She had never drunk with him before.
She had seen him drunk but never shared a drinking table with him.
So she didn’t know, but this man drinks like water.
The way he swallowed the bitter liquid without even a twitch of his eyebrows was almost admirable.
Why did even his drinking have to look good? It was annoying.
Caught staring at Dohan, Sarang suddenly came to her senses.
Remember what this guy did to you, Lee Sarang!
Shaking and even slapping cheeks, and now suddenly finding him attractive again?
She must be utterly insane.
Falling for someone at first sight is terrifyingly dangerous.
No one but Ji Dohan can make her heart flutter like this, almost like a curse.
As Sarang was shaking her head, her eyes met Dohan’s.
Her heart skipped a beat.
His slightly languid gaze looking at her wasn’t unfamiliar.
She remembered confessing her feelings five years ago, longing for that very look.
Feeling something surge in her heart, Sarang quickly averted her gaze.
“But Assistant Manager Ji.”
Manager Kim Insoo, his face flushed with alcohol, called Dohan.
“Yes, Manager Kim.”
In contrast, Dohan seemed as composed as if he were sitting in the office, not at a dinner.
“I’m really curious. Why did you join our company? It’s not like your business failed. Honestly, you probably earn more than our company’s executives.”
“Right. Did you join because our building is pretty? Just saying that seems like an excuse. There must be another reason.”
“What’s the real reason?”
The other team members, equally curious, chimed in, their eyes sparkling.
Dohan reflexively glanced at Sarang in front of him.
Seeing her still avoiding his gaze, Dohan slowly opened his mouth.
“There’s someone here I wanted to see.”
The original Korean paragraph consists of 50 lines. I will translate it verbatim into English, maintaining the same number of lines in the translation.
Sarang’s breath halted for a moment.
She couldn’t even lift her gaze, which had fallen on the table; her whole body froze.
Could it be that woman from back then?
The woman with whom he shared couple rings, is she working at our company?
Sarang, unable to imagine that she could be the person Dohan wanted to see, recalled the ring she saw on his finger at the hotel five years ago.
“My goodness. So you joined our company to meet that woman? Even giving up your business?”
Although Dohan meant ‘here’ as in front of him, the team members inevitably interpreted it as Seohan Electronics.
Surely there was another reason, they murmured, saying it couldn’t just be because he found the company building pretty.
“So, did you meet that woman?”
“Which team, who is she?”
“We’ll keep it a secret.”
Dohan’s single comment caused an explosive reaction.
Everyone’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Despite not trusting that the conversation at the dinner wouldn’t leak, everyone was curious enough about the woman’s identity to falsely promise secrecy.
Would her identity be revealed tomorrow at the company, or even spread tonight?
Knowing this, Dohan had no intention of revealing the truth.
However, unable to ignore the expectant looks, he decided to play along to some extent.
“I did meet her.”
Sarang grabbed her water cup with trembling hands.
She managed to take a sip to regain her composure.
She hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, but her head was spinning.
He had just joined yesterday and already met that woman.
How much did he want to see her?
How much did he like her?
Realizing that Dohan was capable of such love, Sarang’s eyes began to sting.
She envied that woman amidst her confusion.
Part of her was angry, wondering why he had looked at her with such tenderness if he had a woman he loved so much.
“Why am I shaking?”
“Me too. He gave up money and fame to find her.”
“So, what did that woman say? She must have been moved.”
Dohan gazed intently at Sarang, who was just drinking water, seemingly disinterested.
Then he answered.
“If I call her name one more time, she said she’d quit the company.”
Only then did Sarang jerk her head up.
She couldn’t believe that she was the woman he was talking about.
Her eyes, filled with confusion, flickered back and forth.
How could she be the person he wanted to see? Why would he join this company to see her?
He was the one who wanted to break up.
He lied about going to study abroad to end things.
Wasn’t there another woman?
He loved that woman enough to exchange rings, didn’t he?
Sarang couldn’t accept that she was the woman Dohan was talking about.
Meanwhile, silence descended on the table.
The team members, expecting a different ending, found themselves speechless.
Exchanging glances, Insoo cautiously broke the silence.
“Assistant Manager Ji must have been a bad guy.”
The team members added their comments, lightening the heavy atmosphere.
“He must have wronged that woman a lot.”
The original Korean paragraph consists of 50 lines. I will translate it verbatim into English, maintaining the same number of lines in the translation.
“It seems like there’s no hope in that case.”
“What can we do? He joined our company just to meet her…”
As everyone sympathetically offered consolation, Sarang quietly turned her head away.
It was hard to stay seated, and she was about to escape to the restroom, but then Dongsik called out, preventing her from getting up.
“Sarang, what should be done in this situation?”
Dongsik was unaware of Dohan’s circumstances.
He initially thought Dohan had a girlfriend because he wore a ring when they first met.
With his looks, personality, and wealth, it seemed obvious.
Then, there was a drinking session with Dohan and his colleague, Suho. Suho called Dohan a cruel man for not dating anyone for five years.
Dongsik asked about the ring, and Dohan, after a moment of silence, replied it was a birthday gift.
Since they weren’t close enough to share personal details, Dongsik didn’t probe further.
Perhaps that ring and Dohan’s desired woman were connected.
Now Dongsik understood why he gave up his thriving business to join Seohan Electronics.
“But Sarang is the youngest here, so she might know better than us. Sarang, advise Assistant Manager Ji on how to get along with that woman.”
Sarang then became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Though she resented Dongsik for helping Dohan, a mere two-day newcomer, she couldn’t ignore a superior’s inquiry as a second-year employee.
She braced herself and met Dohan’s gaze.
“Don’t do anything.”
A fleeting look of wistful longing passed through his eyes, but she disregarded it.
“It seems that woman doesn’t want to be involved with Assistant Manager Ji.”
The team members, used to Sarang’s cheerful demeanor, were quite surprised to hear her speak so directly to someone else.
Their faces showed concern, sensing some discord between the two.
However, except for Deputy Manager Oh Na Young, no one guessed that Dohan’s desired woman could be Sarang.
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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