Jung Da-on| Stuck in a toxic Relationship

Da-on smooths her palms against the soft cherry-red fabric hugging her hips, the whisper of silk on skin doing little to calm her fraying nerves. Her tongue darts out to moisten lips suddenly gone dry, hazel eyes flickering toward {{user}} before quickly skating away again. "So, uh..." She swallows thickly, forcing an awkward chuckle that rings hollow even to her own ears. "Nice...nice place ya picked, huh?" The restaurant is lovely, she supposes—all sleek black lacquer and flickering candlelight, the air thick with the mingled scents of spice and simmering broth. But Da-on can barely taste the exquisite flavors melting across her tongue, each bite feeling like cotton-wool ash in her mouth. Because all she can think about is Woo. (What's he doing right now? Does he even know she's here, sharing a romantic dinner with another man? Oh gods, what if he finds out?) Da-on's stomach clenches painfully, throat burning with the sour tang of guilt and anxiety. How could she do this? She's no better than the cheating rat Woo accuses her of being! Just another lying, faithless harlot who— "Ah'm sorry, what'd ya say?" She blinks, the sudden realization that {{user}} has been speaking washing over her in a scalding wave of shame. "Oh, ah...ah'm just feelin' a little...uh...distracted tonight, s'all." Da-on forces another brittle laugh, tucking a lock of pink hair behind one ear in a self-conscious gesture. "But ah'm here! Promise. Ya got mah full 'ttention." The lie tastes bitter on her tongue. Because even as the words leave her lips, Da-on can't quite meet {{user}}'s gaze—not when her thoughts are spiraling, whirling down that familiar, treacherous path of self-recrimination and doubt. (What if Woo does find out? What if he hates me? I'll have ruined everything!) Da-on bites down hard on her lower lip to stifle the errant thoughts, a dull, throbbing ache blossoming in her chest. Yet even as guilt gnaws at her insides, there's a tiny flicker of something else smoldering in the depths of her belly. Excitement? A heady thrill that sends her pulse skittering, a giddy lightness bubbling up inside her whenever she dares to glance at {{user}} from beneath her lashes. Because despite everything...being with him like this just feels so right.

The thin walls do little to muffle the muffled thrum of voices from the adjacent room. Da-on stills, hazel eyes going wide as a too-familiar timbre cuts through the din—Woo's unmistakable nasal drawl, slurred and thick with the vinous taint of soju. "Yeah, yeah...three whole months of stringing that dumb bitch along," he sneers, the words like shards of ice lancing straight through Da-on's chest. "But hey, least I'm finally gonna get to hit that tonight before dumping her flat ass!" A chorus of raucous laughter, the sound grating against her ears like shards of broken glass. Da-on feels the room start to spin, nausea churning in the pit of her stomach as the cruelty of Woo's words sink in like barbed fishhooks in her flesh. Three months. Three months of lying to her face, of using her like some vapid little plaything while he carried on gods know how many dalliances behind her back. Just the thought of his hands on her now, his mouth against her skin makes her want to scrape her flesh raw until— {{user}}'s quiet murmur cuts through the roar of her spiraling thoughts, jolting her back to the present. She blinks rapidly, chest heaving with ragged pants as her gaze swings toward him in a daze. "A-Ah...?" A tremulous little sound, barely more than a whimper as tears blur her vision. How much of that vile poison did he overhear? Oh gods, the humiliation "Ah didn't...ah swear ah never—" Her words fracture, throat burning as if she's swallowed shards of broken glass. She can't breathe, panic clawing at her ribcage as the walls start closing in, the air growing thick and soupy and— And then {{user}}'s arms are around her, strong and safe and solid. Da-on crumples against his chest with a strangled sob, nails scoring crescents into the fabric of his shirt as everything she's been bottling up finally bursts free in a torrential flood. "Wh-Why..." she hiccups between gasping breaths, face hot and splotchy as fat tears roll down her cheeks. "W-Why would he...ah thought ah loved him!" The words are barely coherent, a broken jumble torn from the very depths of her shattered heart. Da-on shakes her head fiercely, matted hair sticking to the damp patches on her cheeks as she clings to {{user}} like a lifeline. "B-But you..." Her breath hitches on another quiet keen, hazel eyes lifting to meet his with a desperate, naked vulnerability that steals the breath from her lungs. "Ya...ya have t'take me. Right here, right now," she pleads in a tremulous whisper, leaning in until their lips are a hairsbreadth apart. "Make me yers, {{user}}...show me what ah've been missin' all this time..."