11 Virtues A Hero's Civilian Friend Must Uphold (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
People yearn for heroes. The harder the times, the more they do. At M Corp, there’s Iron Man; at D Corp, there’s Batman—figures endowed with extraordinary powers beyond ordinary people, who uphold justice, have always existed in the public imagination.
And now, the world truly does have heroes.
“Did you hear? They showed up again yesterday.”
“Did you see the bridge collapsing? They were flying around right above it…”
“Seriously amazing. What on earth could their real identities be?”
What identities?
The idiots right in front of me, furious because there’s no meat in the school lunch.
Na Eun inwardly replied with indifference to the murmured conversations around her, her gaze fixed blankly across the table. Lunchtime was always noisy, but the atmosphere had grown far more restless since last night’s incident. Apparently, some lunatic had planted a bomb right in the middle of a downtown bridge and carried out a terrorist attack, and everyone was now buzzing about the mysterious heroes who’d flown above the collapsing structure, rescuing people.
About ten years ago, people began bestowing the title “hero” along with nicknames upon those who appeared at scenes of terror or disaster, using supernatural abilities to save innocent civilians.
“Wasn’t it ‘K’ who showed up yesterday?”
“No, wasn’t it ‘J’?”
“Nope. I just read the news article—it was K and El.”
“Ah… they all wear the same clothes and the same hats, so it’s impossible to tell them apart.”
That was right. Unlike Superman, who appeared alone at disaster sites, there were actually quite a few of these heroes—but they always wore identical outfits: black suits presumed to be military-style, black hats, and black masks. Since everything was the same color, it was hard even to confirm their genders, so the public adopted alphabetical nicknames for convenience.
The first to appear was called A, the next one B. No one had officially decided on these names; the trend had naturally started online and quickly spread, despite arguments that real heroes ought to have proper names like Iron Man or Batman rather than single letters—simply because it was easy and convenient to use. Even news outlets now referred to them using letters from A through L. So far, twelve heroes had been confirmed, with K and El being the most recent arrivals. They were the two who’d shone during yesterday’s bridge explosion—and the same two now passionately arguing about the justice of stir-fried pork right before Na Eun’s eyes.
“So I’m telling you, where the hell is the pork in this ‘stir-fried pork’?! Is this onion stir-fry or pork stir-fry? Is it even stir-fried pork?!”
“Shouldn’t we report our school for fraud?”
Honestly, these two seemed to have come to school just to eat. Na Eun shook her head as she stared at her two friends, who, chopsticks in hand, couldn’t contain their outrage over the injustice of the school lunch.
The girl sitting directly across from her—El, no, her friend Seon Jin—wrinkled her nose.
“What’s wrong, Na Eun? You don’t agree? You don’t seriously think this qualifies as proper stir-fried pork, do you?”
“No way. If you do, we’re breaking up.”
K—no, Seung Joo—sitting beside Seon Jin, glared as she demanded Na Eun’s agreement. Na Eun wanted to say a lot, but since she couldn’t, she simply gave a helpless smile.
“At least we got cookies for dessert.”
“Hey, cookies are cookies, but pork is pork!”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Na Eun pretended to side with Seung Joo’s indignation while crunching on the dessert cookie beside Seon Jin’s empty tray. Seon Jin’s expression softened oddly as she bit into her snack, as if to show that fury over the lackluster pork and joy over delicious cookies were entirely separate matters.
“Are the cookies good?”
“Yeah. They’re really good.”
“Then I’d better hurry up and eat mine too.”
Watching Seung Joo hastily shove the rest of her rice into her mouth upon hearing Seon Jin’s answer, Na Eun thought:
Did you two really fly above that bridge last night, rescuing people and catching the terrorist?
If she asked them that, how would they respond? Probably, Seung Joo would spit out the food she was eating, and Seon Jin would choke on cookie crumbs. Since she couldn’t possibly let these extraordinary heroes—who protected the nation and even the world—get hurt over something so trivial, Na Eun quickly changed the subject to distract them.
“You know there’s a chemistry performance assessment today, right?”
“Huh?!”
“What?”
Just as she’d expected. Na Eun’s eyes narrowed.
These friends, who’d been in the same class with her by chance since first year and had stayed close ever since through to third year, were notoriously negligent about schoolwork—likely because their secret hero duties kept them busy. Though Na Eun had tried to be understanding ever since learning their secret back in first year, she couldn’t help feeling frustrated whenever they acted so clueless about exam schedules.
Seriously, how could any Korean third-year high schooler not care about performance assessments and exams? From Na Eun’s perspective—as someone serious about college admissions—it was incomprehensible. Recalling how Seon Jin had once innocently asked, “What subject are we testing today?” during their final second-year exam, Na Eun shook her head.
“Didn’t the teacher say today’s assessment would be on the ideal gas equation?”
“We’re doomed. I don’t know anything.”
“What equation? Did we even learn that?”
As expected, Na Eun picked up her dessert cookie and spoke.
“I’ve got my printed notes—just memorize those. The test is during last period, so you’ll have time to cram before then.”
The moment Na Eun saw the breaking news of the bridge collapse last night, she’d already prepared a way to salvage at least a few points on their performance assessment. After all, these kids would’ve been too overwhelmed saving lives and stopping terrorism to remember anything about tomorrow’s school exam.
After three years of experience as the civilian friend of secret heroes, handling such situations had become second nature.
“You’re truly the best, Na Eun. We’d be lost without you.”
“I love you.”
Na Eun smiled back at Seung Joo, who shot her a finger heart claiming she was more reliable than an entire army, and at Seon Jin, whose expression of affection came in the driest possible “I love you.” But she couldn’t keep smiling at what came next.
“Ugh, but when are we supposed to memorize all that? Should we just skip it?”
“No way. We were told our activities would be suspended if our grades drop below level 5 this semester.”
“What even is that supposed to mean? I don’t get it. What does saving people have to do with grades? Like, if you don’t study well, you’re not allowed to go outside and work?”
How are we supposed to take exams when we’ve been running around all night until dawn, exhausted to death?!
Seung Joo raged about how in Korea, even heroes couldn’t exist without good grades, cursing whoever had made such insane grade-based rules, while Seon Jin tried to soothe her. Na Eun squeezed her eyes shut.
Here we go again, you two.
“But Center Director said it’s fine as long as we get level 5.”
“Level 5 sounds easy, but screw that. Tell him to try staying up all night patrolling Seoul, stopping terrorist attacks, and then see if studying feels easy!”
“I heard Center Director graduated from Y University.”
“Damn. Total OP character, huh?”
With Seung Joo exploding again about how the director clearly couldn’t understand the struggles of those who weren’t good at studying, Na Eun cupped her forehead.
Though she rarely used harsh words or swore, Na Eun sincerely wanted to say:
You guys. Just shut up for once.
“Hey, guys.”
“He must be amazing, though. So he was great at studying too, huh, while chasing down those lunatics?”
“Guys?”
“They’ve apparently been active way longer than we have, so that makes sense.”
“…Kids.”
“Well, yeah. He must be that capable if he’s Center Director.”
“…”
Even when she gently interrupted to calm them down, her friends plunged right back into their own conversation, casually spilling secrets they were supposed to keep hidden. Na Eun finally gave up and pulled out the earphones she’d prepared.
One habit she’d naturally picked up from living high school life with them was always carrying earphones.
To avoid overhearing any more confidential details her friends unintentionally leaked, Na Eun covered her ears herself and turned her gaze away. She knew that to keep from hearing things she shouldn’t, she had to actively think about something else and look elsewhere.
Staring blankly into space, Na Eun wondered:
Are heroes naturally a bit dumb?
On the news, they came across as monsters with superhuman abilities—holding up collapsing buildings barehanded, extinguishing fires, lifting cars. Judging by how they’d been capturing terrorists rampaging through central Seoul, they were clearly intelligent and exceptional. Yet the pair right in front of her completely shattered that image.
Maybe that Center Director person they mentioned earlier really was smart—so perhaps only these two were especially dumb? That actually made logical sense. Possessing superhuman strength didn’t automatically mean poor intelligence. After all, Iron Man and Batman were geniuses too. Same with Hulk. …Yeah. Let’s just go with them being the exception. Though it felt slightly rude toward her friends, Na Eun decided to accept this explanation.
She hadn’t known from the start.
When she’d happened to sit near them in first year and naturally grown close to the two, Na Eun never imagined—through even three months later—that her closest friends would turn out to be the very figures who appeared on the news as regularly as daily meals. Who could have predicted that? Maybe no one even wanted to know. Given the unique setting of school—where they spent nearly every waking moment together—and Na Eun’s own sharpness and intelligence, she’d ended up uncovering the truth almost against her will.
Every time a major incident worthy of national headlines occurred, they’d always miss several days of school, sometimes showing up with noticeable injuries. Despite their poor academics, their stamina and speed on the track rivaled Olympic athletes—making it impossible for Na Eun to pretend she didn’t notice anything.
Moreover,
“Ugh, we’ve got another meeting tomorrow.”
“Oh, please. We’re students, you know.”
“In this country, third-years have no human rights—and heroes have none either. So basically, we have zero rights.”
“Seriously, stop using that tone before I swear.”
…Hey, guys. You do intend to keep it a secret, right?
As close as they were, Seung Joo and Seon Jin’s conversations gave absolutely no hint of any intention to hide their secret—so much so that Na Eun nearly looked like she was about to cry. With her earphones on, she quietly glanced around their table to check if anyone else was overhearing, then once again recalled the very first and most crucial rule she’d written in her private diary about being a civilian friend of heroes. She’d compiled these principles after watching movies and reading comics, convinced that only by following them could she be a good friend.
First rule:
Even if you know, act like you don’t.
Even if you hear, pretend you didn’t.
Never, ever learn what you’re not supposed to know.
…Because only then could you live long—as a civilian friend, not a hero.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
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Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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Wow! Finally a glimpse of the Center Directors scolding >.<