Warning: Major spoilers for Netflix’s Our Sticky Love below.
One of the first mysteries in Our Sticky Love begins with a lie.
After an accident leaves Go Eun-sae with memory loss, Jang Tae-ha tells her something surprising:
He is her boyfriend.
But he isn’t.
At least, he wasn’t before she lost her memory.
So why does Tae-ha pretend to be Eun-sae’s boyfriend?
The simple answer is that Tae-ha is trying to protect her.
But that is only part of the story.
Tae-ha already has feelings for Eun-sae, and his fake relationship gradually exposes emotions he has spent years hiding.
That is why the lie becomes the foundation of the entire romance.
The Short Answer
Tae-ha lies about being Eun-sae’s boyfriend primarily because he needs to keep her safe and control the dangerous situation surrounding her.
Eun-sae has lost important memories.
She is vulnerable.
And people connected to Baek Sang-gil pose a serious threat to her.
Pretending to be her boyfriend gives Tae-ha a believable reason to stay beside her, take her away from danger and protect her without explaining everything she has forgotten.
But Tae-ha’s feelings are not fake.
He has cared about Eun-sae for much longer than she realizes.
So the relationship begins with a lie about their status — but not necessarily a lie about Tae-ha’s heart.
Were Tae-ha and Eun-sae Really Dating Before Her Memory Loss?
No.
This is the most important thing to understand.
Tae-ha and Eun-sae were not actually a couple before Eun-sae lost her memory.
Tae-ha claims they were dating because Eun-sae cannot remember enough of her recent past to immediately prove otherwise.
That creates the drama’s central romantic setup:
Eun-sae believes she has forgotten her boyfriend.
Tae-ha knows he was never really her boyfriend.
And the audience knows that the relationship is built on information Eun-sae does not have.
So Why Does Tae-ha Choose “Boyfriend”?
Because it solves several problems at once.
If Tae-ha simply says:
“Trust me. I need to protect you.”
Eun-sae has every reason to question him.
She does not fully understand what has happened to her.
She does not know who is dangerous.
And she cannot remember enough to judge Tae-ha’s intentions.
But a boyfriend is different.
A boyfriend has a natural reason to stay close.
A boyfriend can take care of her.
A boyfriend can worry about where she goes.
A boyfriend can explain why he knows personal things about her.
Most importantly, Tae-ha can keep Eun-sae close while trying to prevent the people threatening her from reaching her.
The lie gives him immediate access to the one thing he needs most:
her trust.
Tae-ha Is Trying to Protect Eun-sae From Sang-gil
Baek Sang-gil is crucial to understanding Tae-ha’s decision.
Tae-ha knows far more about Sang-gil and the criminal world surrounding him than Eun-sae does after losing her memory.
And Tae-ha understands that Eun-sae is in danger.
This creates an impossible problem.
If he tells her everything immediately, he may overwhelm her and expose her to even greater danger.
If he leaves her alone, Sang-gil’s people could find her.
So Tae-ha chooses a third option.
He stays beside her.
And the fake-boyfriend story gives him a reason to do it.
This does not make the lie morally simple.
Tae-ha is still deceiving a woman with memory loss.
But the drama makes his motivation more complicated than selfish manipulation.
He is trying to keep Eun-sae alive.
But Tae-ha Already Likes Eun-sae
This is where the fake relationship becomes emotionally complicated.
Tae-ha does not randomly choose a woman and pretend to love her.
He already has genuine feelings for Eun-sae.
That means every romantic moment contains two different realities.
For Eun-sae:
“This is my boyfriend, even though I can’t remember our relationship.”
For Tae-ha:
“I am pretending to be her boyfriend, but I actually wish I could be.”
That imbalance is the emotional engine of the drama.
The title Our Sticky Love works particularly well here.
Tae-ha creates a relationship that should be temporary.
Instead, the two become increasingly difficult to separate.
Is Tae-ha Taking Advantage of Eun-sae’s Memory Loss?
This is one of the uncomfortable questions the drama deliberately creates.
Technically, Tae-ha is lying to a vulnerable person.
Eun-sae believes something about their relationship that is not true.
So viewers are justified in questioning his behavior.
But Tae-ha repeatedly shows that he understands there is a boundary he should not cross.
His feelings may be real, but Eun-sae’s understanding of their relationship is based on false information.
That matters.
Tae-ha cannot simply treat Eun-sae’s affection as proof that she has freely chosen him.
She is making decisions while believing he was already her boyfriend.
That is why Tae-ha often appears restrained even when Eun-sae moves closer to him emotionally.
Why Doesn’t Tae-ha Just Tell Eun-sae the Truth?
Because the truth is bigger than:
“I’m not actually your boyfriend.”
If Tae-ha reveals everything, he also has to explain the danger surrounding Eun-sae.
He has to explain his connection to Sang-gil.
He has to explain why people may be looking for her.
And he has to explain parts of her own recent life that she cannot remember.
Tae-ha believes protecting her first is more important than giving her every answer immediately.
Whether viewers agree with that decision is another question.
And that moral ambiguity is part of what makes the story work.
Does Eun-sae Really Fall in Love With Tae-ha?
Yes.
And this is the crucial difference between the beginning and the ending.
At first, Eun-sae’s relationship with Tae-ha is based on what he tells her.
She believes:
“I loved this man before. I just can’t remember it.”
But as they spend time together, something changes.
Eun-sae begins developing feelings based on the Tae-ha she knows now.
She sees how he treats her.
She sees how he protects her.
She experiences ordinary moments with him.
Eventually, her feelings no longer depend entirely on the fake history Tae-ha created.
The relationship begins becoming real.
When Does the Fake Relationship Become Real?
There is no single moment when Tae-ha announces:
“Our fake relationship is officially real now.”
Instead, the transition happens gradually.
That is one of the drama’s strengths.
Tae-ha begins with genuine feelings but a fake title.
Eun-sae begins with a fake memory of the relationship but gradually develops genuine feelings.
They move toward each other from opposite directions.
Tae-ha’s problem is:
His love is real, but his claim to be her boyfriend is false.
Eun-sae’s problem is:
Her belief that they were dating is false, but her new feelings become real.
Eventually, those two realities meet.
Why Tae-ha’s Restraint Matters
Tae-ha could easily exploit the situation.
Eun-sae thinks he is her boyfriend.
She trusts him.
She may even feel obligated to behave like his girlfriend because she believes they already had a romantic relationship.
But Tae-ha knows something she doesn’t.
That gives him power.
His restraint therefore matters.
He understands that Eun-sae must eventually be able to choose him after knowing the truth.
Otherwise, their romance would remain built entirely on deception.
This also helps explain why some of their romantic scenes feel unusually hesitant.
Tae-ha wants Eun-sae.
But he does not want the false boyfriend story to become permission to take advantage of her.
What Happens When Eun-sae Gets Her Memory Back?
This is where Tae-ha’s lie becomes even more interesting.
Eun-sae eventually recovers her memory.
And when that happens, the balance between them changes.
She can finally separate:
what Tae-ha told her,
what actually happened,
and what she genuinely feels.
Importantly, Eun-sae does not immediately reveal everything she remembers.
She has her own reasons for keeping that information from Tae-ha.
So the drama effectively reverses the original situation.
At the beginning:
Tae-ha knows the truth and Eun-sae doesn’t.
Later:
Eun-sae knows something Tae-ha doesn’t know she knows.
The person who was deceived becomes the person holding information back.
Why Does Eun-sae Still Choose Tae-ha?
Because by then she is no longer choosing the imaginary boyfriend Tae-ha invented.
She is choosing Jang Tae-ha himself.
That distinction is essential.
If Eun-sae remained with Tae-ha only because she continued believing his original lie, the romance would be difficult to accept.
But once her memory returns, she can evaluate their relationship with full knowledge of her past.
She knows they were not originally dating.
She knows Tae-ha lied.
And she still has feelings for him.
That is the moment the relationship becomes emotionally legitimate.
Was Tae-ha’s Lie Selfish or Selfless?
The most accurate answer is:
Both elements are present.
Tae-ha genuinely wants to protect Eun-sae.
That is the practical reason for the lie.
But he also loves her.
Pretending to be her boyfriend allows him to temporarily live inside a relationship he secretly wants.
That makes his motivation human rather than perfectly heroic.
He is protecting Eun-sae.
He is also protecting his feelings.
And for a while, he is experiencing something he never believed he could really have.
The drama does not need Tae-ha to be morally perfect.
It needs him eventually to give Eun-sae the freedom to choose.
The Lie Is Also Connected to Tae-ha’s Past
Tae-ha is not someone who has lived an ordinary life.
His connection to Baek Sang-gil has pulled him into a dangerous world.
He carries guilt and emotional baggage.
He does not simply believe he can walk into Eun-sae’s life and ask for a normal romance.
That helps explain why the fake-boyfriend situation becomes so emotionally powerful for him.
For a brief period, Tae-ha gets to experience an impossible version of his life:
He can stay beside Eun-sae.
He can care for her.
And she looks at him as someone she loves.
The tragedy is that Tae-ha knows the situation cannot remain that way forever.
Why the Fake-Boyfriend Story Is More Than a Rom-Com Trope
On the surface, the setup sounds familiar.
Memory loss.
Fake boyfriend.
Forced proximity.
Romance.
But Our Sticky Love adds a darker layer.
The lie exists because Eun-sae is in genuine danger.
Tae-ha himself is connected to that danger.
And every romantic step forward creates another problem:
What happens when she remembers?
That question hangs over the relationship from the beginning.
Tae-ha cannot simply hope Eun-sae never discovers the truth.
For their love to become real, the lie eventually has to disappear.
What the Boyfriend Lie Says About the Drama’s Main Theme
Our Sticky Love repeatedly contrasts what people are given with what they choose.
Tae-ha’s biological father is Baek Sang-gil.
But blood does not make Sang-gil a real father to him.
Tae-ha tells Eun-sae that he is her boyfriend.
But saying the word does not make the relationship real either.
What ultimately matters is choice.
Eun-sae must choose Tae-ha after knowing the truth.
Tae-ha must choose a life beyond Sang-gil.
And both characters have to decide what kind of family and future they actually want.
That is why the fake-boyfriend lie cannot be the ending of their romance.
It can only be the beginning.
Final Takeaway
So, why does Tae-ha lie about being Eun-sae’s boyfriend in Our Sticky Love?
The immediate reason is protection.
Eun-sae has lost her memory and is in danger, and claiming to be her boyfriend gives Tae-ha a believable reason to remain beside her and keep her safe.
But there is another truth underneath the lie:
Tae-ha already loves her.
He lies about the relationship.
He does not lie about his feelings.
That is what makes their romance complicated.
At first, Eun-sae trusts Tae-ha because she believes he was already her boyfriend.
Later, she comes to love him because of the person he actually is.
And when her memory finally returns, she is able to make the choice that matters most.
Not:
“Was Tae-ha really my boyfriend?”
But:
“Knowing everything I know now, do I still want him to be?”
Her answer is yes.
And that is when Tae-ha’s biggest lie finally becomes something real.