Si-Jin "coincidentally" comes to take the elevator at the same time as Na-Yool, who doesn't want him to see her ex wandering around outside their workplace. Because her ex is so embarrassingly pathetic. So she makes up an excuse about not riding the elevator on the right side because of her bad mood, so he can go first and she'll take the left one. She goes on about how she always liked left more anyway ("how progressive, " Si-Jin notes) and how she used to be a lefty. Anyway, her attempt to shake off Si-Jin is unsuccessful.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how well the author handled the climax of the stalker storyline. The seriousness caused some tonal dissonance compared with other chapters, but I prefer stalking and women's rights to be treated with respect instead of making it a joke/trivial issue like often happens in rom-coms.

It's infuriating to see how people bypass her. I don't if it's exactly like that or a bit exaggerated but it IS real. The no means no. The I said what I sad, I know what I said, I mean it, I am in my right mind, stop putting words on my mouth. That we women are garbage doesn't matter what we do the moment men (society) deems so. The fact that authority think of us women as victims when they like to!

it got DAMN REAL.

In the opening chapter, she is at breaking point: freshly jilted by her boyfriend, self-confidence in tatters, and desperately resentful of the fact that her whole life seems to revolve around work as she's stuck covering for multiple colleagues on long-term leave. She squarely blames all these woes on her boss, Si-Jin. Channelling her energy into 'hating' him also lets her live in denial about the huge crush she's had on him since joining the company.

It bears emphasis: the denial is strong with this one!

Nearly the whole novel is seen from her point of view, which is heavily biased. She adheres rigidly to the belief that her boss is (somehow) simultaneously an emotionless robot and a sadistic monster. It's a carefully-cultivated coping mechanism that's helped her face him for years, and the prospect of rethinking it terrifies her. It is a slooooow journey for her to relax her excessive vigilance towards him.

However when all that drive and determination is put to uses other than brainwashing herself, the results are admirable! Despite her flights of fancy regarding Si-Jin, she's essentially a very practical person. I relate a lot to her insecurities, her reluctance to become vulnerable to another person, and her way of overthinking things; I only wish I had half her mental fortitude. I'm quite bewildered when other readers call her a pushover; she has a spine of steel.

She can be accommodating, excessively so, in matters such as giving face to her idle busybody colleagues. This isn't weak will: it's social calibration, and it's another point of difference between her and Si-Jin. He lives with the freedom to be ruthless towards others, unlike this little worker bee who needs to operate harmoniously with other bees to get things done. And she is exceedingly good at getting things done! Her workaholic boss would be incapable of appreciating her as a person if he didn't first appreciate her as a diligent and capable worker.

While overcautiousness causes her to dither sometimes, she is firm when something is truly important to her. She advocates for herself when others are piling on the pressure to make her compromise/conform, even when those trying to wear her down are in positions of seniority over her. At times it may seem she lets Si-Jin push her around (it's in the realm of dubious consent), but she's not letting him push her into doing things she doesn't want; she's letting him push her into doing things she does want, very much, but struggles to accept due to various inhibitions (which are explored thoroughly).

I am sick of romance novels insisting that MLs are irresistible if sufficiently excellent in key aspects: handsome, wealthy, capable. Here, while it's acknowledged that Na-Yool is by no means immune to these attributes, they are ultimately worthless unless the man is also a decent person who treats her well. Oh, and 'treating her well' does not mean 'showering her with material benefits' (too often the case when authors even deign to acknowledge that being treated well is something worth caring about). If she can't find a man who is kind and considerate, she values herself enough to stay single!

While it's great that she's clear-sighted about these standards, that unfortunately does not make her adept at recognising them in potential partners. She long turned a blind eye to serious flaws in one man, swayed by shallow artificial "kindness"; she fails to recognise the goodwill in another because he is clumsy at expressing himself. That of course being...

The man lives for work. He's built a flourishing company from scratch in just four years, and devotes himself to it round the clock - barely pausing to sleep or eat, much less rest (it's doubtful he knows what 'relaxation' even is). He's a perfectionist, placing extremely high demands on both himself and his employees.

The narrative spends a long time reminding us what a lousy excuse for a human being Si-Jin is. "Perfect" in every way except his personality: smug, egotistical, demanding, overbearing, spiteful, petty... the list of negative adjectives could flow for pages; the reader is never allowed to forget his awfulness.

... The reader should also never forget that all this is based strictly on Na-Yool's opinion, and not objective fact: be prepared to read between the lines and evaluate his words and deeds independent of her twisted interpretation of them. Unravelling Si-Jin's nature is a bit like reading a mystery novel, picking up clues here and there. Just like Na-Yool, he is guarded with his thoughts and feelings - I feel he showed willing to be more open, but chose to follow the pace she set until circumstances pushed him into taking a different tack.

I suspect the author deliberately left leeway for each reader to pick their own preferred version of him... I've seen people continue to insist he is a tr*shy red-flag ML well beyond the point where even Na-Yool has noticed enough positive signs to significantly mellow towards him. YMMV - I like him a lot, and I have scant tolerance for that type of character.

He is often overbearing, arrogant, and petty - but not nearly as often, nor as extremely, as the narrative pretends. He's also incredibly conscientious, and brutally straightforward - both powers he can wield for either good or evil. Contrary to the common view, I also find him considerate (albeit rooted in logic/principle rather than innate benevolence), though it's admittedly hard to spot in how he treats Na-Yool early on; it becomes more apparent with time, and he does get better at it with practice.

Some early scenes verge on dub-con. Sharing her perspective, readers see that Na-Yool is quite keen on being ravished by her attractive boss, but hesitant due mainly to embarrassment. The author takes pains to show that Si-Jin (who has spent years intently observing her) also sees through her facade of reluctance. He doesn't rush in to satisfy his own desires: he cautiously probes her attitude (it's the background logic of many bickering sessions!), uses his familiarity with her to read her physical cues as well as verbal ones, and gives her ample opportunity to withdraw. He brazenly names her ill-concealed desires before moving to fulfil them; and Na-Yool, till then mouthing off at him quite happily, can only blush in silent acknowledgement that he's read her absolutely right.

(Important note: I do not endorse this behaviour in real life. Never assume it's safe to proceed believing you've gauged what someone else is thinking, no matter how well you know them.)

Whatever one makes of him, it's fascinating how he's everything you'd expect of the "Domineering President: cold and aloof edition" (handsome, wealthy, capable!) yet has such a richly individualistic personality compared to the commonplace overbearing male lead. It's a great example of how well-trodden tropes can still shine in the hands of a talented author.

The "perfect" label that Na-Yool applies condemns him no less than any of her harsher descriptors. Whenever he appears callous or overly demanding, she never allows for the possibility that he may have expressed his intent poorly, or made an excusable error in judgement - in her view, he does not make errors. Ever.

... This illusion of a man incapable of erring is shattered by the time we fiiiiinally reach his POV chapter!

...I nearly styled him "second male lead", since that's what he aspires to be, but he thoroughly lacks the qualifications - just as he seems to thoroughly lack the qualifications to do his job. One wonders whether hiring him was one of Si-Jin's errors in judgement, or whether Na-Yool is exaggerating her grievances again when she complains that he creates more work for her than he achieves on his own.

He appears harmless and cheerful, (deliberately) giving off the 'cute puppy' vibe, popular at work and outside. It's unclear to what extent Na-Yool buys into this image, but she genuinely likes real puppies whereas there's little to suggest she genuinely likes Seung-Jae. Their 'friendship' seems to rest on the basis that her work ethic includes maintaining pleasant relationships with colleagues. She frequently curses him inside her head, and is reluctant when he presses her to spend time together outside work.

He annoys the living daylights out of me, which only intensifies when we get a chapter from his POV; his complacency is infuriating! Absolutely blind to the fact that Na-Yool takes care of him at work because, as the (sole) senior member of their department, that's her job (and of course she can't abide letting her department look bad in front of her crush boss) ! He cheerfully casts her as his 'work-girlfriend', and takes her time and attention as his due; in reality she's more an unwilling, harried 'work-mom' to a kid she wishes would grow up already.

Only a year younger than her, but acts more like a decade younger. I always find myself agreeing enthusiastically whenever Si-Jin tr*sh-talks this brat. Still, he's a positive delight compared to...

HE IS GARBAGE.

If you read the novel (or manhwa) and find yourself empathising with this guy even slightly: please reconsider all your moral values, and I mean that sincerely.

What makes him really chilling is that unlike the overblown shenanigans of many fictional villains, he is 100% true-to-life. You've almost certainly met someone like him, or several someones like him - though you may only recognise them online, since they tend to play the part of "nice guys" where they have no shield of anonymity. He is the archetypal misogynist found in probably every world culture. His fragile ego relies on the belief that being born male makes him innately superior to half the human race. His life philosophy relies on the belief that society owes him an attractive and submissive female helpmeet.

As someone who seems decent and kind at a glance, but is thoroughly selfish and rotten inside, Mr Human tr*sh is very much the foil to Si-Jin (who seems selfish and intolerant at a glance, but has reasonable moral standards and is capable of concern for others). One might be astonished that Na-Yool managed to tolerate this piece of garbage for more than half a year; but smart, successful people do frequently get stuck in relationships with scumbags for months or even years.

At first he seems like an aggravating clown, but when Na-Yool continues to resist the narrative he wants her to follow (yup, another determinedly delusional individual! - everyone in this novel is, to some extent), he gets worse...

Main romance aside, what plot there is revolves around Na-Yool's attempts to disentangle from her ex. He continues to view her as his girlfriend/future wife/property; "breaking up" with her was never intended sincerely, but as a tragi-comically inept attempt to manipulate her into becoming more obedient and eager to please. When this Cunning Plan does not pan out as intended, he reacts poorly. He goes into overdrive after concluding she has been two-timing him (she has not), and his ego really takes a beating upon seeing her with Si-Jin, an 'alpha male' whom Sang-Hoon bitterly envies.

Where the novel takes a (well-foreshadowed) dark turn is Chapter 21, "Friday the 13th" (by original chapter listing; c84, by how the translation is split). This is when the stalker ex shows up inside Na-Yool's apartment building, drunk and unhinged as he verbally ab*ses her, physically assaults her, and only narrowly fails his attempt to r*pe her.

Her ordeal has just started. The police officer assigned to their case is the first to make it clear that he considers Sang-Hoon the victim here: a nice young man suffering persecution from a spiteful ex-girlfriend, at risk of having his future prospects blighted by a criminal record over a trivial misunderstanding.

The romance and the comedy don't dry up, but now they blend with another, bleaker element. For some people, this will sour the novel; for others, it will make it stronger.

I was bemused when I heard this was getting a manhwa adaptation; it seems so blatantly unsuited to that format. The novel is roughly 80% narrative/introspection; maybe 15% dialogue; at most 5% action.

I finally caved and read the manhwa for some 'new' material, since updates to the translation sadly sputtered out. It's a reasonably faithful representation of the novel's dialogue portions; expands on the 'action' (yes, I mean smut)... that still leaves it bereft of around 3/4 of the novel's content, since there's no way to effectively transform all that verbiage into comics format.

... Yet the #1 complaint about the manhwa is that it is "too wordy"! If you share this complaint, then: RUN. Do not enter this novel. You will not enjoy this reading experience.

As someone comfortable with verbose text (see: this review), I find the novel glorious, and the manhwa can't hold a candle to it; but this may be said to be a matter of personal taste.