Walking past the communal garden of Happy Officetel and following the block pavement, a fivestory building finished with grey marble and fulllength glass was visible.
The green sign on the first floor that advertised a coffee shop and the 24hour convenience store sign were familiar to everyone.
“Sis? Sis!”
Among the single diner spaces partitioned off in the convenience store, the shoulder of Ji An, who occupied one and was bent over, was shaken violently.
The one who had desperately woken her was the convenience store parttimer, Joo Min Chan.
“Sis! Pull yourself together.”
“I’m going. Go. Look after the high schoolers when they come.”
It was the day she emerged from the swamp after completing two translation manuscripts over the course of a long five months.
Pride in having met the deadline was fleeting as Ji An quickly lost her energy to the overwhelming sense of emptiness.
That there wasn’t a single person to share this feeling of liberation with.
‘It’s a weekday, so it’s possible.’ she comforted herself, but the temperature difference between her head and her heart was clearly different.
When she was in the convenience store, filled with many people coming and going, Ji An’s loneliness blurred like water. Because it felt like she wasn’t alone.
As she rested her face on the table again, she spoke.
“Hey! Don’t you dare call me. Got it?”
A few strands of hair escaped from her rolledup round head, clinging to her neck.
A fluffy padded vest, grey training pants with knees sticking out, and wornout, clunky rubber slippers.
Ji An’s legs, looking like the local madwoman of the area, went limp and spread out to both sides.
“Ah, seriously. Sis!”
Min Chan, who had taken a phone out of his work uniform pocket, firmly pressed the call button.
While listening to the call connecting, he put an empty beer can with the middle crumpled and an empty wrapper of grapeflavored jelly into the recycling bin next to the cash machine.
Yes. This is Yoon Ha Joon.
“Brother. This is GX Convenience Store, Happy Tower branch. It’s Ji An sister.”
A firm voice interrupted Min Chan’s words from over the phone. The exchange of questions and answers between the two people continued naturally, albeit disjointed.
What time did she arrive?
“She came down a little after seven after handing in the manuscript. She did say she was leaving, though.”
Just leave her be. I’ll be there soon.
After hanging up, Ha Joon closed his laptop and put the case file into his briefcase. He remembered the call from Ji An that had come in late in the afternoon.
She had finished the manuscript.
Well, she had been tied up for a few months.
The glamorous lights visible beyond the picture window told the late hour.
He muttered, dropping his gaze to the silver wristwatch as he rolled up the sleeve of his dress shirt a little.
“It would have been nice if you’d said something. Even if I’m busy, I would have made time.”
Standing in front of the styler with a wide stride, Ha Joon turned the Britishstyle black jacket half a circle and slipped his arm into the sleeve.
The crystal nameplate on the mahogany desk displayed its dignity.
Ha Joon entered through the entrance of the GX Convenience Store.
Min Chan, who was scanning the barcode of a cup noodle, greeted, “Welcome,” and turned to look at Ha Joon.
At a glance, a tall man with a wellgroomed body. A man who didn’t seem to fit at all with Ji An, who enjoyed drinking alone in the convenience store.
Nodding to Min Chan, he crossed the ramen display to head towards the rest area.
Finding Ji An among the crowd of students in school uniform, Ha Joon pulled a chair away from a window seat at a distance.
When he pulled out his phone, Ji An’s voice was heard among many others.
“Didn’t you say you admire the author of the novel you translated this time, sis?”
A student wearing thick padding over his uniform and glasses asked at the same time.
“Sister! Are you returning to the academy in Daechidong now?”
“I should. I need to earn a living, so I will work at the academy.”
“I begged my mom to take your class. Ki Hyun and Do Hoon too.”
“Really? What about the mock exams?”
“Thanks to you giving us your valuable time, we did really well on our exams.”
Ji An, who caught Ha Joon’s eye, glanced at Min Chan at the counter and tied her words.
“Work hard. Those times don’t come twice. I’ll pay for you. Choose what you want to eat.”
As the crowd of students in uniform swarmed the counters, Ji An let out a long sigh.
Will he say something for dealing with high schoolers again?
Scratching the back of her head in trouble as she approached, Ha Joon stood up straight.
Holding his briefcase, he said.
“Can you walk?”
“As you can see. Min Chan overreacted.”
“It’s not the first time.”
“Yeah, I’ve been carried by you here a few times. No need to make a fuss about old stories. Just go.”
Ji An put her hand into her padding pocket and headed to the counter.
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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