Love Pact (Operation: Ruin the Engagement)

His Ego; Her Pride

“Dara, are you feeling all right?” Dara was surprised to see Jiyong standing on the door when she got out of the ladies rest room where she hid from him for a moment.

She was not enjoying the gathering and honestly, Dara wanted to go home so bad. And she regrets agreeing to Jiyong having to accompany her tonight.

Why didn’t she think of the chances that Jiyong knows some people there? And what’s annoying was that those women are not just mere acquaintances of his before. It hurts her ears hearing those snide comments they threw at her and Jiyong’s engagement. Saying that she and Jiyong were too unlikely too fall in love with each other. To Dara, that felt like an insult.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“You were gone for too long, I thought something happened to you. I noticed that you’re not looking well. Has your fever come back?” Jiyong was about to damp his palm on her forehead but Dara avoided it.

“I’m okay, I don’t have a fever.” She answered, looking away from him.

“Are you sure? You don’t look fine to me. You look pale, Dara.” He lifted his hand to feel her forehead again but Dara slapped it away.

“I said I’m okay!” It came out more forcefully than she intended.

‘Damn it!’ Dara doesn’t need babysitting especially concern from him. It was hurting her so much to see Jiyong genuinely concerned about her. It was… confusing her.

“Just leave me alone,” she tried to sound calm but her voice is slowly betraying her.

“Do you really… hate me that much, huh?” Jiyong’s expression suddenly went cold and rigid. His tone became dark and clipped.

Dara heaved a sigh and chose not to answer him back. It will only lead to greater war if she did. Instead, she turned on her heel, walking out on Jiyong towards the adjacent terrace of the hotel.

Dara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She doesn’t want him showing so much concern for her… she doesn’t want him to treat her so nice. She doesn’t want to feel his gentle acts and sweetness.

It was only making her… making her… making her what?

‘…those are the women I spent a night or two with. My relationship with them is purely physical and I never pretended it to be otherwise.’

‘It was just the hormones kicking in, Dara. You’re a woman, I’m a man, dark place. It’s perfectly natural. It meant nothing…’

Jiyong’s words from earlier echoes inside her head. Purely physical. He probably treats other girls in that manner too. For Jiyong, what happened has no meaning, so she too should act the same.

Dara turned around and glanced around the function hall. There is Jiyong, dancing with a girl who almost look like snaking his whole body around her fiancé.

She felt a sharp stab of pain. She bit her lips in frustration.

“No way,” she muttered to herself. It can’t be… no, this can’t be. This… her feelings can’t be real. Not with Jiyong.

There was nothing lovable about him. He was a womanizer, a dictator, a hardcore capitalist! Jiyong is the embodiment of everything she hated.

And yet…

That man would never feel the same way for her or for anyone. She only end up with inevitable and endless pain.

With her ability to feel conscious, tears started to stream down her cheeks. Why? Why does this have to happen to her?