You Have the Right to Keep a Secret Love Chapter 52 Discussion

"She felt as though she shouldn't appear before Gu Yan and his girlfriend. Her existence was not legitimate. Gu Yan's tenderness, Gu Yan's time, Gu Yan's focused eyes... everything about Gu Yan did not belong to her, but instead to his girlfriend. Thus, every moment she was with him, she felt as though she was a thief" --Chapter 41

Before she began working as an intern at the law firm, Qi Xi's biggest enemy was Gu Yan--the one man who "stole" it all. He was the class's valedictorian, he was the most popular student at school, and teachers were absolutely impressed with him. Qi Xi only ever strove for perfection, so when Gu Yan came her way, she thought of him as nothing more than an annoying road block.

However, things change during the graduation ceremony. After Qi Xi mistakenly calls out Gu Yan for being unscrupulous, she embarks a journey she never thought she would take... impress Gu Yan and become best friends with him. Though she feels guilty, she realizes she has to go to the extreme because Gu Yan's strict sister is her boss. As long as she could keep her job, she was willing to do anything. Even if that meant downloading a fan-created "bible" that talked about all of Gu Yan's likes and dislikes.

As she goes through the "bible" to become friends with the cold-hearted Gu Yan, she never expects to see the other side of her most insufferable classmate. Yes, he was extremely cold and stinky... but hidden underneath it all is an innocent, yet lovable man. A man who is obsessed with durian, a man who could recite the Wikipedia page about his favorite rock band, a man who "pretends" to be regal, yet scarfs down the entire bento box when no one is looking...

And as she spends more and more time with him, she realizes just how lucky Gu Yan's crush is... and without knowing it herself, she falls for him. Hard, yet elegantly in the typical Qi Xi fashion. Because she doesn't want to be the villainous who destroys Gu Yan's life any further, she tries to keep distance... but will Gu Yan allow her? Especially since her debt to him still has not been paid off?

Like all of Ye Feiran's work, this novel is a mix of romance and comedy as two recently graduated lawyers navigate through work, love, and life. However, unlike her other novels where the main leads are OP, in this novel, the characters act age appropriate. They struggle as newbie lawyers despite being at the top of their class, but they learn and grow through the cases they get. For anyone who is currently interning or starting a new career path, you would find the characters to be very relatable as they make mistakes and learn from them.

Will update the review (and include spoilers) after the novel finishes.