Couldn't Help But Love You - Chapter 27
As soon as the meeting ended, the executives fled the conference room as if escaping.
They must be tired from coming to work so early and the meeting running longer than expected.
Tae Wook rose from his seat, thinking they probably just wanted to get back to their offices to rest as soon as possible.
He desperately needed coffee.
It seemed he would have to drink coffee first thing after going up to the CEO’s office before starting work.
“Chairman Kang, see me for a moment.”
Ki Bum was the only one who hadn’t left the now empty conference room.
This was probably the first time Ki Bum had attended an executive breakfast meeting.
Tae Wook knew it was because of Chairman Kang’s absence.
As they say, when the cat’s away, the mice will play?
Ki Bum had brazenly sat in Chairman Kang’s seat and presided over the executive meeting.
However, since it was his first time leading a meeting, it became disorganized and ended up running almost an hour over the scheduled time.
“I was actually planning to go up to the vice chairman’s office to speak with you.”
Tae Wook had no desire to sit down and talk with Ki Bum.
But he needed to speak about Gyeo Wool.
“Not at the company, let’s go have tea somewhere quiet.”
“I need to speak with the vice chairman and get back to work quickly.”
Tae Wook responded coldly, wary of the suggestion to go out.
“The way you talk, people would think I don’t do any work and just play around.”
“Isn’t that the truth? Vice Chairman, I believe you don’t come to the office more than 3 days a week.”
Everyone at Jisung Group knew that since becoming vice chairman, Ki Bum had been busy with other matters more than company business.
Ki Bum’s face flushed at Tae Wook’s sarcastic remark.
“You’re still so disrespectful to your father.”
Normally Ki Bum would have been furious.
But for some reason today, he was forcing a smile and even grinning instead of getting angry.
“I won’t keep you long. There’s a nice, quiet cafe near the company.”
“If you have something to say, say it here.”
Tae Wook glared coldly at Ki Bum with suspicious eyes.
“Here? This isn’t the place to discuss it.”
Seeing Ki Bum’s flustered reaction, Tae Wook let out a mocking laugh.
Tae Wook realized Ki Bum was trying to take him somewhere other than a cafe.
“If you can’t say it here, I’m busy…”
“Chairman Kang!”
As Tae Wook turned to leave, Ki Bum urgently grabbed his arm.
“So stubborn… There’s a book launch for Assemblyman Choi next week.”
“So?”
Tae Wook asked, sounding completely uninterested.
He wasn’t unaware of why Ki Bum suddenly brought this up.
“It’s a good opportunity. You should go pay your respects. He wants to invite you to the book launch.”
“Do I look like I have time for such things?”
“You need to make time to go. Go and make sure to leave a good impression.”
Tae Wook glared at his father, who spoke as if it were obvious, with a cold frown.
“Why do I need to make an impression on him?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know? Assemblyman Choi is a strong candidate for the next presidential election. So…”
“Even if he becomes president, it has nothing to do with me.”
Tae Wook cut off Ki Bum’s words.
Though anger was rising as if about to explode, he controlled his emotions and spoke firmly, emphasizing each word.
“Fulfill your own ambitions, Vice Chairman. Don’t try to drag me into it.”
“You think I’m doing this for my own ambition? This is all for your own good.”
Is that really true?
Tae Wook raised one corner of his mouth in a sardonic smirk.
“I’ve made my position clear. I have no interest in Assemblyman Choi’s daughter and even less desire to marry.”
“You’d ruin everything when it’s almost done!”
Ki Bum bristled when Tae Wook said he had no thoughts of marriage.
The reason Ki Bum was so invested in Tae Wook’s marriage was simple – he couldn’t give up his political ambitions.
He believed that if they became in-laws with Assemblyman Choi, he could enter politics proudly with the assemblyman’s help, even if Chairman Kang opposed it.
“Don’t be like that. Meet Assemblyman Choi’s daughter and if it’s tolerable, go ahead with the marriage.”
“Hah!”
Tae Wook scoffed.
“Do I look like a child to you? You don’t think I’d marry without question just because you chose the woman, do you?”
Ki Bum’s eyes began to sharpen at Tae Wook’s mocking tone.
“So you’re going to marry just any woman like last time?”
Tae Wook suddenly felt like the breakfast he’d eaten before the meeting was about to come back up his throat.
The “any woman” Ki Bum referred to must be Gyeo Wool.
“If you had married one of the women I introduced, you wouldn’t have been treated that way by your grandfather.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want to argue about the same thing again.”
Ki Bum showed no sign of stopping despite Tae Wook’s rebuke.
“If you’re not going to repeat wasting time over an unsuitable woman, you must marry Assemblyman Choi’s daughter!”
“Enough! I said that’s enough!”
Tae Wook unleashed his emotions fully, then immediately clenched his teeth.
Should he have held back his anger?
He hadn’t even been able to bring up Gyeo Wool.
Instead, he only confirmed Ki Bum’s hatred towards her.
But the feeling of anger didn’t subside easily.
“If you say one more word about my marriage! I won’t stand for it, even from my father.”
Tae Wook glared fiercely at Ki Bum as if he would freeze an active volcano, then turned away.
“I’m not finished. Where are you going! Stop right there!”
Ki Bum angrily tried to grab Tae Wook, but Tae Wook left the conference room without looking back.
“Kang Tae Wook!”
Ki Bum’s furious shout echoed thunderously throughout the conference room.
[This is the timeline separator]Gyeo Wool was organizing reports that had come up from the resort.
She reached for her mug.
She blew on the hot citron tea and took a sip.
It was citron tea she had made in the pantry earlier because her throat hurt.
Her fever had gone down a lot. But her throat was swollen, scratchy, and hurt when she swallowed.
Still, she thought it was this manageable thanks to the medicine Tae Wook had brought last night.
“He probably won’t come to the office today since there’s an executive meeting.”
The staff in the secretarial office seemed to be thinking the same as Gyeo Wool.
Someone had started chatting and it continued on uninterrupted.
For some reason, even Director Seo, the highest-ranking person in the secretarial office, wasn’t stopping the employees today.
“We couldn’t even dream of this kind of atmosphere before.”
Tae Wook, the workaholic who demanded perfect work.
Every day in J Chemical’s CEO’s office used to be a continuous tension, like holding a bomb that could explode at any moment.
Of course, this secretarial office was just as busy.
But compared to J Chemical’s CEO’s office 5 years ago, it was certainly freer and more relaxed.
Just as Gyeo Wool was bringing the mug to her lips again, it happened.
Suddenly the sound of conversation cut off.
“Is that the CEO coming?”
Gyeo Wool’s guess was correct.
Tae Wook entered the CEO’s office with an extremely angry face. He went straight into his private office, causing a cold wind.
Bang!
“Oh my!”
The door closed so hard that even Gyeo Wool was startled by the tremendous vibration of air.
“Why is the CEO like that?”
“Did something happen at Jisung Group?”
The employees rushed to Secretary Kim, who had followed Tae Wook, to ask.
Secretary Kim had been assisting Tae Wook, going back and forth between J Chemical and Flore Resort headquarters.
“It’s nothing, go back to your desks and work.”
After telling the employees this, Secretary Kim went straight into the pantry.
Gyeo Wool immediately got up from her seat and opened the pantry door to go in.
Secretary Kim was pouring freshly brewed hot coffee into a coffee cup.
“The CEO asked for coffee.”
He glanced at Gyeo Wool who had entered the pantry and said this without being asked.
“Did something happen?”
“The Vice Chairman.”
She thought it might be that.
There was no one else who came to mind who could stir up Tae Wook’s emotions at the company besides Ki Bum.
“I’ll make the coffee and take it in.”
“Will you… do that?”
A look of relief appeared on Secretary Kim’s face.
When Tae Wook was that angry, even approaching him was hesitant.
After Secretary Kim left, Gyeo Wool made instant coffee mix as usual.
“Come to think of it, this is the third time I’m making this since meeting the CEO again.”
The first time was when she had no desire to make it but had no choice.
The second time was because Tae Wook wanted it.
And now she was making coffee because she truly wanted to do it for him.
Gyeo Wool knocked on the private office door carrying the tray with the coffee cup.
She waited a few seconds and opened the door to go in.
Tae Wook was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, not at his desk.
“Put it on the desk and leave.”
He seemed to think the person bringing coffee was Secretary Kim.
Perhaps it was because there was no sound and he didn’t hear the door closing.
Tae Wook slowly opened his closed eyes.
“Why is Secretary Han here? Tell Secretary Kim to come in!”
Tae Wook sat up straight, bursting out angrily, apparently thinking Secretary Kim had sent her in.
“I said I would come in. For this.”
Gyeo Wool walked to the sofa and set down the coffee cup from the tray on the table.
Tae Wook looked back and forth between the light brown liquid in the coffee cup and Gyeo Wool.
“I heard you met with the Vice Chairman.”
At Gyeo Wool’s words, Tae Wook let out a laugh.
It wasn’t a mocking laugh or a laugh of disbelief.
“How’s your illness?”
“I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
“That’s good.”
“Thank you for the medicine.”
“I bought you cold medicine and it came back as a miracle cure?”
Tae Wook muttered as if talking to himself as he picked up the coffee cup.
His cold, angry expression seemed to have calmed down.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Wait!”
As Gyeo Wool turned to leave, Tae Wook grabbed her wrist.
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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