Yang Se Jong Faces Ghosts and Pressure in New Spooky in Love Teaser

Yang Se Jong’s next drama is leaning into contrast. tvN has released a new teaser for Spooky in Love, introducing his character Ma Gang Wook as a prosecutor who can stand up to powerful people in court, but loses his composure when the threat becomes supernatural.

The upcoming series is an occult romance and a remake of the 2011 film Spellbound. Its central pairing brings together a hotel heiress who can see ghosts and a passionate prosecutor who is deeply afraid of them. Park Eun Bin plays Cheon Yeo Ri, the woman whose unusual ability appears set to pull Ma Gang Wook into a world he would rather avoid.

The new teaser focuses on Ma Gang Wook’s public image first. He is presented as a determined legal figure who refuses to bend under pressure from people with status, money, or influence. The clip shows him pushing back against intimidation and pursuing criminals regardless of their social rank, establishing him as the kind of prosecutor who does not scare easily in ordinary life.

That reputation is exactly what makes the punchline work. The teaser then reveals that Ma Gang Wook has one clear weakness: ghosts. His fear is not treated as a small discomfort. According to the preview, he is so frightened by the supernatural that even horror movies are too much for him, giving the character a comic vulnerability beneath his professional confidence.

A Hero With One Very Specific Fear

The most memorable moment in the teaser comes from a rumor about a bathroom where a ghost appears whenever it rains. Ma Gang Wook, despite his courtroom bravery, is shown trembling at the doorway as he calls for the ghost to come out. The scene turns a familiar heroic setup upside down: the man who can challenge external pressure is suddenly stuck negotiating with his own imagination.

That kind of contradiction is likely to be one of the drama’s main comic engines. Instead of presenting Ma Gang Wook as simply fearless or simply cowardly, Spooky in Love appears to be building him as someone whose courage depends on the kind of danger in front of him. Human corruption is manageable. A ghost story in a rainy bathroom is another matter entirely.

The teaser also uses that fear to bring him closer to Cheon Yeo Ri. Near the end, Ma Gang Wook rushes to her house in a panic and calls out for her from outside the gate. Her voice-over response, asking whether he had claimed not to be scared, frames their relationship as playful from the start. She understands the supernatural world he fears, and he may need her help more often than he wants to admit.

For viewers familiar with Spellbound, the setup offers a clear promise: romance will grow through the collision of ghostly danger, awkward reliance, and emotional timing. The remake format also gives tvN room to reshape the story for drama pacing, expanding the original premise into multiple episodes of character development and supernatural incidents.

Why the Teaser Works

Yang Se Jong’s casting is important to the teaser’s balance. The role requires enough seriousness for the prosecutor scenes to feel credible, but enough comic softness for the ghost-related panic to land. The preview suggests that Ma Gang Wook’s appeal will come from watching those two sides interrupt each other, especially once Cheon Yeo Ri becomes part of his daily life.

Park Eun Bin’s presence adds another layer of expectation. Although the teaser highlighted Yang Se Jong, the premise depends heavily on Cheon Yeo Ri’s ability to see ghosts and her place between ordinary romance and supernatural disruption. If the drama uses her perspective well, the story can become more than a joke about a scared prosecutor. It can explore isolation, trust, and the strange intimacy of being believed.

The July 18 premiere date also positions Spooky in Love as a summer drama with a built-in mix of tones. Occult romance can move quickly between suspense, comedy, and tenderness, and the teaser seems designed to assure viewers that the show will not be locked into one mood. It wants the audience to laugh at Ma Gang Wook’s fear while still buying into the emotional stakes around him.

For now, the preview’s clearest achievement is defining the character in a single contradiction. Ma Gang Wook can face criminals, pressure, and public conflict, but a ghost rumor is enough to shake him. That simple hook gives Spooky in Love an accessible entry point before its premiere, while leaving room for the drama to reveal how much courage he can find when Cheon Yeo Ri’s world becomes impossible to ignore.