Dajeong couldn’t muster the courage to visit a place she had never dared to approach before.
A place she had no curiosity about what they were selling. A location she had never properly looked at. The man who entered as if it were familiar, strolling as if it were his own home, casually placed an order and absentmindedly took off his watch. Each of his actions flowed as naturally as water. His movements were concise yet restrained.
He was like a piece of art. Dajeong couldn’t help but be bothered by the sneakers he haphazardly put on in the morning.
That’s right. It was more annoying than good. No one looked more shabby here than Yoon Dajeong. And no one shone brighter than Jae-ho.
The man scooped some salad onto Dajeong’s plate.
“Do you remember that day? The day we ate knife-cut noodles.”
Dajeong didn’t respond.
“Ms. Yoon Dajeong poured knife-cut noodles into my plate. I was happy back then.”
She stared silently at the plate stacked with salad.
“So, I’m returning the favor. I hope Ms. Yoon Dajeong is happy too.”
After making bizarre statements like “I can’t end it” or whatever, he changed abruptly when the food arrived, as if to say, “When did that happen?” Dajeong was dumbfounded and couldn’t even muster a laugh. Comparing knife-cut noodles to this. Knife-cut noodles cost only 8,000 won. The food here was much more expensive than 80,000 won.
“I don’t want to eat.”
If she was going to get a response worth 8,000 won, she hoped it would come back as an equivalent value of 8,000 won. At this point, she wondered if the man wasn’t deliberately doing this. Did he want to give her a punishment for leaving silently?
“I might get hungry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I barely ate before.”
Dajeong’s eyes widened.
“How does Jaeho…?”
“Don’t force me to eat.”
At that moment, the steak arrived. A tempting plate was placed on the momentarily silent table.
“Dajeong-ah, I wanted to do this with you.”
The man, cutting the meat with a familiar touch, whispered.
Dajeong-ah.
The term, sounding like a musical note, scratched at her heart. Come to think of it, he had never called her that in the countryside. He always said Ms. Yoon Dajeong.
She also wanted to point out the oddly comfortable term.
“I’ll take you to nice places, feed you only good things, and show you only good things.”
“I don’t want to eat…”
“If you don’t eat this, you won’t leave here.”
Jae-ho firmly said as he cut the meat. His forehead furrowed deeply.
He placed the sliced steak dish in front of Dajeong. Dajeong looked at the dish alternately with Jae-ho.
“Why are you talking like this?”
“…”
“Don’t worry. You like it. It’ll taste good.”
“Mr. Jaeho.”
“Enough.”
As Jae-ho nervously cut his steak in front of him, the knife finally fell from the man’s hand. He straightened up and sat upright, looking directly into Dajeong’s eyes with a self-deprecating smile.
Ha.
The slanted gaze looking down was fierce.
“Dajeong-ah. Dajeong-ah. Yoon Dajeong.”
“…….”.
“How should I break up with you?”
After wiping his jaw once and exhaling a short breath, he picked up the knife again. A faint classical melody coming from a distance awkwardly echoed.
“Eat. Let’s eat.”
He looked like a teenage boy who didn’t know what to do. Yielding to his gaze, Dajeong reluctantly picked up the fork, and he moved the knife again.
“We’ll visit a cafe downstairs. They say they make good chocolate cake or something. You like chocolate, right?”
Did he ever say such a thing?
She only briefly liked chocolate when she was very young. Dajeong disliked sweet things.
Because of her brother, who used to lecture her in detail about how high-sugar foods like chocolate were harmful to teenagers during her adolescence, his face kept coming to her mind.
But today, none of his words seemed to be effective, so she simply closed her mouth.
And he went to a real cafe and ordered chocolate cake. With expensive coffee.
“I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow too.”
No, don’t. Please don’t. It’s over.
Dajeong had already used these phrases multiple times five minutes ago. She had no idea how to make him stop now. So, she lied for now.
“It’s useless. I’m on the night shift tomorrow.”
“You’ve become quite good at lying. Ms. Yoon Dajeong’s schedule is already in my hands.”
“How…!”
“I know almost everything about Yoon Dajeong.”
Dajeong bit her lip.
“I don’t want to hide the fact that I know a lot.”
Does he really know everything? Maybe. Yoon Dajeong, being an enthusiastic fan of Jaeho, a fan cafe operator, and preparing for a one-month living travel, he probably knew all that from the beginning.
From the beginning.
As if deliberately stealing my heart, pretending coincidences like a well-written script.
“I’m curious about something.”
Dajeong spoke.
“I hope you answer.”
Jae-ho nodded slightly as he held the coffee cup to his lips.
“Did you know about me for a long time?”
For a moment, the man, who had frozen while holding the coffee cup, soon put it down as if nothing had happened.
“Long ago, when?”
“Just. Before meeting at the pension.”
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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