly awaited K-dramas.

The production released footage and stills from the cast's first official table read on April 30, offering fans an early preview of the on-screen chemistry before the drama begins airing in July 2026. The material generated immediate buzz, with viewers praising the natural ease between the three leads and the distinct energy each brought to their respective roles from the very first session.

The Drama: Ghosts, a Hotel Heiress, and a Fearless Prosecutor

Sinister Love is an adaptation of the 2012 Korean romantic comedy film of the same name, which drew over four million cinema admissions in South Korea and became a beloved title across Asia upon release. The tvN drama expands the original story into a Saturday-Sunday primetime slot under the direction of Lee Min-soo and with a script by Choi Jung-mi.

The premise centers on Cheon Yeo-ri (played by Park Eun-bin), the heiress to South Korea's most prestigious luxury hotel who has spent her life isolated from the world because of a secret she cannot share: she can see ghosts. Her path crosses with Ma Kang-wook (Yang Se-jong), a fiercely principled and courageous prosecutor — but one who is terrified of the supernatural above all else. The two are drawn together by a series of strange and increasingly dangerous incidents connected to the deaths of people around them, forcing cooperation between a woman who sees the dead and a man who would rather pretend they do not exist.

The third lead, Kang Min-hwan (Ong Seong-wu), is the CEO of CL Raymond Hotel and a lifelong close friend to Yeo-ri. To the outside world, he is charming and dependable. To audiences willing to pay close attention, there is ambition and calculation running beneath his warmth — a tension that adds psychological depth to his relationship with the central couple without resolving into simple villainy.

Park Eun-bin: From Courtroom to Haunted Hallways

Park Eun-bin arrives at this project as one of the most accomplished and commercially powerful actresses in Korean television. She made her debut as a child performer and spent years building an impressive range before breaking through internationally with back-to-back acclaimed roles: the cross-dressing crown prince in the 2021 historical drama The King's Affection, followed by Extraordinary Attorney Woo in 2022, which became a global phenomenon and earned her widespread recognition as one of the industry's most distinctive talents.

At the table read, Park Eun-bin brought immediate wit to the proceedings. "I'll do my best to make sure you spend a chilly summer in this intense heat," she told the assembled cast and crew — a clever reference to the drama's title and its supernatural premise. But when the actual reading began, she shifted into something more inward and affecting: Cheon Yeo-ri's loneliness — the loneliness of someone who perceives a world nobody else can see — came through in her vocal choices and expression, drawing visible reactions from others in the room.

This is Park Eun-bin's first major drama project since completing the Disney+ thriller Hyper Knife in early 2025. Her return to tvN's weekend slot is significant; the network has become one of the standard-bearers for high-quality Korean romance drama, and her casting in the lead signals that Sinister Love is being positioned as a prestige production rather than a simple genre exercise.

Yang Se-jong and Ong Seong-wu Complete the Ensemble

Yang Se-jong is a natural complement to Park Eun-bin in the lead. The actor has carved out a niche over the past several years for roles requiring emotional range and physical commitment — his work in Temperature of Love (2017), My Strange Hero (2018), and the crime thriller Watcher (2019) demonstrated a willingness to fully commit to characters under pressure. Ma Kang-wook offers him something new: a character whose professional fearlessness coexists with a very specific, very human irrationality. At the table read, Yang Se-jong found the comedic texture of that contradiction without sacrificing the character's earnestness — a balance that will likely be central to the drama's tone.

Ong Seong-wu brings a different kind of history to his role. After rising to fame as a member of Wanna One following his appearance on Produce 101 Season 2 in 2017, he transitioned into acting with increasing confidence, earning positive notices for Moment at Eighteen (2019) and More Than Friends (2020). As Kang Min-hwan — the hotel CEO whose loyalty to Yeo-ri is genuine but whose character conceals layers not immediately apparent — he plays someone whose surface behavior is deliberately designed to put others at ease. At the table read, the moments where that facade slipped were brief but memorable, suggesting a performance that will reward close watching over the full run of the drama.

Summer Chemistry, Built Over Years

One of the production's central selling points is the casting of three actors who are genuine peers — all around the same age, all operating at the height of their careers — in lead roles that require the kind of easy, lived-in familiarity that the show's conflict depends on. Cheon Yeo-ri and Kang Min-hwan have known each other for years before the drama begins; the warmth and trust in their scenes together needs to feel earned, not performed.

The production team pointed directly to this dynamic in their official statement: "The drama will depict a woman who hears voices no one else can and a man determined to uncover hidden truths — two people who combine their abilities to find the truth behind a death and ultimately fall genuinely in love. We ask audiences to watch closely for the quick-fire chemistry between the actors that breathes life into this story." They also emphasized the show's aim to deliver what they described as "excitement, chills, and catharsis" simultaneously — the signature combination of the best Korean occult romance dramas.

Audience reaction to the table read reveal has been positive across fan communities and social media. The chemistry between Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong in particular — two actors who have not shared a project before — has drawn speculation about what their on-screen dynamic will look like in full-length episodes, and the combination of a proven director, a strong writer, and a prestige network has given fans confidence that the show has the production resources to match its ambitions.

Sinister Love premieres on tvN in July 2026 as a Saturday-Sunday drama. Further cast announcements and official materials are expected in the coming weeks as production moves forward.