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It has already been three years since Do Ye-jun possessed the body of a character in a romance novel titled The Angel’s Mask Does Not Smile.

The most pivotal character in this novel is ‘Cheon Sa-hyun.’ His name is so central that two of its characters are even borrowed for the title. However, he wasn’t actually the male lead. Despite dominating almost every scene from the beginning of the novel, his position was that of a villain—specifically, the villain who drives the two protagonists into a fatal accident in the latter half of the story.

In the beginning, when only the female lead, Han Si-yeon, and Cheon Sa-hyun appeared, everything was peaceful. Cheon Sa-hyun, a third-generation chaebol who entered the company through nepotism, and Han Si-yeon, a strong-willed female lead who worked hard to build her credentials to get a job at a major corporation.

It was a textbook combination that made the future plot development obvious at a glance. Readers wandering the platform were lured in by the familiar tropes and began to board the ship one by one, and the story sailed smoothly, presenting itself as a sweet romance.

Until the start of Part 2, when the real male lead, Baek Gang-hyeok, suddenly appeared.

That was when all the turmoil began. Unlike Cheon Sa-hyun, who failed to empathize with Han Si-yeon’s ordinary and grueling life, Baek Gang-hyeok embraced all her pain as if it were his own and offered her solace.

Driven by a sense of empathy that had never formed with Cheon Sa-hyun, the two began to bloom into a romance at a rapid pace. Even that was acceptable. A moderate “shipping war” between the lead and the second male lead often whets the readers’ appetite.

The problem occurred around the time the author completely forgot about Cheon Sa-hyun and began funneling all the narrative focus into Baek Gang-hyeok. Hardcore Cheon Sa-hyun supporters began demanding his return in the comments. At that moment, the author likely thought, ‘Oops.’

Honestly, whether looking at the title or anything else, Baek Yu-min was certain that the author’s originally envisioned male lead had been Cheon Sa-hyun. It was undoubtedly a change of heart—perhaps a whim—that led the author to push Baek Gang-hyeok instead.

Then, seeing the readers belatedly crying out for Cheon Sa-hyun, the author must have fallen into a dilemma.

‘Ah, how should I handle Cheon Sa-hyun?’

Reducing his narrative further would be difficult given how much had already been built up, but shifting the focus back to him was impossible since the author’s heart had already leaned toward Baek Gang-hyeok. Ending him off haphazardly as a second lead would inevitably lead to fierce backlash from readers at the conclusion.

Ultimately, the author’s choice was to turn Cheon Sa-hyun into a villain. The latter half of the novel began to run wild as if it had gained a mind of its own, racing forward as if it had snatched the steering wheel from the author. Then, unable to withstand the speed, the plot drove straight into the guardrail.

Due to Cheon Sa-hyun’s schemes, the two protagonists were caught in an accident and met their deaths.

Baek Yu-min gripped the monitor with a look of disbelief. He read the final sentence he had just seen once more.

[And so, the love of the three met its ruin.]

No matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the clear black letters asserted their presence as if mocking Baek Yu-min.

The ruin of love? No? The only thing ruined here is this novel!

Baek Yu-min blinked blankly, his face devoid of expression.

Soon after, the comment section exploded. The author deleted their SNS accounts. The publisher uploaded the final chapter on a Friday evening and collectively clocked out for the weekend.

The Angel’s Mask Does Not Smile, a legendaryly controversial work that had occasionally been discussed for webtoon and drama adaptations, left behind nothing but controversy.

Some criticized it, saying they had felt something was off, and that the story had lived [[visit our site]style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]up to its title in the worst way.

Baek Yu-min observed the reactions of others. By midnight, absurd rumors were circulating, suggesting the author had suddenly fallen terminally ill and rushed the ending.

After delivering a refreshing stream of curses to the acquaintance who had recommended the work, Baek Yu-min left a “thank you” note for the recommendation, declaring he would never read anything recommended by them again.

Muttering about how wasteful it was to have waited months for the conclusion, Baek Yu-min fell asleep…

And the moment he opened his eyes, he had become Do Ye-jun, the female lead’s friend who is swept up in the final catastrophe and dies along with them.

Not long after possessing this body, Baek Yu-min—no, Do Ye-jun—came to realize.

Perhaps the author’s choice to make Cheon Sa-hyun a villain was inevitable.

Cheon Sa-hyun was simply not a character one could handle.

His villainous acts, which were not revealed in the story, were endless, and the insignificant Do Ye-jun was currently serving as a spy under Cheon Sa-hyun’s threats.

He was genuinely terrifying.

It was the first time Ye-jun realized a person’s eyes could look like that.

Even if the author claimed they couldn’t handle Cheon Sa-hyun and just let him do whatever he wanted, leading to that [Read [Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels]ruinous ending, Ye-jun could believe that a hundred times over.

Because he, too, found it difficult to defy him.

Do Ye-jun believed that to return to his original world, he had to lead the story to a happy ending. Twisting the original plot to create a happy ending was an eternal law of possession.

Furthermore, he felt there must be a valid reason why he had possessed Do Ye-jun—someone who was a close confidant of Han Si-yeon but had a minimal presence—rather than any other character. Because if things continued as they were, he was destined to be caught in the accident and die away from home along with the two protagonists.

To save himself and escape the world of this novel, it was inevitable to stop Cheon Sa-hyun and create a happy ending. Moreover, as the only outsider and possessor who knew all these facts, he felt a tremendous sense of responsibility.

Thus, Baek Yu-min, now Do Ye-jun, did his best to ensure that [And so, the love of the three met its ruin] would change to [And so, the love of the two bore beautiful fruit].

How did he do it?

Do Ye-jun guided Cheon Sa-hyun to turn his gaze away from the female lead and toward something else. He intentionally interfered with their dates, acted friendly toward Cheon Sa-hyun, and so on…

In other words, that ‘something else’ was himself.

He even told life-threatening lies to Cheon Sa-hyun. Whenever he had to tell an obvious lie in front of those chilling eyes, his knees shook violently, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

When he felt he truly couldn’t take it anymore, he would secretly flip Cheon Sa-hyun off behind his back. Very occasionally.

Anyway, after countless hardships, Do Ye-jun finally succeeded in pairing [stolen content]visit our sitewm: stolen content -->up the main couple. Without killing either of them!

Of course, in the process, a very minor… no, a massive problem occurred.

Regardless, the significance lay in the fact that he had prevented the worst ending: ruin. Cheon Sa-hyun did not kill the two protagonists, and he even threw away his title as the second male lead.

And he did so in a very peaceful manner.

In fact, he gave up so cleanly that even Baek Gang-hyeok, who became the main lead, felt awkward about it. When told that Baek Gang-hyeok and Han Si-yeon were seriously dating, Cheon Sa-hyun said:

“Well, just live happily on your own.”

“…”

“Since we’ll be living happily on our own, too.”

Whether this should be called pathetic or cool… with those ambiguous words, Cheon Sa-hyun truly ended everything. Of course, Do Ye-jun was right there in front of him. Although the party involved seemed to have no idea why he was included in that “we,” Do Ye-jun sat beside Cheon Sa-hyun with a face that looked like he was about to die, merely reading Cheon Sa-hyun’s mood.

Han Si-yeon simply gave a gentle smile and said she was so grateful for his understanding, and that she hoped the two of them would be happy together as well.

‘What on earth does that mean? Why should he and I be happy together?’

Do Ye-jun sent a fierce protest with his eyes, but it didn’t reach Han Si-yeon. However, since he couldn’t stolen contentvisit our siteexactly say that while Cheon Sa-hyun was right next to him, Do Ye-jun just sucked on his Americano to moisten his dry throat.

And there was someone looking at Do Ye-jun with a fond gaze. It was, of course, Cheon Sa-hyun. Placing his hand on Do Ye-jun’s shoulder, Cheon Sa-hyun spoke.

“Now all that’s left is for the two of us to be happy, Ye-jun hyung.”

Whether he noticed Do Ye-jun’s pupils shaking a hundred times per second or not, Cheon Sa-hyun smiled brightly with his dazzlingly beautiful face.

“Everything else is useless. I only need hyung.”

It was only six months ago that he had been causing an absolute uproar, driven mad by the female lead, Han Si-yeon. And for three whole years at that!

But a person’s heart changes like this in just six months?

Do Ye-jun simply could not understand him.

“I must have been possessed by something all this time.”

That was natural. He had been moving according to the setting of a male lead. Although he had fallen from second lead to villain starting from Part 2.

“Until I met hyung, I thought that was true love.”

This was also natural. As a protagonist of a romance novel, he was a character who had [unauthorized copy]no choice [unauthorized copy]but to love the female lead.

“But the real thing is right here.”

This was not natural.

That’s not it. That’s not it, okay? That’s your delusion.

Do Ye-jun looked at Cheon Sa-hyun desperately, putting all his sincerity into his gaze. However, Cheon Sa-hyun, already immersed in his own world, responded only with eyes mad with love.

Watching this, Do Ye-jun’s mind went blank.

“How… how can you be so sure of your feelings?”

Do Ye-jun’s desperate question sounded in Cheon Sa-hyun’s ears like a cute whim, wanting confirmation of his love.

Cheon Sa-hyun looked down at Do Ye-jun as if he were adorable. Then, lightly cupping his cheek, he said:

“I’ll show you one by one from now on, so don’t worry.”

Don’t worry? It seemed he was the only one who didn’t realize that was exactly what was worrying.

Do Ye-jun forced a smile and nodded. It was a reaction like a broken robot.

“Haha, that… that’s certainly something to look forward to… But I just remembered I have some urgent business, so can I go home first? I’ll, I’ll call you later!”

Do Ye-jun hurriedly packed his things and fled the scene. The gaze Cheon Sa-hyun cast upon his flustered retreating figure was indescribably thick.