Office Romance Scandal (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
The two-week-long vacation was over. She had saved up all her unused annual leave since joining the company and taken it all at once.
This year, Hae Jin was scheduled to be promoted to team leader. Although it was a crucial time, her request for leave was approved without much difficulty.
Born as the only daughter of a family with no sons, she never underwent formal heir training.
Her father, Jeong Han Sung, had built his company from the ground up and hoped his daughter would do the same.
At first, right after graduating from university, she’d joined the company with a light heart, under the pretext of an internship.
She entered the company thinking she’d just be helping out her dad’s business, submitting a resume and going through interviews just like everyone else.
No one knew that Jeong Hae Jin was the daughter of Jeong Han Sung of Zion Group.
She absolutely disliked the preconceived judgments of people who didn’t even know her well—she wanted to succeed based on merit, not background.
So she considered this vacation a well-deserved reward for working harder than anyone else.
She left the arrivals hall after confirming that her phone screen had lit up again.
Before leaving the country, she’d already informed her parents of her return date, time, and flight details.
Her eyes quickly scanned the crowd, but she couldn’t spot her parents.
Thinking nothing of it, she checked her phone—and chaos had erupted.
“What’s going on?” she murmured, staring blankly at her phone as notifications kept pouring in.
From “Something terrible’s happened, Senior Associate!” to texts demanding why she wasn’t answering her phone.
She rushed out of the airport and quickly got the full story.
Zion had poured nearly all its liquid assets into a new production line.
When cash flow dried up, they’d put up collateral—but the project ultimately failed, and cash circulation collapsed entirely.
In the end, the company went bankrupt, and Han Sung and Hee Jung were doing everything they could to manage the fallout.
Her parents, who had promised to meet her at the airport, instead sent a text.
—“Sorry, sweetheart. We’ll contact you again once things calm down.”
Along with that message came an unfamiliar address—and then her parents went completely silent.
After that, she never heard from them again. Whenever she called their usual numbers, she only got a recorded message saying the number no longer existed.
If you put it nicely, this situation was “living independently”; less politely, it was outright hiding.
The day she had no choice but to go to the unfamiliar address, she’d never forget how she felt.
It was Hae Jin’s first time in this neighborhood—like she’d been abruptly dropped into a strange new world, entirely alone.
Except during her study-abroad years, she’d never lived in a place so small you could take it all in at a glance. If anything, this place was even tinier.
She stood there dazed, still not having taken off her shoes—afraid that the moment she stepped inside, she’d mortgage her entire life to this place.
Afraid that Jeong Hae Jin’s future would simply end within this tiny world.
Living frugally on her own wasn’t easy for Hae Jin.
Her household setup was far from complete.
Unfamiliar with domestic chores, she kept making mistakes. As she bought necessities one by one, the balance in her bank account kept shrinking.
She tried cutting back as much as possible, but changing lifelong spending habits proved harder than she’d thought.
Her idea of “cutting back” was switching from credit cards to a debit card.
She kept telling herself her parents would resolve everything and get back in touch—but as days turned into weeks, her anxiety only grew.
The moment she heard, “Ma’am, your balance is insufficient,” after trying to pay with her debit card, Hae Jin bolted out of the store.
After much deliberation, she resorted to her last option: reaching out to connections built through social gatherings.
Pride didn’t matter—survival came first.
But her father’s company collapse made it painfully clear that those connections were gone for good.
Some calls wouldn’t even connect; those that did were always met with excuses about being too busy.
She already knew well enough—her father’s business stature had defined their social rank.
Now that she’d fallen to rock bottom, that rank had been stripped from her.
It was the moment Jeong Hae Jin’s final safety net was forcibly canceled.
Falling from the top to the bottom had been frighteningly easy—but she couldn’t live like this.
If things kept going like this, she’d be begging on the streets in no time.
At this dead end, she had no other choice.
She’d sell everything luxurious—except her conscience and her body.
“How did you even collect all these?”
She began selling off her designer handbags, one by one.
“What should I do first?”
She decided to start by looking for part-time work. Amid the flood of job postings, her fingers just kept swiping mindlessly across her phone screen.
Pass. Pass. Pass again. It felt like her whole life was being passed over.
**
The doorbell rang. No one ever visited her here.
She immediately went on high alert, rushed to the door, and peered through the peephole.
A middle-aged man stood outside—dressed in a neatly tailored suit, with gleaming eyeglass frames that caught the light.
Just looking at him, you could tell wealth practically dripped from his every pore.
“Who—who is it?”
Her eyes, fixed on the man outside, were filled with suspicion. She scanned the hallway for anyone else.
Thankfully, there was no one besides the middle-aged man.
“Is Miss Jeong Hae Jin in?”
It was clearly her name—but suspicion outweighed relief.
How did he know she lived here?
Her hesitant fingers kept circling the doorknob, unable to decide.
It felt far too risky to open the door for a complete stranger.
Just then, as if he knew exactly she was hesitating—
“I’m Chun Sik’s friend.”
Hae Jin clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Chun Sik” was her father Han Sung’s pre-legal-name-change identity—known only to a very select few.
The tension in her grip loosened slightly. Could he possibly be here with news about her father? She unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.
“You really are Hae Jin.”
He spoke as if he’d known her forever—his gaze and demeanor completely at ease.
“You don’t remember me, do you? Do you have time to come inside and talk?”
Even if he claimed to be her father’s friend, she couldn’t just let him in so easily. In this harsh world, a kind smile wasn’t enough.
The man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a business card.
Moon Jun Tae, CEO of Yeon Chang Group.
The card looked simple, yet it radiated authority.
Still wary, Hae Jin kept glancing back and forth between the card and Jun Tae.
“Just a moment.”
She quickly searched the name on her phone.
The face that appeared in the search results was standing right before her eyes—he really was the CEO of Yeon Chang Group.
“Please come in.”
The front door swung wide open as she disengaged the extra lock, and Jun Tae stepped inside.
Jun Tae carefully surveyed the small apartment. Though they sat facing each other, an awkward wall stood between them.
Yeon Chang Group was one of the country’s largest, most prominent corporations—why would its CEO seek her out?
Was he here to help her—or was he coming to collect money invested in her father’s failed venture?
She couldn’t be sure of anything.
In the heavy silence, one small movement broke the tension.
Seizing the opening, Hae Jin asked,
“Do you know me?”
Jun Tae set down the glass he’d been holding.
“Were you about… two years old, maybe?”
He extended his arm halfway, stopping it at roughly table height.
If that’s how old she’d been when they’d last met, of course she wouldn’t remember.
“It’s understandable you wouldn’t recall.”
As if reading her thoughts, Jun Tae’s eyes softened with understanding.
“But why did you come looking for me?”
Without preamble, she cut straight to the point—what could Yeon Chang Group possibly want with her?
“To help you. I owe your father a debt.”
If you owe him, why didn’t you help his business instead?
She still hadn’t heard how, exactly, he intended to help.
“After a long search, I finally managed to find you, Miss Hae Jin. I know it’s hard to believe, but your father requested it himself.”
“Have you been in contact with my father?”
Her voice, heavy with longing, bordered on urgency.
“How would I possibly get a number he didn’t even give his own daughter? He just asked me—if this situation ever happened, I must find you.”
Her parents had vanished so completely it felt like they’d severed even natural bonds.
She’d dialed their old number countless times, only to hear the same automated message: “The number you have dialed does not exist.”
Yet Hae Jin kept calling—clutching at straws.
Maybe today they’d finally pick up, or maybe things would change by tomorrow.
She clung to this open-ended promise like gospel, trying to convince herself everything would be fine—but the longer time passed, the deeper her worry grew.
Jun Tae adjusted his glasses slightly, studying Hae Jin. Their eyes met again through the lenses.
One desperately wanted answers; the other calmly deflected curiosity.
Jun Tae was the first to break the invisible standoff.
“Aren’t you looking for a job right now?”
How did he know?
If his promised “help” was a job, that changed everything.
The man before her wasn’t just anyone—he was the CEO of Yeon Chang Group.
With just a gesture or a glance from him, a job she couldn’t otherwise get might materialize.
Hae Jin understood this world better than most—she knew exactly what power looked like.
At those words, she carefully placed both hands flat on her knees.
“It won’t be easy to find work.”
His remark showed an almost unsettling awareness of her full situation—was this what set a big-corporation CEO apart?
Slowly, she nodded. It pained her to admit she had no other choice.
Her network was gone, part-time jobs weren’t panning out, and her bank balance was hurtling toward zero.
At this rock-bottom moment, Jun Tae’s outstretched hand was her only lifeline.
“I’ll give you a job.”
Was the CEO of Yeon Chang Group really offering her employment?
Despite the bold promise, Hae Jin hesitated slightly.
Life had taught her there was no such thing as free help. Reality was brutally transactional—give and take, nothing more.
Having grown up in a chaebol family, Hae Jin knew their ecosystem inside out.
She couldn’t just accept this blindly. Her counterpart was a professional businessman and CEO of a major corporation.
She still hadn’t heard what kind of job he was offering—it was too soon to let her guard down.
Hae Jin swallowed hard. Jun Tae didn’t miss even that tiny gesture.
Seeming to sense she was ready to listen, he cleared his throat and revealed his sole purpose for coming:
“There’s a rugby ball at our company.”
A rugby ball? The word felt utterly out of place.
Hae Jin tilted her head, as if she’d misheard.
Unlike her, Jun Tae’s expression was dead serious.
“I’d like you to be its flanker.”
He shot a quick glance at Hae Jin’s face—her eyes were still wavering, clearly not grasping the situation yet.
“Well… what I mean is…”
Jun Tae held back his words. That alone was enough to spike her anxiety.
He seemed to carefully weigh his phrasing. His fingers, which had been tapping thoughtfully on the table, finally stilled.
“Personal mark.”
The phrase, clear even by dictionary definition, made her eyes waver even more.
But then Jun Tae dangled an irresistible golden apple:
“I guarantee the compensation—on my name.”
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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I like his honesty and my god there is communication.