“Mom! Did I do well?”
“Ah, yes. Our Minjun did well. But here, you should call me ‘teacher,’ not ‘mom.'”
“Pfft, all the kids know you’re my mom.”
Minjun, dressed in checkered shorts, a white shirt, and even wearing a checkered necktie, looked like a cute little gentleman. However, at Seoha’s correction, Minjun pouted his lips.
Seoha’s eyes twinkled with laughter, but her voice remained firm.
“Still, you can’t call me ‘mom’ in kindergarten.”
“Okay, teacher.”
“Good boy. My son.”
“You tell me to call you ‘teacher,’ but then you call me ‘son.'”
“Sorry. Kim Minjun, child.”
Seoha gently stroked Minjun’s shiny, black hair.
Minjun hugged Seoha’s waist tightly.
“Can you be mom today instead of teacher? All the other kids’ moms are here.”
Minjun’s pleading voice made Seoha’s heart soften.
“Teacher Seoha. It’s the Sky class’s turn next.”
“Yes, I’ll be right there. Minjun, I’m sorry. Mommy is now the teacher for the Sky class. You know? Even if I’m the teacher for the Sky class now, I’m still Minjun’s mom and I’m cheering for you.”
“I know.”
Minjun buried his face in Seoha’s skirt.
Just then, a kind male voice from behind comforted Minjun.
“Minjun, Teacher Teun will be your dad for now, just like at the last sports day. Let’s lend our mom to the Sky class boys for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you, Teacher Minseob. Please take care of Minjun.”
Minseob gestured for Seoha to leave. Seoha looked back at Minjun several times before heading to where the Sky class children were waiting.
Juri, the teacher of the Sunlight class, was waiting for Seoha with a disapproving look.
“Look, Teacher Seoha. Even if you have your own child here, you’re still a teacher at this kindergarten. What will other parents think? Please pay attention to the kids in your class.”
“I’m sorry.”
Seoha bowed her head with her hands clasped. Chaeun, the teacher of the Sky class, looked at Seoha sympathetically.
“Juri, don’t be too hard on Seoha. I can cover for our class alone. Besides, it’s just a short time for Minjun’s performance. It’s sad for him if his mom isn’t there.”
“She should have come back sooner then.”
Juri continued to blame Seoha. Seoha had nothing to say in her defense.
Having her son Minjun at the same kindergarten where she worked was already a big favor.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Juri. Teacher Chaeun. I’ll take the kids to the bathroom.”
“No, let’s go together. There are performances by the 7-year-olds of the Sunlight class and celebration performances anyway. And we’re both faster together. Why did they have to schedule the presentation on the same day as Emil Kindergarten this year?”
Chaeun sighed and led the Sky class children out of the waiting room, and Seoha followed at the end of the line.
Emil Kindergarten, which held its presentation in a different hall today, was popular among young mothers for its new and varied programs and had expensive tuition fees.
Moreover, many children from wealthy families living in townhouses attended Emil Kindergarten.
In contrast, Onnuri Kindergarten, where Seoha worked, maintained low tuition fees following Principal Yunhee’s policy and ran ordinary programs without anything special.
It wasn’t very popular among young mothers passionate about child education. Thanks to its low fees, many children from less affluent families attended there.
The children seemed a bit subdued compared to regular presentation days, perhaps knowing the adult world’s logic.
“Kids who need to go to the bathroom, follow me. The rest wait here with Teacher Seoha.”
Seoha waited in the auditorium lobby with the children who did not go to the bathroom.
While adjusting the children’s performance costumes and looking towards the restroom, she saw a familiar figure in the distance, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.
Her heart felt frozen, and it seemed as if all the blood in her hands and feet was being drawn down to the floor.
‘It can’t be him here, can it?’
She had been hidden for five years. He was a man who hadn’t looked for her, who hadn’t even made a single phone call to her.
Seoha struggled to keep her eyes from drifting towards him as she tended to the children.
Just as Chaeun came out of the restroom with the last child and Seoha was about to return to the waiting room, she saw him clearly again.
It was definitely Taekyung, whom she had longed for during the past five years. He hadn’t changed at all.
Taekyung was holding a little girl with pigtails, about Minjun’s age, and smiling brightly.
The girl clung to Taekyung’s neck, and he gently stroked her back with kindness and softness.
It was the same way he used to smile and tenderly caress Seoha.
Seoha felt a sharp pain as if something was clawing at her heart.
He was the person she had wanted to see so badly over the years.
She thought the hatred, resentment, and even the longing had faded with time. She had only prayed for him to be well. Yet, seeing him doing well still hurt her, bringing tears to her eyes.
His eyes, dripping with love for the child, made it obvious he was a good father.
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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