Seeing Juwon among the people, she smiled as if copying a blooming flower, hurriedly composed herself, and approached.
Juwon took off the jacket he was wearing and quickly covered the fish tank. It was an inevitable situation, but at least he didn’t want Hyeju to confirm it with her own eyes.
“Why is everyone gathered here? What’s this…?”
Hyeju, who reached her seat, sent a puzzled glance at the covered fish tank.
‘Don’t look.’
Despite Juwon’s earnest wish, Hyeju’s gaze involuntarily reached the fish tank. The moment she saw the covered tank, her face froze.
“O Hyeju.”
“It’s okay. Just leave it.”
Juwon’s hand, which blocked the way, was pushed aside by Hyeju.
Gradually realizing the situation, Hyeju instinctively covered her mouth.
“Ugh…!”
Though she had guessed the situation roughly by seeing the covered tank, the shock hit her strongly upon seeing the overturned dead goldfish.
Hyeju’s lower jaw trembled.
“Since when has it been like this?”
“That’s something even we… When we came in the morning, they were dead. The CEO just mentioned it; it smells like disinfectant… Someone must have poured some kind of medication without us noticing. We need to find out who did this, Won.”
“There’s no need to find out. It wasn’t me.”
Confidently.
Hyeju grabbed the fish tank with both hands, then walked straight towards Dahee.
Dahee, who pretended to be looking at the monitor, raised her head at the commotion.
At that very moment, swoooosh.
Hyeju poured the water from the fish tank onto Dahee’s forehead.
“Aaaah!”
Dahee screamed in agony, hitting the desk.
The water with the scent of medication and the dangling goldfish flowed down her skirt.
“Oh, what do I do!”
Dahee jumped in place like a fox with its tail on fire, panicking.
“Ugh!”
“Unbelievable!”
Everyone in the office had their mouths covered due to the unexpected fish tank terror. In a small company with about a hundred employees, this incident was the pinnacle of spectacle that could occur.
The only person not surprised in this situation was Juwon.
‘Nice shot.’
Juwon’s mouth twitched up in a smile.
‘Oh Hyeju, you really know how to hit.’
To bring to life the imagination that briefly crossed his mind, she truly was one of a kind.
Ten years of built-up frustration seemed to melt away, and Juwon couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, have you gone mad? What kind of behavior is this!”
Dahee, completely soaked by the overturned fish tank, shouted in a state of shock.
Hyeju didn’t bat an eye.
“You’re the crazy one, Cheon Dahee.”
With a calm gaze, she spoke as if spitting out words at Dahee, who was dripping water and glaring.
“I can endure anything else. I can endure you talking behind my back or meddling in my affairs. But killing a living being, that’s way beyond crossing the line. Have you made me your enemy? Why go this far?”
“I didn’t do it.”
“No, it was you.”
Hyeju showed no sign of wavering.
“I said it wasn’t me! Aren’t you the one treating me as an enemy? Accusing someone without evidence is a crime! Do you think I’ll just stand still?”
“What if I accused you without evidence?”
Hyeju glared with icy eyes and tossed something towards Dahee.
It was the plastic wrap attached to the cap of a portable mouthwash container.
“Why is this in my seat?”
Dahee’s pupils shook.
‘Oh.’
A chill ran down her spine.
The plastic wrap had the logo of the product printed on it. It was the vinyl that must be removed first when opening a new product, and it seemed that it had been spilled there in the dark.
“What’s this?”
Dahee squeezed her voice like a goat. Looking at her stubbornly denying, Hyeju stared at her as if she were pitiful.
“It’s written here. LaBress, orange flavor.”
“…”
“Your mouth is sensitive, so you can only use this mouthwash, right? You asked me several times to help with the proxy purchase because it’s not sold in Korea. Did you forget?”
Dahee’s lower jaw sank. It seemed like she had clenched her molars so hard that her jaw might snap.
In her trembling eyes, she saw the composed face of Hyeju.
It wasn’t the innocent Oh Hyeju from before. The friend who used to be fooled and laughed along, even if she deceived or intercepted, was not present in this place.
“…….”
Dahee looked around with a quivering face. The chilling silence that settled in felt like needles piercing the atmosphere. Though unspoken, everyone seemed to have concluded that Dahee was the culprit.
There was no one on her side. Even Wook, who she was relatively close to, was nervously shaking his head, deepening her sense of despair.
“I… I…”
This was the feeling of wanting to vanish into the ground. If only she could, she wanted to die on the spot.
Isolated like a distant island, she kept mumbling, “It wasn’t me,” repeatedly.
At that moment, Seungwon, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward.
“Stop it, Hyeju. It’s not Dahee.”
“…What?”
Seeing him suddenly appear, Hyeju felt like she’d been hit on the back of her head.
Why was Kang Seungwon showing up at this timing?
“I was at the company yesterday. It’s true that Dahee came during that time, but she didn’t even approach your desk.”
Hyeju chuckled in disbelief.
“Even after seeing this?”
She pointed to the mouthwash plastic wrap scattered on the floor.
Seungwon calmly replied, tilting his head.
“I might have dropped it during work. Since you’re in the same team, documents could have been exchanged. It could have slipped in between.”
“Hey, you…”
“Let’s go outside, Dahee.”
Seungwon grabbed Dahee’s wrist.
Stunned momentarily by the unexpected move, Dahee, who finally found some support, burst into loud tears.
“Sniff! It’s so unfair. Seriously, it wasn’t me, Seungwon…”
“Come on.”
Seungwon, expressionless, pulled Dahee’s wrist.
Amid the surprised reactions, Seungwon nonchalantly moved forward. The crowd split like the Red Sea as he walked through.
As they were about to leave the office, a cold voice echoed from behind.
“Stop the act.”
Juwon, who had been sitting with his fists clenched until now, finally stood up. He walked over, leaving the window sill, and stood in front of Seungwon.
“What are you two up to together?”
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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