Until Pei Zhen, I’ve been dissatisfied with the crop of second male leads (2ML) in both kdramas and cdramas lately.

Let me see now.

Im JaeYi from “To My Beloved Thief” has anger management issues. Zhuang Xu from “Shine on Me” needs therapy for his insecurities. Chu Zhao from “Legend of the Female General” is too obsessive. And the delusional Situ Ling from “Love in the Clouds” has the worst case of heroine-worship I’ve seen in cdramas so far.

I’m crossing my fingers that Pei Zhen is a green flag. I know that a) he and the hero have a serious case of step-sibling rivalry and b) he’s ruthless and predatory like a shark in business. But as of Episode 15, I think he’s redeemable.

1. In Episode 4, he first encounters Hu Xiu in the elevator of his building. Because she’s so disheartened by her job interview, she doesn’t notice that she’s the only person to enter the elevator with Pei Zhen already in it. All the other employees wait to board the next one.

She tells him her floor, expecting him to press the button for her as her hands are full. He’s surprised by her request – I guess, his privileged status as General Manager of the firm precludes him from observing such small courtesies – but he does it anyway with an amused smile.

He surreptitiously reads her resume and deduces that she just came from an interview for the executive assistant position in his office.

He watches her leave, expecting to see her again soon.

However, the following day, he’t informed that she declined the offer.

Pei Zhen: What for? Why?
Aide: She wants to be an architect.

That bit of news stops him in his tracks. This is the second time in as many days that she’s surprised him. For one, he thought for sure that she’d take the job. As the HR Dept meant, it was a foolhardy move to pass up a better pay and career track just to start at the bottom as a junior architect. For another, he thought for sure that he was going to see her again.

She just passed up a better pay and career track to start at the bottom.

2. Their next encounter is in Episode 7.

Hu Xiu is tussling with a former coworker when Pei Zhen steps in to stop the man from striking her.

PZ: This is a public place, and you hit a woman? (ordering his guards) Take him to security.

I like that he doesn’t hesitate for a second to step into the fray. He sees a woman about to get beaten up and he just swoops in. That’s chivalry in action.

However, it must be noted that he had an ulterior motive to stop the man from causing a bigger scene. That former coworker had been working for him as a spy. Nevertheless, he could have easily called on his bodyguards to stop the scuffle instead of getting involved himself.

When he helps Hu Xiu get on her feet, he recognizes her as the girl from the elevator. He looks…I don’t know… stunned? relieved? pleased? to have met her again in this chance encounter. He then strikes up a conversation with her.

PZ: Seems the security here needs improvement. Hope it doesn’t scare you.
XH: No. I’m fine.

He asks if she works for the Lyman Group and she answers that she’s an assistant designer at Dynamism. Lol. His archnemesis’ company. He looks dismayed but he recovers quickly.

PZ: Perfect. I’m here for a meeting too. Let’s go up together.

He allows her to enter the elevator first. Instead of pressing the button, she stands and waits for him to do it. He looks at her oddly, then reaches over to press their floor. Clearly, he isn’t accustomed to pressing the button himself. He has assistants do it for him. He looks at her again, then smiles to himself.

No doubt he finds it funny and refreshing that:

a. she doesn’t know who he is,
b. she has no recollection of him and their first encounter,
c. she isn’t nervous around him nor intimidated by him, and
d. she expects him to serve and wait on her.

To be fair, I can’t blame her for not recognizing him as the GM of Forma, their biggest competitor. He acts like a normal guy, unpretentious and approachable.

This makes him a green flag. He may be distant to his staff, but to her, he shows her courtesy, kindness, and attention. I also especially like how he remembers the smallest details about their encounter.

3. Their next encounter is in Episode 8 at the work site inspection.

He arrives with his entourage, yet when he spots her in the distance, he still gives her a slight nod in acknowledgement. She, however, snubs him.

Then, after his inspection is over, he sees her all by herself, surveying the land. He sighs. I’m sure he’s wondering why she’s doing this all alone when he had a retinue of men showing him around. But the green flag is that he secretly waits for her to finish her job. He doesn’t leave her on her own in unfamiliar territory. If he had been the male lead, this would have been a swoon-worthy moment.

When she’s caught in the rain and stumbles in the dark, he’s quick to appear out of nowhere with an umbrella. He helps her gather her stuff.

PZ: (calmly) Where’s your colleague?
HX: He had something to do and left.
PZ: Why not ride back with me?
HX: It’s fine. I’ll take a taxi. (side-stepping him)
PZ: Hey!
HX: (without looking back) Thank you.

Again, he sighs. He gets that she’s suspicious of him, so he knows he’ll have to reason with her. He can hardly force her inside the car with him. So he follows her, hovering beside her and holding the umbrella over them.

PZ: It’s hard to get a taxi here. And it’s raining now.
HX: (taking a half-step away to get out from under his umbrella) I’ll wait a bit longer. Or I’ll go the main road.
PZ: (taking a half-step toward her and placing the umbrella over her head) Miss Hu. Do you dislike me?
HX: I…
PZ: Given the relationship between our two companies, your caution against potential conflicts of interest completely understandable. But for safety’s sake, as a man, I absolutely cannot leave a young woman alone here. Let’s go together.

To me, this is another green flag. I like that he’s calm and patient with her. He didn’t lose his cool and call her obstinate because she’s getting them both wet. While he validates her resistance, he explains his position honestly. Again, this is his chivalry at work.

On the ride back, he observes her clenched hands and smiles to himself.

PZ: Miss Hu, there’s no need to be so reserved. Speaking of which, we should have been colleagues.
HX: How do you know?
PZ: An outstanding interviewee like you is definitely impressive.

Lol. He doesn’t tell that they met in the elevator. He clearly made no impact on her like she did with him.

PZ: It’s just a pity that in the end you didn’t choose us.

Oooooh! Foreshadowing alert!

HX: It was my honor to interview at Forma. But my job intentions might not align well with Forma’s needs.
PZ: (nodding and pushing his glasses up his nose – that’s a tick) That was our mistake. HR’s assessment of the interviewee was biased. I wonder if you would be willing to give me a chance to make up for it?

What does he mean? Another job offer? Of course, she won’t accept it. Or dinner for two? The thing is he realizes where their paths diverged: at that job interview. Had he met her before, he would moved heaven and earth to get her into the company. Now, it’s too late. Lol. That’s the fate of 2MLs.

HX: Mr. Pei, you’re too kind. I’m already very grateful that you drive me in the rain.
PZ: (smiling again) It’s just a small effort. As a boss, I wouldn’t leave my employee alone at the site.

Meaning, he’d have taken better care of her, whether she’s an employee or not. He’s rightly rebuking her company for their negligence, and although he doesn’t name names, she sees this as an indirect censure or criticism of her boss’ leadership.

HX: (defensively) IMy colleague wanted me to leave with him. Blame me. I wanted to save some time.
PZ: It sounds like you’re quite content at Dynamism.
HX: Of course. Working in this field has always been my dream after all. And Dynamism is a very inclusive place.
PZ: (scoffing) Inclusive.

Lol. She just waved the equivalent of a red flag to a bull.

PZ: What about Mr. Yu? Is he also inclusive?
HX: Even before I started working, I already admired his designs.
PZ: Mr. Yu, a young talent, has always been remarkable.

His tone belies his words.

And just then, Mr. Yu’s vehicle cuts in front of their car. Pei Zhen’s first reaction is to ask if Hu Xiu’s okay. I like that.

4. Their fourth encounter is in Episode 10, when he gets accidentally involved in a traffic incident with Hu Xiu.

Hu Xiu and her bestie were being chased by a stalker. Pei Zhen swerves to avoid Hu Xiu and crashes on a railing. When he sees that Hu Xiu is the driver of the car being chased, he immediately goes after her stalker and catches him. Lol. His chivalry is showing again!

At the police station, he and Hu Xiu had their first non-combative conversation in a while.

HX: I’m terribly sorry. It happened too fast; I didn’t notice your car.
PZ: It’s okay. You weren’t the one who hit my car.
HX: Actually, you didn’t need to chase him.
PZ: (grinning) I didn’t think much at the time. I saw him run away, so I took a shortcut to cut him off. Who knew he’d crash right into me? Looking back, I’m still shaken up.

Awww, he’s shy. He’s downplaying his decision to go after the man BECAUSE he heard Hu Xiu yelling at the stalker to stop. And no, he wasn’t at all shaken up. In fact, when he got out of the car, he scared the bejeesus out of the stalker with his gangster move and look.

PZ: (suddenly switching topic) Last time at the land parcel, did I put you in a difficult position?

He’s asking because he actually cares, not because he’s trying to ferret information from her.

HX: Mr. Yu wouldn’t make a big deal out of such a small thing.
PZ: (smiling again) I just think it’s a bit of a shame. If our two firms weren’t competitors, you and I could have been good friends.

He means that sincerely. He means that if they weren’t in rival “factions” – just like in the VR game – he would ask her out on a date.

PZ: Looks like we really need to win that design competition soon.
HX: (cheekily) He won’t lose either.
PZ: (laughing)

After Hu Xie and her friend depart, he returns to his usual predatory way. His driver/assistant asks why he’s wasting time helping the women, and he nods toward Hu Xie’s vehicle. The driver observes that it’s Xiao ZhiYu’s, and they both wonder about their relationship.

Immediately, Pei Zhen checks out Hu Xie’s friend’s social media, and discovers that she frequents her friend’s café.

PZ: You need a long line to catch a big fish.

Now, there are two ways to interpret his remark. It can mean that if he plans to beat Xiao ZhiYu, then Hu Xie is ZhiYu’s weakest link. He must gain Hu Xie’s trust in order to get to ZhiYu.

Alternatively, it can mean that if he intends to pursue Hu Xie, then he has to go through her best friend.

At this point in time, I don’t think he’s even aware of his dilemma.

Okay. Have to finish this later.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Thank you for posting your comments on the Open Thread. Let me finish this write-up without spoilers. 🙂