"A lie so perfect, it felt like love - until it broke them both." ⸻ ✨ Opening Line Jennie Kim never believed in fairy tales - but tonight, in a crowded hotel restaurant, she needed a miracle so badly she was willing to steal it from a stranger's arms.

IN HER DEFENCE Introduction Jennie Kim didn't believe in softness. Not in the courtroom, not in the office, not in herself. She was Seoul's most respected litigator by thirty, feared more than she was admired. Her heels never clicked twice down the same hallway, and her silence in a meeting could kill a career faster than a lost case. She didn't yell. She didn't plead. She simply looked - and people moved. The only thing she had less time for than inefficiency was idealism. So when her managing partner assigned her a final-year intern from Korea University - bright-eyed, book-taught, and ten minutes early for everything - Jennie barely looked up from her deposition notes. "Don't ask questions unless you already know the answers," she said without turning. "And don't try to impress me. I'm not here to be impressed." Lisa Manoban nodded once. Soft voice, steady gaze. "I'm not here to impress you," she said. "I'm here to learn." That was the first time Jennie looked at her - really looked. She wasn't loud, or eager, or trying too hard. She was just... still. Soft in a way Jennie didn't trust. The kind of softness that didn't bend to survive - it stayed, and waited, and watched. Jennie dismissed her with a nod, already forgetting the name. But something about the girl lingered long after she left the room. Like the quiet echo of a truth Jennie didn't want to hear.

When celebrated architect Jennie Ruby Jane lands the contract of a lifetime designing Seoul's most ambitious museum, she doesn't expect the lead curator to be Lisa Manoban - the captivating woman who stole her breath at a charity gala years ago...and who's very much off-limits. Lisa's got a sharp tongue, a long-term relationship with the powerful Irene Bae, and absolutely no time for Jennie's lingering crush - or so she says. But as construction deadlines loom, every tense meeting becomes a battleground of flirty insults and simmering glances. With gossiping colleagues, workplace bets, and a city watching, Jennie and Lisa must decide: will they build something lasting together, or let the pressure break them first?

"The Space Between" They say marriage is a promise. A choice. A vow you speak once, and then remember every day after. Jennie Kim and Lalisa Manoban have been married for three years. Secretly. Quietly. Without ceremony, without applause. What began as fierce, reckless love-midnight drives, whispered I love you's between courtrooms and trauma wards-has turned into something colder. They still live together. Still sleep side by side. But the silence between them is louder than ever. No one knows they're wives. Not their friends. Not their families. Some days, they wonder if they even are anymore. This isn't a story about falling in love. It's a story about what comes after. The loneliness of staying. The bravery of leaving. And the question that haunts every marriage: What if love isn't enough?

Lisa Manoban: Top-tier surgeon. Cold, composed, CEO of a prestigious hospital in Seoul. Practically lives in scrubs. She's logical, calm, and seemingly emotionless-but underneath, she's just very guarded. Her mother is desperate to see her loved and happy. Jennie Kim (Ruby Jane): Fierce, successful lawyer at a major firm. Known for her sharp tongue, killer fashion sense, and unmatched courtroom skills. Independent and stubborn. Hates being told what to do-including by her matchmaking mother. ⸻ Lisa and Jennie are unknowingly pulled into an arranged marriage orchestrated by their mothers-both of whom are old friends and very aware of their daughters' lack of romantic interest in men. What begins as a reluctant agreement to "just go on one date to please them" slowly turns into something real. But work, pride, secrets, and past heartbreaks threaten to tear them apart before they even get a chance.

The Promise No One Heard "I'll stand beside you, even if I'm the only one who knows I'm not supposed to." ⸻ The wedding invitations were already printed. A thousand ivory envelopes sealed with Jennie's initials. It was supposed to be the happiest weekend of her life. Lisa stood in the shadows of the hallway, watching as Jennie sat on the floor of her dressing room - veil undone, hair coming loose, face pale under the soft lights. She wasn't crying anymore. That part was over. Now, she just looked hollow. Lisa's heart had broken a hundred times for her. But tonight, it shattered in a new, final way. "I saw him," Jennie had whispered. "I went to the office to surprise him. She was on his desk." Lisa hadn't asked who she was. She didn't need to. The answer didn't matter. What mattered was the girl in front of her, breathing like her chest was cracked open. And the silence between them, full of all the things Lisa would never say. She wanted to take Jennie's hand. She wanted to say, "Choose me instead." But what she said was: "You don't have to marry him." Jennie laughed bitterly. "You think I can just disappear? After everything my family's done, after all the guests...? The papers already think we're perfect." Lisa hesitated. Then something inside her - the part that had loved Jennie for years, in shadows and silence - broke free. "Then marry me." The words fell like glass between them. Jennie blinked slowly. "What?" "You need someone," Lisa said softly. "Let it be me." And for a moment, Jennie didn't answer. She just stared - like she wasn't sure if Lisa was serious. Like maybe, deep down, part of her had always known this moment would come. "Why would you do that?" she whispered. Lisa looked away. Because if she looked into her eyes, she wouldn't survive it. "Because you don't deserve to stand alone. Not now. Not ever." That night, a new contract was signed. And Lisa became Jennie's bride.

NUMBER ONE GIRL All this time, it was always you. Jennie Kim and Lalisa Manoban have been inseparable for ten years - creative partners, best friends, each other's safest place. Jennie, the brilliant and guarded Creative Director, builds empires out of perfection. Lisa, the bright and reckless photographer, captures beauty even when it hurts. They've grown up side by side - through university projects, first love, heartbreaks, success, and silence. Jennie kept searching for love in other people. Lisa kept loving Jennie quietly, from the corner of every room. But five years change everything. When Lisa returns to Seoul reborn - confident, fearless, untouchable - Jennie realizes too late that the girl she once took for granted is gone. Now she's chasing the woman who learned to stop waiting. A decade of friendship, heartbreak, jealousy, and rebirth - Number One Girl is the story of two women who spent years orbiting each other, only to find they were always the same flame, burning on opposite sides of time.

✦ LISA MANOBAN Creative Director. Controlled Chaos. The one who left first - or maybe just the one who didn't beg to stay. Black suit. Wristwatch sharp enough to draw blood. Her hair tied back, like she doesn't have time for softness anymore. There's something about Lisa now - more composed, more ruthless, more... unreadable. Because Lisa learned the hard way: love that isn't protected, is taken. And she's not in the business of losing anymore. ✦ JENNIE RUBY JANE Global Brand Ambassador. Perfect Fiancée. The one who stayed - and kept waiting. Jennie knows how to walk into a room and make silence flirt with her. Her love story with Lisa wasn't soft. It was messy. Public, then private, then gone. No closure. Just distance. Just silence. The kind that becomes part of your bloodstream. She tells herself she's over it. That seeing Lisa again doesn't mean anything. But then Lisa walks in - cold, unreadable - And Jennie forgets how to smile without pain in her teeth. Because she never stopped wanting the one person who taught her how to want more.

Jennie Kim and Lisa Manoban, two ruthless, commitment-phobic CEOs, have been forced into a strategic marriage by their board to protect their empires. But neither woman plays second. Neither bows. And now, legally bound, their war begins with silk sheets, cold threats, and the most seductive kind of danger. 💎 Jennie Ruby Jane Kim CEO of Kim Dynasty Group (luxury fashion empire) "The Ice Queen" Ruthlessly elegant, poised, emotionally unavailable, calculated. Master of control. Wields silence and sarcasm like weapons. Used to believe in love once-Lisa ruined that. Visionary leader, shrewd negotiator, commanding presence, quietly protective. 🔥 Lalisa Manoban (Lisa) CEO of Manoban Technologies (AI & global tech empire) "The Billion-Dollar Brat" Playful, flirtatious, genius-level intelligence, emotionally chaotic beneath the charm. Once proposed to Jennie in college-was rejected. Still dreams of it. Creative disruptor, magnetic leader, loyal to the death, fearless in love.

"In a world that watches everything, they loved where no one could look." The world knew Jennie Ruby Jane. They knew her in flashbulbs and filtered headlines, in airport candids & Chanel gowns. They knew her face-the one shewore like armor. Sharp, composed, impossible to read. The world watched her walk like a god through chaos, never faltering & falling. No one ever saw her cry. Except Lisa.And even then, only once. It was the first night they met. The real meeting-not the polite nods at galas or the awkward backstage encounters where they'd exchanged pleasantries like strangers with matching burdens. No, this was different. Jennie had collapsed. The body gives in before pride does. Lisa, surgeon, CEO, controlled &composed even in crisis, had stood over her chart longer than necessary. She had read every word like it might bleed if she touched it wrong. A global star with a history of insomnia, anemia, malnourishment. A body exhausted by performance. A name too big to break. Jennie had woken up in Lisa's hospital. Lisa had been the first thing she saw. And she hadn't spoken. Not for minutes. Just looked at her like she was something terrifying. Or maybe like she was safe. Lisa wasn't sure which was worse. They barely spoke that first week.But something passed between them in every pause. Not tension. Not attraction. Not yet. Just something too loud to name. Jennie always looked perfect in public. Lisa always looked calm under pressure. Lisa learned quickly that Jennie never asked for help. That she hated vulnerability more than pain. That her smile was often a warning. And Jennie learned that Lisa's hands didn't shake-even when her voice did. That her quiet wasn't cold, just heavy. That she could make someone feel safe without touching them. They didn't touch, not at first. But their silences did. They never planned to fall. They planned to be smart. To keep it quiet. Private. Clean. But love is rarely quiet. And pride - pride never goes unnoticed.