“Gossips are spreading like wild fire around the office about Ms. Park. Do you think she really has a relationship with our head? That’s just plain disgusting if that’s true. She’s such a devil, a freaking home wrecker.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara bit her lower lip, suppressing her anger as she listens quietly to her officemates gossiping about her inside their rest room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When she confirmed that they already left, she carefully opened the door of the cubicle and strode towards the mirror. These past few days, the complaints and the gossips about her are getting worse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the latest gossip about her? They say she is having a relationship with her already married boss. Dara’s very sure that Jiyong is the mastermind of all of this. She overcame those gossips before and just let them pass…but this? She just can’t take it anymore. She won’t keep mum and just stand here while he hurts other people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. ‘How dare he!’ She was seething in anger. He doesn’t have the right to drag other people into their war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unconsciously, her mind drifted to the scene a week ago when she and Jiyong rushed to the hospital to help the poor child. Jiyong had helped her then, even donated his own blood for the child.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quickly, she brushed off the unwelcomed memory of him in her mind. She shouldn’t mistake him for a knight in shining armor. Jiyong was a mean, chauvinist capitalist pig. She has to focus on that side of Jiyong if she wants to fight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She could not afford to see gray areas or else, she would not be able to fight him. And fight him, she would. She would not let another innocent people be dragged into this. She has to stop him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There you are, Jiyong. I was looking for you all over the place.” Dara smiled sweetly before snaking her hand on his arm. And after, she smiled to his business associates in front of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Jiyong, who could this lovely lady here, be?” It never escaped her senses the malicious stare of the man who spoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well what did she expect? Birds of the same feather flock together, right? Of course, the men in this party were just like of his kind, it was after all, the seventy sixth anniversary of Dolce Vita Hotel. This night also marks Jiyong’s formal appearance as the next CEO of the company. It’s just natural that the businessmen in here are just like him, greedy and womanizing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m his fiancée, Park Sandara.” Smiling, she introduced herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh, is that true?” a woman in her thirties asked as she looked at her from head to toe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ah, yes.” She knew Jiyong was startled at her sudden appearance but he professionally covered it up. By now, she knows how a good of actor Jiyong is. “Everyone this is my fiancée…” he sweetly introduced her to his business associates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you enjoying the party, my dear fiancée?” he asked her sweetly despite the sharp glare hidden in his eyes.  He moved his lips closer to her ear, “What the hell are you up to, little witch?” he whispered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara chuckled. “I’m here to pay you back—with interest, my dear fiancé,” she whispered back with a sly smile plastered on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So, what are you all talking about here?” Dara quickly turned her attention back to the group before he could come up with a rebuttal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Business, of course.” Answered the same woman who scanned her from head to toe earlier.  She’s Han Sumi, the heiress of the Han Group who owns a supermarket chain all over South Korea and the same woman who was standing beside Jiyong earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You mean you’re talking about how you augment your humongous profits out of the blood and sweat

of your employees?” and she smiled. Dara peeked at Jiyong and saw his smile slowly faltering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What do you imply, Ms. Park?” Sumi did not bother hiding her coldness and hostility towards her. Come to think of it, ever since the moment she was introduced as Jiyong’s fiancée, she was already hostile towards her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Hmmm…’Dara smelled something fishy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything. I just think that your company is in big trouble right now, Miss Han. As of what I heard, you didn’t pay your employee’s compensation, right? Not only that, you also have a case regarding tax evasion, Miss Han. So I just thought that when you’re talking about business, you were talking about how you treat your employees despicably. That’s how you do business, right?” Dara almost let out a laugh when she saw the frozen expression of Jiyong. Damn, she was enjoying this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ah, If you’ll excuse—“ Jiyong was about to excuse themselves but she cut him off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“How about you, Mr. Kim?” she said, turning her attention to the middle-aged man who’s currently a CEO of an oil company. “You keep saying that you can’t bring down the prices of oil drastically. I wonder why when the price is so low in the international market. How come when the prices get high, you quickly make your oil prices high but if it’s the opposite, you don’t run out of reasons. How much is your profit this year? Twenty-seven point six dollars,” she said disgustedly. “My gosh. And yet, you still insist the loss from under-recoveries. Talk about being a scumbag. Is that what you’re talking about—“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If you’ll excuse us. My fiancée is not feeling very well.” Jiyong quickly cut her off and tugged her at the elbow. He marched out of room, still clutching her arm tight. “You’re going to pay for this,” he said through his gritted teeth as he dragged her away from the horrified group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara could not help but to smile. Gosh, it was like since forever since she wore a smile like this. Although she felt a little guilty for being rude to those businessmen, she can’t help but felt darn victorious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Did you know how important those businessmen that you just insulted?” Jiyong said after a while of silence. His voice was controlled but it is obvious that he’s mad. They were in the hallway outside the function hall of the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Did you know how much emotional damages you brought to the family of my boss?” she retorted back. This time, her smile vanished from her lips. “I bet you you’ll think that it is not much compared to damage I give to your business relationship with your associates, right?” she said, her voice getting a little higher. “I’ll tell you something, Jiyong. I don’t care if you want to hurt me, but don’t you dare hurt other people to get to me,”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jiyong merely smiled condescendingly. “Oh, how scary. What will you do then, Sandara?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Have you tried Googling yourself in the net, Jiyong?” she asked him out of the blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What--?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She smiled when she finally saw the confusion in his face. “You should. You’ll be surprised at what you will read.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What the hell are you saying?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bingo! My, my, it felt like heaven when she saw the panic-stricken face of her fiancé.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She sighed, “Did you know that reading your chronicles of ‘escapes’ in the internet felt like it was much longer than the Vietnam war? You should really be careful. You’re a prominent man—you’re rich and all. What’s more, you’ve been to different a country, that’s why they are feasting on your gossip in the net. Take note, girls who wrote about you are multi-racial.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What the hell are you saying?” he repeated, a little louder and demanding than before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her eyes widen as she feigned an exaggerated look of surprise, “You didn’t know? Well, the girls you have been with were so happy with the night that they spent with you that they even blog about their experiences with you. You should really read their write-ups and comments. It’s quite—uh, colorful,” she said as if she was examining a marvelous work of art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The horrified look on the face of the almighty Kwon Jiyong was priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Serves him right.’ Actually, she cannot believe that a whole lot of girls have been involved with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If it’s any consolation, you don’t have a video. Well, at least, nothing’s on the net yet. Anyway, Jiyong, Han Sumi was one of the girls you’ve been with in your escapades, right?” she smiled.  “Do you think, Uncle Kwon already read about it?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He glared at her. Oh, this was really fun. “You dare—“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I will really tell him about that, you !” she hissed. “You’ll stop the gossips in my office or I swear, your almost-saintly conservative father will get another heart attack once he read those.” She glared back at him and quickly turned her back on him. She started on her tracks away from Jiyong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then, she started counting mentally.

 

 

 

 

 

‘One…

 

 

 

 

Two…

 

 

 

 

Three…

 

 

 

Four…

 

 

 

 

 

Five—‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wait.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara stopped when she heard him called out to her and smiled triumphantly.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Hmm. That was fast.’ She thought he would take him ten seconds to give-in to her. It looked like he really cares about his father after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coldly, she faced him back. Jiyong appeared like a trapped animal.  He walked closer to her. “I thought you said I was childish. And what do you think you’re doing right now?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She just shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes, we just have to sacrifice our life policies because of a more important thing that’s at stake—like protecting other people from being hurt. Oh, I’m sorry you’re a self-centered, uncaring, indifferent, inhumane bastard that doesn’t care whether he will hurt other people’s feelings or not just to get what he wants.” She said matter-of-factly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You really enjoy talking so much, huh?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara smiled sarcastically at him, “Talking has always been one of my talents. You want me to use my talent on your dad?” before she could walk away from him, Jiyong held her in one of her arms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He glowered at her again. But after a while, a defeated sigh escaped from his lips. “Let’s make a truce,” he calmly suggested. “We both want the same thing. Then why don’t we help each other than trying to destroy each other?” he was serious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why should I believe you?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m a businessman, Dara. In the business world, it’s always better to earn a friend than an enemy.” He said drily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She stared at him for a while. There are so many reasons why she should not take his offer but she had this tendency to believe the best in people, and soon after, she quickly agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Deal.” She nodded her head and offered her hand for a handshake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Deal.” He replied with a smirk, and then firmly took her hand in his. “And Ms. Park…”

 

 

 

 

 

“What?”

 

 

 

 

“You should not fall in love with me, okay?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Mr. Kwon, are you kidding me?” Dara laughed at him like he has grown two heads. She shook his head and waved her hands dramatically. “Even just the thought of it offends me. Falling in love with you is the last thing on my list.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that was how these two people who could not stand each other became reluctant partners.

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you serious? You buy this much junk food?” she asked him disgustedly. Dara’s referring to Jiyong’s imported chips on their shopping cart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Stay the hell away from my food preference.” And he pushed the cart again while putting bags of Lays in their cart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“This is not healthy at all! You know what, I’m not going to stand here and watch you. You should not eat these junk—“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Dara, I appreciate your concern but I don’t need your opinion,”Jiyong cut her off. It was Sunday morning and they both decided to have a meeting to discuss their strategies to sabotage their engagement. For some reasons, they both ended up in the grocery store because there was no food in Jiyong’s flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fine. If you want to eat those and destroy your kidneys, then go. But at least buy local junk foods so you can help the economy of our country.” With that, Dara took away all of his imported chips and switch them with the local ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jiyong gritted his teeth. Whenever he would put imported products in their cart, she would take away them and put in the locally manufactured goods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why do I have to put up with this? This is my food, my money—“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“And this is your country,” Dara continued. “If you buy imported goods, then you are helping the employees of other countries. If you are to compare, local goods and imported goods are just the same when it comes to quality. Will it kill you if you buy a Korean-manufactured product and help the employees of your own country?” she looks so sincere. It was as if he committed a large crime for choosing imported products rather than the Korean-made ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He closed his eyes in frustration. This woman was really killing him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fine,” he said hotly then pushed their cart forward. When they get near a store employee, Jiyong rudely ask where the local toothpastes are located. And then pushed their cart angrily again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thank you,” he heard Dara said to the employee he asked earlier. When she caught up with him, she started another lecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“That’s basic manner, you know. You say ‘thank you’ when someone helped you, you say ‘please’ if you ask for something and you say ‘sorry’ if you hurt someone. Didn’t your father teach you that?” a slight anger escaped her voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jiyong could not believe it.  And now she has the guts to get angry at him?

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Unlike your father who seem like a very dedicated and hands-on father to you, my father was very busy with our business and didn’t watch me grow.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh,” he didn’t expect her tone of voice to be like that. It was apologetic. And he didn’t like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s true that his father didn’t have the time for him ever since he was young, but he sure did not want anyone pitying him for that. He just said that for sarcasm. And he did not want any other emotions other than genuine malice and animosity between him and Dara. There should not be any concern between them. It should all be plain business, and that’s to sabotage their engagement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.” Her voice was still apologetic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘You say ‘sorry’ if you hurt someone…’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He heard what Dara said a while ago in his head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He did not like this.