PReid

EXACTLY. His face-card never declines, and now FL is telling him she wants to return her purchase. LOL!

I've been reading through comments below, so my information is all extrapolated hearsay based on their comments, but it seems like he never wanted it to be "secret," and yet he never vocalizes his desire to be openly / publicly dating her. Thinking to himself he wants to be public, but maybe never says as much to her; or maybe he says it lightly in passing, afraid of her rejection.

LOL! You're right, he did get dressed up and they matched. I didn't notice that.

Based on comments below from novel readers:
1. He *TREATS* her well, but his words are harsh and mean.
2. He wants to go public (whether he communicates this with her or not, I don't know) but she is the one who doesn't want anyone to know.
3. They are on and off, but mostly "off" during the 6 years. Kinda a situation where she keeps tripping and falling into his bed after making eye contact too long, but then comes to her senses in the morning (each time) which then hurts his feelings, and so he lashes out.

Jing Bo Ran voo-doo making all this character's red flags look like red carpets.

I honestly do not know who it is.

Down below someone explained that in the novel, FL and ML are on and off for 6 years (mostly off because ML's statements to FL are mean and FL never calls him on it/bottles everything up).

Then her friend commits suicide at the same time the FL is up for a promotion. The ML is on the panel that determines the candidates scores (she's one of the candidates). The FL doesn't get the promotion and there's some crossed-wires where FL thinks ML gave her low scores.

FL doesn't tell ML about FL's friend dying, and the FL's friend's death plus her devastation in not getting the promotion after 6 years of hard work (plus the fact that FL thinks ML purposefully ruined her career) all leave FL feeling despair; FL leaves town without telling ML and cuts him off completely.

ML then finds out about her friend passing, and then discovers the misunderstanding (that FL thinks ML gave her low scores and ruined her career prospects) which makes the ML realize how terrible he's been to her (that is, how mean his words have been).

"He knows what he's doing..." made me LOL

@Eva_gr Ohhh. GOOD POINT! Yes. His feelings are quite messy where she is concerned. Well said.

My guess is that he's not even sure what he's feeling right now.

Exhibit A: He bought the bag as an apology, but also as a way to absolve himself from treating her poorly, right?
Like, he says, "You left your bag at my place on purpose"
And then she says, "No. I didn't. What happened was a mistake. Goodbye."

So, now he's all up in his feelings, because HE also said to his friend, "It was a mistake," but when SHE says the same words, he gets mad / feels bad.

So, he buys her the bag, because he figures an expensive gift will make everything okay and she should be thankful for the bag, right? (I'm guessing this worked in his past "relationships")

But then, he gives her the bag and she AUTOMATICALLY ASSUMES he's trying to buy her silence. I think he was offended by her assumption and got mad/nasty with her, unwilling to correct her assumption because he was hurt (but not knowing why he's hurt because it was a mistake...)

Exhibit B: He goes to work and finds out she's transferring departments and is again hurt. When he attempts to confront her on it ("Is it really necessary to draw this line between us?") she basically says, "You're sleazy, and I don't want to work with you."
Again, his feelings are hurt, but what can he say? They both said it was a mistake, and now she wants to get as far away from him as possible. He's got to be feeling terrible about himself, but where is the lie? What can he say? He can't say what he's actually thinking, which is: "I bought you the bag to apologize for accusing you of leaving your bag at my place on purpose. I'm sorry." because doing so would be admitting he wants more than a fling and it wasn't a mistake for him. But since she already said it was a mistake... what would be the point in apologizing since she's made it clear she's not interested in more-than-a-fling.

I love it. It's soooooooo goooooooooood.

That might be the case.
But another possibility might be that viewers aren't used to this level of insane chemistry onscreen between characters / actors paired with disconcerting levels of handsome as well as attention to detail in intimate scenes, and it's catching us all off guard. And thus we are commiserating our shock and awe. Here. Together.

But, okay. I'm fine if you want to call that "in heat." Potato, pa-tah-toe.

What am I supposed to do for the next 9 hours and 8 minutes?!
WORK???!! *sobs*

Yes. I was proud of her for her unwillingness to stay in his department and just be miserable. I really love her character.

JBR is legit magic.

Am I the only one who was cheering her on when she applied for a transfer? I LOVE how she drew that line between them and sorta called him out on buying her silence with the bag, even if that’s not what he was doing in his own mind.

I hope he feels how sleazy he comes across to her right now. Bro is sleazy.

That said, Jing Bo Ran making this red flag character look like a red carpet and I am HERE FOR IT.

It's insane how hot he is.

At first, when I read the series description, I was like, "What? She sleeps with her boss? How could she be so stupid?"

And then I started watching it and now I'm, "Okay. Yes. I understand. Makes total sense. She made the right choice. Go in peace."

At episode 3, the plot / story is fine, FL is great, but, okay, why is Jing Bo Ran so pretty in this show?
He's, like, alarmingly handsome.
It's disconcerting.

I love Landy Li!! And He Yu is relatively new to me, but he's been great in everything so far. Looking forward to this!

Ep 31
... yikes.