“Now go study. I don’t want to hear complaints later about you failing exams because of me.”
“Yes.”
Kang Hyun used his arm as a pillow and watched her back with satisfaction. She had tied up her hair neatly and was wearing a loose Tshirt with training pants, which she always wore at home.
Although she dressed in the style that Kyeong Hwa provided when she went to school, at home, she was the same as before. She was a person far from luxury.
‘I treated Seo Yoon like a seductress.’
He felt suddenly pathetic for misunderstanding her.
‘She’s really working hard. Well, Seo Yoon is always diligent with anything she does.’
Watching Yun concentrate on the lecture so intensely that it was scary, Kang Hyun suddenly felt sorry.
‘I’m lying here while she studies.’
However, his eyelids were gradually drooping.
‘Just close my eyes for a bit.’
“Ugh…”
Seeing Kang Hyun grit his teeth and break out in a cold sweat, Yun brought a towel and carefully wiped his face.
“No!”
Kang Hyun shouted, and Yun, hesitating because he seemed to be in so much pain, gently woke him up.
“Mr. Kang Hyun.”
“…Ahh!”
Kang Hyun gritted his teeth. His face was distorted in pain.
“Mr. Kang Hyun.”
Surprised, Yun shook Kang Hyun.
“Gasp!”
Suddenly, Kang Hyun’s eyes snapped open, and he quickly sat up.
“Mr. Kang Hyun, are you okay?”
Yun wiped the sweat off his face and asked worriedly.
“…”
“Did you have a nightmare?”
It was heartbreaking to think about how terrifying and painful the dream must have been for him to break out in a cold sweat and groan.
He must be stressed because the filming schedule was tight and he was rushing to shoot. Moreover, he was the CEO of the production company, which must have made things even harder.
“Are you okay?”
She asked cautiously, looking at Kang Hyun who seemed still dazed from the remnants of his nightmare.
“What kind of dream did you have to be so tormented?”
“…My mother.”
Kang Hyun, who opened his mouth without thinking, still had no focus in his eyes.
“Your mother?”
Kang Hyun nodded. He had been tormented by nightmares like this ever since witnessing the tragic death of his mother, Song Gi Seon.
“Drink some water.”
Yun hastily brought water from the kitchen and handed it to Kang Hyun.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Kang Hyun took the cup.
“My mother… she had a hard life before she passed away.”
After drinking the water, Kang Hyun put down the cup and muttered.
“…Yes.”
Yun gently stroked his hand, feeling sorry for Kang Hyun who was speaking as if lost in pain.
“I told you I have a halfbrother, right? My mother suffered a lot because of him and his mother.”
Yun thought of Hyun Seung, whom she met at the restaurant run by Yu Hyun’s friend.
Kang Hyun seemed to dread even the accidental meeting with Hyun Seung, and Hyun Seung’s overly friendly attitude towards Kang Hyun felt somewhat fake, so Yun didn’t have a good first impression.
“Even when she passed away, it was so horrible…”
Kang Hyun gritted his teeth.
The image of his mother always falling apart in agony was what he remembered. As a child, he was scared of that image, but after her passing, it was engraved painfully in his heart.
Kang Hyun could not forgive not only Hyun Seung and his mother, but also his father, Chairman Cha.
Regardless of the circumstances, he couldn’t understand and didn’t want to understand how he could neglect his wife and the mother of his children.
“My mother was a pitiful woman.”
Kang Hyun lowered his head.
At that time, Kang Hyun had just stepped into the entertainment industry after a conflict with Chairman Cha and was busy preparing a oneman agency due to the chairman’s interference. Therefore, he had no time to look after his mother.
Seeing him with his head bowed low, Yun gently stroked his back, his appearance looking pitiful.
“When did your mother pass away?”
Yun carefully asked.
“It’s been eight years since she passed away.”
Kang Hyun sighed. Eight years had passed, but the memory of that day was still vivid. That day, he felt unusually down.
He couldn’t focus properly even while filming. As soon as it ended, he rushed back home and came face to face with his mother’s lifeless body.
He lived in the painful guilt that if he had arrived just a little earlier, he might have been able to save his mother. The thought of his mother meeting her end so lonely was heartbreaking, and for a while, he couldn’t eat or drink.
“So, since then, have you been having these nightmares and unable to sleep well?”
Yun cautiously asked.
“Maybe.”
Yun quietly embraced Kang Hyun, who responded absently.
“You must have… had a hard time.”
Yun had only vaguely thought that he couldn’t sleep because he was sensitive. She didn’t know he was suffering so much from his mother’s death.
She only thought that his mother passed away because she was unwell, but hearing from Kang Hyun that she had suffered so much to the point of breaking his heart, Yun also felt pained.
“So, did your insomnia start from that time as well?”
“It seems like it.”
“Have you been to the hospital?”
“No.”
Considering Kang Hyun, who was always the topic of discussion, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to go to the hospital. Rumors can inflate and flow in any direction, after all.
Thinking of him enduring that pain alone all this time, Yun felt heartbroken.
“I should have been by my mother’s side, but I wasn’t able to.”
Kang Hyun’s face distorted with guilt.
“Kang Hyun.”
“She must have been very lonely.”
Kang Hyun’s voice trembled.
Yun felt his pain so intensely that tears welled up in her eyes. He was still filled with guilt over his mother’s death, enough to keep him from sleeping.
“Your mother wouldn’t want you to keep suffering like this.”
It was natural to grieve as a child, but he couldn’t remain in guilt forever.
“Let your mother rest in peace now.”
Yun’s warm voice resonated in Kang Hyun’s ears. She was shedding tears. Kang Hyun wiped her tears with his fingers.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because you’re sad, Kang Hyun.”
Kang Hyun held Yun closer. He hadn’t realized that having someone who empathizes with his pain and suffers with him could be such a great comfort.
“I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”
Kang Hyun once again sincerely apologized to Yun. He had despised her, so kind and fragile, just because she was born out of wedlock.
“It was a misunderstanding, after all. Let’s both forget about the past now.”
Understanding his pain, Yun understood why he despised those born out of wedlock. His broad back somehow seemed pitiful today, and she kept stroking it.
Today, Yun’s embrace, which Kang Hyun had always thought to be fragile, felt wide and warm enough to lean on. He buried his face in her nape, inhaling the scent that always brought him peace.
“Seo Yun, do you know something?”
Kang Hyun muttered.
“Do you know that I like you?”
At Kang Hyun’s words, Yun whispered softly in his ear.
“Do you know something, Kang Hyun?”
“That I like you too?”
“You are my first love, Kang Hyun.”
lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)
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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