#dalmi

Does my dream have to be success?

Can't it be a person?

Start Up would’ve been a much better drama if there was no actual Nam Do San as a character. I mean this as no shade to Nam Joo Hyuk, I have nothing against him and he did well with what was given to him. But from a writing perspective I feel like this drama would’ve benefited so much if they just chose to focus on Han Ji Pyeong and Seo Dal Mi. 

Young Jipyeong writes Dalmi the letters and they connect for more than a year. Then Jipyeong has to leave because he has to go to college and become the man he needs to become. Then cut to 15 years later, he comes across a grown up and beautiful woman named Seo Dal Mi (but not as a panelist in Sanbox, just someone watching on the side) and is curious if it’s the same girl. He finds Halmeoni again through her and cue the beautiful and heartfelt reunion between him and Halmeoni. But then he’s told Dalmi is set on finding Dosan. So he tries to find Dosan but ultimately fails because how the hell is he supposed to find the random boy on the newspaper from 15 years ago. Like Korea is small but not that small. He decides to show up in front of Dalmi as Nam Do San in a private setting to let her know that “he’s” no longer interested, in order to help her get over her obsession with Dosan. And she’s heartbroken because this was the boy that helped her through her darkest days and he wants nothing to do with her. Her life continues to be a shit show and she gets fired from her job. So, she decides to live like her father and take her life into her own hands. She also wants to shove it in her sister’s face that she, too, can be successful. 

Then enters the Sandbox story. Dalmi enters the competition and becomes a CEO and Jipyeong sees her through the live stream and feels as if he’s fucked because he was just emotionally blackmailed into becoming a mentor. He tries to avoid her with poor Dongcheon but of course at one point she sees him. She calls him Dosan and Dongcheon is just hella confused because this woman just called his charismatic/intimidating boss by a different name, the same boss who looks like he just shit his pants. Then at some point Dalmi hears someone refer to Jipyeong by his real name and now she’s confused. So she confronts him because that’s very much her personality. And they have the moment I was robbed of in the actual drama. She asks him to be honest and explain what the hell is going on, and Jipyeong isn’t cut off. And they actually talk. Dalmi finds out that he knew her grandma before he even knew her. She knows he wrote all the letters and that there is no Nam Do San and he pretended to be him just to help Dalmi get over Dosan. She’s upset because who wouldn’t be. And cue the obligatory separation between the main leads for about half an episode. 

Jipyeong still tries to help Dalmi out in her presentations and her group’s progress in general. She doesn’t want his help because she doesn’t trust him anymore, but ends up still listening because Jipyeong knows what he’s talking about. She does well, her group ends up being picked. And while watching her, Jipyeong sees the same strong girl from the letters. She’s resilient and smart and dorky. So, he starts to fall for her but in typical Jipyeong fashion, he denies it.

Jipyeong reaches out and asks her to listen to him. And he tells her everything. He apologizes for lying to her but says that he never wanted to hurt her. Him and Halmeoni just wanted to give her a friend. And it’s hard but Jipyeong lets her know that he’s always been grateful for those letters. He still has them. He lets her know that while the name was fake, everything else was real. He needed a friend too because he had no one but her grandma at that time, and reading her letters gave him comfort when things got difficult in his own life. Dalmi can see he’s being genuine (bc who can deny Han Jipyeong when his eyes get all puppy like) and says okay. But she’s still hurt and obviously things don’t become okay all of a sudden. They move on to a phase where they both know each other’s history and everything’s out in the open, but they’re both hesitant around each other. Dalmi appreciates him because Jipyeong is still going out of his way to help her and her team, but somehow feels distant because she wonders why he’s helping her out so much. Over time she begins to understand this person in front of her, and he’s both different and the same from the letters. He’s different in the sense that he can be harsh with his words when he critiques their business ideas and models, to the point where it’s disheartening to hear. But she knows he’s not being mean to be mean, he’s telling them what they need to hear to get better. And afterwards he always finds her to make sure she’s okay and tells her she’s doing well. So while he may be hard on the outside, on the inside he’s still the same boy who comforted all those years ago. 

But she still doesn’t completely understand why he’s helping her so much. As usual, Jipyeong uses his excuse of “I always pay off all my debts” whenever she does question him and Dalmi can’t help but believe it. And, one day she explodes. She messed up at work when her team was counting on her and it’s just been a shitty day. But of course, Jipyeong arrives to make it all better and she’s emotional because she thinks she knows why he’s doing all this. So she refuses his help and tells him to stop because goddamnit she’s not some debt that needs to paid off. She doesn’t need his pity; he already apologized and she already accepted his apology. And while she’s yelling Jipyeong just looks at her and that’s when he first accepts it himself. He likes this woman. So much. And so he stops her. And tells her he doesn’t see her as a debt and he doesn’t pity her. He helps her because he likes her. He has feelings for her. He also believes she’s worthy of his help. He doesn’t critique companies he’s not interested in, but her company has substance and potential and that’s why he helps. 

And Dalmi’s conflict starts because she doesn’t know if she’s still in love with the “Dosan” from 15 years ago or the Han Ji Pyeong in front of her. But comes to slowly realize her own feelings as he becomes more open about his feelings and from the way he is with her grandma. She realizes that it’s Han Ji Pyeong who she wants and cue the happy ending for my baby Ji Pyeong and all the smiles from Kim Seon Ho where he shows off those beautiful dimples.