“What?” Eunsoo replied when she noticed her shadow cast over Juhan. Realizing he wanted her to shade him from the sun, she lifted her foot as if to kick the chair away.
“A CEO using his employee as a parasol? Do you want to debut in the society pages before entertainment news?”
Eunsoo felt a surge of anger, partly fueled by other frustrations.
Really, dying for attention. Invading my dreams without permission.
Swallowing words she couldn’t say, Eunsoo glared at Juhan a bit longer before reluctantly lowering her foot. No matter how angry she was, she couldn’t dare touch that chair – a masterpiece of Nordic modernism.
Ready to continue with her workday, Eunsoo was about to leave when Juhan spoke up.
“Oh, by the way, I told Kiwoo hyung yesterday.”
“The truth?”
“Yeah.”
“No complaints?”
“Hardly. He had plenty to say. But it’s all sorted now.”
Nodding, Eunsoo adjusted her bag.
“I’m meeting Yunbin oppa today to talk about it too.”
“What?”
Hearing the name Yunbin, Juhan quickly sat up. He started to say something but then hesitated.
“Why are your eyes so swollen?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you cry?”
“Why would I? Sometimes eyes just get puffy.”
Eunsoo looked down, tilting her head slightly. Juhan changed the subject.
“Anyway, you’ll tell him the truth too?”
“Of course.”
“Why? Kiwoo hyung believed it because he often saw us together, but Choi Yunbin doesn’t know, right?”
Eunsoo frowned.
“What’s with ‘Choi Yunbin’? When did you get so familiar with Yunbin oppa?”
“Anyway. It’s getting out of hand. It’s supposed to be a secret, but we’re making exceptions for everyone. There’s no end to it.”
“He’s the only exception for me.”
Eunsoo’s firm response silenced Juhan.
“Regardless of how often we see each other, it doesn’t make sense that I haven’t told oppa for a year about us getting back together. He won’t believe it anyway.”
“…”
“Don’t worry. Who’s better at understanding and keeping secrets than Yunbin oppa? He knows more about broadcasting than us.”
Juhan, who had been mulling something over, asked,
“Where are you meeting him?”
Eunsoo unexpectedly answered right away.
“At Yunbin oppa’s place.”
“His house?”
“Yeah. He can’t easily go out. I’ll check if the Siesta chair is still there.”
Eunsoo casually replied and turned away. Watching her walk into the building, Juhan bit his lip.
That house, it was nice…
That evening, slightly after quitting time, Juhan headed to the second-floor office. Seeing Eunsoo sitting alone at her desk, he pretended to look for documents near the bookshelf before casually asking,
“How do you get to his place?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Eunsoo, who had been focusing on her monitor, looked up belatedly. Juhan pretended to skim through a random document.
“How do you go to his house? It’s not a neighborhood easy to access by public transportation, right? Shall I drive you…”
“My manager is picking me up. I said I could take a taxi, but oppa already asked the manager to pick me up, saying that would be better.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Juhan put back the document and was about to leave when Eunsoo called him.
“Wait, come here.”
“Why?”
“Bend down.”
Obligingly, Juhan stooped down. Eunsoo, still seated, turned around and reached out. She had noticed something white in Juhan’s hair and tried to remove it.
“What is this? It won’t come off.”
“Just leave it. I’m going home to shower anyway.”
“Wait, just a second.”
Eunsoo insisted, saying it would come off in just a bit more. Juhan, feeling awkward half-crouched, unwittingly rested his hand on the armrest of Eunsoo’s chair. But as he did, the chair’s wheels rolled back.
“Whoa!”
Startled, Eunsoo reflexively grabbed Juhan, who had stumbled but quickly steadied the chair.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
Her heart raced uncontrollably. It was natural to be startled, but the continued rapid beats seemed to have a different cause.
“Damn it, why did you touch the chair? I thought you were falling backward…”
Eunsoo had many words swirling in her mouth, but she couldn’t utter a single one.
Too… close?
With Juhan leaning forward, holding the armrests firmly, and Eunsoo, in a moment of panic, wrapping her arms around his neck as if clinging for life, they were nearly embracing.
Their faces were so close that they could see each other’s features in detail. They froze for a moment in this proximity.
The suffocating silence was broken by a soft cough.
“……Ahem.”
It was Seonkyeong who had just come up the stairs.
“I’d normally pretend not to notice, but it’s too obvious in the middle of the office. Can’t you wait until after work? I mean, seriously.”
“No, it’s not what it looks like,”
Juhan and Eunsoo hastily separated. Juhan almost stumbled back to the office wall, while Eunsoo quickly pulled her chair to her desk and sat up straight. Seonkyeong smiled, though only with her eyes.
“Quite bold, aren’t you? Managing a secret relationship all this time. It’s surprising you weren’t caught earlier…”
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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