“At least I don’t have to say those words… Am I a bad child?”
The woman twisted her face, then soon started shedding tears. And with the bag she was holding, she began to hit Seol Ji-oh.
Seol Ji-oh stood still, silently allowing the woman to hit him as she wished. However, after a few swings of the bag, the woman lost strength and sat down in place.
“Sob… If it’s going to be like this, why?!”
Seol Ji-oh silently looked down at the woman shedding tears. The reason he started meeting her was purely because of her round eyes.
Round eyes that bring someone to mind. He was drawn to them, and there was no other reason.
Seol Ji-oh, dressed nicely, sat on the floor of his house, watching her pour tears, feeling sorry for her.
But when they started their relationship, he clearly stated.
This relationship is not about love. If she wished for that, he couldn’t meet her.
It was a very selfish and mean thing to say.
But the woman in love simply nodded. As long as she could be happy meeting him, even if he was a bad guy.
Seol Ji-oh handed her a tissue and said,
“I’m sorry. Meet a good guy.”
That was sincere. Because he couldn’t become a good guy himself.
After the woman left, Seol Ji-oh opened a can of beer in the quiet house.
Since when did things become so messed up?
Seol Ji-oh laughed as if mocking himself and took a sip of beer. The cool beer flowed down his throat.
A small girl’s face coming up in his mind.
At some point, when he looked at a woman, the girl’s face became the standard. And even when he was in a relationship, the girl suddenly came to mind. Making real relationships difficult.
After experiencing several empty breakups, he realized.
‘I shouldn’t be in a relationship.’
Seol Ji-oh leaned on the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV. He changed channels here and there.
Since becoming an actor, Seol Ji-oh actually watched TV less than before. Even when watching movies or dramas, it felt like he was working.
Becoming an actor was actually a spontaneous choice.
To be independent from his mother, he needed money, and also, if he became famous, maybe. Just in case Yeo-un might come looking for him.
It was a really ridiculous reason, even when he thought about it himself.
So much time had passed, yet how was he still captivated by his first love?
At this point, it could be called obsession.
Seol Ji-oh laughed sarcastically, manipulating the remote control meaninglessly. With a bored look, he flipped through the channels. He momentarily paused when the screen flashed with the face he thought of.
“…No way.”
Seol Ji-oh lowered the channel again. Expecting it to be someone who resembled her, he lowered the channel, but when the face filled the screen, his mouth unknowingly fell open.
“Ha.”
A bitter laugh burst out. And at the same time, his heart began to beat violently.
…Finally found her.
No matter how many times he looked, it was clear. Seol Ji-oh stared blankly at the screen. He found his reason for searching.
Seol Ji-oh immediately searched for the drama title and examined the characters. On the last page under characters, Yeo-un’s name was clearly written.
Seol Ji-oh stared intently at Yeo-un’s profile picture. A childhood appearance, or rather, Yeo-un’s face, which had grown much more beautiful than that.
An actor. A fellow actor like me.
It was unbelievable. Even though we were in the same field, it was amazing how I lived without knowing for so long.
Yeo-un, whom I resented so much, just the fact that she was so close turned my resentment into a poignant possessiveness.
Seol Ji-oh immediately called CEO Joo Seok-young.
“Hyung, don’t schedule me in the U.S. anymore. I want to focus on activities in Korea for a while.”
After casually talking around the bewildered Joo Seok-young, Seol Ji-oh stared blankly at the TV screen.
The fact that Yeo-un was within reach alone strangely excited him.
“Yeo-un…”
With the round name he hadn’t spoken in a long time, his heart began to beat.
Seol Ji-oh pondered for days on how he should appear in front of Yeo-un.
While contemplating to create the best scenario, he coincidentally found out that the musical director Yeo-un appeared in was his university professor. And he heard that the after-party for the performance would take place a while later.
Perfect conditions for a meeting veiled as a coincidence.
Seol Ji-oh set the D-day for that day and made all the preparations.
And he arrived at the pub.
Standing at the entrance, Seol Ji-oh was curious about what expression Yeo-un would make when she saw him. After opening the door and entering, he greeted Professor Baek In-ho as if he had come to see him.
“Long time no see, Professor.”
Baek In-ho welcomed Seol Ji-oh with a hearty smile, and Seol Ji-oh naturally took a seat across from him. And then, he saw her.
Yeo-un, who wore a hat low as if she could leave at any moment, carrying a bag.
Even though her face was shaded due to the hat, Seol Ji-oh could recognize Yeo-un at a glance.
From her small face to round eyes and pretty lips. It matched the image he had drawn all this time. When he faced her, his heart began to beat rapidly.
But when Yeo-un saw him, she immediately lowered her head and seemed to be in a posture to run away. Seol Ji-oh got angry for a moment.
Are you pretending not to know me and planning to run away? Why on earth?
At that moment, the woman sitting next to Yeo-un grabbed her bag and asked loudly.
“Hey, where are you trying to go all the time?”
At those words, even Baek In-ho sitting next to her turned his gaze to Yeo-un.
“No, Miss Yeo-un. Leaving already?”
Seol Ji-oh pretended not to notice, looking at Yeo-un’s face. And hiding his excitement, he muttered Yeo-un’s name.
“Yeo…un?”
Yeo-un hesitated for a moment and looked at him. Meeting her eyes filled with subtle anticipation, Seol Ji-oh felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
It would be shocking for her to realize that I didn’t recognize her, wouldn’t it?
“Ji-oh, this friend here is a truly genuine friend. Yeo-un, that’s her name, isn’t it pretty? Her last name is Yeo, and her first name is Un. Yeo-un.”
“…Your name is wonderful.”
Seol Ji-oh responded softly with an expression that revealed nothing. Looking at Yeo-un, whose eyes widened in surprise, he thought to himself.
This time, I won’t be friends with you.
To you, I will definitely be a man.
He was confident. Fifteen-year-old him had nothing he could do and could only cry, but not now.
Using all the resources, connections, and social standing at his disposal, he was determined to keep Yeo-un by his side.
“…”
Seol Ji-oh’s black eyes gazed silently at Yeo-un.
His first love was not over yet.
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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