Taehee calmly observed faint cracks spreading over Sajun’s numb face.
But that was it.
He didn’t say anything or show any reaction.
Taehee, suppressing her trembling breath, opened her mouth again with a desperate and earnest heart.
“I love you, Sajun.”
I love you. So, confess to me too. Say you love me, so stay by my side.
However, it seemed like Sajun didn’t receive this prayer filled with earnest wishes.
Sajun, who had stood up, slowly swept up his disheveled hair and closed his eyes.
Sajun, taking a moment to close his eyes and regulate his breath as if his head hurt, didn’t seem surprised or anxious.
He was the old Sajun, calm, leisurely, half out of his mind due to a hangover, not in a hurry, no matter what happened.
Unable to endure the sudden return to the past that had been temporarily interrupted by the unexpected pregnancy, Taehee let out a bitter smile.
Yeah, what was I expecting from you?
“You won in our bet.”
With Taehee’s sigh-like words, the piercing headache softened.
Only then did Sajun slowly lift his eyelids.
As Taehee said, he had won in the bet, so there was no reason to be anxious or scared anymore.
Now, Sajun just needed to confess his love to Taehee.
But unfortunately, the brain soaked in alcohol from last night’s hangover seemed to be buffering.
He couldn’t organize what to say, where to start, or how to go about it.
As his blurred mind gradually returned, his dry throat, which felt like it was splitting, was parched with thirst. His eyelids were so stiff from the sand-like substance that it was difficult to open them properly.
Being submerged for over a week and suddenly hearing Min Taehee confess her love, Sajun wasn’t in his right mind.
But it seemed like he should confess his love first. It was instinctive.
After saying those words, he could handle the rest later, drink a glass of cool water, take a shower, freshen up, and then speak seriously.
Having not slept properly for days and suffering from an empty stomach, Sajun’s physical condition was at its worst.
Damn it, I should have drunk moderately last night.
Spitting out hot breath while silently cursing, Sajun didn’t even realize it in his dream.
The moment of sorting out thoughts amid the terrible headache was like an endless and despairing silence for Taehee.
“I really endured for a long time. Sajun, you’re frighteningly attractive as a man.”
As she murmured to herself like a soliloquy, when Sajun opened his eyes slightly, Taehee, smiling beautifully as her heart fluttered, appeared.
In contrast to her smoothly smiling lips, her eyes looked so sad that Sajun’s head went blank.
Why are you looking at me with such eyes?
The fear and anxiety in those eyes, which couldn’t be understood, amplified within his chest.
“Kang Sajun, do you know? Once love starts, you can’t hit the brakes. But after a crash, you find that you can hit the brakes.”
Taehee swallowed a bitter smile and spoke calmly.
“As you said, it was all fake.”
In the end, Taehee didn’t hear the words ‘I love you’ from Sajun. The baby in her belly had overcome a 1% chance, but Taehee herself couldn’t break through the 1% chance.
“If you don’t say you love me until the end, I would have really left you. But if you had said you loved me, even if it was a lie, I would have believed it and found a way to be together.”
Now, there’s only one option left.
With the determination to grasp at straws, Taehee decided to try.
“When you fall in love, you become a coward. Because I was afraid our relationship might end, and because you might not love me until the end. So, even knowing you might lose the bet, I hoped you’d say you love me first.”
It’s not that you didn’t love me, but that you didn’t know my feelings of love.
Even if she did this and Sajun still didn’t realize her feelings, then it was truly right to give up. It meant that his feelings toward her were so negligible.
“But thanks to enduring until the end to win the bet, I can now let you go.”
“…….”
“I loved you a lot, Kang Sajun.”
Whether it was resignation or not, a smile flowed out refreshingly.
In response to that smile, Sajun’s black pupils rose slowly with intense fierceness.
“Min Taehee, you’re crazy.”
“Speak straight. We were both crazy. Not friends, not lovers.”
“…….”
“We were just impure friends. An inappropriate relationship. I realized that belatedly and cleaned up.”
“…….”
“So, don’t think of filling the shackles with my released feelings now. If you ever considered me even a little as a friend, just let me go peacefully.”
Sajun had no response.
With a numb expression that even faint cracks had disappeared, he remained silent. As if he couldn’t hear, see, or feel anything.
Slowly rising, Taehee earnestly wished.
That even after saying harsh words and leaving, there would be a day when you come looking for me.
Remembering my confession of love, feeling my absence, reminiscing about our good memories, I hope I become your love.
Then, willingly striving to become a good couple and good parents with Kang Sajun.
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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