"Well if it isn't Nam Dosan!" Yongsan drawled as he came up behind the brunette, taking a seat next to him.
"I'm pretty sure Chulsanie didn't put you on the guest list." Dosan hissed back, turning his attention to the familiar rodent.
"You should know better than anyone that a minor detail like that is insignificant in our circles." Yongsan shook his head with a raised eyebrow as he ordered himself a drink with the nod of his head.
"I'm awfully surprised you haven't made your move yet."
"What move would that be? Oh you mean corrupting your business.. well, Dosanie, I wouldn't speak too soon if I were you." He winked before his glass was empty and he was gone, pacing himself from the bar and remixing into the crowd.
Not even able to make a comprehensive attempt at a comeback, Dosan was left in dismay as he scanned the room for Dalmi or any evidence of entertainment. Even Dosan knew that he was in a foreign position without Yongsan making a move and even now as he sat at the bar, without Dalmi to converse with, he was completely bored.
____________
"Dalmi-ya! You made it!" Saha smiled with ease as she advanced towards her best friend a few feet away but was confused when Dalmi raised her hand, continuing to beeline for the bar.
"I will be right back." She concluded as she tapped her heels against the marble floor, glaring straight to the suspect.
Frowning, Saha let her go as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
Dosan turned to see Dalmi pacing towards him.
His first impression was to smirk. The way her dress clung to her heaving chest as she braced forward was effortless. But as she came closer, his eyes flicked to hers; the mask she was wearing and the glint in her eyes made him question her.
"Dalmi-ya. Where have you-" he attempted but just as the words slipped from his lips, her hand was greeted with the side of his perfectly shaven cheek.
Hissing at the impact, he bit his tongue, clenching his jaw, bracing his cheek and turning to the furious flurry of crimson.
"Wae -" He spat as he grabbed her wrist as she made an effort to hit him again.
She didn't want to make a scene and turning to catch Saha's mortified look and some guests staring, she ragged her arm free and fled.
Dosan followed her with haste as the party continued, people mingling once more as the pair disappeared.
"Why did you find it necessary to assault me! If you wanted to play dirty, all you had to do was ask!" Dosan called after her as he found her in a deserted room. He smirked with ease as his anger subsided a little.
"Shut up." She spat.
"I don't know what you think I did but you've got me all wrong." He protested at his failed attempt at lightening the mood.
"Jeongmal? Have I really?" She turned to meet him with the most sorrowful of evil filling her orbs.
"So when I went to your penthouse, why there was a file of my CEO slander history sitting innocently on the bar while some blonde bimbo strutted around half naked?" She cried, standing her ground.
"What the hell are you talking about? And why were you at my penthouse? I told you we would meet here and I have no idea who you are referring to. I have been at the office all afternoon." He fought back, fuming from the accusations flying from her primed mouth.
"You sent a note!" She yelled again, flinging her arms in the air this time.
"A note? But I don't send notes, Dalmi-ya. I message you though through the new phone I sent since you asked for a bug free one last time," he argued, frustrated that she would even assume he would do it again.
"I don't know what to think anymore." She confessed, turning from the sight of him.
"You told me that this was strictly business so why the hell would I look up your past, Dalmi-ya! What is so important that you didn't want me knowing anyway?"
"That's irrelevant. And this is business." She glared, brushing off the medical subject.
"Then why are you so invested in finding ways to push me away?" He forced but when the door swung open, his sentence was lost.
"Wow. This really is getting intense!..." Yongsan announced his appearance as he stepped through the door, casually pacing into the room a little with a satisfied smirk gracing his features.
"I should have known-" Dalmi bit out as she realised, her eyes apologetically searching for Dosan's who kept his sight on Yongsan.
"I really did think you would be better than this. A classic Seo Dalmi takedown and you didn't even see this coming. Your standards really are slipping!" He laughed as she stood biting her teeth.
"This was all you?" Dalmi frowned as Dosan just stood waiting for more.
"I found it very amusing that you would fall for such an emotionless pit of a man. I must say I am impressed with your little foreplay last night. Giving me all the details I needed to know oh so conveniently...!" he mused as he noticed Dosan's eyes flicker with more anger which only made him smirk harder.
"What the do you want, Kim Yongsan?" Dosan spat.
"I figured a business deal could be remade but a heart... not always so easily." Yongsan shrugged looking to Dalmi who stood like she'd been burnt.
"So I set a few things up... boohoo... Uri Dalmi being betrayed by lover boy again! I must say, Dosanie, your new assistant is very complimentary with assisting." He winked.
As Dosan composed himself, Dalmi watches the image of him before her; his fists tightening and jaw clenching as he slowly blinked.
"I pity you for actually falling for such a soulless bastard. As a leaving gift, I thought it would be fitting that I tell you a little about who this man is..." Yongsan looked to Dalmi as he gestured in the way of Dosan before continuing.
"Where shall we start... well he uses women like tissues, what was that famous motto you used to throw around?... Oh right, 'I never sleep the same girl twice.' Right, Dosanie?"
"And from the tension in this room, it only begs to ask.. has that one way ticket already been used?..." he seethed, the sight of Dalmi looking away from the men confirmation enough.
"Heol Nam Dosan... you are nothing if not prompt with your conquests!" He laughed darkly at the angered man before him.
"Oh and Abeonim dearest, always pining for his approval but you never did quite get it did you, uri Dosanie? And well, who would be surprised, considering you killed your Eom-"
The smirk was quickly wiped from his face as Dosan's fist collided with his face with multiple blows.
Dalmi didn't protest but covered her mouth with a tight palm as she swallowed hard, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Kim Yongsan, ka! Leave!" She spluttered as Yongsan scrambled to his feet, spitting the blood from his mouth.
"If I ever catch you in this city again, I swear, you will wish you were dead." Dosan spat as he shook his wrist from the prior collision of his fist with Yongsan's now bloody nose and lip.
"We're not over." Yongsan hissed once more before he winked towards Dalmi and pulled himself uneasily from the room.
Dosan contemplated grabbing him again as his eye raked over Dalmi's body once more as he departed but he reframed himself. He was the only person allowed to look at her that way, they all knew it.
Limply pulling his phone to his ear, Dosan ignored Dalmi's calls to attention.
"He's on his way out." Was all that was pronounced as he replaced his phone back in his pocket.
"What was that?" She questioned and he listened this time.
"I got a call from security so I made arrangements for Yongsan just in case I turned out to be right." He shrugged, rubbing his fist once more.
"I don't even wanna know. But if you knew, why didn't you stop me from accusing you?" She begged a little.
"You're sexy when you're mad. I didn't want to spoil your satisfaction." He shrugged again, but this time with a timely smirk.
"Ah jinjja."
She couldn't help but match his smirk but it was quickly wiped away when she remembered the past moments of events that had occurred and once again, the atmosphere plummeted.
"What did he mean?" She said just above a whisper as she looked up to meet his gaze.
"Mwo?"
"Your-" She didn't get chance to finish because he knew from the look in her eyes.
"How can you ask me that?" he asked, astounded.
When she looked away, he felt compelled to say it, even if not for himself but for her.
"She died giving birth to me. Ne... I killed Eomma." He mumbled.
She bit her plea of desperation that nearly escaped her in a whimper as she saw the guilt in his body and eyes.
"That is not your fault- you were an innocent baby-" she defended but he only shook his head and Dalmi felt herself protectively stepping toward him.
His attitude and intensity told her she wasn't in a position to question him about his mother any further.
When there were no more words, she spoke again.
"Do you really use women like that?" she muttered, embarrassed to even be asking. "I mean you were a virgin on that night so why he always say such lie?"
"We all have an image to keep, Dalmi-ya." He bit, running his shaky hand through his now disheveled hair. "I didn't even went for second base with other women. But the misconception favored me in a way so I didn't mind." He shook his head. "Why do you even care?"
"Did you use me?" She cracked, dropping her eyes to the floor but only to be fished back up by his stare and Dalmi needed to know.
"Is what Kim Yongsan said true?" He demanded before he said anything more and from the way she shuffled, fidgeted uncomfortably in her dress, he needed confirmation.
"I don't care. I just- "
"You were jealous when you thought I'd slept with her? My new secretary? Who needs to be replaced ASAP, might I add..." he answered, Dalmi turning a little.
"I couldn't care less I-," she threw again, almost flinching at what she saw coming.
He couldn't help but smirk when she stuttered. The confirmation was enough. She was jealous. Just like he had been when he saw her with Yongsan and he loved it.
"You're doing that thing where your mouth doesn't match your eyes. You were jealous. Just like I was when I saw you with Yongsanie last week." he spoke with confidence.
"Don't you dare tell me how I feel! Did you use me?" She yelled back, desperate to be released from the uncertainty.
"I'm far from perfect, Dalmi-ya but so are you! You say you don't want to know me, yet you push and pull me and I find myself needing to justify myself to you! I'm Nam Dosan and I never justify myself to anyone. So here it is..." he took a deep breath but not letting her speak as he raised his hand to stop her from speaking.
"When I met you that night in the bar, things changed. I can't sleep! I never even thought of having an intimate relationship with a woman until I met you! I used my womanizing image as an excuse to ironically stay away from women because I've never know anything different...felt anything... but being around you makes me happy. I push myself because all I have ever wanted was someone's approval, to be worth something..."
"...I never thought I'd be able to love but I find myself wanting to- I-" he paused as he watched her exterior crumble away a little with each word.
"I've got this fluttering in my stomach- I can't eat - god! I think i'm falling in love with a woman who drives me crazy! And a woman I hardly know! Who makes me feel alive, instead of treading through my life numb." He admitted with a faint laugh.
"Ani. I didn't use you, Dalmi-ya." He promised and she knew. His eyes said it all.
"I can't do this- not now-" she muttered, feeling her self-preservation drop away one ounce at a time.
It was happening again because she knew every word was true. She felt the fluttering, she knew the feeling of restlessness at night when she was unable to sleep but merely think of him. She knew it all too well but Seo Dalmi could not love a man who mirrored her struggle in dealing with her feelings.
"When?" he yelled, shaking her a little as he reached out for her.
"I-"
She couldn't even form a coherent sentence when he spoke again.
"I have chased you for weeks and don't you dare tell me you don't feel anything for me. I can see it in your eyes. The only person you keep lying to is yourself. You tell me now that I mean nothing and I will walk away, forever." Dosan demanded, scared of his own threat.
"Tell me, Dalmi-ya." He warned, stepping closer to the feared perfection that stood so close to him.
"I don't know who you are-" she whispered but said no more. The way he was looking at her so pleadingly forced her to look away.
His hands were now against her wet cheek, rubbing the damp away and pulling her glistening eye up to his; begging her to stay and say it. Needing her to.
The fear forced her desire aside and she ran. Again. Fleeing from him and from herself. But no matter where she ran, she would only end up running into herself and she knew that, but she needed time.