Start-Up (Seo Dal-Mi x Han Ji-Pyeong) [FanFic]

Chapter 5: The Line

Next day, Dal-Mi woke up with a swollen face. It came as no surprise to her, neither did she care about it. 

The only thing that was making her restless was seeing Do-San and Mr. Han again. She would avoid them both if possible but her heart would still be unstable at the least. They had no idea what they had put her through. 

She was beginning to question every little thing Do-San ever did for her. Was it just for show? Was he following instructions from Mr. Han? Did he ever actually care?

She didn't have any answer to her questions yet. 

On her way out, grandma asked her to have breakfast with her. She declined politely, even though she was angry at her the most. All these years, she had trusted grandma to be her lifeline. But even she had deceived her.

As she walked out the door, she saw Do-San waiting for her.

He looked terrible, like he had been up all night crying his eyes out. Dal-Mi however felt no affection for him at the moment. She couldn't tell if he was real or fake. She couldn't trust her instincts anymore.

"Dal-Mi-ah," he started, his hands trembling, as he kept avoiding her gaze. "Let's talk for a moment."

"I have nothing to say to you," she said in a quiet tone, like she was drained all out of energy. 

"Please, Dal-Mi." Do-San requested. "I just need a moment to clarify things."

"Clarify things?" Dal-Mi said angrily. "Clarify what exactly? Since the day we met, you have done nothing but lie to me. I forgave you after I found out you weren't some hotshot CEO as you had claimed. I chose to stand by you; defended you every time someone said you are not capable. But you kept on lying to me. You made me believe you were my childhood pen pal, like we actually had a connection."

"It was supposed to be for just an hour," Do-San said. "I wanted one more day to prove myself and kept wanting more. I wanted to sail off without a map, like you did."

Dal-Mi took a moment to process those words and when she did, she was furious. "How dare you use my words? They weren't for you in the first place."

"Is it only the letters you care about?" he asked. "Aren't we more than that?" 

"No," she admitted. "I don't think we are. And if you really think like that, you don't know me at all."

Do-San stood still, letting her vent out her anger. He knew they couldn't go back and change his mistakes, but he didn't want to lose her like this.

"Do you know what's even harder for me?" Dal-Mi said. "I don't completely understand what's going on but I have to prepare for demo day and make NoonGil work. That is the only thing that matters to me now. It's tough that I have to see you at work and pretend everything is okay, but I still need to do this for myself."

"I never wanted-" Do-San started but was cut short.

"That's why, let's not run into each other outside of work." Dal-mi said finally. "I want nothing to do with you anymore."

With that, she drew the line between Do-San and her.

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