With a background in stage and dance, Kye Soo Jeon said he was inspired by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and his 1991 film Delicatessen (1991) to become a director.
The script was completed in 2007 but Jeon couldn't find anyone to invest in the unconventional romantic comedy, largely because industry insiders considered the plot to be too difficult for the general public to understand. The script was written for Ha Jung-woo and he committed to the film from the beginning, but Jeon said, "We had this good actor Ha Jung-woo but investors changed their minds because they thought the script lacked widespread appeal and the public wouldn't like or understand it."
Jeon first met producer Yong-hoon Eom while making Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater (2006) and the two developed a friendship. When production of Love Fiction was cancelled in 2009, Eom sold his apartment in order to launch his own production company Samgeori Pictures because he wanted to develop Jeon's script into a film.
Filming began in 2011, with Kong Hyo-jin replacing Kang Hye-jeong as the leading lady. Jeon said of Ha and Gong, "They were perfect in many ways. They gave us their best in just a couple of takes. I couldn't have asked for more than that."
Actress Kong Hyo-Jin's armpit hair is fake. It was revealed that when "director Jeon Gye-soo suggested she really grew them out, she considered it but her other work was a problem", and Kong later added that, "The make up artists created armpit hair that seemed so real".