A Relentless Senior (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
“I like you, oppa.”
Sa Rang impulsively confessed.
She had only come to the amusement park to work on an assignment with Do Han, yet somehow, without even realizing it, things had turned out like this.
Maybe it was because of the dazzling fireworks blooming across the pitch-black night sky.
Those fireworks pounded against her chest, urging her: “Stop this one-sided crush and confess already!”
And just as the biggest firework burst with a loud *boom*, her heart finally overflowed uncontrollably.
But since her feelings had been one-sided from the start, his response was already decided.
“I like someone else—not you. Someone like Jung Yoon Jae. You two would go well together.”
Do Han looked down at Sa Rang’s tightly anxious face with an indifferent gaze.
She was a junior he’d never treated warmly, not even once calling her by name.
They’d ended up in the same group purely by chance, sharing a general education course, occasionally meeting only to work on assignments.
Because their mutual friends started dating, they’d sometimes eat meals together.
Somewhere along the way, she’d quietly slipped into his heart.
Now, hearing her confess that she liked him, a spark ignited inside Do Han’s chest.
Yet only cold words slipped from his lips.
He firmly believed rejecting Sa Rang’s feelings was the only way to truly care for her—urging her to find someone who’d call her name with genuine warmth.
Sa Rang nodded calmly, as though she’d expected this all along.
“I understand.”
She never truly believed he’d accept her feelings.
It had been an impulsive confession from the very beginning, with no expectations whatsoever.
She’d confessed without hesitation and was rejected without mercy—so from now on, all she had to do was forget him.
But Sa Rang suspected she wouldn’t be able to.
The way he looked at her while telling her to like someone else was far too gentle—making today’s confession feel less like an end and more like a new beginning.
Just like that very first moment when she’d become hopelessly entangled with him at first sight.
***
Two months earlier.
“Lee Sa Rang!”
Sa Rang turned toward the voice calling her name.
Far across the bustling plaza in front of the library, she spotted Ji Woo.
It was a chaotic, noisy day—the orientation event for freshmen from three different colleges happening all at once.
Soon, Ji Woo waved and ran toward her.
“I’m even happier seeing you here, Ji Woo!”
Though they’d only been apart for a week, they hugged and jumped around as if reuniting with family after a year apart.
Best friends since elementary school, they’d both gotten into the same university and had even secured a one-room apartment to live in together.
They would’ve preferred taking the bus together from their hometowns since they hadn’t moved in yet—but Ji Woo was staying with relatives in Seoul, so they’d agreed to meet here instead.
“I thought I’d get here first. You found it okay?”
“Of course. Do I look like a kid to you?”
“Look around, will you? Among all these girls, are you seriously the only one not wearing makeup?”
At Ji Woo’s scolding, Sa Rang glanced around.
“Everyone thinks you look like a high schooler.”
“You’re right… Why is everyone dressed up so nicely?”
Sa Rang’s expression turned sour—she’d worn comfortable clothes and even pulled a cap over her head for the long bus ride, having rushed out at dawn to travel from the countryside to Seoul and not having time to bother with her appearance.
“I’ll do your makeup tomorrow. Can’t fix your short hair, but at least some makeup will help you look older.”
“Forget it. I hate how unnatural it feels.”
She’d tried makeup before, but no matter what, it never suited her—never pretty enough to justify the time spent.
“You’re such an innocent Lee Sa Rang.”
“Anyone watching might think you’re my older sister. If I’m innocent, then you are too.”
Sa Rang pouted.
Ji Woo, acting like a grown-up despite being a fellow freshman, really got under her skin.
“At least *this* older sister has dated boys before. Never having dated? That’s innocence.”
“Then I won’t be innocent much longer—I’m getting a boyfriend as soon as the semester starts.”
“Did you come to college just to date?”
“Of course! Why do you think I studied myself to death? My homeroom teacher said if I got into college, I could date a handsome boyfriend!”
“Who told you that?”
“Our homeroom teacher.”
Ji Woo snorted and shook her head.
“That’s exactly why you’re so naive. My cousin didn’t have a single boyfriend all through college. Just because you’re in college doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get a boyfriend—especially a *handsome* one, you hopelessly innocent girl. Where do I even start with you?”
No wonder Sa Rang’s parents had gripped Ji Woo’s hands tightly, begging her to look after their daughter.
In that moment, Ji Woo finally understood how her future in-laws might feel.
She completely empathized with Sa Rang’s parents—how could anyone handle a friend so utterly clueless about the world?
“Just you wait. I’ll definitely find a handsome boyfriend and bring him right in front of you.”
Sa Rang’s eyes burned with determination.
Ji Woo admired that spirit, at least.
After all, the less you know, the braver you are.
It was so perfectly, purely Lee Sa Rang.
“Alright! I’ll look forward to it. And while you’re at it, date the handsomest guy on campus!”
Ji Woo stretched her neck, scanning the crowd as if she might spot Sa Rang’s future boyfriend right then and there.
Her gaze soon locked onto a distant guy.
“Wow, that guy is seriously gorgeous. With looks like that, I’d approve.”
Sa Rang turned toward where Ji Woo was pointing—
only to miss his face, as the guy happened to look away at that exact moment.
Yet his back view alone was breathtaking.
His tall, perfectly proportioned frame looked like a model’s.
Despite being a freshman, his posture radiated quiet confidence.
He dominated the space around him just by existing.
“Wow, he must be a senior. He’s got that vibe.”
Sa Rang wanted desperately to see his face, but he kept walking farther away.
Ji Woo finally tore her eyes away from him too.
“He’s definitely not a freshman.”
“Yeah, seems that way.”
“But seriously, he’s handsome—like a celebrity.”
“Was he really *that* good-looking?”
“Yes! What department is he in?”
“Why do you need to know that?”
“I’m just curious! Weren’t you the one saying you’d get a handsome boyfriend?”
“Even if I wanted to, how am I supposed to meet a guy who looks like a celebrity?”
“What happened to that confidence you just showed, Lee Sa Rang?”
At Ji Woo’s teasing, Sa Rang let out a soft laugh—
suddenly realizing she’d overlooked a crucial fact: to date a guy who looked like a celebrity, she herself needed to be pretty too.
Either way, her homeroom teacher had been right about one thing:
college really *did* have handsome guys.
Sa Rang glanced once more toward where the guy had stood.
Thanks to him, she was now genuinely excited for college life.
***
“Lee Sa Rang again? Are you pretending you can’t play just because you want to drink?”
It happened during a drinking game after their scheduled event ended and everyone returned to the dorm.
Separated into different groups, Sa Rang was struggling among her peers and seniors.
Especially bad at the game, she’d already been assigned penalty drinks three times in a row.
At her senior’s teasing, she gave an awkward smile and downed her shot.
After her third glass of soju, her head started spinning slightly.
She still couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly drink something this bitter.
Unaware of Sa Rang’s plight, the game continued—and she got picked three more times.
“This isn’t working. Go outside for a bit.”
A sympathetic peer quietly whispered to her,
suggesting she pretend to go to the restroom and let the alcohol wear off.
Thinking that sounded like a good idea, Sa Rang stood up unsteadily and slipped on her slippers.
Outside, white snowflakes fluttered gently through the air.
Still buzzed, she didn’t even feel the cold—
barefoot, wearing only a T-shirt without even a coat, yet she felt refreshingly cool.
She plopped down on the stairs, leaning her head against a pillar.
Despite everything, sleepiness crept over her, her eyes drifting shut.
Just as she realized she might freeze to death if she fell asleep here,
footsteps approached and stopped right in front of her.
“Freshman, are you okay?”
She lifted her head to see who it was.
The moment the man’s face came into view against the snowy backdrop, she felt momentarily blinded.
Dressed in simple jeans and a white short-sleeved T-shirt, he seemed to glow.
*So this is what love at first sight feels like*—her mind and heart both thundered.
Staring blankly at him, Sa Rang suddenly widened her eyes.
It was *him*.
The same guy Ji Woo had pointed out at the library plaza.
“He looks exactly like a celebrity,” Ji Woo had said—and she was absolutely right.
Thick eyebrows, slightly sharp eyes, a straight nose, and lips full but not overly so.
Most striking of all was his sharp jawline, intensifying his masculine aura.
From the back, she hadn’t noticed—but now she could sense a cool, distant aura around him.
Even the snowflakes landing on his hair seemed warmer by comparison to his icy presence.
Moreover, his mature appearance clearly set him apart from freshmen—
more like a graduate student than an undergrad.
Yet even that only made him more attractive, and Sa Rang fell for him instantly.
Lost in staring, she finally shook her head when she noticed his eyes narrowing slightly.
Panicking over what to say, she recalled his earlier words.
“Is it… that obvious?”
“You’re drunk, so of course you’d sit out here in this weather.”
“No, not that—I mean, is it really that obvious I’m a freshman?”
The guy gave her an incredulous look.
She rambled on like someone deep in drunken rambling:
“I grew up in the countryside—not that everyone from the countryside is unsophisticated, but coming to Seoul, everyone seems so stylish and pretty. I guess I really do look like a high schooler. Technically, I’m not even a college student yet since classes haven’t started, so I suppose what I mean is…”
She’d answered Ji Woo casually, but clearly it had been nagging at her all along—
evident now as she spilled her thoughts to a complete stranger.
The more she spoke, the more tangled it became, until she finally ducked her head low.
*Why didn’t I just stay quiet?*
What on earth was she babbling about to someone she’d just met—someone she’d fallen for at first sight, no less?
She wished he’d just leave.
After a brief silence, his pleasant voice floated toward her on the wind.
“To me, you and the other freshmen are all just freshmen.”
“Huh?”
Confused, Sa Rang looked up at his face again.
“Wearing makeup won’t make a freshman look like a returning student. In my eyes, you actually seem *less* unsophisticated than those trying too hard to act like adults.”
Sa Rang blinked.
Though his expression remained neutral, his words felt unexpectedly kind.
“You’re so drunk you don’t even feel the cold. Go back inside already—don’t catch a cold like some naive country bumpkin.”
He tossed her a red blanket he’d been carrying—oddly out of place in his hands.
As he turned to leave, Sa Rang quickly stood up.
“Senior, aren’t you coming back in?”
She just wanted to walk back inside with him, even if only for a moment.
She didn’t understand this ridiculous impulse—but she wanted it anyway.
“Someone’s keeping me from making a phone call.”
He lifted the hand holding his phone.
“Don’t just drink everything people give you—learn to pace yourself a little. You don’t have to be a goody-two-shoes even in college.”
Having said his piece, he walked ahead.
Feeling deeply disappointed, Sa Rang wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and climbed the stairs.
Just then, another guy stepped out from the building and called after him.
“Hey, Jidokhan—another call from Park Hye Ri?”
Sa Rang froze in place and turned around.
*Jidokhan?* Was that a nickname?
More importantly, the thought that Park Hye Ri might be his girlfriend made her chest suddenly feel hollow.
She’d only just fallen for him herself—yet it felt as if she’d already confessed and been rejected.
Her heart ached with loneliness,
but the red blanket warmly wrapped around her shoulders, as if quietly comforting her.
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
_____
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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